France and Germany will play in the final of the Under 15 event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships in Gliwice. The French team was not in the mood for charity tonight. Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART overcame Maria BERZOSA and Irina GIMENO FONT in straight matches and they did not lose a game in the process. “I recently played against Maria BERZOSA at the WTT tournament and I beat her 4-1. Last year in Belgrade at the European Championships I also prevailed 4-2 so her game was not a mystery to me. At the beginning I was under a little pressure because it is not easy to play in the semifinal but eventually everything fell into place ” said Nina. Leana added shortly that she was very confident that they could win. Koharu ITAGAKI won both her matches against Veronika POLAKOVA and Hanka KODETOVA as well as the point in the doubles with Josephina NEUMANN. “I believed we could win this one and I am happy we managed it. I have already played against both Czechia’s players and I won on every occasion ” said ITAGAKI. Josephina NEUMANN admitted she was very nervous but she said that her game improved from the morning session.   Spain – France 0-3 Maria BERZOSA – Nina GUO ZHENG 0-3 (8-11 8-11 7-11) Irina GIMENO FONT – Leana HOCHART 0-3 (5-11 6-11 10-12) Maria BERZOSA Irina GIMENO FONT – Nina GUO ZHENG Leana HOCHART 0-3 (5-11 6-11 7-11) Germany – Czechia 3-1 Koharu ITAGAKI – Veronika POLAKOVA 3-1 (10-12 11-4 11-5 11-3) Josephina NEUMANN – Hanka KODETOVA 1-3 (13-15 11-8 9-11 5-11) Koharu ITAGAKI Josephina NEUMANN – Veronika POLAKOVA Hanka KODETOVA 3-1 (11-8 7-11 11-8 11-5) Koharu ITAGAKI – Hanka KODETOVA 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-9)

In the final of the Under 19 Girls event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships Romania will meet Germany. This is the outcome of tonight’s matches in Gliwice. Romania was the first to book their place in the ultimate stage but it didn’t happen easily. France failed to win any points but both Elise PUJOL and Agathe AVEZOU forced Elena ZAHARIA and Bianca MEI ROSU to go the full distance. “I am so proud of my team. We have our goal and we are getting closer to the gold but it is not easy. This match was very difficult and we needed to show a lot of patience ” said ZAHARIA. MEI ROSU maintained her patience to overcome AVEZOU’s defensive style of play. “I had a very bad start to the day. I wasn’t mentally in the right state of mind but after talking with the coach and teammates everything looks different. I am very happy with my performance in this match ” said MEI ROSU. When asked if they had the opportunity to train against players with a defensive style ZAHARIA said “Sure we play a lot against my sister Alina who is a chopper. Neither of us is very comfortable with her style but it paid off here.” Germany had a tough clash against a spirited Polish team. Last year’s champions gave Germany a hard time led by Zuzanna WIELGOS who remained unbeaten in the duel. “We are so happy because they are a very strong team. We even doubted that we could win this. Poland was the favorite. I lost my opening duel but Mia was very confident after. After Lea added another point to the scoreline we became more and more confident. Then we started to think about the victory ” said Naomi PRANJKOVIC. Zuzanna WIELGOS leveled the score and on the second exit to the table Naomi admitted she was very nervous. “I was down two games but then I told myself to stop being so nervous. I wondered why I was so stressed when I had to enjoy my semifinal. It’s a big thing to be at the European championships and to play in the semis. I should not allow myself to be under stress; I should enjoy it. Then I started to think about how to put one more ball on the table than Wiktoria ” said PRANJKOVIC. Semifinals France – Romania 0-3 Clea DE STOPPELEIRE – Ioana SINGEORZAN 1-3 (11-4 7-11 8-11 1-11) Elise PUJOL – Elena ZAHARIA 2-3 (8-11 11-8 11-7 10-12 8-11) Agathe AVEZOU – Bianca MEI ROSU 2-3 (11-6 9-11 5-11 11-7 6-11) Poland – Germany 2-3 Zuzanna WIELGOS – Naomi PRANJKOVIC 3-2 (10-12 11-5 7-11 11-4 11-8) Wiktoria WROBEL – Mia GRIESEL 0-3 (1-11 9-11 7-11) Anna BRZYSKA – Lea LACHENMAYER 0-3 (6-11 8-11 5-11) Zuzanna WIELGOS – Mia GRIESEL 3-0 (11-9 11-7 13-11) Wiktoria WROBEL – Naomi PRANJKOVIC 2-3 (11-4 11-6 8-11 9-11 6-11).  

It has been seven years since the last time a team reached the final of the teams event coming from level two. In the Under 15 Boys teams event at the 2023 ORLEN European Youth Championships Portugal secured their place in the final after coming a long way from level 2. In the match for gold they will meet Austria. Portugal beat the odds once again after prevailing against Romania in the semifinal tonight. “It was a difficult match especially the duel between Dinis and ISTRATE who is a left-hander. We had the same problem in the doubles which ended very close in our favor ” explained Tiago ABIODUN. The team reached the final after winning in the group at level 2 against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus. In the playoffs they prevailed against Belgium and in the knockout stage they prevailed against Slovakia and Montenegro. The last time a team from level 2 reached the final was in 2016. Then the junior team of Serbia had a fantastic run until Romania halted their progress. Austria beat France in three matches but the two opening singles were very close. Peter HONDA overcame Nathan PILARD 3-2 before Julian RZIHAUSCHEK prevailed against Sandro CAVAILLE by the same margin. “It was very good for me that Petr opened the match with the victory. It helped me play a little bit more relaxed ” said Julian RZIHAUSCHEK. Speaking about the final Julian said “I played against Tiago ABIODUN before and he beat me 2-4. I will try to do better tomorrow.” Semifinals France – Austria 0-3 Nathan PILARD – Petr HODINA 2-3 (14-16 11-9 11-9 6-11 7-11) Sandro CAVAILLE – Julian RZIHAUSCHEK 2-3 (8-11 6-11 11-8 12-10 10-12) Nathan PILARD rija WARIN – Petr HODINA Julian RZIHAUSCHEK 0-3 (9-11 9-11 5-11) Portugal – Romania 3-1 Tiago ABIODUN – Robert PODAR 3-0 (12-10 11-2 11-8) Dinis YE – Robert ISTRATE 0-3 (7-11 7-11 6-11) Tiago ABIODUN Carlos GONÇALVES – Robert PODAR Robert ISTRATE (11-5 12-10 11-9) Tiago ABIODUN – Robert ISTRATE 3-0 (11-3 11-1 12-10)  

The quarterfinals of the Under 19 Boys event at the ORLEN European Championships in Gliwice brought great drama that ended with France and Germany booking their places in the penultimate stage. Belgium narrowly missed replicating their miraculous recovery from the Round of 16 against the Netherlands last night. In a fierce battle against Germany which resulted in four out of five matches being resolved in decisive games Tom SCHWEIGER Andre BERTELSMEIER and Matthias DANZER secured the medal. SCHWEIGER and BERTELSMEIER beat Louis LAFFINEUR and Tom CLOSSET to give Germany a dream start. They needed five games each but eventually prevailed. Alessi MASSART turned the course of the match by beating DANZER and LAFFINEUR prevailed against BERTELSMEIER before we moved to the decisive match between SCHWEIGER and CLOSSET. “My win over Louis in the opening match was a turning point. After BERTELSMEIER’s win we were close and I think our third player Matthias had a good chance. Unfortunately he lost by a narrow margin. It lasted longer but eventually our dream came true and we have a medal here ” said SCHWEIGER. The closeness of the match was evident from the result of the decisive game in the decisive match: 9-10. “I was very nervous because this game was for a medal but I forced myself to be active. In a few previous games I played defensively and blocked which is not my game.” France faced the host nation and had the monumental task of halting Poland’s progress towards the medal podium. Mateusz ZALEWSKI and Milosz RADZIMSKI opened the match with victories over Flavien COTON and Thibault PORET but Alexis KOURACHI managed to change the course of the duel. “We finished second in our group so we made our journey more difficult than it should have been. We didn’t play at the level we wanted in the beginning so now we had to take the harder path ” said PORET. After an easy win in the Round of 16 against Bulgaria Poland proved to be a tougher challenge. “REDZIMSKI is in outstanding shape here. It was hard to beat him. COTON was leading against ZALEWSKI 2-1 and he lost 2-3. Luckily Alexis managed to bring us back into the game. COTON needed five games to secure the decisive match for me. In the opening game against ZALEWSKI I was down 6-10 and won it; then I was down 2-7 and won again and after that I was sure the victory was mine. I had the heavy burden on my mind of our defeat against Poland three years ago in the semifinals. I didn’t want that to happen again ” explained PORET. Romania showed no mercy against Croatia in their quarterfinal duel. Eduard IONESCU Darius MOVILEANU and Teodor ISTRATE overcame Leo VEKIC Borna PETEK and Leon BENKO in straight matches. “We had to be very cautious. Team Croatia spent a week training in camp with us. We know each other very well and we couldn’t let our guard down for a single moment in the match. It looked like an easy win in straight matches but it was a very close fight ” said IONESCU. ISTRATE added “The most important thing is our team spirit. We all support each other and cheer for each point. Croatia is very similar and that’s why it was difficult.” Czechia overcame Italy as Simon BELIK Ondrej KVETON and Stepan BRHEL needed only three matches to seal the victory against Giacomo ALLEGRANZA Federico VALLINO and Daniele SPAGNOLO. Karel KARÁSEK coach of Czechia’s junior boys team said “We knew that Italy was an opponent we could beat in the fight for a medal. But we were all silent; no one wanted to say it out loud that this chance should be used. The decisive moment of the match was the first singles game in which Šimon BĚLÍK turned it around from 0:2 to 3:2. He calmed down his teammates and I have to give him huge praise. But I also have to praise the other two players because they also put in a great performance.” Ondřej KVĚTON stated “For me it was a huge advantage that Šimon BĚLÍK was able to win his match. Even so it was very nerve-wracking. In the end I was losing 0:7 in the fourth set reduced it to 6:7 and still lost. I was down 0:3 in the fifth set but somehow I managed to turn it around and win. The boys also put in a great performance so we deservedly progressed. It was a very tough match mentally because we knew we were the favorites and it was also about a medal. What more can I say?”

France concluded their quarterfinal match in the Under 15 Girls event at the ORLEN European Championships without any major alarm. Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART overcame Ukraine’s Veronika VASYLENKO and Daria KOVALOVA in both singles and doubles matches. “I was a little nervous at the beginning and I lost the opening game against VASYLENKO but after that I managed to calm down. I played without stress and easily prevailed without any problems ” said Nina. HOCHART mentioned that her forehand spin worked well today which gave her confidence in her win over Daria KOVALOVA. Czechia overcame a spirited team from Sweden. The hardest hurdle was the opening game which lasted the full five games. Veronika POLAKOVA beat Gabriela AALTONEN after a fierce fight. Hanka KODETOVA overcame Siri BENJEGARD 3-0 and the doubles also prevailed in straight games. Veronika POLÁKOVÁ said “It was the hardest match of the tournament for me. I didn’t expect Sweden to reach the quarterfinals at all; I expected someone else to be there. I didn’t think that the Swedes would be so good because we trained with them at the beginning of the year and know them. We had to focus even more on each match. This will be my second medal at the European Championships but I didn’t even think about last year’s Belgrade before the match. That’s in the past and now we’re focused on the next championship.” Germany secured a medal in their match against Moldova. Josephina NEUMANN lost the opening game against Ecaterina SIREAC but she teamed up with Koharu ITAGAKI in the doubles to overcome SIREAC and Inna LESCINSCAIA in superb style. Koharu won both her singles and doubles matches. “I was very nervous at the beginning of the match. It is my third European Championships but still the thought of playing for a medal and the overall atmosphere was overwhelming ” said Josephina who was born in 2010. “I lost but we have a very strong team and we managed to find a way to answer their unusual style. We don’t often have the opportunity to play against players with pimples and a defensive style. It was a challenge at first.” Spain’s Maria BERZOSA and Irina GIMENO FONT prevailed against Hungary’s Sophie BARCSAI and Nora DOHOCZKI. Irina lost her match against Nora but Maria was successful in both singles and doubles.  

Last year’s runners-up Romania overcame Slovakia in their morning clash for a place in the penultimate stage of the Under 19 Girls event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. Ioana SINGEORZAN gave her teammates a dream start with a win over Adriana ILLASOVA and Elena ZAHARIA continued in the same style against Eliska STULLEROVA. “We are getting closer to our goal which is always gold ” said ZAHARIA. “So far everything is going according to plan and we are happy that Bianca MEI ROSU managed to beat Dominika WILTSCHKOVA in a very close match. Mentally it is very important that she won such a difficult match.” Being a member of a team with such immense tradition is a great honor and confirmation but it also brings great pressure. MEI ROSU who joined the Under 19 team this year managed to cope with the pressure.   “I had to start thinking like a junior. It was much easier in the group stage where I won my matches against Spain Sweden and Belgium but I faced much bigger difficulties entering the knockout stage. I lost against Italy’s MORETTI and it was important for my confidence to win this match against WILTSCHKOVA ” said MEI ROSU. In the next round Romania will meet France who came back from the verge of defeat against Portugal. Ines MATOS and Matilde PINTO beat Agathe AVEZOU and Clea DE STOPPELEIRE and Mariana SANTA COMBA had a 2-1 lead against Elise PUJOL when the pendulum swung in favor of France. PUJOL won 2-3 and Clea and Agathe beat MATOS and PINTO. “It was so hard to recover but our coach managed to calm us down. He told us it’s not a problem and that we have to believe in ourselves. The key to our success was our team spirit and good motivation. In addition we have a lot of variety in our game with aggressive players defenders and more ” said AVEZOU. Germany overcame Ukraine in straight matches. Mia GRESEL Naomi PRANJKOVIC and Lea LACHENMAYER lost only one game on their way to the semifinals. “It was much closer than the result suggests. Ukraine’s players are very dangerous. However Mia gave us a very good start with a victory over Iolanta YEVTODII. That took off most of the pressure from the team. She was very calm. Because of that I started against Veronika MATIUNINA with less pressure tactically well ” said PRANJKOVIC. Germany will clash with the title holders Poland in the duel for a place in the final. The host nation overcame Bulgaria led by the very dangerous Zuzanna WIELGOS who won both her matches today. WIELGOS beat both Viktoria PERSOVA and Tsvetlana GEORGIEVA. “We were down 0-1 when I entered but I didn’t feel the pressure against Viktoria ” said WIELGOS who won her match in straight games. “Against Tsvetlana it was the same. We met last year in the quarterfinals of the European Championships and I beat her 4-1 in the singles.”

In the Under 15 Boys event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships Romania halted the progress of the very good Ukrainian team to reach the semifinal stage. Robert ISTRATE and Robert PODAR won both their singles and doubles matches. “The most important thing is our team spirit. We are there for each other. We are not only friends at the venue but also outside the table. We support each other from the beginning until the end ” said ISTRATE. Although it was Romania’s first clash against Ukraine for this team they had studied their adversaries well from their other matches in Gliwice. “They are not very aggressive but they tried to push us far from the table with very well-placed balls. We didn’t allow that to happen ” explained ISTRATE. Romania will meet Portugal the team that overcame Slovakia in four matches. Dinis YE Tiago ABIODUN and Carlos GONCALVES played for the team against Slovakia. “It was an equally difficult match like the one we had against Germany. It was important that our doubles team won that point in order for us to win the whole match ” said ABIODUN who won both his matches. France defeated the Netherlands in another exciting clash. Brent RONDE forced Nathan PILARD to go the full distance while Sandro CAVAILLE played four games against Ivan KAHN. The clash in doubles also lasted the full five games. Austria’s Julian RZIHAUSCHEK and Petr HODINA overcame Italy in four matches. Danilo FASO managed to overcome HODINA after a full five games but in the fourth match RZIHAUSCHEK was better.

The top-seeded teams at the ORLEN European Youth Championships in Gliwice Romania and Czechia justified their status and reached the quarterfinals of the Under 19 Boys event in superb style. Romania’s Eduard IONESCU Iulian CHIRITA and Teodor ISTRATE needed three matches against Israel to secure their spot in the quarters. In the Round of 8 they will meet Croatia who overcame Hungary in four matches. Borna PETEK Leon BENKO and Leo VEKIC played for Croatia. On the bottom half of the draw Czechia faced Türkiye. Karel KARÁSEK coach of the Czechia junior boys team stated: “It was definitely not our best performance here in the tournament but the opponent was weaker in terms of performance so it was enough. This draw was a reward for finishing first in the group which we won against tougher opponents. The whole team played excellently Šimon BĚLÍK performed well and his teammates finished the matches. I am very satisfied; we advanced to the quarterfinals and now we will see what happens. Šimon BELIK Ondrej KVENTON and Stepan BRHEL needed only three matches for the victory. They were pushed to success by the frantic cheers from the supporters and teammates as if they had already played for a medal.” This was also confirmed by Šimon BĚLÍK who won the first point tonight. “So far I haven’t felt completely at ease here at the tournament. That’s why I lost some matches but I also won some important ones. Luckily my teammates are playing at the top level which is crucial. Our team spirit is the main strength of our team. It’s great that we are in the quarterfinals and we will be fighting for a medal ” BELIK said. Czechia will meet Italy in the quarterfinals. Giacomo ALLEGRANZA Federico VALLINO and Daniele SPAGNOLO overcame Sweden. Hugo DESCHAMPS Aleis KOURAICHI and Flavien COTON prevailed against Bulgaria and they will meet Poland. The host nation represented by Milosz REDZIMSKI Mateusz ZALEWSKI and Alan KULCZYCKI overcame Slovakia in straight matches. Germany’s Tom SCHWEIGER Andre BERTELSMEIER and Matthias DANZER prevailed against Slovenia (3-0). “Despite the quick win we were constantly on alert. There are no easy matches here. Every match is difficult and every match is important; every duel could be the last one. We all feel the pressure of playing in the knockout stage ” said Tom SCHWEIGER. They will meet Belgium in the quarterfinals. Louis LAFFINEUR Tom CLOSSET and Alessi MASSARAT were the last to finish their match in the Under 19 category. Netherlands was on the verge of a great upset leading 2-0 after Kas VAN OOST beat LAFFINEUR and Gabrielius CAMARA managed to overcome CLOSSET who is the no. 4 seed in singles. Alessi and Louis brought Belgium back into the game. They recovered but in the decisive match CLOSSET was down 0-2 against VAN OOST. Then he managed to save the third game and win the next two games without significant problems.

Seeded only at the 22nd position at the beginning of the ORLEN European Youth Championships Team Sweden halted the progress of the sixth-seeded Romania and beat the odds to reach the quarterfinals. Siri BENJAGARD Gabriella AALTONEN Laurynne CABARDO and Angelina BEBAWY shone in their debut. “It is our first European Championships. Angelina 2010 and Siri were born in 2011 Laurynne was born in 2010 and I was born in 2009 ” said Gabriella. Beating Romania was a big upset and Sweden needed five games to achieve it. Andreea JIFICU won both points for Romania. “It was a very intense match but we were all very focused on the game. We also received great support from the bench. Our main strength is our team spirit. All three of us scored today ” Siri Gabriella Angelina and Laurynne complemented each other’s comments after the match. Tomorrow they will meet Czechia. Veronika POLAKOVA and Hanka HODETOVA overcame Azerbaijan. “Azerbaijan had preparation training in Havířov a week before leaving for the European Championship and I must say that they surprised me with their performance here. They seemed noticeably weaker in training but here they performed well. The girls had to play very carefully and not underestimate anything which they succeeded in doing in the end. However it was a big fight in every match ” said coach Tomáš VRŇÁK. France beat Türkiye in straight matches and they will meet Ukraine who also prevailed in the Round of 16 after three matches against England. Polina PASHCHENKO Daria KOVALOVA and Veronika VASYLENKO represented Ukraine. “I only played in the doubles but I know that this match plays a very important role. The girls rely on me ” said Veronika. “We are very happy that we reached the quarterfinals. We expect a very close and difficult match but I think we are able to elevate our game to a higher level and play even better. I feel that the key to success is in our hands.” Moldova’s Inna LESCINSCAIA and Ecaterina SIREAC reached the quarterfinals. They accounted for Italy. In the next round they will meet Germany. The second-seeded team represented by Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN overcame Austria in straight matches.  

In a dramatic clash Bulgaria pulled off a major upset by defeating Spain and securing a spot in the quarterfinals of the Under 19 Girls’ event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships in Gliwice. In the next round they will face the host team Poland. Spain the winners of their group in the opening stage started with the same style we witnessed in the previous two days and found themselves trailing 0-2 at first. Viktoria PERSOVA’s victory over Silvia COLL gave Bulgaria a dream start. “I was down 0-1 and 7-10 in the second game but I managed to recover. Maybe I was a little bit nervous ” said PERSOVA. Tsvetlana GEORGIEVA continued in the same fashion overcoming Eugenia SASTRE. However Ainhoa CRISTOBAL brought Spain back into familiar settings by defeating Dalma HASANOVA in the third match. “CRISTOBAL was way too strong. We couldn’t stop her. Unfortunately Tsvetlina also lost to COLL so I had to play the decisive match. Despite being nervous I managed to stay focused and most importantly patient ” explained PERSOVA. Tomorrow Bulgaria will face Poland who overcame England in straight matches with Ilona SZTWIERTNIA Wiktoria WROBEL and Zuzanna WIELGOS leading the charge. Last year’s runner-ups Romania faced no major difficulties against Italy especially when Elena ZAHARIA defeated Nicole ARLIA. However Irene MORETTI managed to secure a point for Italy with a victory over Bianca MEI ROSU in five games. At the end it was ZAHARIA who prevented any further drama. “My match against ARLIA was crucial. I don’t know if she was slightly injured but I expected more of a fight. I knew I had to beat her to give my team stability and relieve the pressure and I was prepared for that duel ” said ZAHARIA. As the top seeds Romania will face Slovakia with Adriana ILLASOVA Ema CINCUROVA and Dominika WILTSCHKOVA leading their team to another upset by halting the progress of Croatia. Hana ARAPOVIC won both of her matches but the rest of the Croatian team couldn’t follow suit. Portugal’s Matilde PINTO Ines MATOS and Patricia SANTOS overcame Belgium in straight matches. “Our strongest asset is our team spirit. We cheer for each other and our motto is ‘all for one.’ We scream for each point and support each other ” said Ines MATOS. “When I’m playing I’m aware of the support I receive from my teammates and that gives me extra power. It’s very important for me.” In the next round they will face France. “Last year in Belgrade we lost to them in the Round of 16 but I think this time we are better prepared. It will be a difficult clash and we will have to fight hard but we will give our best ” promised MATOS. “I think we have a better chance against this year’s lineup in the French team.” Agathe AVEZOU Clea DE STOPPELIEIRE and Else PUJOL overcame Türkiye 3-0. “I think our strong fighting spirit and effective service game were the keys to our success ” said AVEZOU. Clea DE STOPPELIEIRE added “We showed a brave face. Now we will prepare for Poland. They are a very strong team and we respect them.” Ukraine halted Czechia’s progress in a thrilling five-match encounter. Iolanta YEVTODII Veronika MATIUNINA and Olga PONKO all recorded wins. They will face Germany in the quarterfinals. Anna HURSEY justified her status but Germany maintained their composure to overcome Wales. Mia GRIESEL Lea LACHENMAYER and Naomi PRANJKOVIC did not falter in their matches against Elisabeth HURD and Lara WHITTON. “Our main strategy tonight was to overcome our nerves. We all know how good Anna is and we were aware that it would be a close game. That is why we focused on the other matches where we could score. Of course it created extra pressure. We knew we didn’t have any room for error and that we had to win the other matches. I also had to play the decisive match which made me very nervous. Now I am exhausted ” said PRANJKOVIC.