The team event at the 64th Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade brought some fact that are unique in the long history of the event.
For the first time:
– Romania had 3 teams in the team finals
– Poland won a girls team title. This is even the first ever team title won by any Polish femals table tennis team
– 3 teams from Israel finished among the top 16 and will play next year on level 1.
Poland and Romania are is the 6th and 7th Association to have 3 finalists in one year. The other ones are the Soviet Union Russia Czechoslovakia Germany and France.
The Soviet Union (1976 1989 and as EUN in 1992) and Russia are the only ones ever in four team finals in one year.
The Romanian U19 boys team was only the second Romanian team winning this event. It took the Romanian boys no less than 64 years to regain this title the first one was in 1958.
This was the first time that we had three team finals played between same Associations. The finals in U19 boys U19 girls and U15 girls was the battle between Romania and Poland.
For Poland it is the first time they were in three finals in one year. Although always among the stronger table tennis nations in Europe so far the Polish teams only won 3 titles all in Junior/U19 boys (1999 2000 and 2021). In Junior/U19 girls Poland reached the final in 2001 2004 and 2006 but never won it. In Cadet/U15 girls it is the first time ever Poland is in the final.
For Romania winning titles is more common. With 30 team titles Romania is the second best country in the history of the EYC. Only the Soviet Union (48) won more. But also for Romania reaching 3 finals in the same year is the first time in the history of the EYC. Romania won 2 titles in 1987 2010 and 2013.
In Cadet/U15 girls their last victory was in 2018. For the Junior/U19 boys it is a different story. In this age category the Romanian team won only once and for this we have to go back to 1958!
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