Sinan Surensoy gave two Chinese champions a fright as he reached the quarter-finals at WTT Youth Contender Varazdin in Croatia.

In the Under-15 Boys’ Singles, Surensoy (pictured above) came through his group in second place, losing out 3-2 (11-2, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2) to Zhang Heliang, who would go on to win the competition.

In the first round, he beat compatriot Harrison Hill (who himself defeated 12th seed Albert Czigler in the groups), and then overcame sixth seed Sung Chen of Austria 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6) in the round of 16.

That put him through to face the Under-17 champion Yu Yiyang of China and Surensoy won the first two games before Yiyang turned the match in his favour, conceding only nine points in the next three games as he won 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-0, 11-3).

Oscar Nikolli also made it into the knockouts and beat 11th seed Simon Zsigmond of Hungary 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9) to reach the last 16, where he was defeated by eventual silver medallist Lai Hongrui of China.

In the Under-17 Boys’ Singles, Surensoy and Hill went out in the group stage to higher-ranked players, but Nikolli made it through, going on to lose in the round of 64 to Italy’s Tommaso Simi.

Results

Under-17 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 6
Noah Vitel (FRA) bt Oscar Nikolli 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7)
Nikolli bt Nikola Juric (CRO) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-3)

Qualifying group 22
Mihai Nagy (ROU) bt Harrison Hill 3-1 (8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5)
Deni Vale (CRO) bt Hill 3-1 (11-4, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5)

Qualifying group 26
Tien Nghia Phong (GER) bt Sinan Surensoy 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-9)
David Toro (ROU) bt Surensoy 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5)

Round of 64
Tommaso Simi (ITA) bt Nikolli 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-8)

Under-15 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 12
Harrison Hill bt Albert Czigler (ROU) 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5)
Hill bt Krystian Pytko (POL) 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-5)

Qualifying group 17
Oscar Nikolli bt Ivano Spehar (CRO) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-3)
Benjamin Bian (AUT) bt Nikolli 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-8)

Qualifying group 18
Sinan Surensoy bt Maksymilian Ksiazek (POL) 3-2 (7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9)
Zhang Heliang (CHN) bt Surensoy 3-2 (11-2, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2)

Round of 32
Nikolli bt Simon Zsigmond (HUN) 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9)
Surensoy bt Hill 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9)

Round of 16
Lai Hongrui (CHN) bt Nikolli 3-0 (11-5, 11-1, 11-8)
Surensoy bt Sung Chen (AUT) 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6)

Quarter-finals
Yu Yiyang (CHN) bt Surensoy 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-0, 11-3)