n Belgium’s town of Spa at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY made host supporters proud by clinching the gold medal in the Men’s Doubles Event. In the final they overcame Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia (8:11 13:11 6:11 12:10 10:12). Bronze medalist are Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria and Vladislav URSU of Moldova as well as Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia. In the dramatic match in the final stage it was RASSENFOSSE and KOSOLOSKY who had a better start too. “Even in the games that we lost the second and fourth I did not feel we were overpowered. It was always because of small mistakes that we did. We never lost the control over the match. At the end we also proved that we have better nerves ” said KOSOLOSKY. RASSENFOSSE added: “Even when it was 10:5 and 10:10 we felt equally confident.” On their way to the highest step at the medal rostrum RASSENFOSSE and KOSOLOSKY faced few challenges. “I think the hardest match if we exclude the pressure that final brought was when we play against Bastien REMBERT and Lilian BARDET. Our main weapon service and receive did not work on them. Also we have very good communication among each others and it seamed that nothing was giving results there ” explained KOSOLOSKY.

Newly crowned champions in Women’s Doubles Event at the 2021 European Under 21 Championships are Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC of Turkey. In the final of the Event in Spa they overcame Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia (3:11 3:11 16:14 11:9 11:5).Maariia TAILAKOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia and Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia won bronze medals. In the final match YILMAZ and HARAC revered from 2:0 in reverse to win the gold. “At the beginning we did not feel the game. We did so many easy mistakes. However after 2:0 we released that we had to change the situation. We started to play more relaxed because we had nothing to lose after being in such bad position. We won so many silver and bronze medals finally we have gold ” said Ece HARAC. In third game Serbian pairings had 2:0 and 7:5 when Turkish duo recovered. “Our game was still very good but they took their performance on much better level ” explained JOKIC.

Rares SIPOS and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania are the new crowned Mixed Doubles champions at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Spa. In the final they overcame Bastien REMBERT and Isa COK of France (12:10 3:11 11:8 11:5). In their final year at this tournament Rares SIPOS and Andreea DRAGOMAN finally reached the top step at the medal rostrum. “We played so many time together and we do not have the medal from the Under 21 Championships I am so happy that we finally did it ” said DRAGOMAN who won silver in singles last year in Varazdin. SIPOS returned to the table after very heavy defeat against Maksim GREBNEV in the quarterfinal of the Men’s Singles Event. “Together with Lav KATSMAN he is one of the best players here and he played at the unbelievable level against me. I could not do anything else but to lift myself from the scratches after that defeat and to find new straight to face REMBERT and COK in the final. Now I am so happy and tired “said SIPOS. In the penultimate stage Bastien REMBERT and Isa COK overcame Irvin BERTRAND and Leili MOSTAFAVI in all French duel. They needed four games (11:7 9:11 11:6 12:10). “It it is so difficult to play against the teammates. They know all your strengths and all your weakness. On top of all BERTRAND and MOSTAFAVI are both left-handers so we constantly has to be very cautious where we would place the ball. At the end we did less mistakes and it was most important in the fourth game. It came very close so we were very focused on the first ball and good placement ” explained COK. On their way to the semis they eliminated Darious MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania in five games. They French pairings had to play against Maksim GREBNEV and Olga VISHNIAKOVA of Russia 3:1 before they beat Matteo MUTTI of Italy and Sabina SURJAN of Serbia in straight games. “We had a tough road to the final and the opening match was the toughest one. After that we “warmed up” we played better and better as the tournament went ” added COK. SIPOS and DRAGOMAN beat Vladimir SIDORENKO and Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia in full distance thriller (9:11 11:7 9:11 11:9 8:11). “I was nervous and I think that is the reason why I did not play at my usual level. I did not attack; after the receive I just looked for a option to put the ball down not to finish the point ” said DRAGOMAN after the match.

On the final day at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Spa tomorrow we will see the clashes between Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania in one semi final and in other in all-German clash Franziska SCHREINER will play against Annett KAUFMANN. In the quarterfinal top seeded Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia beat Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland in five games (0:11 11:5 11:7 15:13 11:9) whilst without any difficulties Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania overcame Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia (12:10 11:6 11:7 11:3). Annett KAUFMANN was under pressure in the match against Camille LUTZ of France but Germany’s player responded without due alarm (8:11 12:10 11:4 7:11 11:7 11:9). The match that brought most of the suspense was the one between Franziska SCHREINER and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania; it went full distance (11:8 11:13 11:8 11:13 11:8 5:11 11:8). In the Round of 16 Mariia TAILAKOVA had also a slow start but from second game showed no mercy against Sabina SURJAN of Serbia (8:11 11:8 11:6 11:8 11:8). No. 5 seed Jamila LAURENTI of Italy suffered by the hands of the no 9 seed Anna WEGRZYN 0:4 (10:12 5:11 8:11 3:11) whilst Andreea DRAGOMAN justified her status in the match against Kornelija RILISKYTE of Lithuania 4:1 (12:10 11:6 9:11 11:6 11:4). Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia overcame Lucie GAUTHIER of France 4:1 (11:9 17:15 9:11 12:10 11:4). In the lower half of the draw two players from Germany progressed after the five games duels. Annett KAUFMANN beat Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia (5:11 6:11 9:11 11:7 9:11) whilst Franziska SCHREINER prevailed against Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland (5:11 9:11 11:8 5:11 5:11). Elena ZAHARIA overcame Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia (9:11 11:9 15:13 11:9 11:7) and in seven games dramatic duel Tania PLAIAN of Romania lost to Camille LUTZ (2:11 18:16 7:11 11:7 11:4 11:13 5:11).  

Medals in the Men’s Singles event at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Spa are already secured. In tomorrow’s semi final will play Lev KATSMAN of Russia against Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and Irvin BERTRAND of France will meet Maksim GREBNEV of Russia. In the quarterfinal KATSMAN overcame Fanbo MENG of Germany (16:14 15:13 8:11 11:7 5:11 16:14) in nailbitting duel. BERTRAND also had a very difficult match against Ivor BAN of Croatia (9:11 11:9 1:4 11:7 17:15). GREBNEV saved some energy by finishing his match in straight games against Romania’s Rares SIPOS (11:6 11:7 13:11 11:4). SGOUROPOULOS faced difficulties at the beginning of the duel against Bastien BERTRAND of France (9:11 11:9 11:4 11:7 17:15) but then he started to control the match. In the Round of 16 Carlo ROSSI of Italy no. 40 seed stretched player no. 3 at the list SGOUROPOULOS to the limits 3:4 (11:7 11:8 6:11 8:11 11:9 5:11 9:11) but he failed to reach the next round. Italian player had 2:0 then 3:2 but winner from 2019 recovered to win the match. Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland also was close to beat the odds by overcoming no. 7 Fanbo MENG 3:4 (11:9 11:9 8:11 9:11 8:11 11:9 6:11) but after the close duel MENG justified his rankings. Lev KATSMAN inflicted the pain in the harts of the host nation supporters by overcoming Adrien RASSENFOSSE in thrilling seven games 4:3 (10:12 11:8 13:11 12:14 8:11 11:5 11:8). Bastien REMBERT of France needed only four games to prevail in the match against Olav KOSOLOSKY of Belgium 4:0 (11:8 11:9 11:5 11:8). The lower half of the draw provided less dramatic encounters. Irvin BERTRAND prevailed against Cristian PLETEA of Romania in straight games (11:3 11:9 11:6 11:6) and Ivor BAN was also in the fast lane in the match against Cedric MEISSNER of Germany (11:7 11:9 11:5 11:9). Nicolas DEGROS of Belgium took only one game from Rares SIPOS of Romania (16:14 8:11 8:11 3:11 8:11). It was the same case scenario in the duel between Leo DE NODREST of France and Maksim GREBNEV (13:15 7:11 9:11 11:5 4:11).  

In the final of the Men’s Doubles Event at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Spa in front of their supporters Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY will play against Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia. In Women’s Doubles Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia will meet Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC of Turkey. In semi final Belgium’s pairings RASSENFOSSE and KOSOLOSKY overcame Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria and Vladislav URSU of Moldova (11:7 7:11 3:11 6:11). “They surprised us in the opening game with their service and receive game but when we learned what to do it was our main strength against them. We turned it into our advantage ” explained KOSOLOSKY. Belgium’s pairings play together for a six years but mainly at the International tournaments. “We won Belgium open and three times we were in the quarterfinals of the European Youth Championships. Always so close but also against very tough draw with players like SIDORENKO and GREBNEV on the other side of the net ” explained RASSENFOSSE. KOSOLOSKY added:”Now it is different. We had a tough draw here and few close matches but now we feel more complete. Our game matured.” Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia suffered by the hands of ANDRAS of Hungary and BAN in full distance duel (6:11 13:11 14:12 5:11 9:11). “We lost third game buy narrowest of margins and it was close fight but we never lost our control. We were always at the top of the game ” explained ANDRAS. BAN added: “We followed the advance of our coaches to be brave and to attack.” Turkey’s pairings Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC overcame Mariia TAILAKOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia (8:11 11:6 6:11 7:11) in very impressive style. “We were mentally very strong. They are very dangerous but today we were at the top of the game ” said Ece HARAC. Turkish pairings playing very long time together. “We have already four medals from the European Youth Championships there are all silver and bronze; we never clinched gold. I feel now is the right time for the title ” said HARAC. On the opposite side of the table will be JOKIC and SURJAN. Serbian pairings beat Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia in the semis (7:11 8:11 11:7 13:11 10:12). “We had 2:0 but Slovakia’s girls managed to come back. I missed few spins and I lost the touch. I become insecure. Generally there were a lot of ups and downs. In the second game it was 6:1 for them but we recovered. Then they won two games in the row and had 10:8 two match balls. At that stage Sabina played two spins which left them completely stunned. Even I was stunned ” explained JOKIC laughing.”It is good that this happened otherwise I will be afraid to look Sabina in the eyes.”

Belgium’s pairings Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY secured first medal for the host nation in the Men’s Doubles Event at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Spa. In the semi final they will meet Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria and Vladislav URSU of Moldova. In other duel Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia will meet Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia. In the semi final of the Women’s Doubles Event Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia will meet Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia whilst in other match Mariia TAILAKOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia will play against Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC of Turkey. In Mixed Doubles semi final Irvin BERTRAND and Leili MOSTAFAVI will meet Bastien REMBERT and Isa COK in all French encounter whilst Rares SIPOS and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania will play against Vladimir SIDORENKO and Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia. Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY secured the medal in the big style. They overcame last year’s champions Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS of Romania (13:11 11:9 11:7). In their half of the draw Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria and Vladislav URSU of Moldova overcame Pedro OSIRO and Dorian GIROD of Switzerland in straight games (11:7 11:8 11:5). The top seeds Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia needed one more to beat Borgar HAUG of Norway and Thor CHRISTENSEN of Denmark (11:2 11:6 11:13 11:9).Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia overcame Fanbo MENG and Benno OEHME of Germany (11:6 11:2 7:11 11:7). No. one seeds Mariia TAILAKOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia overcame Franziska SCHREINER and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany in four games (11:7 9:11 11:9 11:6). No. two seeds Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia overcame Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Linda ZADEROVA of Czech Republic in straight games (11:8 11:7 11:8). On their way to the medal rostrum Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC of Turkey was stretched to full distance against Jamila LAURENTI of Italy and Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO of Ukraine (8:1 1:5 11:3 8:11 8:11). Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia beat sisters Anna and Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland (11:8 11:8 8:11 11:8).    

The ultimate round of Group Stage in Men’s Singles Event at the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Belgium’s Spa brought dramatic moments. One of the greatest matches at the Championships so far has been seen in Group A and involved Lev KATSMAN of Russia and Dimitrije LEVAJAC of Serbia. The day commenced with Lev KATSMAN topping the standings with two wins followed by top seeded Cristian PLETEA of Romania with one less as well as it had Dimitrije LEVAJAC of Serbia. PLETEA did all he can do and beat Artur GRELA of Poland in five games before he moved to tribunes to follow in agony what is happening in the match between LEVAJAC and KATSMAN. On everyone’s surprise LEVAJAC left KATSMAN with only one point in opening game then win the next one lose third by narrow margin and put the fourth on his account as well. “I needed only one game to pass to the knock out stage but LEVAJAC took me by the surprise. I know how good he can play but today he played one of his best matches in the career. I said I needed only one game to pass but I never love to lose and the defeat before the start of the Round of 16 could really put me in bad spirit so I fought hard to prevent it. At 2:2 he played unbelievable rallies he blocked he was on fire. I managed to make 3:3 but then again he had advantage 8:6. Only in the last moments I changed the service to his forehand; it paid of and I finished it with the win by narrow margin ” explained KATSMAN. At the end of the thriller PLETEA was equally relieved. He also pass to the knock out phase. “Lev saved me. I will never let this happen again. It is so unbelievable hard when your fate depends on someone else ” said PLETEA. No. two seed Rares SIPOS progressed further despite the defeat previous day against Matteo MUTTI of Italy. Today he overcame Adrien RASSENFOSSE of Belgium. However Belgium’s representative will also play in the Round of 16 thanks to previous victories over Vladislav URSU of Moldova and MUTTI. “As it happened before I lost the opening match and I still managed to go through. I was not very worry I am confident with my play here ” said SIPOS. From the Group C Greek player Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia moved to best 16 whilst no 4 seed Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia failed to follow. From Group D Irvin BERTRAND of France and Carlo ROSSI of Italy progressed further. In the Round of 16 will also play Bastien REMBER of France and Ivor BAN of Croatia Leo NORDEST of France and Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland Fanbo MENG of Germany and Niciolas DEGROS of Belgium Cedric MEISSNER of Germany and Olav KOSOLOSKY of Belgium.  

The Group Stages in the Women’s Event of the 2021 GAZPROM European Under 21 Championships in Belgium’s Spa concluded on the third day of the play. Best 16 players tomorrow will continue their fights in the main draw. In the top four Groups today there were few upsets but the leading name Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia justified her rankings. Mariia progressed to the Round of 16 after she beat all three players in her Group. Last one to suffer was Zdena BLASKOVA of Czech Republic. With one win less Camile LUTZ of France will also play tomorrow in the knock out phase. No. two seed Sabina SURJAN of Serbia is also through but she was only second in the Group. With three wins Annett KAUFMANN of Germany secured the leading position. Both players recorded victories today. Sabina beat Helga DARI of Hungary whilst Annett overcame Leili MOSTAFAVI of France. In Group C no. 20 seed Lucie GAUTHIER of France remained unbeaten in Stage 2 and overcame Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO of Ukraine in straight games. Elena ZAHARIA of Romania followed her steps and after victory over Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia no. three seed at the Event also moved to the Round of 16. No. 4 seed Ozge YILMAZ of Turkey was also halted in this stage. To the knock out phase from the spot no. one goes Poland’s Katarzyna WEGRZYN after three wins. In the last round of the Group stage in direct clash for the top position she overcame Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia. Ema moved forward with two previous wins over Isa COK of France and YILMAZ. Winner of the Juniors Singles and Doubles titles earlier this year at the European Youth Championships Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia is-in the powerful run in Spa. No. 11 seed is unbeaten after six matches in Belgium. Today she overcame Gul Pembe OZKAYA of Turkey to move forward in knock out stage. “ I was very cautious before the duel against OZKAYA. In the first phase she overcame GAUTHIER so I was sure it will not go easy ” explained ABRAAMIAN. “Yesterday I was challenged in the match against LAURENTI. I knew she improved her game very much and since we did not play against each other for two or three years I did not know what to expect. She changed her play with backhand and in the opening game I was completely lost. I could not read her game. It took me a while before it happened but from the second game I found the right tactics for her.” LAURENTI beat Alma ROOSE of Sweden in seven game thriller to secure her place in the Round of 16. In Group F no. 6 seed Anastasia KOLISH also departed earlier then he seedings predicted. From the top of the Group with three wins Tania PLAIAN of Romania will move to the Round of 16 followed by Kornelija RILISKYTE of Lithuania. Tania recorded all three wins in straight games. “I was playing for the top spot in the Group and I was very focused today against KOLISH. Of course I got some extra confidence from yesterday’s good result. The match against RILISKYTE was not easy especially as I saw her beating KOLISH before our duel. I was a-little bit afraid before the start but as the game progressed everything went well ” said PLAIAN. Another Romania’s player Andreea DRAGOMAN is also safely through to the knock out stage. With three wins in second stage Andreea booked the top position in the Group H. “For me the hardest part was coming from Stage one after defeat against Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO. I was under pressure at the beginning but after the win over Franziska SCHREINER it was was much better. I managed to forget the defeat and to play with lot of confidence ” explained DRAGOMAN. SCHREINER is second in the Group. In Group G Tijana JOKIC no. 7 seed failed to win the place in next stage Anna WEGRZYN of Poland and Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia are placed at the positions no. one and two in the Group.