As it was expected top two seeds at the Under 19 Boy’s Singles Event at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade Maciej KUBIK of Poland’s and DARIUS MOVILEANU of Romania secured their places in the semi final. In the quarters KUBIK overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania (9 9 3 -9 8). ”I was very focused and I am very happy with my performance ” said KUBIK. He will meet surprising semi finalists Italian Andrea PUPPO. PUPPO overcame Hugo DESCHAMPS of France (8 -8 8 -6 5 10) before he beat ISTRATE . “The emotions are very high now. I can not stop crying. It was my goal to win the medal but beating Hugo in the process is remarkable. He is very good player. For a first time in my life I reached the semi final at the European Championships. I have been in the quarters in mixed doubles before but never in singles said PUPPO. In lower half of the draw the place in the final will be decided in the match between two players from Romania Eduardo IONESCU beat Adrien RASSENFOSSE of Belgium. “ RASSENFOSSE beat me in the team’s event and that defeat still hurts. I knew from the beginning what I can expect. This was the hardest match for me here. At 1:1 I had advantage 10:5 and he narrowed the gap at 10:9 ” said IONESCU. MOVILEANU beat Thibault PORET of France (3 8 -5 -10 -7 5 2). “With our record you can expect such outcome of the match. We went full distance although I had 2:0 lead and it was very difficult to play against him ” said Darius. I the Round Maciej KUBIK of Poland easily prevailed but seed no. two MOVILEANU faced severe pressure. Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland forced him to go full distance. In the semi final of the under 15 Boy’s Singles Event Flavien COTON of France will meet Balasz LEI of Hungary and Julian RZIHAUSCHEK will play against Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia. Samuel beat Rafal FORMELA of Poland in the quarters (6 7 10 -7 6). “I beat Julian in the Team’s event in straight games so I see I have more chances here. Of course it will be more difficult this time ” said Samuel speaking about his next encounter. Julian beat Rares CUESDEAN of Romania: “It was a very close game and the win did not come easy. Even when I had 3:1 lead he did not give up ” said RZIHAUSCHEK. Balasz LEI overcame Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria (-10 -6 -5 5 8 7 7): “I started badly. My game was not good but as the match progressed it become better and better.” In the Round of 16 of the Under 15 Boy’s Singles Event Romania’s Rares CUESDEAN overcame top seeded French representative Nathan LAM after seven grueling games (-6 9 -8 8 -9 6 4). In Doubles Under 19 Event top seeds Eduardo IONESCU and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania overcame Simon BELIK and Adam STALZER of Czech Republic and they will meet Alexis KOURAICHI and Adrien COTON of France in the semi final. In other penultimate stage match Hugo DESCHAMPS and Thibault PORET of France will play against Louis LAFFINEUR and Adrien RASSENFOSSE of Belgium. In Under 15 Doubles Event Hungary’s Balasz LEI and Slovakia’s Samuel ARPAS will meet Flavio MOURIER and Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT of France. In other semi final Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria and Austria’s Julian RZIHAUSCHEK will play against Flavien COTON and Nathan LAM of France.

At the penultimate day of the play at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships we know all the medal winners. Tomorrow the places at the podium will be decided. In the Under 19 Girl’s Singles Event top seeded Elena ZAHARIA of Romania overcame Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia to book her place at the medal rostrum (8 -9 -8 8 9). “I am so proud with this win because it was so difficult to beat Hana. I lost against her in straight games in the Team’s Event and I was so nervous today. We know each each other so long many years…The turning point was at 2:2 but all the games were intense and long ” said ZAHARIA. Romania’s player will meet Charlotte LUTZ in the semis. French representative beat Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany. Wiktoria WROBEL of Poland overcame Tsvetlana GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria (-8 11 9 1 7). Her coach explained that the victory came as a surprise to all. Wiktoria will meet Annett KAUFMANN of Germany in the penultimate stage. “It was much harder than the 4:0 result predicts. Each time when it was 10:10 and it happened in two games I was more determined in the finishing stages. I was calm but I played more aggressive ” said KAUFMANN. In the Round of 16 Tsvetlana GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria added another victory on her record. After Ines MATOS of Portugal she overcame Sara DEVOS of Belgium in superb style (3 11 9 3). From quarterfinal Romania remained without representatives in the Under 15 Girl’s singles event. Top seeded Bianca MEI ROSU suffered by the hands of Belgium’s Lilou MASSART 4:2 (-7 14 9 9 -6 8). In addition Veronika POLAKOVA of Czech Republic made another blow to Romania by beating Alesia SFERLEA (-5 -8 6 -11 4 9 7). In the Round of 16 Portugal’s SANTA COMBA suffered by the hands of Sidelya MUTLU of Bulgaria in straight games (9 6 10 12). Josephina NEUMANN of Germany was the first to book her place in the semi final thanks to the straight games victory over Kendra MOLNAR of Hungary (8 9 5 2). “I was very excited even before the game and I was very happy that I reached the quarterfinals. I was not afraid; just decided I will give my best. It worked just fine and here I am – in the semi final ” said NEUMANN. Germany’s player will meet Lilou MASSART who add another win to her record. She beat Nina GUO ZHENG in the quarters. “I was quite nervous but I managed somehow to calm dow I did not expect to reach this far but now I am so happy that I have an opportunity to ply in the semi final “said MASSART. In the lower half of the draw in the quarters Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland overcame Sidelya MUTLU of Bulgaria. She will play against Veronika POLAKOVA of Czech Republic. In dramatic fashion after being 0:3 down POLAKOVA recovered to beat Eireen KALAITZIDOU of Germany. “It is so difficult to explained what happened. I was 0:3 down and then I won 4:3. I did not change anything. I played in the same pace all match ” said POLAKOVA. In Under 19 Doubles Mia GRIESEL and Lea LACHENMAYER of Germany were in charge for top rated upset. They overcame Elena ZAHARIA of Romania and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany and it was one of the rare occasions when KAUFMANN was completely outplayed. Germany’s duo will meet another unexpected pairings in the semis – Anna HURSEY of Wales and Sophie EARLEY of Ireland. They accounted for Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland. Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Linda ZADEROVA of Czech Republic will play against Wiktoria WROBEL and Ilona SZTWIERTNIA of Poland in other semis. In Under 15 Doubles Event in the semis Romania’s Bianca MEI ROSU and Poland’s Natalia BOGDANOWICZ will play against Jade Quynh-Tien HUYNH and Elise PUJOL of France. The other finalists will be known after the clash between Germany’s Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN vs. Busra DEMIR and Aybuke SIMSEK of Turkiye.  

Ukraine’s players continued with the good performance in the Singles at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade. One of the biggest upsets in the Under 19 Girl’s Singles Event was caused by Alina VYDRUCHENKO who beat Ireland’s Sophie EARLY in seven games (-11 10 4 -9 -10 2 8). After re-run of the match we saw two days earlier in the final of the Team’s Event between Romania and Poland Wiktoria WROBEL repeated the success to overcame the favorite Romania’s Ioana SINGEORZAN by the same margin 4:2 (7 8 -7 -6 10 8). Clea DE STOPPELIERE of France also exited earlier than her rankings predicted. Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria accounted for her (10 -2 5 -1 9 9). In Under 15 Girl’s Singles Event Jana HAVELA of Serbia brought joy to host nation supporters by reaching the Round of 32. She overcame Karolina HOLDA of Poland in straight games (5 7 8 6). Sidelya MUTLU of Bulgaria was also in charge of the upset. She beat Hungary’s Sophie BARCSAI in six games (3 10 -11 7 -11 7). Croatia’s neva GOJKOVIC is also out. Gabija ABARAVICIUTE beat her in seven games (-6 -12 6 7 -4 5 11). In Under 15 Boy’s Event Artur GROMEK of Poland faced early exit. Jan SKLADA of Czech Republic was in charge for upset in straight games (8 10 7 9). Tiago OLHERO of Portugal added another surprise to the list by beating Luca OPREA of Romania (5 9 6 -2 9). In Under 19 Mixed Doubles event top seeds Romania’s Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHRIA will play against Iulian CHIRITA of Romania and Annett KAUFANN of Germany. After surprising win over Romania’s Eduard IONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN Milosz REDZIMSKI and Weronika WROBEL of Poland progrssed to other semi final. They will meet Croatia’s Ivor BAN and Hana ARAPOVIC In Under 15 Mixed Doubles Bulgaria’s Yoan VELICHKOV and Sidelya MUTLU beat Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT and Nina GUO ZHENG of France to secure the place at the medal rostrum. In the semi final they will meet nother French pairings Nathan LAM and ade Quynh-Tien HUYNH. They overcame Romania’s Robert PODAR and Cristina SINGEORZAN. In other semi final Flavio MOURIER and Elise PUJOL of France will meet Artur GROMEK and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland.

At the Under 15 events at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade Hannah SILCOCK put a new milestone for Jersey. For a first time Jersey’s player recorded the victory in the main draw. In the Singles event SILCOCK reached the Round of 32 whilst in doubles with Sienna JETHA of England she is in 16. In Mixed doubles with Larry TRUMPAUSKAS also of England SILCOCK played in Round of 16. In the Round of 64 in Singles Hannah beat host nation representative Teodora GOJKOV 4:2 (11:13 11:1 11:8 11:7 9:11 11:4). “Teodora is a player with a very aggressive style of play. She attacked a lot but I managed to slowed her down and to forced her into the longer rallies ” explained Hannah. In mixed doubles she teamed up with Larry TRUMPAUSKAS for a first time at this tournament and instantly it resulted in the elimination of the top seeds Rares Lucian CUESDEAN and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania in the Round of 32. “We never played with each other together so we needed some time to used to each other. We were cautious at the beginning letting top seeds showed their weak and strong points and then we attacked “explained Hannah. In the next round they lost to French pairings Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT and Nina GUO ZHENG. However SILCOCK is still play with Sienna JETHA in Doubles. In second Round they overcame Olha PONKO of Ukraine and Beatriz PINTO of Portugal in full five games. “It was very close match. We were 1:2 down and we won the fourth game 20:18 furthermore in fifth it was 12:10 ” reported SILCOCK. SILCOCK is still living in Jersey but very often she is coming to England for trainings. “ I started when I was 10 but after age of 13 I was allowed to join the England team on their sessions. It improved my game a lot ” said SILCOCK.

It was busy schedule for the ETTU officials today in Belgrade. The Executive Board meeting took place in Stark Arena during the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships and at the same occasion ITTF President Petra SORLING came to visit Serbia’s capitol. ITTF President SORLING also attended the meeting and she will stay in following days to see European youth in action.

On the seventh day of play at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships the opening round in singles were on schedule. Top 24 players will enter the event tomorrow and among the players on duty in Under 19 Girl’s Singles Event were very little upsets. Among the players who were able to create an upset were Enya MOLTARA of Scotland who overcame Lithuania’s Emilija RILISKYTE in seven thrilling games (5 -1 7 9 -5 -3 8). In addition Patricia SANTOS of Portugal overcame Alexandra CHIRIACOVA of Moldova (5 8 9 -8 8). Klara HRABICOVA of Czech Republic was stretched to full distance after she prevailed against Viktoria PERSOVA of Bulgaria (-10 7 -9 7 -9 6 5). Sabina MUSAJEVA of Latvia inflicted the pain in host nation supporters by beating Sara RADAK in seven games (-9 4 -8 8 -8 5 8). Also Bruna BOROVEC of Croatia was starched to full seven games in the duel against Eloise DUVIVER of Belgium (12 -11 -5 5 -2 8 7) and Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU of Greece went full distance against Jocefina HAAGENSEN of Denmark (-6 -6 3 6 9 -9 11). In Under 19 Boy’s Singles Event Numa ULRICH of Switzerland stood the pressure of Andre Pierre KASES of Austria (9 -9 -9 6 9 -9 4) to book his ticket to second round. In Under 15 Girl’s Singles Maja VANJO of Serbia faced three match balls before she overcame Busra DEMIR of Turkiye in seven games thriller (7 -4 10 -5 9 -7 10). Sofija PETROVA of Estonia also booked the place in the second round after seven games match against Elinor DAVIDOV of Estonia (-5 -5 9 9 -9 8 6). Sienna JETHA of England overcame Cecilia CICUTTINI of Italy (5 -9 8 -9 9 -11 13). Two results caught the eye in the Under 15 Boy’s Singles. Stefan RADONJIC of Montenegro overcame Carlos GONCALVES of Portugal in straight games (4 2 6 9) whilst Adil AMADZADA of Azerbaijan overcame Ralph PATTISON of England (3 11 -8 5 7).

U19B     U19G     U15B     U15G       1 Romania   1 Poland   1 France   1 Romania     2 Poland   2 Romania   2 Sweden   2 Poland     3 Belgium   3 Germany   3 Hungary   3 Germany     3 France   3 Sweden   3 Ukraine   3 Portugal     5 Slovakia   5 Czech. R   5 Bulgaria   5 Ukraine     5  Croatia   5 France   5 Czech R   5 Turkiye     7 Italy   7 Croatia   7 Israel   7 Belgium     7 Turkiye   7 Ukraine   7 Romania   7 Hungary     9 Ukraine   9 Belgium   9 Germany   9 France     9 Germany   9 Portugal   9 Poland   9 Israel     11 Hungary   11 Spain   11 England   11 Czech R     11 Sweden   11 Slovakia   11 Spain   11 Slovakia     13 Israel   13 Slovenia   13 Belgium   13 Spain     13 Czech R   13 Lithuania   13 Slovakia   13 Moldova     15 Netherlands   15 England   15 Austria   15 Lithuania     16 England   16 Serbia   16 Greece   16 Croatia     17 Spain  

The team event at the 64th Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade brought some fact that are unique in the long history of the event. For the first time: – Romania had 3 teams in the team finals – Poland won a girls team title. This is even the first ever team title won by any Polish femals table tennis team – 3 teams from Israel finished among the top 16 and will play next year on level 1. Poland and Romania are is the 6th and 7th Association to have 3 finalists in one year. The other ones are the Soviet Union Russia Czechoslovakia Germany and France. The Soviet Union (1976 1989 and as EUN in 1992) and Russia are the only ones ever in four team finals in one year. The Romanian U19 boys team was only the second Romanian team winning this event. It took the Romanian boys no less than 64 years to regain this title the first one was in 1958. This was the first time that we had three team finals played between same Associations. The finals in U19 boys U19 girls and U15 girls was the battle between Romania and Poland. For Poland it is the first time they were in three finals in one year. Although always among the stronger table tennis nations in Europe so far the Polish teams only won 3 titles all in Junior/U19 boys (1999 2000 and 2021). In Junior/U19 girls Poland reached the final in 2001 2004 and 2006 but never won it. In Cadet/U15 girls it is the first time ever Poland is in the final. For Romania winning titles is more common. With 30 team titles Romania is the second best country in the history of the EYC. Only the Soviet Union (48) won more. But also for Romania reaching 3 finals in the same year is the first time in the history of the EYC. Romania won 2 titles in 1987 2010 and 2013. In Cadet/U15 girls their last victory was in 2018. For the Junior/U19 boys it is a different story. In this age category the Romanian team won only once and for this we have to go back to 1958!