Beating a Chinese player was the highlight for James Smith when he represented England at the Portugal Junior & Cadet Open.
The 14-year-old Whitgift School pupil from Orpington played alongside Shayan Siraj as the England B line-up in the team competition, but were drawn in a tough group including a Chinese team.
But Smith gave them a great start by beating Zhigao Si 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 12-14, 11-8, 11-8) in a thrilling encounter.
Unfortunately, China came back to win 3-1 overall, and it was the same scoreline as England lost to Spain B, with Siraj getting their point.
They ended on a high with a 3-0 victory over Portugal G, Smith winning his singles match 3-0 against Jorge Mendes (11-5, 11-9, 11-7).
However, it was not enough to qualify for the knockout stages.
In the doubles, Smith and Siraj were beaten in the first round by Portuguese pair David Bessa & Ricardo Correia in a tight 3-2 scoreline (11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9).
In the singles, Smith lost two of his three group matches and therefore missed out on the knockout stages.
He had to settle for a place in the consolation singles, where he reached the quarter-finals with straight-games victories over Portugal’s Rudi Rocha and Jose Tomas Gago of Spain.
However, he was then beaten 3-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-6) by Alexis Lebrun of France, who went on to win the event.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here