Dimitar Dimitrov finished fourth and Amber Lemmon fifth at the Stiga Masters U11 competition in Blegny, Belgium.

The competition brought 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)

Dimitrov won five of his six group matches, losing out only to Ukraine’s David Drobov, who claimed an eyecatching 3-2 (11-9, 12-10, 20-22, 12-14, 11-8) victory.

Dimitrov them won his first two knockout matches against opponents from Belgium and Lithuania to reach the semi-finals.

There, he was defeated 3-2 by Ukraine’s Mark Voronoi, who went on to finish second to his compatriot Drobov. Dimitrov’s final match was also a 3-2 defeated, to Real Krol Shahar of Israel, meaning he finished in fourth place.

Lemmon won two of her six group matches, then defeated a Spanish opponent in the first round to reach the quarter-finals.

She was narrowly defeated 3-2 by Spain’s Carmen Gomez, who went on to finish second, but recovered to beat opponents from Czechia and Germany to finish fifth.

Results

Girls’ Group A
Amber Lemmon bt Lore Goethals (BEL) 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-8)
Carmen Gomez (ESP) bt Lemmon 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 15-13)
Lemmon bt Leonor Ascenco (POR) 3-0 (11-8, 14-12, 11-9)
Bianca Toma (ROU) bt Lemmon 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 4-11, 11-8)
Eva Chalkovskyte (LTU) bt Lemmon 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10)
Dana Haspel (GER) bt Lemmon 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 17-15, 8-11, 11-6)

First round
Lemmon bt Nour Slamti (ESP) 3-1

Quarter-finals
Carmen Gomez (ESP) bt Lemmon 3-2

Positions 5-8
Lemmon bt Bara Cupakova (CZE) 3-1

Positions 5-6
Lemmon bt Dana Haspel (GER) 3-1

Boys’ Group B
Dimitar Dimitrov bt Real Krol Shahar (ISR) 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9)
Dimitrov bt Victor Dobato (ESP) 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-5)
David Drobov (UKR) bt Dimitrov 3-2 (11-9, 12-10, 20-22, 12-14, 11-8)
Dimitrov bt Nicolae Bucur (MDA) 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7)
Dimitrov bt Mindaugas Stonys (LTU) 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8)
Dimitrov bt Florian Cambier (BEL) 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-8)

First round
Dimitrov bt Hugo Farhi Thinsy (BEL) 3-0

Quarter-finals
Dimitrov bt Mindgaugas Stonys (LTU) 3-0

Semi-finals
Mark Voronoi (UKR) bt Dimitrov 3-2

Positions 3-4
Real Krol Shahar (ISR) bt Dimitrov 3-2