All Romanian players qualified for the second stage at the Egypt Junior Open in Cairo on 10th April 2009. However, there were some unexpected defeats against an Egyptian girl and a Jordanian boy. More and more the players from the big table tennis nations have to take care against the “no-names” even though the opponent is five years younger. Twelve Year Old Ziad Aziz in Champion’s Manner Jordan’s youngster Ziad Aziz shocked number nine seeded Mihai Sargu. The twelve year old was 2-0 ahead when the Romanian favourite stroke back and equalised. The whole delegation of the Eastern European country has assembled behind table number nine to support their team-mate. Ziad Aziz for his part still believed in a win. The five years younger player is estimated 40 centimetres shorter than Sargu, but it was the Romanian who had to move much more. Against all odds Aziz prevailed and made an important step towards a good self-confidence. In the evening match, Aziz also won against Ahmed Samir of Egypt and qualified as winner of the group 9 for the main draw. Egyptian Girl Beats Number One Rana Ezzat of Egypt won 3-1 against the Junior Girls top seeded Cristina Hirici. It was just one more of many strong Egyptian performances in Cairo. Ezzat won the group 1 and may have a good chance to win more matches in the main draw. For the Romanians Hirici and Sargu the defeats did not have a big impact. Both qualified for the main draw of the Girls’ and the Boys’ Singles event respectively. The next gaffe, however, would be the end of all hopes.