Noah TESSIER and Lou-Anne BOCQUET of France are the newly crowned champions in the Under 15 Mixed Doubles event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In the final, they overcame Germany’s Lukas WANG and Koharu ITAGAKI with a confident 3-1 victory.
The bronze medals were awarded to Francesco TREVISAN of Italy and Hanka KODET of Czechia, and to the Swedish duo Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGÅRD.
The French pair beat several notable opponents on their way to the title, and in the final, they showed remarkable composure and control throughout the match.
“For both of us, this is our first EYC and actually the first time we’ve played mixed doubles together, so to be honest, we didn’t expect to win a medal at all. We still can’t believe we made it,” they shared. “The tactic in this match was to target forehand shots against ITAGAKI and use more spin against both of them.”
Coach Vivien SAUVAGE praised the pair’s chemistry: “They had a preparation camp before the EYC, and even back then, my coaching colleagues and I could already see that they made a great pair. We told them they could win!”
In the semi-final, the top seeds Francesco TREVISAN of Italy and Hanka KODET of Czechia were upset by TESSIER and BOCQUET. KODET, last year’s runner-up with Jan SKALDA and now paired with TREVISAN, entered the tournament with high expectations, but the French duo, seeded only no. 43, handled the pressure and produced a standout performance.
TESSIER said: “We’re really happy to beat the number one seeds. We played really well, it was a close match, 3-2. Honestly, I had no expectations before this tournament. It’s my first EYC. We’re a good team, we complement each other well. BOCQUET has really good serves, we earned a lot of points from them. I have a strong forehand, and we combined our strengths to win. We didn’t expect anything from the final, just wanted to enjoy it and go for the win.”
In the other semi-final, WANG and ITAGAKI defeated Sweden’s ELLERMANN and BENJEGÅRD in a less dramatic fashion.
“Our opponents played really well. There were a lot of long rallies,” said ITAGAKI. “Our tactic was to keep the ball short and play smart, without rushing. We tried to vary the rhythm throughout the match. We had no expectations for the final, they’re both really strong players. We just wanted to enjoy the moment and give our best.”
Final
- Noah TESSIER and Lou-Anne BOCQUET (FRA) def. Lukas WANG and Koharu ITAGAKI (GER) 3-1 (12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9)
Semi-finals
- Francesco TREVISAN (ITA) / Hanka KODET (CZE) vs. Noah TESSIER / Lou-Anne BOCQUET (FRA) 2-3 (11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 13-11, 4-11)
- Emil ELLERMANN / Siri BENJEGÅRD (SWE) vs. Lukas WANG / Koharu ITAGAKI (GER) 1-3 (11-13, 7-11, 11-7, 4-11)
