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
Reigning champions France and Russia on wining path
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
Great day for Greece in Cluj Napoca
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
Great day for Greece in Cluj Napoca
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
Favorites moved to another gear as final stages approaches
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
Favorites moved to another gear as final stages approaches
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
Special ceremony in memory of Dragutin SURBEK in Cluj
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
Special ceremony in memory of Dragutin SURBEK in Cluj
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
Rares SIPOS: Our best is yet to come
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
Rares SIPOS: Our best is yet to come
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
