Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania are the newly crowned champions in the Under 19 Mixed Doubles at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In the final they overcame their fellow Romanian players Eduard IONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN. The bronze medalists are Marcel BLASZCZYK and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland as well as Teodor ISTRATE of Romania and Nicole ARLIA of Italy. MOVILEANU and ZAHARIA secured their victory in straight games (11 7 9). Elena ZAHARIA mentioned that the match was much closer than the score suggests but they fought harder for the win which was the key to their success. Darius MOVILEANU who had lost his match for a medal in the singles event just before the mixed doubles final was left speechless with emotion after their victory. In the semifinals Eduard IONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN overcame Marcel BLASZCZYK and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland in a close match (12 15 -10 2). The Romanian pair was well-prepared for a tough battle and their confidence in their game allowed them to clinch the victory. “We knew what to expect. They beat very god Romania’s pairings Iulian CHIRITA and Bianca MEI ROSU in the Round of 16. We were prepared on a very close match ” said IONESCU.“We were 6-1 or 6-2 up in opening games and it ended by narowest of margins.” SINGEORZAN pointed at very important quality of Romania’s pairings. “The opening two games were very close and even when we lost the third game we did not lost our faith. We were verey confident in our game ” said Ioana. In the other semifinal Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA prevailed against Teodor ISTRATE of Romania and Nicole ARLIA of Italy (8 6 7). The result doesn’t fully reflect the intensity of the match as Romania’s pairings did not give much space to their opponents and played aggressively to secure their spot in the final. “The result does not accurately predict how close the game was. We did not underestimate our adversaries as we knew they were very strong ” said ZAHARIA. Romania’s pairings applied a strong strategy not allowing much space for ISTRATE and ARLIA to take control of the match. “We decided to play very aggressively. I had a very good block for Nicole but this time we opted to take the initiative and attack first ” said MOVILEANU.  

In the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG of France secured the gold medal. In the final they defeated the pairing of Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Gaetane BLED of France (9 -13 4 7). The bronze medalists are Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany as well as Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART of France. After the final Nathan PILARD commented “BLED has a very strong forehand flip so I tried to avoid it as much as possible.” Nina added that her backhand was working fine saying “I put all the balls on the table.” In the semifinals the top-seeded Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany lost to Patryk ZYWORONEK and Gaetane BLED. ZYWORONEK and BLED were two games down before they made a remarkable comeback to win the match (-5 -9 5 8 7). “We had a very poor start to the game. We needed some time to find the right rhythm. I am so happy that we managed to do it. I think we were mentally stronger and much calmer ” said ZYWORONEK. BLED added “I made mistakes in the opening two games. After being down 0-2 I put more spin on the ball and played with more variations.” In the other semifinal Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG overcame their teammates Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART. “It is very difficult to play against adversaries who know you well. All of us were nervous and under pressure but I think it affected Sandro and Leana more. They did not show in the match what they usually do at the trainings ” said PILARD. Nina who played in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event last year in Belgrade expressed that this is her first tournament with Nathan by her side and they managed to stay focused and stick to their tactics.  

Medals are guaranteed for Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands and Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland in the Under 19 Boys Singles event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. They will face each other in the semifinals making it the semifinal with the lowest-seeded players in the penultimate stage ever. Kas VAN OOST’s achievement marks the first time since 2013 that a Dutch player has won a medal in the singles event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. The Dutch team had previously collected two medals in the Doubles event. The last Dutch player to win a singles medal was Britt EERLAND in 2011. Before that the last boys singles medalist from the Netherlands was Jorg DE COCK in 1996. VAN OOST seeded at position no. 50 defeated second seed Hugo DESCHAMPS of France in the Round of 16 (7 6 6 8) and then secured his place in the semifinal with a victory against Darius MOVILEANU of Romania (-7 6 4 7 -7 -1 9). Meanwhile Milosz REDZIMSKI overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania in the quarterfinals (-10 -6 15 9 5 -10 8) previously eliminating Simon BELIK of the Czech Republic (6 4 5 8). In the other semifinal top seed Eduard IONESCU of Romania will face his teammate Teodor ISTRATE. IONESCU defeated Lleyton ULLMANN of Germany (9 7 5 7) to secure his spot in the semis while ISTRATE beat Michal GAWLAS of Poland (-5 4 8 -8 1 6). In the Under 19 Girls Singles Event semifinals Elena ZAHARIA of Romania will face her compatriot Bianca MEI ROSU and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania will play against Anna HURSEY of Wales. ZAHARIA defeated Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland (4 3 10 -3 -5 4) in the quarterfinals while MEI ROSU prevailed against Mia GRIESEL of Germany in a hard-fought match (-6 8 -7 3 4 9). Earlier Mia GRIESEL beat the no. 4 seed Nicole ARLIA (8 12 4 -6 5) while SINGEORZAN defeated Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia (5 -9 9 8). HURSEY continued her impressive run against Anna BRZYSKA of Poland (9 8 7 -8 3 8). In the Under 15 Boys Singles semifinals Sandro CAVAILLE of France will meet Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Petr HODINA of Austria will play against Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal. ZYWORONEK had a thrilling match against Ralph PATTISON of England which ended after seven games (-8 -4 9 6 -7 6 7). In the Round of 16 PATTISON beat no. 3 seed Botond VARGA of Hungary (9 -7 10 9 8). In the Under 15 Girls Singles Event quarterfinals Maria BERZOSA of Spain secured a spot on the medal podium by overcoming Marziyya NURMATOVA of Azerbaijan (2 9 2 -8 14). She will face Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia who caused upsets by defeating two players seeded at position 4 Nora DOHOCZKI of Hungary in the Round of 16 and Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany in the quarterfinals (-8 9 -10 -9 4 4 9). In the other semifinal Nina GUO ZHENG of France defeated Julia LEAL of Portugal (7 4 -9 4 4) and Leana HOCHART also of France and seeded at position no. 8 prevailed against no. 2 seed Josephina NEUMANN of Germany (9 -10 7 8 -9 3).

In the Under 19 Boys Doubles Event the top-seeded pair of Darius MOVILEANU and Eduard IONESCU of Romania advanced to the semifinals at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. They will face host nation favorites Marcel BLASZCZYK and Alan KULCZYCKI of Poland. In the lower half of the draw Iulian CHIRITA and Teodor ISTRATE of Romania will clash against Thibault PORET and Hugo DESCHAMPS of France. In the quarterfinals MOVILEANU and IONESCU overcame Jakub GOLDIR and Samuel PALUSEK of Slovakia (6 7 5) while BLASZCZYK and KULCZYCKI defeated Flavien COTON of France and Dragos BUJOR of Romania (11 10 8). CHIRITA and ISTRATE proved too strong for William BERGENBLOCK and Isak ALFREDSSON of Sweden (6 7 -4 3) and PORET and DESCHAMPS beat Mael VAN DESSEL of Luxembourg and Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands (6 5 9). In the Under 19 Girls Doubles Event the semifinals will see Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania facing Mia GRIESEL of Germany and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania while Nicole ARLIA of Italy and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania will play against Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA of Poland. In the semifinals the top-seeded pair of ZAHARIA and ARAPOVIC overcame Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine (7 3 -9 10). The combination of GRIESEL from Germany and MEI ROSU from Romania also needed four games to beat Silvia COLL of Spain and Anna HURSEY of Wales (-10 7 6 9). The host nation favorites WIELGOS and BRZYSKA secured a victory over Ines MATOS and Matilde PINTO of Portugal (5 4 8) while ARLIA and SINGEORZAN prevailed against Lilou MASSART of Belgium and Elise PUJOL of France (5 6 -7 7). In the Under 15 Boys Doubles Event in Gliwice the medal winners have been determined and four pairings have advanced to the semifinals. The top seeds Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal will face Kenan KAHRAMAN and Gorkem OCAL of Türkiye in one semifinal while Mateusz SAKOWICZ and Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland will play against Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy in the other semifinal. RZIHAUSCHEK and ABIODUN secured their spot in the semis by defeating Matej HASPEL and Noah HERSEL of Germany (9 10 7). Interestingly the semifinals will feature players from the teams of Türkiye and Italy who were the winners of the gold and silver medals at the European Under 13 Championships held in Zagreb two months ago. Türkiye’s pairings KAHRAMAN and OCAL overcame Robert ISTRATE and Robert PODAR of Romania (9 7 -7 11). Zagreb’s finalists FASO and TREVISAN overcame the no. 2 seeds Petr HODINA of Austria and Damian FLORO of Slovakia in a hard-fought match (7 -2 -7 11 7). Mateusz SAKOWICZ and Patryk ZYWORONEK prevailed against Jaksa KRIVOKAPIC and Stefan RADONJIC of Montenegro (6 10 5) to secure their spot in the semifinals. In the semi-final of the Under 15 Girls Doubles Event on the last day of play Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany will face Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia and Maria BERZOSA of Spain. In the lower half of the draw Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART of France will play against Julia LEAL of Portugal and Andreea BAISU of Romania. In the quarterfinals the top-seeded pair of ITAGAKI and NEUMANN overcame Gaetane BLED of France and Susana COSTA of Portugal (6 8 4). The second-seeded pair of Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART justified their status by beating Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia and Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA of Poland (12 3 3). Veronika POLAKOVA and Maria BERZOSA also needed only three games to overcome Sophie BARCSAI and Nora DOHOCZKI of Hungary (5 7 7). Julia LEAL and Andreea BAISU resolved their quarterfinal clash with Lorena MORSCH and Lisa-Sophia WANG of Germany in four games (11 8 -10 11).  

Medals have been secured in both the Under 19 and Under 15 Mixed Doubles events at the ORLEN European Championships in Gliwice. Players from six countries will stand on the medal podium tomorrow. In the Under 19 event Romania is leading while French players dominated the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event. In the Under 19 Mixed Doubles event top seeds Eduard IOENSCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania defeated Milosz REDZIMSKI and Wiktoria WROBEL of Poland (5 9 8). However the host nation will still have representatives in the semifinals as Marcel BLASZCZYK and Zuzanna WIELGOS beat Hugo DESCHAMPS of France and Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia (6 3 9). Teodor ISTRATE of Romania and Nicole ARLIA of Italy proved too strong for Connor GREEN of England and Anna HURSEY of Wales (6 3 9). In contrast Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania faced serious pressure needing five games to halt the progress of Andre BERTELSMEIER and Mia GRIESEL of Germany (-3 6 -7 5 9). In the quarterfinals top seeds Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany overcame Danilo FASO and Sofia MINURRI of Italy (-7 12 10 6). They will meet Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Gaetane BLED of France. The Polish-French combination prevailed against Robert Alexandru ISTRATE and Andreea BAIASU of Romania (8 -9 8 8). In the lower half of the draw only French players succeeded. Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART overcame Matej HASPEL and Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany (6 8 -9 8). Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG halted the fantastic run of Spanish pairings Dario SALCEDO and Renata SHYPSHA (-10 6 2 8).  

Michal GAWLAS of Poland achieved an impressive victory in the Round of 64 defeating the fourth-seeded player Tom CLOSSET of Belgium. Despite being the 41st seed GAWLAS fought hard in a closely contested match that went to six games (-10 10 -10 9 9 13). GAWLAS acknowledged the challenge posed by his highly ranked opponent saying “This was the toughest match for me at the Championships so far. He was the highest-ranked adversary I have faced in Gliwice. He played every ball on the table and the rallies were longer with varied placement sometimes making it difficult for me to respond. His service was also very uncomfortable. Nevertheless the key to my victory was my fighting spirit and determination.” Initially feeling stressed GAWLAS found a turning point in the match. “At the beginning I was really tense and couldn’t play my best table tennis. When I was down 1-2 in games and 3-8 in the fourth game I told myself to stay positive and play for fun. That change in mindset had a positive effect and I’m really happy with this match ” he added. In other notable matches Rafael KONG of Portugal made an impressive comeback from being 0-3 down against the 11th seed David SZANTOSI of Hungary (-6 -6 -5 11 4 12 2). “It was really difficult for me in the opening three games. I knew I had to make some changes to turn the match around. In the fourth game I solely focused on the task of putting the next ball on the table. Winning that game made SZANTOSI uneasy and I was able to regain my confidence. As a result he started making mistakes under pressure. In the first three games I played the same game repeatedly but as the match progressed I introduced a lot of variations into my game ” explained KONG. Similarly Gabrielius CAMARA of the Netherlands seeded 67th exceeded expectations by defeating the 17th seed Matthias DANZER of Germany (-9 9 9 -7 7 6). Meanwhile the top seed Eduard IONESCU of Romania faced a tough challenge from Molo DE BOER of the Netherlands going 1-2 down before eventually recovering to secure his spot in the Round of 32.

In the Under 19 Girls Singles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships in Gliwice the no. 6 seed Agathe AVEZOU of France faced a tough challenge in the Round 64 against Patricia SANTOS of Portugal. She lost in five games (9 7 -5 9 9). SANTOS made it difficult for AVEZOU known for her defensive style of play. Reflecting on her victory SANTOS mentioned “It was very difficult for me to play against a player with a defensive style. I had to be patient and stay calm throughout the match. This notable win is the first significant success I have achieved in international competitions.” The struggles for French players continued as the no. 13 seed Clea DE STOPPELEIRE also suffered a defeat at the hands of Ukraine’s Olga PONKO (11 -8 8 -9 9 10). Similarly the no. 16 seed Dominika WILTSCHKOVA of Slovakia departed earlier than her seeding predicted as Ainhoa CRISTOBAL of Spain emerged victorious after a match that lasted more than an hour (6 -6 5 10 -6 -9 10). On the other hand the no. one seed Elena ZAHARIA of Romania managed to prevail against Eugenia SASTRE of Spain in a five-game battle (-14 8 7 6 5). The no. 2 seed Anna HURSEY of Wales beat Nomin BAASAN of Sweden comfortably in straight games (9 6 6 8).

The most valuabe players (MVP) of the team event of the ORLEN European Youth Championships are:   Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia in Under 19 Girls  Gabrielius CAMARA of the Netherlands in Under 19 Boys Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany in Under 15 Girls Tiago ABIODUN in Under 15 Boys.   The MVP is the player who scored the highest number of victory points in the team events according to the Experimental European Ranking System. Tiago ABIODUN scored the most victory points which makes him the overall most valuable player of the team event.   U19 GIRLS TEAMS U19 BOYS TEAMS ARAPOVIC Hana CRO 394 CAMARA Gabrielius NED 485 ZAHARIA Elena ROU 380 SZANTOSI David HUN 440 LACHENMAYER Lea GER 294 REDZIMSKI Milosz POL 400 HURSEY Anna WAL 268 MOVILEANU Darius ROU 295 MEI ROSU Bianca ROU 265 IONESCU Eduard ROU 290 MATIUNINA Veronika UKR 247 BELIK Simon CZE 275 MATOS Ines POR 235 SCHWEIGER Tom GER 270 SOMMEROVA Helena CZE 231 SHUSHAN Eitay ISR 231 SINGEORZAN Ioana ROU 220 LEI Balazs HUN 225 GRIESEL Mia GER 211 KVETON Ondrej CZE 220 WIELGOS Zuzanna POL 186 LAFFINEUR Louis BEL 210 PRANJKOVIC Naomi GER 174 CHIRITA Iulian ROU 201 DE STOPPELEIRE Clea FRA 160 BERTELSMEIER Andre GER 196 MASSART Lilou BEL 151 BRHEL Stepan CZE 188 WILTSCHKOVA Dominika SVK 151 BERZOSA Daniel ESP 181 MERENCO Camelia MDA 133 VALLINO Federico ITA 181 JUCHNAITE Lukrecija LTU 116 DURSUN Ugurcan TUR 180 STERNER Anastasia AUT 116 ZALEWSKI Mateusz POL 175 MORETTI Irene ITA 115 VAN OOST Kas NED 170 ILLASOVA Adriana SVK 110 ALFREDSSON Isak SWE 170   U15 GIRLS TEAMS U15 BOYS TEAMS ITAGAKI Koharu GER 527 ABIODUN Tiago POR 760 BERZOSA Maria ESP 500 ZYWORONEK Patryk POL 395 SIREAC Ecaterina MDA 465 SOLODKYI Nazarii UKR 390 JIFCU Andreea ROU 360 RZIHAUSCHEK Julian AUT 352 BAIASU Andreea ROU 290 VARGA Botond Zoltan HUN 335 MOLNAROVA Emma HUN 281 FLORO Damian SVK 290 HOCHART Leana FRA 256 FASO Danilo ITA 281 KODETOVA Hanka CZE 230 KHIDASHELI Luca ESP 280 LEAL Julia POR 221 PATTISON Ralph ENG 275 NURMATOVA Marziyya AZE 220 KRIVOKAPIC Jaksa MNE 244 GUO ZHENG Nina FRA 201 KAHRAMAN Kenan TUR 217 BLED Gaetane FRA 175 SAKOWICZ Mateusz POL 200 SKERBINZ Nina AUT 171 HODINA Petr AUT 195 NEUMANN Josephina GER 170 CAVAILLE Sandro FRA 195 BENJEGARD Siri SWE 160 PODAR Robert ROU 190 DE KLERK Jitte NED 146 PILARD Nathan FRA 190 POLAKOVA Veronika CZE 140 WALLIN Adam SWE 185 ASGAROVA Aylin AZE 136 KOSMAS Georgios GRE