In the first part of the 2025 JOOLA Europe Youth Series Türkiye Open held in Nevşehir, Cappadocia, the host nation Türkiye claimed three gold medals in the team events. Türkiye triumphed in the Under 15 Boys’ and Girls’ Team events, as well as the Under 13 Girls’ Team event. Meanwhile, Greece secured gold in the Under 13 Boys’ Team event. In the Under 15 Girls’ Team final, Türkiye 1 narrowly defeated Germany 1 in a thrilling 3-2 encounter. Nil BASARAN and Ayten Ceren KAHRAMAN represented Türkiye, while Rhea Zhu CHEN and Lotta ROTHFUSS played for Germany. In the Under 15 Boys’ Team final, Türkiye 1 overcame Germany 1 in four matches. Kenan KAHRAMAN and Kuzey GÜNDOĞDU of Türkiye secured the win over Jannis WÜRZBERGER and Jonathan GAISER of Germany. KAHRAMAN stood out by winning both of his singles and the doubles match. In the Under 13 Girls’ Team final, Türkiye 1 defeated Türkiye 2 3-1. Duru Beril TOK gave the second team an early lead alongside Belinay DAVUŞ, but Armin AYDIN and Ela Su YÖNTER from the first team responded strongly. YÖNTER was the star performer, winning all three of her matches. In the Under 13 Boys’ Team final, Greece 1 clinched gold by defeating Türkiye 1 in four matches. Theofanis MARKOULAKIS and Nikolaos ALEXIDIS led the Greek side against Ali Enes SEREN and Aras AYDIN of Türkiye. MARKOULAKIS was instrumental, securing three wins in the final. See the pictures here.
Croatia: ĆOSIĆ and BENKO sweep the Under 21 Competition
The Croatian Championship for young seniors in Vrsar was dominated by Leon BENKO (GSTK Zagreb) and Dora ĆOSIĆ (Mladost), who both claimed gold in every possible category – singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. In the men’s singles final, a club showdown from GSTK Zagreb unfolded between Leon BENKO and Ivan HENCL. The two had already secured the gold medal in doubles earlier, and the singles match followed. “Great tournament for me. Before the tournament I only knew we were favorites in doubles, but it turned out great in all three categories,” said Leon BENKO. “We’re currently ranked third in the world, so winning the doubles was expected. We had some struggles in the second set of the final against Lozušić and Zlatkov, that’s where the match was decided, but we managed to push through and win in the end. In singles, I was surprised by how Benko played- he didn’t miss a single ball” said HENCL. In the women’s Under 21 event, Dora ĆOSIĆ (Mladost) dominated the competition. She won her first two qualification matches after five sets, against Jelena VUKELIĆ (Varaždin) and Larisa PUTIGNO (Pula), before securing straightforward victories over Franka MIŠKIĆ (Zagreb) and Victoria PUSTAJ (Mladost) without losing a set. “Although I knew I was the favorite, I didn’t have any big expectations. I took it match by match and let’s see what happens. For doubles, I decided to play with my friend Dora. We used to play together when we were younger, and we always had great chemistry. In the end, everything turned out perfectly,” said the three-time gold medalist ĆOSIĆ. The championship was marked by the dominance of GSTK Zagreb’s table tennis players, who claimed eight medals, including three golds, while Mladost’s players won seven medals, with three golds. The awards were presented to the winners by Dragan KNEŽEVIĆ, vice president of HSTS, and Miodrag BANJAC, president of STK Vrsar and co-organizer of the Croatian Championship. Singles Under 21 Men Semifinals: BENKO (GSTK Zagreb) – LOZUŠIĆ (GSTK Zagreb) 4:0 (11, 8, 3, 4), HENCL (GSTK Zagreb) – PETEK (STK Zagreb) 4:1 (-9, 2, 6, 4, 2); final: BENKO (GSTK Zagreb) – HENCL (GSTK Zagreb) 4:1 (5, 3, 7, -10, 8) Under 21 Women Semifinals: ĆOSIĆ (Mladost) – MIŠKIĆ (Zagreb) 4:0 (9, 6, 4, 9), GOJKOVIĆ (Mladost) – PUSTAJ (Mladost) 0:4 (-5, -3, -6, -9); Final: ćosić (Mladost) – Pustaj (Mladost) 4:0 (5, 10, 3, 9) Doubles Semiifinals: HENCL/BENKO (GSTK Zagreb) – PETEK/MARJANOVIĆ (STK Zagreb) 3:0 (8, 5, 7), ISLAMOVIĆ/ZORIĆ (GSTK Zagreb) – ZLATKOV/LOZUŠIĆ (STK Zagreb/GSTK Zagreb) 0:3 (-6, -9, -9); Final: HENCL/BENKO (GSTK Zagreb) – ZLATKOV/LOZUŠIĆ (STK Zagreb/GSTK Zagreb) 3:0 (6, 14, 8) Semifinals: GOJKOVIĆ/PUSTAJ (Mladost) – BASANIĆ/PUTIGNA (Pula) 3:1 (6, -4, 10, 4), MIŠKIĆ/BENKO (STK Zagreb) – POPEC/ĆOSIĆ (Jadran/Mladost) 1:3 (-5, 7, -3, -9); Finals: GOJKOVIĆ/PUSTAJ (Mladost) – popec/Ćosić (Jadran/Mladost) 2:3 (8, -8, 9, -7, -8) Mixed doubles Semifinals: BENKO/ĆOSIĆ (GSTK Zagreb/Mladost) – ZLATKOV/BENKO (STK Zagreb) 3:2 (6, -8, -9, 9, 4), LOZUŠIĆ/PUSTAJ (GSTK Zagreb/Mladost) – PETEK/MIŠKIĆ (STK Zagreb) 3:1 (10, -7, 10, 4); Final: BENKO/ĆOSIĆ (GSTK Zagreb/Mladost) – LOZUŠIĆ/PUSTAJ (GSTK Zagreb/Mladost) 3:0 (15, 10, 6) Singles Under 21 Men Under 21 Women Doubles Men Women Mix doubles
