Pablo Ramirez Rioja clinched a superb silver medal at the WTT Youth Contender Panagyurishte in Bulgaria.

Ramirez Rioja (pictured above left) won all four of his group matches in the Under-13 Boys’ Singles and then battled through three knockout rounds, including a 3-2 (11-3, 9-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4) victory over compatriot and third seed Dimitar Dimitrov in the quarter-finals.

He then beat fourth seed Viktor Dimitrov of the host nation 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10) to set up a final against fifth-ranked Kuzey Gundogdu of Turkey, who went on to take the title 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10), though Ramirez Rioja led the fourth 10-8.

In the same age group, Theo Kniep won three of his four group matches and a last-16 clash to reach the quarter-finals, where his run was ended by Gundogdu.

Aarav Parihar also won three group games to reach the last 32, where he was beaten by Bulgaria’s Miroslav Schmidt.

Dimitrov went one better in the under-11s, reaching the semi-finals after a flawless group campaign of four 3-0 victories.

His semi-final went to the wire as he looked to add to two recent gold medals on the WTT circuit, but this time he missed out, going down 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11, 12-10) to Emre Bucak of Turkey.

Ralph Pattison (WR 150) reached the quarter-finals of the under-17s thanks to a terrific 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9) win over third seed and world No 47 Yoan Velichkov of the host nation in the last 16. He was then defeated by Julian Rzihauschek of Austria (WR 73) in the last eight.

Jakub Piwowar (WR 128) got to the last 16, where his run was halted by fourth seed and world No 49 Tiago Abiodun of Portugal.

Kacper Piwowar went out to Yehor Borshchevskyi of Ukraine in the last 32, beaten 3-2 (11-8, 13-11, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9) by a player ranked almost 200 places above him at 153.

Angad Saggu went out in the under-17 groups but was one of three English players to make it through in the under-15s, going through on a three-way countback in a tight group. He was defeated by Ireland’s Stefan Bonchev in the last 32.

Ramirez Rioja and Kacper Piwowar dug deep to record great victories in the same round, the former coming from 2-0 down to beat Ahmed Almusayebi of UAE 3-2 (6-11, 5-11, 17-15, 11-8, 11-6) and the latter from 2-1 down to see off Bulgaria’s Viktor Dimitrov 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10).

Piwowar was on the comeback trail again in the round of 16, coming from 2-0 down to defeat Mihai Nagy of Romania 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3). He then went out to fourth seed Gorkem Ocal of Turkey in the quarter-finals. Ramirez Rioja bowed out in the round of 16 to Ocal’s compatriot Berk Oztoprak.

Kniep and Parihar both picked up a group-stage victory but it was not enough to progress from their groups of four.

In the under-19s, both Jakub Piwowar and Pattison got into the knockouts but went no further. Piwowar was a group runner up and was edged out in the last 64 by Ioannis Anastasiadis of Greece – 12-10 in the fifth.

Pattison, as a group winner, went straight into the round of 32, but was stopped in three straight by Divyansh Srivastava of India (WR 78).

Results

Under-19 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 15
Jakub Piwowar bt Yigit Simsek (TUR) 3-1 (11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-5)
Efstathios Manolopoulos (GRE) bt Piwowar 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8)

Qualifying group 17
Ralph Pattison bt Grigoris Tsilopoulos (GRE) 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9)
Pattison bt Zhou Jinghe (SGP) 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-3)

Round of 64
Ioannis Anastasiadis (GRE) bt Piwowar 3-2 (11-8, 13-11, 6-11, 8-11, 12-10)

Round of 32
Divyansh Srivastava (IND) bt Pattison 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6)

Under-17 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 9
Jakub Piwowar bt Ioannis Anastasiadis (GRE) 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)
Piwowar bt Kyrylo Spyrydonov (UKR) 3-2 (11-13, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-1)

Qualifying group 10
Gianni Koutra (GRE) bt Ralph Pattison 3-2 (9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7)
Pattison bt Onur Duran (TUR) 3-2 (6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6)

Qualifying group 18
Kacper Piwowar bt Milan Zhekov (BUL) 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-2, 11-4)
Robert Istrate (ROU) bt Piwowar 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-9)
Piwowar bt Grigoris Tsilopoulos (GRE) 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-7)

Qualifying group 19
Berk Oztoprak (TUR) bt Angad Saggu 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-4)
Diyorbek Urazboev (UZB) bt Saggu 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-7)
Luca Aprea (ROU) bt Saggu 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3)

Round of 32
Jakub Piwowar bt Gianni Koutra (GRE) 3-1 (14-12, 4-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Pattison bt Robert Podar (ROU) 3-2 (15-13, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8)
Yehor Borshchevskyi (UKR) bt Kacper Piwowar 3-2 (11-8, 13-11, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9)

Round of 16
Tiago Abiodun (POR) bt Jakub Piwowar 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 12-10)
Pattison bt Yoan Velichkov (BUL) 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9)

Quarter-finals
Julian Rzihauschek (AUT) bt Pattison 3-0 (11-5, 14-12, 11-5)

Under-15 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 2
Rija Warin (FRA) bt Pablo Ramirez Rioja 3-0 (11-1, 11-6, 11-6)
Ramirez Rioja bt Trayan Georgiev (BUL) 3-0 (11-5, 11-1, 11-6)

Qualifying group 7
Kacper Piwowar bt Nikita Martinov (MDA) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-4)
Piwowar bt Dimitar Dimitrov (BUL) 3-1 (11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4)

Qualifying group 13
Viktor Dimitrov (BUL) bt Theo Kniep 3-0 (19-17, 11-5, 11-6)
Kniep bt Ahmet Tukenmez (TUR) 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-9)
Matei Eparu (ROU) bt Kniep 3-1 (11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8)

Qualifying group 15
Aras Aydin (TUR) bt Angad Saggu 3-2 (12-10, 9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-1)
Saggu bt Teodor Moiseanu (ROU) 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-3)
Ahmed Almusayebi (UAE) bt Saggu 3-1 (12-10, 4-11, 14-12, 19-17)

Qualifying group 16
Mohammed Almusayebi (UAE) bt Aarav Parihar 3-2 (7-11, 14-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4)
Parihar bt Dilmurod Muhamadov (UZB) 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-9)
Stefan Bonchev (IRL) bt Parihar 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 12-10)

Round of 32
Ramirez Rioja bt Ahmed Almusayebi (UAE) 3-2 (6-11, 5-11, 17-15, 11-8, 11-6)
Piwowar bt Viktor Dimitrov (BUL) 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10)
Stefan Bonchev (IRL) bt Saggu 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4)

Round of 16
Berk Oztoprak (TUR) bt Ramirez Rioja 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-6)
Piwowar bt Mihai Nagy (ROU) 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3)

Quarter-finals
Gorkem Ocal (TUR) bt Piwowar 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-2)

Under-13 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 1
Pablo Ramirez Rioja bt David Manescu (ROU) 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-3)
Ramirez Rioja bt Miroslav Schmidt (BUL) 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10)
Ramirez Rioja bt Georgios Sassanis (GRE) 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5)
Ramirez Rioja bt Eymen Basar (TUR) 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-8)

Qualifying group 3
Dimitar Dimitrov bt Ahmet Tukenmez (TUR) 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-8)
Dimitrov bt Teodor Moiseanu (ROU) 3-2 (10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11)
Dimitrov bt Dimitar Yonev (BUL) 3-2 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 12-14, 11-6)
Marlen Zhumagul (KAZ) bt Dimitrov 3-1 (11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9)

Qualifying group 4
Aarav Parihar bt Emre Bucak (TUR) 3-2 (11-7, 12-10, 10-12, 7-11, 11-4)
Viktor Dimitrov (BUL) bt Parihar 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8)
Parihar bt Dimitrios Alexandridis (GRE) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 12-10)
Parihar bt Vladimir Filimon (ROU) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-5)

Qualifying group 6
Theo Kniep bt Ahmet Gulenler (TUR) 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6)
Stefan Bonchev (IRL) bt Kniep 3-2 (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7)
Kniep bt Krasen Savov (BUL) 3-0 (11-5, 15-13, 11-8)
Kniep bt Dragos Delca (ROU) 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-9)

Round of 32
Miroslav Schmidt (BUL) bt Parihar 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-9)

Round of 16
Ramirez Rioja bt Albert Czigler (ROU) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5)
Dimitrov bt Andrei Badescu (ROU) 3-2 (12-10, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)
Kniep bt Marlen Zhumagul (KAZ) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8)

Quarter-finals
Ramirez Rioja bt Dimitrov 3-2 (11-3, 9-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4)
Kuzey Gundogdu (TUR) bt Kniep 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-4)

Semi-finals
Ramirez Rioja bt Viktor Dimitrov (BUL) 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10)

Final
Kuzey Gundogdu (TUR) bt Ramirez Rioja 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10)

Under-11 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 1
Dimitar Dimitrov bt Serban Radulescu (ROU) 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-7)
Dimitrov bt Kerem Guller (TUR) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-3)
Dimitrov bt Nikolaos Alexidis (GRE) 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-4)
Dimitrov bt Demir Yonu (TUR) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-5)

Semi-final
Emre Bucak (TUR) bt Dimitrov 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11, 12-10)