Europe Youth Top-10 | 5 Oct 2014

Filip ZELJKO emerged in thrilling finish

Filip ZELJKO emerged as a surprising winner of the European Top 10 in Tours. Junior from Croatia clinched the title after superb performance in past three days in France. Alexandre CASSIN of France and his teammate Can AKKUZU clinched silver and bronze. A

Filip ZELJKO emerged as a surprising winner of the European Top 10 in Tours. Junior from Croatia clinched the title after superb performance in past three days in France. Alexandre CASSIN of France and his teammate Can AKKUZU clinched silver and bronze.
At the lower positions are: Killian ORT of Germany, Patryk ZATOWKA of Poland, Anton KALLBERG of Sweden, Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia, Diogo CHEN of Portugal, Nandor ECSEKI of Hungary and David REITSPIES of Czech Republic.

Bronze medalists from Italy already felt the thrill of standing at the medal rostrum. Three years ago in Austria he won bronze at the Cadets Top 10. “In the opening match against PUCAR I had 3:0 advantage, but he recovered to level the match. It was very close and at 9:9 I had lucky ball. It was much easier in the match against REITSPIES. I beat him 4:1,” explained 17-year-old ZELJKO.

The pendulum swung in the duel against ZATOWKA. “I was in the lead against Patryk 3:1, but I lost. After that, KALLBERG left me without chances at the beginning of our duel. He had 2:0, but I kept fighting. I saved match ball in fourth game, in sixth I had yellow card, lost that game, but it worked in my favor. Swede played less aggressive after that, so I won.”

The matches against hosts were the most difficult. “I did not expect much from this tournament. The competition was fierce. French players were favorites. I just played point for point. However, I think that CASSIN was not on top of his game. His performance was far from the one from European Championships. Against Diogo I was once again in reverse. I was 1:3 down, before I recovered. At the final stage of the match Digo lost his focus and I seized the opportunity”

Against AKKUZU , Filip played last match at the tournament. It was direct clash for gold. “There were lot of combinations before the start of the round. At that point, top 5 positions were open, but I did not think about the math. I just played and succeeded.”

Filip is the member of Croatia’s team for the forthcoming Junior World Championships.

Junior Boys

First round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 4:2 (-4, 7, 4, -7, 4, 8); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 4:1 (6, -2, 3, 8, 11); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 3:4 (-10, 6, -10, 9, 5, 1, -9); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Killin ORT (GER) 3:4 (-4, -7, 2, 6, 8, -5, -10); Anton KALLBERG (SWE) – Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) 3:4 (9, -2, -7, -6, 9, 4, -11)

Second round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 1:4 (-11, -9, -3, 9, -12); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 1:4, (2, -7, -9, -5, -9); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Killin ORT (GER) 4:3 (8, -6, 5, -4, -6, 8, 7); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) 3:4 (9, 8, 10, -7, -7, -7, -9); Anton KALLBERG (SWE) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 2:4 (-5, -8, 4, 11, -9, -6)

Third round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 1:4 (10, -7, -6, -9, -4); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Killin ORT (GER) 2:4 (-9, -9, -10, 8, 7, -6); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) 4:3 (-5, -9, -8, 6, 15, 5, 7); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Anton KALLBERG (SWE) 1:4 (-8, 9, -13, -14, -10); Nandor ECSEKI (HUN)- Can AKKUZU (FRA) 2:4 (-10, 11, 11, -10, -5, -13)

Fourth round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Killin ORT (GER) 4:1 (3, -6, 5, 7, 5); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) 0:4 (-11, -4, -6, -5); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Anton KALLBERG (SWE) 4:2 (9, -8, 7, 8, -9, 2); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 3:4 (-9, -5, 7, 2, 7, -7, -5); Filip ZELJKO (CRO) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 4:1 (7, -9, 7, 7, 3)

Fifth round; Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) 4:0 (3, 8, 8, 5); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Anton KALLBERG (SWE) 1:4 (-9, -8, 6, -10, -11); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 2:4 (10, -9, -9, 5, -7, -9); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 4:1 (-10, 8, 7, 8, 7); Killin ORT (GER) – Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 4:1 (-7, 5, 5, 5, 8)

Sixth round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Anton KALLBERG (SWE) 0:4 (-10, -6, -8, -11); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 2:4 (-3, 6, 3, -7, 10, -12); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 1:4 (-8, 3, -10, -7, -3); DIOGO Chen (POR) – Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 4:3 (-8, 2, 7, 11, -6, -7, 10); Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) – Killin ORT (GER) 3:4 (4, 8, 6, -9, -8, -3, -8)

Seventh round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– DIOGO Chen (POR) 4:2 (4, -11, 5, -10, 6, 9); David REITSPIES (CZE) – Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) 1:4 (5, -8, -9, -7, -7); Anton KALLBERG (SWE) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 4:2 (-9, 5, -7, 9, 4, 7); Patryk ZATOWKA (POL)- Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 4:3 (-7, 8, -13, -5, 8, 6, 4); Killin ORT (GER) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 3:4 (4, 5, -7, 8, -14, -7, -9)

Eighth round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) 4:1 (-9, 5, 9, 8, 3); David REITSPIES (CZE) – DIOGO Chen (POR) 3:4 (-8, 9, -7, 6, 4, -8, -10); Anton KALLBERG (SWE) – Filip ZELJKO (CRO) 3:4 (2, 1, -6, 8, -11, -11, -9); Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 4:0 (6, 5, 9, 7); Killin ORT (GER) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN)4:0 (8, 3, 5, 9)

Nineth round: Alexandre CASSIN (FRA)– David REITSPIES (CZE) 4:1 (-13, 11, 9, 7, 6); Tomislav PUCAR (CRO) – DIOGO Chen (POR) 3:4 (-8, -6, -10, 7, 7, 8, -5); Anton KALLBERG (SWE) – Killin ORT (GER) 2:4 (4, 9, -11, -11, -5, -9); Patryk ZATOWKA (POL) – Nandor ECSEKI (HUN) 1:4 (-6, -9, 3, -12, -9); Filip ZELJKO (CRO) – Can AKKUZU (FRA) 4:3 (6, 9, -10, 4, -9, -8, 4)