World Junior Individuals Finish, Teams Draw Decided

Abbie Palmer battled it out on the last day of the World Junior Championships individual event whilst the draws for the World Junior Girls Team Event has been decided.

Abbie Palmer was the last kiwi left competing on the final day of the individuals event at the World Junior Championships in Eindhoven.

Palmer had to face Andrea Jia Qi Lee of Malaysia in the Special Plate final. Last time Palmer competed at the World Junior Championships she was pipped at the post by fellow kiwi Ellie Epke in the Consolation Plate final so she was sure to come out firing to make this one of her best performances to date. 

Palmer ensured everything was left on court in this match, she clinched the first game in a tight 11-9, however Lee came out in the second to take the game 11-5. The two players battle point for point in the third and with a nail biting 10 all Palmer dug deep and played the shots to get the third game 12-10. 

In a hard fought fourth game Lee just got over the line 11-7. Palmer came out and put everything on the line in the fifth but the game and the match eventually went the way of the Malaysian 11-8. Well done Abbie for your brilliant game!

The girls will now move their focus to the teams event where they have managed to secure a 6th seed for the event. They have a tough pool ahead of them with third seeds England topping out pool C. They also have France, Belgium and Zimbabwe in their pool. 

The girls will face 11th seeds France on Friday morning and 17th/18th seeds Zimbabwe in the afternoon. The girls will have a rest Saturday morning with a Bye and then they will take on 3rd seeds England in the afternoon. Their final pool play match will be against 13th/16th seeds Belgium on Sunday morning. Dependent on their results will depend on where they play off for. 

A full blog of each day can be found here and will be updated as we hear from everyone over there.

Photos from the event can be found here and on our Facebook page here

Full results for the individual girls event can be found here and for the individual boys event can be found here

The Draws for the Teams event can be found here

Special Plate Final

Abbie Palmer lost Andrea Jia Qi Lee (Malaysia) 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 - 43 mins

Pool C Draw

Fri 11am - New Zealand (6) vs France (11)

Fri 6pm - New Zealand (6) vs Zimbabwe (17/18)

Sat 10:30am - New Zealand (6) vs BYE

Sat 5pm - New Zealand (6) vs England (3)

Sun 10:30am - New Zealand (6) vs Belgium (13/16)