Sophie Earley beat the world No 31 senior player at the WTT Youth Star Contender Doha, but agonisingly went out of the competition on countback in the group stage.

Earley defeated Hana Goda of Egypt, the tournament’s top seed and the world No 3 junior, recovering from 2-1 down to win in a decider in the Under-19 Girls’ Singles.

She also defeated Hardee Chetan Patel of India, but with Earley, Goda and China’s Wang Yuan all having won twice, Earley went out on countback – she was beaten in three by Wang.

Earley faced Chinese opposition in both doubles competitions. She & Connor Green went out in the quarter-finals of the Mixed, and it was the same stage in the Girls’ Doubles, alongside Dominika Wiltschkova of Slovakia.

Wales’ Anna Hursey reached the Singles semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Yashaswini Ghorpade of India, ranked three places above her at No 23 in the junior rankings.

Results

Under-19 Girls’ Singles
Qualifying group 1
Wang Yuan (CHN) bt Sophie Earley 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8)
Earley bt Hana Goda (EGY) 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6)
Earley bt Hardee Chetan Patel (IND) 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-7)

Under-19 Girls’ Doubles
Quarter-finals
Liu Xinran & Gao Yuxin (CHN) bt Sophie Earley & Dominika Wiltschkova (SVK) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)

Under-19 Mixed Doubles
Quarter-finals
Wen Ruibo & Gao Yuxin (CHN) bt Connor Green & Sophie Earley 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 12-10)