2018 STAG European Youth Championships   In epic battle Russia reached the final of the Junior Boys Teams Event. By doing so they inflicted the pain in the harts of the host nation supporters. Romania failed to reach the ultimate stage. France is the second finalist. They accounted for Germany.   Lev KATSMAN was the backbone of Russia’s success with two wins over Rares SIPOS and Cristian PLETEA. Maksim GREBNEV joined him whilst Vladimir SIDORENKO failed to score against neither of top Romania’s players.     In the quarters Romania kept crowd at the edge of their seats in the match against Belgium. Olav KOSOLOSKY put some extra pressure on host team by beating Cristian PLETEA but Rares SIPOS leveled in the duel against Laurens DEVOS. Dragos OPREA added another point and PLETEA beat DEVOS in the fourth match. ”We feel good now after having qualified further but I think we could have played better than that. I hope we will come back in full speed for the rest of the tournament. There weren’t big problems so far but maybe we expected to play better than we did” said Rares SIPOS. “I feel ready for the next match. I am happy that Dragos had a good come back and won. It is very good for the team.” In same stage Russia’s KATSMAN SIDORENKO and GREBNEV prevailed by same margin against Italy’s Matteo MUTTI Carlo ROSSI and Gabriele ICIULIN.   Azerbaijan was halted after tremendous effort from France. Irvin BERTRAND Bastien REMBERT and Lilian BARDET secured 3:2 victory. Against Germany they needed one match less. It was STUMPER who scored for German side only.   In quarters Germany prevailed against Greece after long distance thriller. Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS won both his matches against Kay STUMPER and MENG Fanbo but other could not follow. STUMPER and and MENG Fanbo beat Ioannis DAMIANIS whilst Cedric MEISSNER overcame Michail DIAMANTOPOULOS.    “The match was amazing. We won and we are very happy that we will go further. The next match is going to be quite interesting we are very focused and we will fight all together. We hope to pass it further till the finals with no problems” said MENG Fanbo.   Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter  

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   Romania’s Cadet Girls booked their place in the final of the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships in Cluj Napoca. In the semi final they overcame France. In other semis Russia prevailed against Serbia.   Reigning champions showed no mercy in the quarterfinals. Arina SLAUTINA Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Liubov TENTSER overcame Natalia and Vitalina BRINZA of Moldova.   “It was a good game and a good fight – it was not an easy match. We are reigning champions and we want to repeat the result. We are feeling good and we are ready for everything ” said ABRAAMIAN.   Latter against Serbia they repeated the straight matches victory. ABRAAMIAN showed no mercy but SLAUTINA was under severe pressure against Radmila TOMINJAK.   Serbia and Lithuania were in charge for the longest match in the quarters. Reka BEZEG and Radmila TOMINJAK were 0:2 down against Emilija and Kornelija RILISKYTE before they recovered to win. BEZEG sealed decisive game of the fifth match 13:11.   In quarters France also needed five matches to beat Germany. Prithika PAVADE won both her singles whilst on the other side Sophia KLEE in singles and in doubles with Leonie BERGER collected two points for Germany.  Charlotte LUTZ won third for France.   “The game was amazing. They had a 2-1 lead but after this we made 2 fantastic games with a lot of intensity. We just fought until the end. We have been through a lot of emotions during this game: stress happiness determination ” said Pavade PRITHIKA. Romania overcame Poland in the morning session. Luciana MITROFAN and Elena ZAHARIA finished their work in straight matches against Elzbieta KWIATKOWSKA and Anna BRZYSKA.   “This match was an intense one. The girls from Poland had different materials like grass sandwich and for me it was quite difficult because I don’t like these surfaces. We have reached our objective which was to win a meda ” said Elena ZAHARIA.   Against France they also needed only three matches. Only in doubles host nation representatives were forced to go full distance. “We are very happy to be in the final. I knew that we can do it and that we will succeed but we didn’t expect to win with 3-0. It was a very intense match.We are very well prepared and ready for the final. The final with Russia will be a very difficult one in my opinion because there is Abraamian which is the favorite no. one and a very strong opponent. So it is for the other girls from the team but we feel that we will succeed ” said ZAHARIA.     Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter    

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   Defending champions team of Russia failed to reach the final of the Cadet Boys Teams Event. France overcame Russia in the semis and tomorrow will play against Belgium in the match for gold.   “It will not be an easy one but we will give everything to get the gold medal ” said Myshaal SAHBI.   Myshaal SABHI and Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA needed four matches to overcame Russia’s Vladislav MAKAROV Denis IZUMRUDOV and Sergey RYZHOV. SABHI lost to IZUMURUDOV but recovered to score in doubles and in second singles match.   Top seeded France previously prevailed against Slovakia. Myshaal SABHI and Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA overcame Adam KLAJBER and Filip DELINCAK. They lost only one match – in doubles.   “Today it was not easy but we won and I am happy now. We didn’t have more pressure but when you are in quarter final you want to have the medal. When we were down we just continued to fight but even so we didn’t change our way to play said Sabhi MYSHAAL. Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA added: “The game against Slovakia started good but the second one mine was complicated and I won eventually with 11-9. I had to fight and be focused. We lost the doubles and we were frustrated because we were better and stronger.”   Belgium was forced to go full distance in the quarterfinal match against Ukraine. Their adversaries had a better start. Valentyn YUNCHYK beat Nicolas DEGROS but he also prevailed against Adrien RASSENFOSSE. However Andrii GREBENIUK could not keep his rhythm and lost both encounters.   Against Poland in the semis they were stretched to full distance once again. Adrien RASSENFOSSE won both his matches and helped Adrien in Doubles.   In quarterfinal Russia’s Vladislav MAKAROV and Denis IZUMRUDOV with a help in doubles from Sergey RYZHOV secured victory over Croatia’s Ivor BAN Filip BOROVNJAK and Lovro ZOVKO. In the same round Poland’s Maciej KUBIK Szymon KOLASA overcame Mike HOLLO and Hannes HOERMANN of Germany.   Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter  

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   In the final of the Junior Girls Teams Event at the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships defending champion Russia will play against Azerbaijan tomorrow. In the match for bronze medal France will meet Romania.   Russia booked their ticket to the final in express way. Anastasia KOLISH Mariia TAILAKOVA and Kristina KAZANTSEVA prevailed in three matches against Andreea DRAGOMAN Tania PLAIAN and Andreea HUDASAN.   “We are very glad that we managed to reach one of our objective to take a medal but unfortunately we didn’t manage to pass Russia. Even so we need to keep going with the head up as always and we will get ready for the next rounds ”said PLAIAN.   Previously after five matches thriller in the quarterfinal Romania secured the medal in the match against Serbia.   “Tania PLAIAN is the hero of the match. He won the decisive match against Tijana JOKIC ” pointed Andreea DRAGOMAN.   DRAGOMAN beat also Tijana JOKIC but none of top players managed to overcame Sabina SURJAN who is still unbeaten in Cluj Napoca. Andreea HUDASAN also showed brave effort and beat Andjela MENGER to create better opportunity for her team.   “I feel very happy because I am at home and also I am happy because we managed to preserve our tradition and win the medal in Junior Girls Event as every year. We stayed very focused until the end. I felt very good and it was nice feeling to play in front of fully packed tribunes with home crowd. We had support from the spectators and tactically we played very well ” said PLAIAN.   In the quarters Russia started on a wrong track; Anna WEGRZYN beat Anastasia KOLISH. However Mariia TAILAKOVA showed no mercy today. She beat both Anna and Katarzyna WEGRZYN. Kristina KAZANTSEVA was stretched to full distance before she overcame Aleksandra MICHALAK.   In the same round Azerbaijan’s NING Jing CHEN Xingtai and ZHOU Chuyi prevailed against Anastasia BONDAREVA Franziska SCHREINER Laura TIEFENBRUNNER of Germany. Only TIEFENBRUNNER scored from the German side.   In the semis only Isa COK recorded victory against Azerbaijan’s player. NING Jing and CHEN Xingti showed no weak points.     In quarterfinal Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia won one match against Leili MOSTAFAVI but Lucie GAUTHIER and Isa COK prevented any further surprises.       Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter      

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   Top seeded team in the Cadet Boys Event at the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships France booked the place in the quarterfinal in Cluj Napoca. Tomorrow they will play against Slovakia. It was the same scenario in Cadet Girls Teams Event. Russia showed no mercy in their match against Turkey. They will meet Moldova.   France need four matches to overcame Spain.   “We knew that it will be a hard game against Spanish team which has really good players. The doubles were the decisive one. We had a very tough match in the qualifications against Germany and another one now against Spain and we survived. My players know that all the games will be complicated ” said Emmanuel RACHEZ French coach.   Belgium inflicted the pain in host nation supporters. They overcame Romania in straight matches. “It was amazing. I am proud of my team and what we did today. We opened the match very fast we were very confident. The boys are just worming up and I am sure there is more top come from them ” said Louis LAFFINEUR. Belgium will meet Ukraine the team that eliminate Hungary. Russia progressed after victory over Sweden. “It was a great match not so easy but we won it with 3-0. Vladislav MAKAROV gave us a good start so it was easer for me and after 2:0 we had even less pressure in doubles. We are confident for the next round and we think we can win this competition ” said Denis IZUMRUDOV.   They will meet Croatia. In Croatia’s team Ivor BAN was the back bone of the success against Portugal. He won bot his singles matches. Poland will play against Germany.   Russia’s Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Arina SLAUTINA with Ljubov TENTSER needed only three matches to secure safe passage to the quarterfinal but their next adversaries Moldova did not waste their energy neither. They prevailed against against Belarus by same margin.   Serbia’s team overcame Italy in straight matches. Reka BEZEG and Radmila TOMINJAK proved too strong for Nicole ARLIA and Gaia SMARGIASSI. Lithuania followed their path with 3:0 victory over Croatia.   “We are so happy after this match. I played against Hana ARAPOVIC and it was a hard match because she is good with the backhand and I sometimes only push without a spin ” said Kornelija RILISKYTE.   EMILIJA ADDED: “I played against LONCAREVIC and I was confident and I had control since the start of the game but a bit confused at the end of the match. We want to play good game tomorrow to focus on what we do be confident and just play point after point not to care for what happens after the game.”   Host nation secured one more quarterfinal with the victory over Ukraine.   “Luciana MITROFAN Iolanta YEVTODII who was very aggressive but she managed to win. My game was a bit difficult because Alina VYDRUCHENKO was having material on the backhand and it gave me some problems. We are very happy for the win happy that that we reached the round of 8. We are very happy to play at home we were very nervous in the beginning of the competition but now we got used to it ” said Elena ZAHARIA.   Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   As we progress to the closing stages of the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships in Cluj Napoca the the performance of Romania’s team is getting more powerful. In the Round of 16 of the Junior Boys Teams Event they overcame Spain in four matches. Next in line in the duel for the medal rostrum will be Belgium. At the lower half of the draw France overcame Czech Republic.   Cristian PLETEA accounted for Alberto LILLO and Francisco RUIZ whilst Rares SIPOS overcame RUIZ as well. Marc GUTIERREZ was the only to score for Spain.   “The match with Spain was though because now the pressure is very high. However we have been in this stage of the competition so many times before and we know how to deal with such situations. Experience makes a big difference. We fell very well and we are more confident than yesterday that we will play at the maximum level. The chances to get to the finals are very high as we are the first favorites. We’ve lost before many semifinals and finals but I hope this time is going to be much better. We are also playing at home; the spectators are also with us so I’d say we have the best chance to win it ” said Cristian PLETEA.   SIPOS is delighted with the opportunity to play at home soil.   “This is my town I was born here and it is so wonderful to have a chance to play in this Arena ” said SIPOS.   Belgium overcame Hungary. Laurens DEVOS overcame both Patrik JUHASZ and Csaba ANDRAS whilst Olav KOSOLOSKY prevailed against ANDRAS. Italy proved too strong for Denmark and they will meet Russia. Russia’s Vladimir SIDORENKO Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN beat Switzerland in three matches.     Team of Greece with European champions Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS had to go through play off but they survived to reach the quarterfinal. They did it in big style by eliminated Sweden with Martin FRIIS and Truls MOREGARD. MOREGARD won both his matches but FRIIS lost against SGOUROPOULOS and Ioannis DAMIANIS.   “It was a very good match it was my first win and the whole team did very well too. We are very excited in a way we want to continue like this and we feel confident for the match tomorrow – we hope to win against Germany ” said  Michail DIAMANTOPOULOS who overcame Jonatan MCDONALD.   Germany prevailed against Slovakia 3:0.   “This match was good we won 3-0 easier than what we thought. In the beginning MENG FANBO played very good he won easy with 3-0. I also played good and also prevailed in three games but each was very close – at 9 and 10 ” said Kay STUMPER   France will meet Azerbaijan after French team prevailed against Czech Republic. Azerbaijan beat Poland.     Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   All four semi finalists in Junior Girls Teams Event from the last edition of the Championships will be on duty again tomorrow in the quarterfinal of the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships. Russia Romania Serbia and Azerbaijan are all safely through after the third day of the play in Cluj Napoca.   Favorites recorded comfortable wins. Azerbaijan was the first to exit the Arena after 3:0 victory over Croatia. Andrea PAVLOVIC only managed to steal one game from CHEN Xingtai whilst NING Jing and ZHOU Chuyi sealed the victories in straight games.   Thy will meet Germany tomorrow. Franziska SCHREINER Anastasia BONDAREVA and Laura TIEFENBRUNNER clinched 3:0 victory but it took time before Franziska set the rhythm of the match. Katarina STRAZAR had 2:0 lead and it seamed Slovenia is in good rhythm but SCHREINER recovered. BONDAREVA also faced moments of pressure in the duel against Aleksandra VOVK but managed to control all VOVK’s attempts to bring back Slovenia in match.   Romania beat Czech Republic 3:0.   “We started the competition poorly with two defeats but with a bit of luck we qualified from the 2nd position and we earned the chance to be in the main draw. That gave us extra motive. The 3:0 result against Czech Republic speaks in favor of that. All three of us we were very motivated. I am glad that we managed to win without any complications. The atmosphere is great and the feeling to play at home and in front of the Romania’s supporters is wonderful ” said Andreea DRAGOMAN.   Romania will play against Serbia in quarters. Sabina SURJAN Tijana JOKIC and Andjela MENGER accounted for Italy.   “We could have been third in the group after starting defeat against Slovakia but eventually we ended first and now we are in the quarters. We feel more self-confident now and e are ready for the challenge ” said Tijana JOKIC.   France will meet Slovakia after they overcame Netherlands.   “There are no easy games here. Despite the 3:1 victory it was very close and demanding encounter. We displayed good team work. MEN Shuohan their no. one beat Leili MOSTAFAVI but I overcame MEN so at the end we were better. Now the pressure is high the knock out stage is always difficult ” said Lucie GAUTHIER.   Slovakia beat Belarus Poland overcame Spain. They will meet Russia who overcame Turkey.   Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter    

The second day of the competition at 2018 STAG European Youth Championships was started with a special ceremony in memory of Dragutin SURBEK.   Both ITTF and ETTU Presidents Thomas WEIKERT and Ronald KRAMER in presence of RTTF President Cristinel ROMANECU held a short opening speech before the first matches started.      Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter  

2018 STAG European Youth Championships   Romania showed very little mercy on their way to the top 16 teams in the Junior Boys Teams Event at the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships. Alongside hosts France Sweden and Russia concluded Group stages at the top of their respective Groups.   On their way to the top Romania’s Rares SIPOS and Cristian PLETEA are unbeaten.   “We have very good atmosphere in the team and we are very self-confident. It was important that we managed to win the top place in the group. I cannot say that we played at our best but the victory is the most important and I hope that as the tournament progresses we will start to play better and better to reach our top level. We are ready for the next stage and as I said before we hope to start playing at our usual level ” said SIPOS of Romania.   Poland is second in the Group followed by Slovakia and Turkey.   Bastien REMBERT Irvin BERTRAND Lilian BARDET and Leo DE NORDEST of France recorded three 3:0 victories over Belgium Greece and Croatia. Belgium booked no. two position. In the last match France beat Croatia.   It was the last game of the qualifications but we were sure we will finish 1st in the group so we were not under pressure. The adversaries were lower ranked so it was not easy to play and to perform at the highest technical level. The most important is that we won 3-0 and we are the 1st of the group ” said Lilian BARDET. “It was a kind of a training game because the “real” competition will start now as we are qualified. We go to knock out stage. We are confident and ready; we did not lose any game so far and we are looking for a podium minimum. We will try to do our best and we will see.”   Greece failed to go to knock out stage directly they will play play off matches. Belgium beat them and progressed further from spot no. two.   “It was a great and beautiful game they played really well. We knew that it will be hard because it was 2-0 for them ” said Laurens DEVOS of Belgium. “For the next match we will see…We go game by game. We will prepare for the tomorrow’s game and we hope to get to the quarter final to reach the podium it will be harder.”   Russia’s Vladimir SIDORENKO Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN beat Germany Hungary and Czech Republic on their way to the top leaving Germany at spot no. two. Sweden’s Truls MOREGARD Martin FRIIS and Jonathan MCDONALD also reached the top spot in Group D. Italy is second.     Quick links   ETTU EYC page   Organiser’s web site    ETTU on Facebook    ETTU On Instagram    ETTU on Twitter