The Under 19 Boys Team Event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar opened with thrilling contests across all groups, highlighted by ninth seeds Romania upsetting second seeds Poland 3-2. Top seeds France survived a major scare against Austria, while Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia, Italy, Spain and Sweden all opened their campaigns with victories. Top seeds France were given a stern examination by 11th seeds Austria before emerging with a 3-2 victory in their opening Group A match. Nathan LAM edged Petr HODINA in four games to put France ahead, but Julian RZIHAUSCHEK responded with a four-game victory over Antoine NOIRAULT to level the tie. Nathan PILARD restored France’s advantage with a convincing straight-games win against Patrick SKERBINZ. Austria fought back once more as RZIHAUSCHEK held his nerve in a dramatic fourth game before defeating LAM 19-17 in the decider to force the fifth match. NOIRAULT then secured victory for the top seeds, overcoming HODINA in four games. Seventh seeds Hungary opened with a 3-0 victory over 13th seeds Norway, although the scoreline did not fully reflect the battle. Botond VARGA survived a thrilling five-game encounter against Noah Khai LAM, recovering from deficits twice before pulling away in the deciding game. Balazs LEI doubled Hungary’s advantage with a straight-games victory over Jonas FROSETH, before Mark GERGELY wrapped up the tie by defeating Mathias HALVORSEN in four games. Group B produced the opening day’s biggest surprise as ninth seeds Romania stunned second seeds Poland 3-2. Robert ISTRATE recovered from two games down to defeat Samuel MICHNA and give Romania the perfect start, but Marcel BLASZCZYK responded with a straight-games victory over Robert PODAR to level the tie. Andrei TIBIRNA restored Romania’s advantage by overcoming Patryk ZYWORONEK in four games, before BLASZCZYK edged ISTRATE in a dramatic five-game encounter to force the decider. PODAR then completed the upset, recovering from a two-game deficit to beat MICHNA in five games and seal a memorable victory for Romania. Eighth seeds Czechia also opened their campaign in impressive fashion, defeating Belgium 3-0. Jindrich MORAVEK overcame Per GEVERS in four games before Jan SKALDA beat Charles JANSSENS by the same margin to put Czechia firmly in control. Jakub KABELKA then completed the clean sweep with a straight-games victory over Maxime DEGIVE. In Group C, third seeds Slovakia overcame 10th seeds Portugal 3-2 in one of the most entertaining ties of the opening round. Tiago ABIODUN gave the hosts the perfect start with a commanding straight-games victory over Pavol KOKAVEC, but Samuel ARPAS quickly levelled the match by defeating Dinis YE in straight games. Damian FLORO then put Slovakia ahead with another convincing victory, beating Carlos GONCALVES in three games. ABIODUN kept Portugal’s hopes alive by overcoming ARPAS in four games, but KOKAVEC responded superbly in the deciding match, defeating YE in straight games to seal the victory for Slovakia. “I am happy that I managed to recover after the opening match defeat against ABIODUN and to play at a really high level. I overcame the stress by telling myself that it was not the end of the world. It was only the group stage and there was still room to recover from the defeat,” said KOKAVEC. Italy also made a winning start in Group C, defeating Israel 3-0. Francesco TREVISAN recovered after losing the opening game to overcome Natanel ABRAMOV in four games, before Danilo FASO produced a remarkable comeback against Or MAGEN. Trailing by two games, FASO fought back to win the next three, including a tense fourth game 12-10, to double Italy’s advantage. Giacomo IZZO then completed the clean sweep with a straight-games victory over Yali MOR, edging the third game 14-12. In Group D, fourth seeds Spain recovered from an opening-match defeat to overcome Switzerland 3-1. Noe KEUSCH gave the Swiss the perfect start with a four-game victory over Francesc CARRERA, but Luca KHIDASHELI responded emphatically, defeating Lowis VOGLER in straight games. Dario SALCEDO then edged Levi ULRICH in a dramatic five-game contest to put Spain ahead before KHIDASHELI completed the comeback with a straight-games victory over KEUSCH. Sweden also made an impressive start, defeating England 3-0 despite two fiercely contested encounters. Noa DAHLSTROM put Sweden ahead with a four-game victory over Abraham SELLADO, while Adam WALLIN battled past Max RADIVEN in five games after twice surrendering the lead. William BERGENBLOCK then sealed the tie, overcoming Isaac KINGHAM in another five-game thriller to complete Sweden’s clean sweep.

Top seeds Spain recovered from dropping the opening match to defeat ninth seeds Romania 3-1 in their first Group A encounter of the Under 15 Boys Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar. Romania made an excellent start through David TORO, who overcame Alexander MALOV in five games. TORO won the opening game before MALOV fought back to lead 2-1, but the Romanian regained control by taking the final two games 11-7 to secure the first point of the tie. Ladimir MAYOROV quickly brought Spain level with a commanding straight-games victory over Mihai IORDAN, conceding only 15 points. Marcos GOMEZ and MAYOROV then put Spain ahead in the doubles. They defeated Tudor SAFTOIU and TORO in three games, although the Romanian pair pushed them all the way before falling 13-11 in the second game. MAYOROV returned to seal Spain’s victory, beating TORO in straight games to complete the top seeds’ successful start in Gondomar. “We lost the first match, but we did not panic. We know each other very well because we play against each other very often. I am very happy with my performance and with the way I beat TORO. We are going for all the wins here,” said MAYOROV confidently. Last year, Spain, represented by MAYOROV and Tianxiang ZOU, were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Italy. France also made a winning start in Group A by overcoming England 3-2. Noah TESSIER gave France the opening point with a four-game victory over Dimitar DIMITROV. The French player recovered after dropping the second game and held his nerve to claim the fourth 13-11. Nolan JOHNSTON then doubled France’s advantage with a straight-games victory over Pablo RAMIREZ RIOJA. Although RAMIREZ RIOJA pushed him hard in the closing stages, JOHNSTON prevailed 13-11 and 11-9 in the final two games. England responded in the doubles as RAMIREZ RIOJA and Oscar NIKOLLI defeated TESSIER and Quentin SANDONA in three games to reduce the deficit. RAMIREZ RIOJA then levelled the tie by overcoming TESSIER in four games. After taking the opening two games, he recovered from losing the third to send the match to the deciding fifth rubber. JOHNSTON proved the hero for France, dominating DIMITROV in straight games while conceding only ten points to secure a 3-2 victory. In Group B, second seeds Türkiye were pushed all the way by hosts Portugal before prevailing 3-2. Rodrigo ANDRADE gave Portugal the lead with a four-game victory over Emre BUCAK, but Görkem OCAL restored parity by defeating Eric PEREIRA in straight games. ANDRADE and PEREIRA then put the hosts back in front with a 3-1 doubles victory over OCAL and BUCAK. Türkiye fought back once more, with OCAL overcoming ANDRADE in straight games before BUCAK defeated PEREIRA 3-1 in the deciding match. Seventh seeds Austria also made a winning start, beating 14th seeds Denmark 3-1. Sung Bing CHEN and Louis FEGERL established a 2-0 lead with convincing straight-games victories over Julius FREDENSBORG and Noah SIMONI, respectively. Denmark stayed alive when Zacharias AL MOALEM and Elias SKAJEM edged FEGERL and CHEN in a dramatic five-game doubles contest, but FEGERL returned to defeat FREDENSBORG in straight games to secure Austria’s victory. In Group C, third seeds Germany enjoyed a comfortable start, defeating 12th seeds Hungary 3-0. Tien Nghia PHONG opened the tie with a four-game victory over Peter ZUBOR, edging a tight third game 12-10 before closing out the match 13-11 in the fourth. Lukas WANG then doubled Germany’s lead, recovering from losing the opening game to overcome Simon ZSIGMOND in four games. WANG and PHONG completed the sweep with a straight-games doubles victory over ZSIGMOND and ZUBOR. Fifth seeds Czechia also opened with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland. Oliver OLEJNIK and Ondrej MORAVEK both recorded convincing singles wins to put Czechia firmly in control. Switzerland responded through Arthur LOUSTALOT and Charlie HURTADO, who edged MORAVEK and OLEJNIK in a dramatic five-game doubles encounter. After recovering from 2-1 down, the Czech pair held a 9-4 lead in the deciding game but were unable to convert it. Martin MERKER, coach of the Czech Under 15 boys’ team, reflected on the performance: “It was an important start to the tournament and it is good that we won. It is a great shame that the boys did not extend their lead in the fifth set after leading 9-4. Doubles is very important in this competition, and I believe they will learn from it. Ondra MORÁVEK is not yet playing at the level I expected, but I am pleased with how he improved in his second singles match. Hopefully, next time he will be even better.” MORAVEK quickly put the disappointment behind him, returning to defeat LOUSTALOT in straight games and secure the tie for Czechia. In Group D, fourth seeds Poland opened with a 3-1 victory over Ukraine. Hubert KWIECINSKI put Poland ahead with a dominant straight-games win over David DROBOV, but Volodymyr NEVIZHYN levelled the tie by defeating Jakub TURECKI in four games. KWIECINSKI and TURECKI restored Poland’s advantage with a 3-1 doubles victory over NEVIZHYN and Mark VORONOI, before KWIECINSKI completed the win by edging NEVIZHYN in a hard-fought five-game encounter. Sweden produced one of the opening day’s standout results by sweeping Italy 3-0. Emil ELLERMANN and Erik KOGERFELT both recorded convincing straight-games victories in the singles before combining to overcome Tommaso SIMI and Pietro CAMPAGNA in a thrilling five-game doubles contest to complete the clean sweep.