Stars of the show were Tiago Apolonia and Fu Yu.

Against Sweden, Tiago Apolonia beat Mattias Falck (7-11, 11-1, 11-4, 4-11, 12-10), before in the vital fifth and deciding match of the fixture, he overcame Jon Persson (8-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8, 11-7). The one further win for Portugal was secured by Marcos Freitas, in the fourth contest of the engagement he accounted for Mattias Falck (11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7). The wins for Sweden were recorded by Jon Persson against Marcos Freitas (11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4) and by Truls Moregard in opposition to Jão Monteiro (11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8).

Top seeds await

Germany, the top seeds, now await, the trio comprising Timo Boll, Patrick Franziska and Dimitrij Ovtcharov secured a 3-0 win in opposition to the no.3 seeds, the French selection of Can Akkuzu, Simon Gauzy and Emmanuel Lebesson. Timo Boll gave Germany the perfect start by beating Simon Gauzy (11-7, 17-15, 8-11, 11-7), before Dimitrij Ovtcharov accounted for Emmanuel Lebesson (9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7) and Patrick Franziska overcame Can Akkuzu to end matters (11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7).

Outstanding from Tiago Apolonia, in the women’s contest against Hungary, it was the same from Fu Yu. She accounted for Dora Madarasz (11-9, 11-5, 11-9) and Georgina Pota (11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4). Shao Jieni added the one further success by overcoming Georgina Pota (11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9); for Hungary Szandra Pergel beat Leila Oliveira (11-13, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8).

Undoubtedly, in the women’s event 3-1 was the popular victory margin; Romania, the top seeds, beat Poland, the no.11 seeds; by the same difference.

Backbone of the Romanian success against Poland was Elizabeta Samara, she accounted for both Natalia Partyka (11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3) and Li Qian (11-8, 11-7, 11-7); the further success for Romania was recorded by Bernadette Szocs, she prevailed against Natalia Bajor (11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 13-11). The one success for Poland was secured in the second match of the fixture when Li Qian overcame Daniela Monteiro-Dodean (11-3, 11-7, 13-11).

Both the men’s and women’s finals will be played on Sunday 8th September, the closing day of play in Nantes.