Cindy Xiao completed an incredible five-way countdown in the group stage and went on to win a fourth-place medal at the Stiga Masters U11 competition in Belgium.
The competition brings together some of the most promising boys and girls in Europe, with 14 in each category playing first in a group stage and then in a main draw and positional play-offs.
Photos by Michael Loveder
Xiao (pictured above with performance coach Eva Toth) was the only English participant and started well by winning her first two group matches against Andreea Prohorovici of Moldova and Lidiia Shyian of Ukraine.
She then saw Lara Monteiro of Portugal fight back to beat her 3-2 (17-19, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4), but recovered to beat Capucine Housiaux of Belgium.
Defeats against Lithuania’s Kaja Tvorogal, who won all six matches to top the group, and Alyssia Bataille of France left Xiao with three wins and three defeats – the same record as every player in the seven-player group except Tvorogal and Housiaux, the latter not winning a match.
The complex countback placed Xiao in second place and she went on to beat Moldova’s Iulia Cazac 3-1 in the last 16, followed by a 3-0 win over Spain’s Juana Morales in the quarter-finals.
Romania’s Bianca Toma, who won the title, was sloppy in the semi-finals with a 3-0 win and Xiao ended her campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Tvorogal in the play-off for third and fourth places.
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