European Youth Championships   Russia showed brave hart and great strength to overcame Azerbaijan in the final of the Junior Boys Team’s Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. They prevailed in five thrilling matches.   Vladimir SIDORENKO had fantastic opening of the match. His performance was at the highest level and YANG Xinyu had no answer to his lethal backhand. It took four games for SIDORENKO to beat Yang. In next duel Maksim GREBNEV faced Azerbaijan’s no. one player YU Khinhang YU was under severe pressure but not enough to crack. Lev KATSMAN’s role was crucial. He had to bet WANG Chenxi in order to keep Russia’s hopes alive. That he exactly did. Vladimir SIDORENKO fought like lion against the top Azerbaijan’s player but he lost in five games. On his second return to the table Maxim played like his in fire but not only with his heart he puzzled YANG with great tactics. He won two opening games 12-10 and sealed the match in ruthless style.   “We knew that it will be very hard for us because Azerbaijan player number one didn´t lose any match. So this was a pressure for us. First match was very important I beat their player number two then Maxim GREBNEV lost to their number one so this was something we expected. In the third match Lev KATSMAN was down during the match but he managed to win and it was really important. Then I was leading against their number one 2-0 and 5-1 maybe I thought that we already won. But I still believed that Maxim Grebnev will win the last match. Because this is European Championships and European players should win it. Maxim played a really good game he was down 7-10 in the first game and then he was better player. We have to thank also to our whole team which gave us fantastic support ” said SIDORENKO.   Dominik JONACK dominated in two opening games in the match against Olav KOSOLOSKY. Only after the third game KOSOLOSKY managed to find the answer for JONACK’s defending style of play and he took it by narrow margin. In the finish of the third game he regained the control over the match. It did not last long. In close finish of the fourth game Dominik sealed the match. Similar to first match Adrien RASSENFOSSE lost two opening game against Kay STUMPER returned in third and then Germany’s player finished the match in fourth game. Felix WETZEL beat Nicolas DEGROS in straight games.   “Before the tournament we did not expect to win the medal so bronze is a big success for us. It was the main reason why we played without pressure today and the match went well. We are very happy to claim the third place and also ticket to the World Championships. I started my match against Olav KOSOLOSKY very well then in the third game he played better against my defense so I had to attack more ” said JONACK.   Match for gold   Russia – Azerbaijan 3-2 Vladimir SIDORENKO – YANG Xinyu (11-8 10-12 11-2 12-10) Maksim GREBNEV – YU Khinhang (6-11 9-11 8-11) Lev KATSMAN – WANG Chenxi (12-10 9-11 7-11 11-9 11-6) Vladimir SIDORENKO – YU Khinhang (11-5 11-7 9-11 7-11 11-8) Maksim GREBNEV – YANG Xinyu (12-10 12-10 11-6)   Match for third position Germany – Belgium 3-0 Dominik JONACK – Olav KOSOLOSKY (11-6 11-8 11-13 11-9) Kay STUMPER – Adrien RASSENFOSSE (11-9 11-9 6-11 11-6) Felix WETZEL – Nicolas DEGROS (11-4 11-8 11-9)  

European Youth Championships   Germany upset the ranking order and overcame Russiasia to clinch the title in the Junior Girls Team’s Event. In thrilling five matches final they secured gold. Czech Republic finished third at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava and thus booked their place at the World Junior Championships.   Mariia TAILAKOVA gave no chance to Anastasia BONDAREVA at the start of the duel. Only second game was close but eventually the match finished in straight games. Franziska SCHREINER had a much better start then her teammate. It took a while before Anastasia KOLISH warmed up and won the second game before pendulum swung again. After that Franziska stayed at the winning path to level the match.   Surprisingly Elizabet ABRAAMIAN failed to close her match after being 2 games up against Sophia KLEE. There were still plenty of space for top seeds to win the final when Mariia TAILAKOVA scored for a second time against Franziska SCHREINER but Anastasia KOLISH lost against Anastasia BONDAREVA decisive match.   “It is like dream come true only difference is we did not even dear to dream this. It is huge surprise for us. It is not the technique that led us to win it is our team spirit our faith in our team and great support for each other ” said Anastasia BONDAREVA.       Battle for third position and last available place at the World Championships concluded in favor of Czech Republic. Host prevailed in the match against France. Isa COK overcame Gabriela STEPANOVA in four games. After close game she completely took over the control in last set. Only in second game Camille LUTZ put pressure on Zdena BLASKOVA but it was not enough to won it. Linda ZADEROVA widened the gap with the victory over Julie PENNEC. BLASKOVA justified her status and showed she has a nerve when it meters. She overcame COK in five games.   “We are the best team in the World! We are supporting each other and it is incredible that we won bronze medal and also ticket to the World Championships. In the match against Isa COK I saved four match points but I was really afraid of losing. I just tried to attack and I was saying to myself that I just have to win because it is a very important match ” said Zdena BLASKOVA.   Gold medal match Russia – Germany 2-3 Mariia TAILAKOVA – Anastasia BONDAREVA (11-3 14-12 11-5) Anastasia KOLISH – Franziska SCHREINER (9-11 11-5 5-11 8-11) Elizabet ABRAAMIAN – Sophia KLEE (11-4 11-4 9-11 7-11 10-12) Mariia TAILAKOVA – Franziska SCHREINER (11-5 11-9 11-7) Anastasia KOLISH – Anastasia BONDAREVA (14-12 11-9 7-11 7-11 7-11)   Match for third position France – Czech Republic 1-3 Isa COK – Gabriela STEPANOVA (12-10 7-11 15-13 11-2) Camille LUTZ – Zdena BLASKOVA (5-11 13-15 4-11) Julie PENNEC – Linda ZADEROVA (8-11 6-11 6-11) Isa COK – Zdena BLASKOVA (13-11 6-11 11-9 13-15 11-9)  

European Youth Championships   Russia won gold medal in the Cadet Boys Team’s Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In thrilling finish they secured top spot at the medal rostrum in the match against Romania.   Eduard IONESCU gave Romania the lead after four close games encounter against Vladislav MAKAROV whilst Darius MOVILEANU widener the gap with the victory over Denis IZUMRUDOV. Romania was in the driving seat with two wins and good start of the doubles. However Andrei TOMICA and MOVILEANU could not close the game against MAKAROV and Sergey RYZHOV. The match changed direction and next two singles went on Russia’s account.   “It was very difficult match but we fought until the end. We did not want to give up. It is a great success. I am so proud of our team ” said IZUMRUDOV.   Roamnia’s boys were dissapointed. “We had our chances but they maybe had fighted harder we dont know we just can’t believe what happened. We are of course very sad but life goes on and second place is nice as well. A lot of teams wanted to play final and we could ” said Eduard IONESCU.  MOVILEANU:”Maybe we should have been fighting more and should be more concetrated to every single match.”   Germany’s Felix KOHLER Mike HOLLO Vincent SENKBEIL and Tom SCHWEIGER won bronze medal. In French team who also won bronze played: Felix LEBRUN Thibault PORET and Alexis KOURAICHI.   Match for gold medal Russia – Romania 3-2 Vladislav MAKAROV – Eduard IONESCU (8-11 10-12 11-3 8-11) Denis IZUMRUDOV – Darius MOVILEANU (5-11 5-11 9-11) Vladislav MAKAROV Sergey RYZHOV – Andrei TOMICA Darius MOVILEANU (11-8 11-5 Vladislav MAKAROV – Darius MOVILEANU (12-10 6-11 11-7 12-10) Denis IZUMRUDOV – Eduard IONESCU (11-8 11-6 11-4)  

European Youth Championships   France overcame Russia to secure the gold medal in the Cadet Girls Singles Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In the final they overcame Russia. Bronze medalists in the Cadet Girls Event are Germany and Romania.   France overcame Russia in four matches. Prithka PAVADE won both her singles against Alina ZAVARYKINA and Vlada VORONINA and she partnered Charlotte LUTZ in winning doubles. In Russia’s team only Vlada VORONINA managed to score.   “The last match was very difficult but I was calm. We already had 2-1 advantage and that took all the pressure of me. I was relaxed in my singles but in the doubles it was different situation. It was most important match today ” said PAVADE.   In team of Germany played Annett KAUFMANN Naomi PRANJKOVIC and Jele STORTZ whilst for Romania played Ioana SINGEORZAN and Elena ZAHARIA.   Match for gold France – Russia 3-1 Prithika PAVADE – Alina ZAVARYKINA (11-6 7-11 11-9 16-18 11-7) Charlotte LUTZ – Vlada VORONINA (11-7 4-11 11-13 11-13) Prithika PAVADE Charlotte LUTZ – Alina ZAVARYKINA Vlada VORONINA (11-4 11-8 12-10) Prithika PAVADE – Vlada VORONINA (11-9 11-4 11-6)  

European Youth Championships   Russia will play in all four finals of the Team’s Events at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. Cadet Girls were the last to book their place in the ultimate stage. In the match for gold they will meet France.   In the semis Russia overcame Germany 3-1. Vlada VORONINA lost the opening match against Annett KAUFMANN but she beat Naomi PRNJAKOVIC. Alina ZAVARIKINA overcame Naomi in singles and and with Vlada succeeded in doubles.         France overcame Romania 3-1. Prithika PAVADE overcame Ioana SINGEORZAN in straight games before Elena ZAHARIA leveled with 3-2 win over Charlotte LUTZ. In doubles French pairings PAVADE LUTZ prevailed against ZAHARIA and SINGEORZAN. The duel between PAVADE and ZAHARIA concluded in favor of French girl.   “I was two games to null in reverse and I had to change something. I started with my service game. I managed to change the pace of the game; to slow it down. It paid off so I recovered to win ” said PAVADE.

European Youth Championships     In the final of the Junior Boys Teams Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava Azerbaijan will meet Russia.   Russia secured the final in great match against Germany. Vladimir SIDORENKO proved as a real leader of the generation by adding two more points to Russia’s scoreboard. He beat Dominik JONACK and Kay STUMPER. Lev KATSMAN beat Felix WETZEL whilst Maksim GREBNEV lost against STUMPER.   Before SIDORENKO commenced to talk about his matches first he reflected on GREBNEV’s duel.   “It was difficult situation for Maksim. In the quarterfinal he lost against Truls MOREGARD 2-3 after he had 9-3 lead. Swede recovered and that took the confidence out of Maksim. He was not at his usual level for the match against Germany but I am sure he will recover for tomorrow’s duel against Azerbaijan ” said SIDORENKO.   Vladimir continued:” My coach was confident I can win two points and we knew Lev is able to produce another one on third position. We were very confident despite great pressure. It still hurt the defeat against Romania in the last year’s semi final. This time we were stronger as a team.”   KATSMAN’s contribution was vital.   “It was important match. I played against Felix WETZEL after 1-1 and we knew if I win our victory is sealed. Luckuly everything come to its place in this match. I was not feel good with the balls and with my game so far but today I managed to won points after long rallies and I enjoyed my game ” said KATSMAN.       Belgium could not halt Azerbaijan’s progress to the final. Adrien RASSENFOSSE had a good start against YANG Xinyu but it was the only point Belgium managed to win. Olav KOSOLOSKY lost against YU Khinhang Nicolas DEGROS suffered by the hands of WANG Chenxi and YU proved too strong for RASSENFOSSE.    

European Youth Championships in Ostrava Russia booked the place in the final of the Cadet Boys Team’s Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In the match for gold they will meet Romania.   Romania overcame France in the semi final 3-2. In narrow finish of decisive game of the decisive match Darious MOVILEANU recovered from 6-9 in reverse to win the game and the match 11-9 against Felix LEBRUN. LEBRUN won at the beginning against Eduard IONESCU but Thibault PORET lost his singles against Darius. Darious MOVILEANU won another point for Romania partnering Andrei TOMICA. PORET beat IONESCU.   “It was a very tough match and I am so happy that I managed to win the fifth encounter against Felix Lebrun 3:2. But in the last set I was 6:9 down. Then I changed my entire game I had to play something different because he knows how I play. And it worked well. I still hope that we can win the gold medal tomorrow ” said Darious MOVILEANU.       Russia overcame Germany 3-1 in the penultimate stage. Vladislav MAKAROV gave Russia a good start with the victory over Felix KOHLER but Denis IZUMRUDOV faced tough challenge against Mike HOLLO he lost two games at 11-13 and 16-18. Germany managed to level the match. Sergey RYZHOV joined MAKAROV to secured the point from the doubles 3-1. And in the last match MAKAROV beat HOLLO 3-1.   “I felt under pressure at the beginning. The match against HOLLO was very difficult but as the game progressed I felt more and more confident. The team spirit and great support from my teammates helped me to build my confidence and to regain the control over the match ” said MAKAROV.   IZMURUDOV had few chances against HOLLO.   “I had the lead in three games but it was very difficult ” said IZMURUDOV.    

European Youth Championships in Ostrava   Top seeds in the Junior Girls Team’s Event justified their rankings and booked the place in the final at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In the ultimate round they will meet Germany.   Russia prevailed against host nation’s representatives team of Czech Republic. Mariia TAILAKOVA gave Russia solid start of the match. She overcame Linda ZADEROVA in straight games. Zdena BLASKOVA leveled with the victory over Anastasia KOLISH in five games. Elizabet ABRAAMIAN proved too strong for Klara HRABICOVA. It was Mariia TAILAKOVA who finished the match. She overcame Czechs no. one BLASKOVA.   “First match was easy for me. I expected to win it against ZADEROVA. I was more afraid of the second one against Zdena BLASKOVA. I knew how she played and so far it all over matches concluded after we went full distance. I prepared good tactics; played with more spin and it proved as success. I beat her easier than before ” explained TAILAKOVA.       Germany beat France 3-1 on their way to the final. Franziska SCHREINER succeeded against Camille LUTZ before Isa COK showed brave face and beat Anastasia BONDAREVA to level. Sophia KLEE gave Maria CHAPET no chance and prevailed in straight games just like SCHREINER who beat COK on their second exit to the table.   “I am satisfied with my performance. My main goal for today was to enjoy the atmosphere of the semifinals because I have never played this stage at European Youth Championships. It was great feeling; I played better game after game and at the end I made two points. I was too nervous to think about tactics I just tried to play my best. In the final we will face Russia. I think they are little bit better than us but we already beat them before so we will try to make it hard for them ” promised Franziska SCHREINER.      

European Youth Championships in Ostrava   Close finishes and nerves wrecking duels marked the quarter final of the Junior Boys Team’s Event. Russia beat Sweden and Belgium prevailed against Poland in encounters which kept spectators at the edge of their seats. Azerbaijan had easier task they prevailed against France in four matches whilst Germany needed one less to beat Spain.   Surprisingly Maksim GREBNEV opened the match against Sweden and accounted for Martin FRIIS. Vladimir SIDORENKO was next to face Truls MOREGARD. Truls leveled the match. Lev KATSMAN brought Russia into the lead once again with the victory over Jonatan MCDONALD. Truls beat GREBNEV before SIDORENKO sealed Russia’s progress to the semis in straight games victory over FRIIS.   “I was very nervous because I always play at A position. This time coach decided to change it and to put me to B position. We all knew Truls will win both his matches and coach thought it was better for the team that I play decisive match. l He had confidence I will manage to win in case of five matches. The tension and pressure were high. There is a lot in stake here: the medal and the place at the World championships ” explained SIDORENKO.   In the decisive match Vladimir overcame Martin in three games to justified his coach trust.   “I was down 6-9 in opening game but the whole atmosphere in the team helped me. The teammates were very supportive. Not only by cheering me while I was playing but being for me with advices on time outs. I calmed down started to play ball for ball tried to put every on the table. Everything come to place at the end ” said SIDORENKO.     Azerbaijan’s YU Khinhang beat both Lilian BARDET and Vincent PICARD whilst WANG Chenxi overcame Dorian ZHENG. PICARD scored one point for France in the duel against YANG Xinyu.       Germany overcame Spain in straight matches. Dominick JONAC beat Alberto LILO Kay STUMPER added another victory to his 8-0 clear record in Ostrava and beat Miguel RUIZ whilst Felix WETZEL beat Miguel NUNEZ.   “Our goal was to reach quarters and we already went one step further. I am very pleased with the performance of the whole team especially by the game of Dominik who had first international match only five months ago. He won five games match which gave stability to team to proceed easier ” said coach ZHAN Xiaoyng.   Belgium recovered from being two0 matches to null in reverse to win the duel against Poland. Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI overcame Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY before Nicolas DEGROS changed the course of the match with the victory over Szymon KOLASA.   “During the match I didn´t feel the game so much especially in the last set I was really nervous. Now I am incredible happy. We were so close to be defeated we were 0-2 down and then in the third match we saved maybe seven match points. But even when the score was so much against us we kept fighting. In the last match against Maciej KUBIK I was 1-2 and 4-7 down then I started to serve cleverer and I forced him to play how I wants. I took the control. Also in the last set I was little bit lucky I am sorry for it but it is table tennis ” said Olav KOSOLOSKY.