Darcie back on England duty

In the Cadet singles, Proud started with defeat to Lou Frete of France – one of the top players in Europe – and then a narrow 3-2 reverse to Irina Rus of Romania.

But she ended the group stage with a 3-2 (8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6) victory over Italy’s Nicole Arlia.

She went into the consolation event, where she beat Csenge Adamik of the host nation 3-2 (2-11, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9) in the first round, before a 3-1 defeat to Hanna Loncarevic of Croatia.

In the doubles, Proud and partner Jasmin Wong overcame Dzana Biogradlic and Harisa Mesetovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 (11-3, 5-11, 11-4, 12-10) in the first round, before falling to Idys Gaoh Cai Koh and Jingyi Zhou of Singapore in the last 32, going down 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-3).

In the team event, Proud and Wong struggled as England were beaten 3-0 by both Singapore and Lithuania and were eliminated in the group stage.