In all Doubles events at the European Under 21 Championships in Bratislava, the medal winners are already known, and in tomorrow’s matches, tonight’s winners will decide the colour of the medals. Defending champions in the Women’s Doubles event, Romania’s Elena ZAHARIA and Bianca MEI ROSU, successfully advanced to the semifinals where they will face Poland’s Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA. Top seeds Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania secured their place on the podium and tomorrow they will play against Anna HURSEY of Wales and Mia GRIESEL of Germany for a place in the final. Last year’s finalists, Sara TOKIĆ of Slovenia—this time partnering with Alexandra CHIRIACOVA of Moldova—were stopped in the quarterfinals by ARAPOVIC and SINGEORZAN. In the Men’s Doubles event, each of the four quarterfinals went the full distance. In fierce battles for the title of new champions—since Poland’s Maciej KUBIK and Milosz REDZIMSKI are not in Bratislava this year—last year’s runners-up, Eduard IONESCU and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania, overcame Daniel BERZOSA and Miguel PANTOJA of Spain. Bronze medallists from 2024, Iulian CHIRITA and Andrei ISTRATE of Romania, overcame Connor GREEN of England and Mael VAN DESSEL of Luxembourg. Croatia’s Leon BENKO and Ivan HENCL defeated Norway’s Khai Noah LAM and Lithuania’s Ignas SISANOVAS. Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal recovered from a 0–2 deficit to overcome Balazs LEI of Hungary and Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia. In the Mixed Doubles quarterfinals, Wim VERDONSCHOT and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany defeated Miguel PANTOJA and Elvira Fiona RAD of Spain 3-1, while Daniel BERZOSA of Spain and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine overcame Tom SCHWEIGER and Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany by the same margin. The other two quarterfinals went the full distance. Last year’s runners-up, Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania, overcame Andre BERTELSMEIER and Mia GRIESEL of Germany. No. 2 seeds Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal and Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia defeated Andrei ISTRATE and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania. Hana clinched gold in Mixed Doubles last year, partnering Ivor BAN.

Top-seeded player in the Men’s Singles event at the European Under 21 Championships, Eduard IONESCU of Romania, was severely challenged in Stage Two but managed to progress to the knock-out phase. After a shaky start and a 2-4 defeat against Miguel PANTOJA of Spain, IONESCU beat Leon BENKO of Croatia yesterday and today prevailed against Eitay SHUSHAN of Israel. However, PANTOJA’s great win did not come by chance. With two victories already behind him, the Spaniard’s final match against BENKO today, could have determined whether Romania’s star would stay in the tournament or face an early exit. In case of a close match between PANTOJA and BENKO, IONESCU’s advancement would have been in jeopardy. However, Miguel came out in full force, won convincingly, and topped the group with three victories, while IONESCU moved forward from second position. “Yesterday was a very tough day for me. I came here full of confidence, and then I hit the wall. I had three or four days of preparation in Romania, but it did not help me overcome the new conditions in this venue. It is very big, and the ball goes very slow,” explained IONESCU. Still, IONESCU did not diminish PANTOJA’s performance. “He beat me deservedly. He really plays very well here.” His narrow 4-3 win over BENKO and today’s 4-0 victory against SHUSHAN helped Eduard get back on track. “Now I have to regain my confidence and start all over again. Tomorrow we begin a completely new tournament—the knock-out phase. Hopefully I will play at a better level,” said IONESCU. “There have already been a few upsets here, so it will surely be a very interesting weekend.” Speaking of upsets, in Group B, Mateusz ZELEWSKI of Poland faced an early exit. No. 2 seed Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany justified his status and finished first, while Khai Noah LAM beat ZELEWSKI to secure the second qualifying spot for the Round of 16. Flavien COTON of France and Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia progressed to the knock-out stage as per their rankings, as did Iulian CHIRITA of Romania and Isak ALFREDSSON of Sweden. In the lower half of the draw, Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal emerged on top of his group, but Nathan LAM of France failed to justify his seeding. Daniel BERZOSA of Spain finished second in Group E and advanced to Stage Three. Meanwhile, No. 6 seed Balazs LEI of Hungary was eliminated, finishing at the bottom of Group F without a win in Bratislava. Germany’s Wim VERDONSCHOT recorded three victories, with Connor GREEN of England taking second place. In Group G, Andrei ISTRATE of Romania and Alexis KOURAICHI of France advanced as expected. However, the outcome was different in Group H, where No. 8 seed Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands failed to reach the Round of 16. Darius MOVILEANU of Romania and Tom SCHWEIGER of Germany finished second and third in the group, respectively. Pictures here

The two group stages in the Women’s Singles Event at the European Under 21 Championships have concluded in Bratislava. Three former champions in Women’s Singles—reigning titleholder Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine, 2023 champion and top-seeded player Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia, and 2022 winner Elena ZAHARIA—successfully advanced through their Stage Two challenges, albeit with varying levels of dominance. However, the player who caught the most attention was French rising star Nina GUO ZHENG, who delivered an impressive performance by defeating top seed Hana ARAPOVIC, Ainhoa CRISTOBAL of Spain, and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany. GUO ZHENG also concluded Stage One unbeaten, with victories over Sara TOKIĆ of Slovenia, Maria GIRLEA of Finland, and Sofie Khanh-Linh ECKEROTH of Denmark. After Nina’s winning streak, it’s hard not to draw a parallel between her and another French star who made headlines in this very tournament back in 2020 in Varaždin—Prithika PAVADE, who also triumphed while still an Under 15 player. “It is flattering… I can only hope that I could follow in her footsteps. Her style, energy, success—it’s something special,” stated GUO ZHENG. Nina admitted that she did not feel under pressure this year. “I played many times against CRISTOBAL at the club level, so I knew what to expect and I was well prepared,” said Nina. “Against Hana, who already won the title here and has so much experience, I had nothing to lose. I was very relaxed; the pressure was on her.” Reflecting on her match against Germany’s Under 15 player Josephina NEUMANN, Nina noted: “We’ve played so many times against each other, and I know that my game does not suit her well. The parts where she particularly struggled, I used against her.” Two years ago at the European Youth Championships in Gliwice, GUO ZHENG clinched gold in the Mixed Doubles event and three silver medals in Teams, Doubles, and Singles—all while competing in the Under 15 category. Last year in Malmö, she represented France in the Under 19 category but did not reach the podium. “In the younger categories, medals are not what’s most important. It’s the journey, where you improve yourself and your game. However, I have to say, playing in the Under 21 category is a whole different experience. Under 19 is still youth, but this is much more serious.” Speaking of parallels with Under 15 players who later won the Under 21 title, another young star is following in her teammate’s footsteps. Koharu ITAGAKI has moved into the knockout stage, aiming to repeat what Annett KAUFMANN accomplished in 2021 in Spa, Belgium—also as a player under 15 years of age. The German player successfully concluded Stage Two in Slovakia with only one defeat across both stages—yesterday against Anna BRZYSKA of Poland. Today, ITAGAKI overcame Elise PUJOL to reach the Round of 16. The knockout stage will be played tomorrow. See the pictures here.