The knockout stage picture in the Under 19 Girls Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar is now complete. France, Romania, Germany and Portugal all finished their group campaigns with perfect records to claim top spot, while Austria, Ukraine, Poland and Spain secured the remaining places in the main draw after a dramatic conclusion to the group stage.
The race for the knockout stage intensified in the Under 19 Girls Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar, with France, Romania and Germany all completing flawless group campaigns. Austria, Ukraine and Poland joined them in the main draw after securing second place in their respective groups.
France topped Group A with three victories from three matches, while Austria claimed the second qualification place after defeating Croatia in the decisive final-round encounter. Croatia finished third, with Serbia fourth.
Austria booked their place in the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory over Croatia. Lana BENKO gave Croatia the ideal start by edging Nina SKERBINZ in a dramatic five-game contest. Mariia LYTVYN quickly restored parity with a four-game victory over Franka MISKIC, before Elina FUCHS put Austria ahead by defeating Neva GOJKOVIC, also in four games. SKERBINZ then returned to the table and produced a commanding straight-games victory over MISKIC to seal Austria’s qualification.
France rounded off the group stage with another convincing performance, sweeping Serbia 3-0. Nina GUO ZHENG recovered after dropping the opening game to defeat Teodora GOJKOV in four games, before Jade HUYNH comfortably overcame Jelena BAJIC in straight games. Alexia NODIN then completed the clean sweep with a dominant straight-games victory over Maja VANJO.
Romania also completed a perfect Group B campaign, while last year’s runners-up Ukraine claimed the second qualification place after defeating Belgium in the decisive final-round encounter.
The second seeds wrapped up first place with a convincing 3-0 victory over Türkiye. Bianca MEI ROSU gave Romania the perfect start with a four-game victory over Aybuke SIMSEK, before Alesia Sofia SFERLEA doubled the advantage by defeating Busra DEMIR, also in four games. Andreea BAIASU then completed the clean sweep with a straight-games victory over Nil BASARAN.
MEI ROSU was delighted with the way Romania concluded the group stage.
“We knew this opponent, so we understood that we had to fight for every point, every game and every match. In the end, we are very happy that we managed to win quite comfortably.”
Looking back over the tournament so far, the reigning European Under 21 champion admitted the opening tie against Ukraine had been the toughest challenge.
“The first match against Ukraine was difficult because they changed their line-up, but we still managed to win. I think we have found a good team formula. This is the first junior year for some of the players, and this fresh start gives us a lot of confidence.”
MEI ROSU also spoke about embracing the responsibility of leading the Romanian team.
“I have enjoyed being the leader of the team for the past two years. I try to give confidence to my teammates so that they can play freely and express themselves. Away from the table, we also have a very good relationship.”
The battle for second place went Ukraine’s way as Daria KOVALOVA and Veronika VASYLENKO guided last year’s finalists to a 3-1 victory over Belgium. Lilou MASSART claimed Belgium’s only point, but KOVALOVA returned to defeat MASSART in a hard-fought five-game contest and secure Ukraine’s place in the knockout stage.
Germany completed campaign in Group C undefeated, while Poland secured the second qualification place after overcoming Slovakia in the final round.
The sixth seeds finished with three victories from three matches, while Poland claimed second place with five points. Italy ended the group in third position ahead of Slovakia.
Coach Lara BROICH pointed:”The match against Poland was balanced on a knife edge several times. Koharu got her revenge against BOGDANOWICZ after losing to her at the Under 21 European Championships. Lisa also had her chances, but she focused too much on one point and couldn’t close out the match. Lorena then produced a very disciplined performance to win her match and shift the momentum in our favour. After that, Koharu sealed the victory for us. It showed the strength of this team. Against Italy, we were then able to play with much more confidence and delivered a convincing performance.”
Lorena MORSCH: “We’re really happy that we managed to beat Poland. We went into the match as underdogs, but our team spirit was fantastic and helped us pull it off. That victory gave us a lot of confidence, and we carried that momentum into our match against Italy.”
Poland confirmed their place in the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory over Slovakia. Natalia BOGDANOWICZ put Poland ahead by defeating Nina DAROVCOVA in four games, before Zofia SLIWKA doubled the advantage with another four-game success against Emma MOLNAROVA. Sara HABAROVA kept Slovakia’s hopes alive by recovering from two games down to edge Karolina HOLDA in five games, but SLIWKA returned to defeat DAROVCOVA in four games and complete Poland’s qualification.
Germany rounded off the group stage with another commanding 3-0 victory, this time against Italy. Lisa-Sophie WANG opened with a straight-games success over Sofia MINURRI, before Lorena MORSCH recovered after dropping the opening game to overcome Candela SANCHI in four games. Elisa NGUYEN then completed the clean sweep by defeating Irene MORETTI in four games, sealing Germany’s perfect record heading into the knockout stage.
Group D provided the most dramatic finish of all. Spain completed its schedule early with a convincing 3-0 victory over Hungary and was then forced to wait for the outcome of the Portugal–Bulgaria clash to discover whether it would finish first or second. In the end, hosts Portugal held their nerve to edge Bulgaria 3-2 and complete a perfect group campaign, leaving Spain to qualify in second place.
Spain swept Hungary without dropping a game. Maria BERZOSA defeated Nora DOHOCZKI, Camila MOSCOSO overcame Johanna PETERY, and Renata SHYPSHA completed the clean sweep with a straight-games victory over Rebeka NAGY.
“We’ve made a really good start to the tournament as a team. We wanted to have a seeded team in our group so we could challenge them and try to take their place at the top of the group. We came very close to doing that against Portugal. We’re happy with the way we’re playing and how well we’re working together. Now we’re waiting for the draw to see which side of the bracket we’ll be on. I think France is the strongest team in the competition and probably one step ahead of everyone else, so I hope they’re on the opposite side of the draw,” BERZOSA explained.
Portugal, however, produced a remarkable comeback against Bulgaria to preserve its unbeaten record. Mariana SANTA COMBA gave the hosts an early lead by defeating Nina NIKOLOVA, but Bulgaria struck back through Anita PETKOVA and Sidelya MUTLU, who beat Julia LEAL and Beatriz PINTO respectively to move within one point of topping the group. LEAL responded with a commanding straight-games victory over NIKOLOVA to level the tie before SANTA COMBA delivered the decisive point, defeating PETKOVA in four games to secure a 3-2 victory and first place for Portugal.
SANTA COMBA said:
“I had two completely different matches. Against Nina NIKOLOVA, it took me some time to adapt because her style is unusual—she plays with pimpled rubbers on both sides of the racket. She kept directing the play to my backhand, so I decided to use my forehand more, which is my strongest weapon, and that helped me turn the match around. Before my second match, I watched Anita PETKOVA play against Julia LEAL, so I already knew what to expect from her serves. That helped me prepare my receive game. I also knew she likes to use the banana flick on my serve, so I adjusted my tactics, managed to neutralise that shot and then directed the play to her backhand. I think that made the difference.”
