European Youth Championships   Russia secured two medals in the Junior Mixed Doubles Event. One is bronze for sure and the other could be gold but we will not know it before tomorrow night. Firstly in the semi final tomorrow morning Samuel KULCZYCKI and Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland will meet Truls MOREGARD and Rebecca MUSKANTOR of Sweden and in all Russia’s second semifinal Artem TIKHONOV and Kristina KAZANTSEVA will play against Lev KATSMAN and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN for the place in the ultimate stage.   In the quarterfinals Samuel KULCZYCKI and Katarzyna WEGRZYN lost only one game against Bilal Selim TOK and Ozge YILMAZ of Turkey (12-10 7-11 11-2 11-4). Truls MOREGARD and Rebecca MUSKANTOR succeeded against Jan ZANDECKI and Aleksandra MICHALAK of Poland by same margin (6-11 11-7 11-9 11-5).   “We had chance only in Ostrava to play together but we are confident playing with each other. We did not feel under great pressure against Polish pairings although they produced very good performance ” said MOREGARD.   Kay STUMPER and Anastasia BONDAREVA of Germany suffered by the hands of Artem TIKHONOV and Kristina KAZANTSEVA of Russia (11-3 11-13 3-11 4-11). Lev KATSMAN and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN overcame Lilian BARDET and Isa COK of France (13-11 11-8 11-7).  

Cadet Mixed Doubles Event at the European Youth Champio0nships   In the semi final of the Cadet Mixed Doubles Event at the European Youth Champiuonships in Ostrava Darius MOVILEANU and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania will meet Mike HOLLO and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany whilst in other match Thibault PORET and Prithika PAVADE of France will play against Felix KOHLER and Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany.   Miguel Angel PANTOJA and Eugenia SASTRE of Spain created big upset by beating top seeded pairings Andrei TOMICA and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania in the third Round but they could not repeat the success in the quarterfinal against Mike HOLLO and Annett KAUFMANN  (8-11 4-11 7-11) in the match for medal.   Darius MOVILEANU and Ioana SINGEORZAN overcame no. three seeds Vladislav MAKAROV and Vlada VORONINA of Russia (7-11 9-11 12-10 15-13 12-10).   “We were two games down against Russia’s pairings but we wer not afraid. We decided to fight harder changed the tactics and we won very close match ” said Ioana SINGEORZAN.   Thibault PORET and Prithika PAVADE of France overcame Erik HUZSVAR and Dorottya TOLGYES of Hungary (11-9 11-5 13-11) whilst Felix KOHLER and Naomi PRANJKOVIC overcame Stepan MUL and Uliana DRONOVA of Ukraine (9-11 11-4 11-8 11-4).  

European Youth Championships   In the second round of the Cadet Girls Singles Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU of Greece overcame Wiktoria WROBEL of Poland in six games. PAPADIMITRIOU’s personal coach is Laoura NICOULAE former national player in Romania and in Greece.   “Laoura is former European champions and I proud to have the opportunity to work with her. A lot of time I spend on trainings in Germany too ” said PAPADIMITRIOU who overcame Feyza DEMIR of Turkey in the opening round of the Singles.   In Doubles PAPADIMITRIOU is paying with Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia no. two seed in singles.   “I hope for the medal in Doubles ” said PAPADIMITRIOU who is seeded at the position no. 9.   Top seed Elena ZAHARIA of Romania overcame Veranika VARABYOVA of Russia in five games Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia needed one less to beat Clea DE STOPPELEIRE of France.  No. three seed Prithika PAVADE of France prevailed against Uliana DRONOVA of Ukraine.     In Cadet Boys Singles Event Louis LAFFINEUR of Belgium Justified his top position at the seedings and overcame Timothy FALCONNIER of Switzerland but not before fierce battle. He was stretched to full seven games in the second round of the event.   For seed no. two it was much easier job. Simon BELIK of Czech Republic beat Greece’s representative Alexandros MADESIS in straight games.   “I feel a little pressure from playing at home soil but I believe my game will improve after each round ” said BELIK.   Mike HOLLO of Germany showed no mercy against Serbia’s Dusan VEZMAR and Dariuos MOVIELEANU of Romania joined the winners after victory over another Serbian Djordje PETROVIC.

European Youth Championships   The top seeds European Youth Championships in Ostrava will commence their journey in singles events tomorrow; two rounds of preliminary rounds concluded.   Top seeded player in Junior Boy’s Singles Event Lev KATSMAN of Russia will play against Steven GEORGES of Luxembourg. Steven was in charge for big upset in the Round one; he beat Azerbaijan’s WANG Chenxi in five games. WANG played for gold two day’s earlier whilst Luxembourg concluded the competition at the position no. 42.   “Of course I am happy with my performance in singles but I think WANG was not at the top of his game. I will keep on fighting the best I can ” GEORGES stayed modest.   No. two seed Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland will meet Tal TILKIN who overcame Barish MOULLET of Switzerland; Vincent PICARD of France will have tougher task against Jonathan MCDONALD. Swede overcame Ethan WALSH of England in straight games. Gold medalist in Team’s Event Maksim GREBNEV will have another duel with German side. Daniel RINDERER progressed to the second round after victory over Gerasimos PETRIS of Greece. Truls MOREGARDS of Sweden will play against Greek Gerasimos CHATZILYGEROUDIS who overcame Jeorhi KUNATS of Ukraine.   No 16. Seed of Austria Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK will play against Dylan CURRY of Scotland who went full seven games to beat Tom COLLE of Luxembourg.       After full distance thriller against Ines BATISTA of Portugal Mollie PATTERSON of England booked her place in the second round of the Junior Girls Event. There she will meet top seeded Tania PLAIAN of Romania. One of the medal winners from last year but in cadet category Rebeca MUSKANTOR of Sweden already faced early exit. Yaroslava PRYKHODKO of Ukraine beat her in another full distance match.   Seeded at the position no. three Zdena BLASKOVA of Czech Republic will play against Radmila TOMINJAK of Serbia. TOMINJAK overcame Faye LEGGETT of Scotland. Anna WEGRZYN of Poland will meet Dasa SINKAROVA of Slovakia. She overcame Daniela RAMMATOPOULOU of Greece.

European Youth Championships   European champion in singles from 1982 in Budapest and 1992 in Stuttgart the “Dutch Table Tennis Player of the Century” in 2000 Bettine VRIESEKOOP of Netherlands took a challenge to pass her vast experience to young generations. On her premiere at the European Youth Championships as a national coach VRIESKOOP is leading Dutch cadet’s girls team. It is always great pleasure to see champions coming back to the venues.   What kept you out of the table tennis in years following the finish of your career at 1997?   “I was a single mother and I could not travel aboard or being absent from home for a longer period. I lived four years in China but it was different we stayed at one place. I had support at home for short absences” explained VRIESEKOOP. “Also maybe if I could have done this earlier I would have stopped by now because it would be to much. Now I came back fresh. I had a distance for a long time and now I can see everything with the fresh eyes. Maybe I can add something more valuable now.”   During her sports visits and training in China Bettine VRIESEKOOP became interested in the culture and then studied Chinese language and philosophy in Leiden. Between 2006 and 2009 she worked in Beijing as a freelance correspondent for several Dutch newspapers including NRC Handelsblad.   Bettine’s first major event as a coach was in Denmark at the Six Nations Tournament earlier this year.   “Here we have three girls in cadets competing at the European championships for a first time and I did not have idea where they stand. I practiced with them for a six months only and with only tournament behind I was pleasantly surprised with the result. We had a chance to reach the first level here. Unfortunately we did not make it but it was really close. It showed us that we have a good base and if we keep on working in right directions and educate them maybe in the future we can aim for medals ” said VRIESKOOP.   It is just a foundation.   “It takes time and we have to work harder and to pay attention to details. Every detail counting. We have a tendency to overrule the details but it all matters.”   Day earlier in Ostrava Russia Germany and France clinched medals in Team’s Events.   “Few countries are doing very well. But unfortunately only few. Par example we lost against Slovakia here but it was really close game. We could beat them despite the fact that we do not practice enough. On the other side what impressed me is the performance of Russia especially Anastasia KOLISH. I think she is very attractive player. In addition Elizabeta ABRAAMIN is very good.”   Not only individuals VRIESKOOP praised team work.   “I like team spirit that comes from Germany. They are always very smart and classy. I am impressed by what they talked about each other. It is really good. That is what I said to my team. That is what we must do we must support each other to be positive. Tendency around us is to emphasise the negative things. That is the role of the coaches to work with players and to point them to positive things. From negativity never comes something positive.”   One of the things that has to change too is the training.   “I talked with the girls and I said that we mast practice 25 hours per week at least if we want medals. That is the minimum if we want to achieve anything. In my time it was 36 hours. Even in Hungary it was the standard but they do not practice neither that much now. If you do not do that even if you are the best talent in the World you are not going to make it.”   Speaking about then and now VRIESKOOP highlighted the fact that young generations knows so little about their predecessors.   “I remember how I respected great players as Ella Zeller-Constantinescu who was also ETTU Vice President or even Emil Zátopek who is coming from athletics but nevertheless… I remembered him being at the stands when I was playing my first European Championships in Prague… I have been admiring him. Or to mention great champion and person Marie Hrachova. New generation does not know her. Here Slovenian coach told her players I am European champions and they did not know it. We are anonymous. It is important that new generations know about former champion not because of me but because of the sport. The story must go on. It has to continue for the passion of the sport. There are many big champions like Roseanu Constantinescu…I did not see them play but I know their names. We can say this is the different generation but it is up to us to teach them.”   Players have to now their work will be appreciated in future.   “I approached Anastasia KOLISH after the final because I admired her style and she is a great athlete. She lost her match but nevertheless I congratulated her because she is the player with very attractive style. I paid my respective to the young players. That is also important.”   After the paying career VRIESKOOP’s wrote books and articles that recommended her as the correspondent for the highest level daily newspapers in Netherlands NRC Handelsblad.   “They chose me to go to China. I worked hard there with long working hours 80 in one week and worked in war and violent situations. It was great and difficult experience. After I returned home I was tired. I thought I should return to something what is really familiar to me. I felt like I want to be in table tennis again. It is less stressful; I do not have to prove my name here. I already achieved success.”   What is

  Russia clinched gold medals in both Junior Boys and Cadet Boys Team’s Event. In the final of the junior’s they overcame Azerbaijan whilst cadets prevailed against Romania.   Beating Azerbaijan was a special task. So far at the tournament they showed very few weak spots so Russia could not afford any mistakes.   “Both Vladimir SIDORENKO and Maksim GREBNEV had to win their matches against Azerbaijan’s no. two YANG Xinyu. That was must- to situation and that is why the match between Lev KATSMAN and WANG Chenxi was so crucial. We did not have space for any mistake our third player must have scored ” said coach Vadim AHMEDOV.   Exactly that happened. Lev overcame WANG and Maxim GREBNEV won the decisive match in three games. Two opening games concluded by 12-10 margin.   Russia beat Hungary in the Round of 16 and already in quarters met one of the strongest candidates for gold – Sweden.   “They are very strong; it was difficult one. However throughout the Event we proved that not only have strong individuals we justified our values as a team.”   GREBNEV had a chance to finish the job at 2-1 against Truls MOREGARD but he lost. SIDORENKO won both his points. However GREBNEV managed to came back stronger for the final. In the semi final Russia beat Germany.   In the Cadet Boys Event Russia’s Vladislav MAKAROV Denis IZUMRUDOV and Sergey RYZHOV overcame Romania. On their way to the final they beat Ukraine Czech Republic and Germany.      

European Youth Championships   Last year in Cluj Napoca French Cadet Girls reached the semi final of the European Youth Championships. This year in Ostrava they went two steps higher they climbed the top of the Europe with the same team. This is the first ever title in Cadet Girls Team’s Event for France   Prithika PAVADE and Charlotte LUTZ overcame last year’s winners team of Russia in great four matches final.   “We had two important moments in the match. First one was when Prithika PAVADE failed to capitalize over two match balls at 2-1. She lost fourth game but showed brave face to in in the decisive. The second was when we won doubles. We succeeded with 12-10 in the third game. This is cadets event and every ball every point is very important” said coach Remy LUDOVIC.   French pairings PAVADE and LUTZ are unbeaten together. It proved as great value against Romania.   “Our final against Russia was very difficult but we all know that main challenge was to overcame Romania. That was one of the toughest matches on our way to the gold. We believed in our team and we believed we can beat ZAHARIA. Also our doubles succeeded in French open semi final against them ” said LUDOVIC.   There was something more…   “We had unexpectedly hard match against Slovakia in the morning hours on the day when we met Romania. They gave us hard time that match shook us in positive way. We become aware that we are vulnerable and that we had to be on alert. It was good lesson.”   Prithika PAVADE with more experience proved as a leader of the generation.   “She is hard worker she has very good techniques and she is very focused during the game. A lot of pressure was on her in team’s matches. She also improved her service game very much. Charlotte LUTZ is younger and she always play like she is on fire but her unpredictability could be dangerous sometimes. She never gives up and she fight when it is 2-2 ” said coach.   LUDOVIC pointed that the quality level of players went up this year.   “It is visible that many countries now pay more attention to cadet girls. The camps in Asia also proved as a good experience that helps development ” concluded LUDOVIC.      

European Youth Championships in Ostrava   Germany won medals in all four teams events at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava but only one was gold. The top place at the metal rostrum came from the team with less odds – Junior Girls. In the final they overcame top seeded Russia last year’s runners up behind Azerbaijan.   Power of German team is never being to denied and it seamed that the victory came as bigger surprise to the players then to the others. The coach Dana WEBER as well as the players concluded the match with the tears of joy.   “Girls said and that is true it is our dream come true. I have to congratulate the girls for great effort fantastic team spirit and to praise their fighting skills ” said Coach Dana WEBER.   In the Group stage Germany beat Turkey and Netherlands but the turning point was the unexpected defeat against Czech Republic. The girls took the best of it. Instead of losing the spirit they showed they are mature for the big things.   “After the defeat we spoke a lot that night. I told them we can make it. I ensure them how good team we have. And I felt immediately in the knock out stage how motivated they are. They rose the game to next level and their confidence was contagious.”   Portugal Poland and France were next in line Anastasia BONDAREVA Franziska SCHREINER and Sophia KLEE took the most of the burden but Yuki TSUTSUI also had her part in victory over Poland.   “Not only players near the table but whole bench contributed to this success. Their support is built into our gold. The atmosphere in the team is something that launched us at the top ” said WEBER.   WEBER has vast experience. Her teams were six times in the finals and first medal came with cadet girls in 2012 but this is the first one with juniors.   “It was very difficult final against Russia. After KLEE beat ABRAAMIAN I knew we are on the good path. KLEE was 0-2 down but she recovered. TAILAKOVA overcame SCHREINER who previously beat Anastasia KOLISH. In the decisive match KOLISH was 2-0 up against BONDAREVA but when Anastasia won the third that was it. Never before I was confident before the end of the match like I was yesterday. Simply I knew we will win. For a first time I had no doubts before the end ” said WEBER.   Girls showed how brave they are.   “Franziska SCHREINER is very experienced with the Youth Olympics in her resume and still she is very young. BONDAREVA is fighting spirit and element that puts everything together in the team. However this is not about strong individuals we have it is about strong team. I am so grateful to work with them and I congratulate them all ” said WEBER.   Congratulations came from various sides yesterday’s late night among them were the  ones from Petrissa SOLJA and Nina MITTELHAM girls who started their successful journey by winning gold at the European Championships.