Congratulations to Peadar Sheridan and Ireland coach Conn Higgins who return from the Serbian leg of the European Youth Series with more silverware to add to their growing collection! Peadar won the Under 15 Boys plate event and finished in third position in Under 13 Boys. He and partner Enya Hu (Switzerland) also finished in third position in the Under 13 Mixed Doubles.
Under 13 Boys Team
Play got underway on Wednesday with the Under 13 Boys Team event where Peadar and Ireland partner Stefan Bonchev would play all nine other teams in a single round robin group.
Ireland’s opening game was against Denmark, where Peadar’s opening game saw him defeat the eventual Under 13 individuals runner-up Malik Serverinsen 3-0. Ireland were 1-1 going into the doubles but went on to suffer a 1-3 loss, meaning Denmark clinched the match 2-1.
The second round saw Ireland defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0, with Peadar overcoming Vukasin Kecman 3-0 and Ireland also winning the doubles 3-0.
The third round saw Ireland overcome the third of Serbia’s three teams 3-0, with Peadar opening the proceedings with a 3-0 victory over Nikola Vranjanac followed by a 3-1 doubles victory.
The next round saw Ireland defeat Serbia 2 with a 2-1 victory. Peadar overcame Ignjat Jakovljev 3-0 while the doubles saw Ireland win 3-2.
In the fifth round Ireland’s run was put to an end with a 1-2 loss at the hands of Serbia 1. Peadar lost 8-11 in the fifth to David Čapanda, meaning Ireland were 0-2 down going into the doubles, but managed to overpower the Serbian pair 3-1.
Round six saw Ireland defeat a combined team of Croatia and Montenegro 3-0, with Peadar defeating Matija Volf 3-0 and Ireland winning the doubles 3-1.
In the seventh round Ireland just lost out to a strong Romanian team. Peadar got off to a flying start by defeating Eurotalents teammate David Toro 3-0. It was 1-1 going into the doubles but the Romanian duo of Toro and Pop clinched an 11-8 victory in the fifth set to secure a 2-1 win.
The eighth round saw Ireland lose 0-3 to the strong English pairing of Kacper Piwowar and Abraham Sellado, both of whom are fellow members of Team GB. Despite taking the first set, Peadar couldn’t contain Kacper and eventually went on to lose 1-3. Going into the doubles Ireland were yet again 0-2 down but weren’t able to salvage a game this time, eventually losing 1-3, meaning England secured a 3-0 victory.
After nine rounds of play Ireland finished in 5th place.
Under 13 Singles
In the group stages of the Under 13 individual event Peadar first came up against Vukasin Kecman (Bosnia and Herzegovina), winning 3-0. He then went on to overcome Filip Nagy (Slovakia) 3-0 and Kristijan Trusina (Serbia) 3-1.
He then proceeded to the quarter-finals where he defeated Ignjat Jakovljev (Serbia) 3-0, before losing the semi-final to Kacper Piwowar (England) in the fifth.
Under 15s
In the group stages of the Under 15 individual event Peadar first came up against Andreas Kongsdal (Denmark), losing 0-3. He then went on to lose 1-3 to Alexandru Pop (Romania), before beating Kristijan Kalamadevski (North Macedonia) 3-0.
He then proceeded to the B finals, where he had a 3-0 victory over David Čapanda (Serbia, whom he had earlier lost to in the Boys Team event.
In the quarter-finals he overcame Oliver Poljak (Croatia) 3-1, then Branko Dragoljevic (Serbia) 3-0 before secruing a 3-1 victory over fellow Ireland teammate Boris Bonchev in the final.
Under 13 Mixed Doubles
The Under 13 Mixed Doubles event saw Peadar partner with Enya Hu of Switzerland. In the opening round they had a 3-0 victory over Nikola Miladinovic and Nada Radjcic of Serbia before overcoming Vukasin Kecman and Nada Đulović of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-final they lost 1-3 to eventual winners Malik Severinsen (Denmark) and Szonja Szögi (Hungary).
Congratulations Peadar, Conn & team on a successful trip!
