Fourth-placed finish for Cindy Xiao at Stiga Masters

November 3, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

Cindy Xiao came through an incredible five-way countback in the group stage and went on to win a fourth-place medal at the Stiga Masters U11 competition in Belgium.

The competition brings together some of the most promising boys and girls in Europe, with 14 in each category playing first in a group stage and then in a main draw and positional play-offs.

Photos by Michael Loveder

Xiao (pictured above with performance coach Eva Toth) was the only English competitor and started well by winning her first two group matches against Andreea Prohorovici of Moldova and Lidiia Shyian of Ukraine.

She then saw Lara Monteiro of Portugal battle back to beat her 3-2 (17-19, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4) but bounced back to beat Capucine Housiaux of Belgium.

Cindy Xiao

Defeats to Lithuaniaâ€s Kaja Tvorogal, who won all six matches to top the group, and Alyssia Bataille of France left Xiao with three wins and three defeats – the same record as every player in the seven-player group except Tvorogal and Housiaux, the latter not winning a match.

The complex countback placed Xiao in second place and she then defeated Iulia Cazac of Moldova 3-1 in the last 16, followed by a 3-0 win over Spainâ€s Juana Morales in the quarter-finals.

Bianca Toma of Romania, who went on the win the title, was too string in the semis with a 3-0 victory and Xiao ended her campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Tvorogal in the play-off for third and fourth positions.

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