STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   Russia defended their title in the Cadet Boys Teams Event at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. At the ultimate stage they prevailed against France. Golden boys are: Vladimir SIDORENKO Maksim GREBNEV Vladislav MAKAROV and Gleb IVANOV. Silver medal went to France for Bilal HAMACHE Dorian ZHENG Jules CAVAILE and Myshaal SABHI.     Bronze medalists are Hungary’s Csaba ANDRAS Oliver BOTH Eric HUSZVAR Mate OCSAI and Belgium’s Nicolas DEGROS Olav KOSOLOSKY Adrien RASSENFOSSE.   At the opening of the match Vladimir SIDORENKO left no trace of hope to Bilal HAMACHE. Until the closing stages of the third game he was in charge. HAMACHE seized the opportunity to won third game by narrow margin. He also forced SIDORENKO into few errors for tight finish of the match but the favorite and last year’s singles champion prevailed.   Dorian ZHENG proved too strong for Maksim GREBNEV at the beginning. It did not stopped GREBNEV who stay close; he sought for the chance to recover. GREBNEV seized it in the closing stages of the second game. Soon he was the one who is in the driving seats forcing ZHENG into mistakes.   “Against BILALA after the third game I was nervous because I had advantage 6:2 and he recovered. BILAL had good service and I had a hard time to put it short and to attack. However I never lost the focus. I felt well from the beginning ” said SIDORENKO. “ I am very proud now and I am proud that I had a chance to win gold for Russia.     Russia – France 3:0 Vladimir SIDORENKO – Bilal HAMACHE 3:1 (11:4 11:3 11:13 12:10) Maksim GREBNEV – Dorian ZHENG 3:1 (8:11 13:11 11:4 11:7) Vladimir SIDORENKO Maksim GREBNEV – Jules CAVAILLE Myshaal SABHI 3:0 (11:7 11:9 11:5)

Junior Boy’s Teams Event   By reaching the final of the Junior Boys Teams Event Russia secured all four teams final at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. For the trophy they will play against Germany.   Sweden’s Truls MOREHARDH Simon SUDERLUND and Jonathan THIMON stretched Russia’s Artur ABUSEV Denis IVONIN and Lev KATSMAN to full five matches before ABUSEV sealed the duel with only 3:0 victory. He beat SUDERLUND. MOREGARDH was only player to score for Sweden. He beat ABUSEV 3:1 and IVONIN 3:2.   “I am so tired after the match. I am just happy that we reached the final ” said ABUSEV.   Nervous wrecking clash between Germany and Romania conclude in the favor of Germany. Cristian PLETEA beat both Gerrit ENGEMANN and Tobias HIPPLER but Germany proved to have a stronger team. Those two players with Cedric MEISSNER all scored in semi final.   “It was very close match. In the quarterfinal we already played long match against Italy. I won the decisive match against PINTO. In the last game of the last match I was behind Rares SIPOS 5:10 and from that moment I was only focused on table tennis. Nothing else was around me ” said Gerrit ENGEMANN.” I am satisfied with my service and receive game. In the beginning I was to much passive and I realized that I have to attack ant o play to the middle. We lost against Russia in the group stage but we are playing the final of our dreams and we want to win.”    After very good performance against England and 3:2 win day earlier Sweden repeated the success and the result in the quarterfinal against Greece.   “We had a great team spirit and it helped us in both our duels ” said Jonathan THIMON who beat Dimitros KORDOUTIS in match in which Simon SODERLUND and Truls MOREGARDH also added their points to the score sheets.   Russia escaped long distance duel and finished the job in three matches against Belgium. Romania and Germany was forced to go full five matches. Germany beat Italy whilst Romania overcame France.  

Cadet Boy’s Teams Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships   In the final of the Cadet Boy’s Teams Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes Russia will meet France tomorrow.   Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV and Vladimir SIDORENKO prevailed against Belgium’s Olav KOSOLOSKY and Adrien RASSENFOSSE in straight matches in penultimate stage.   “Tomorrow we will have a very strong team in front of us for sure. Against France we are ready in terms on tactics and we are very motivated. It is going to be close match; both teams have two strong players for singles and for doubles. We know each other very well ” said SIDORENKO.” My coach told me that I would probably struggle to cope with pressure since I was seeded no. one in cadets. Everyone wants to beat me. I guess it is a heavy burden for me but hopefully I will overcame it.”   In other duel France overcame Hungary 3:0. Bilal HAMACHE was forced to play 3:2 against Csaba ANDRAS.   “I am playing great table tennis here. In my matches I felt that my forehand is strong and my receive of service is very good. I had some difficulties at the beginning but I adjusted the way I placed the ball at the table ” said Bilal HAMACHE.   Dorian ZHENG was much more effective against Oliver BOTH 3:0.   “We know what we had to do beat Russia. It will be difficult to stop SIDORENKO and we are looking for our chance in the match against GREBNEV ” said ZHENG.   Only Hungary prevailed in straight matches in the quarterfinal. Csaba ANDRAS and Oliver BOTH beat Germany’s Daniel RINDERER and Felix WETZEL after convincing performance.   Belgium inflicted the pain in harts of the host nation supporters. They halted Portugal’s great run toward medal. Olav KOSOLOSKY beat Tiago LI in fourth game. France beat Sweden after five matches and Russia was stretched to full distance against Poland.

Cadet Girls Team’s Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships   Russia secured another final of the Cadet Girls Team’s Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships. They will meet France in the match for gold.   Russian girls were first to book the place in the ultimate stage. They halted the progress of the team who created the big upset by winning the medal in Guimaraes – Turkey. Ekaterina ZIRONOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN prevailed against Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ.   “The way I feel in Portugal is great. I feel the ball and move well. We came here to win the gold and I am positive we will achieve that goal “ said ZIRONOVA.   France showed all maturity they needed to beat defensive skills of Belarus’ players. Prithika PAVADE beat Ulyana AKLHOUSKAYA whilst Camille LUTZ overcame AKLHOUSKAYA and Darya KISEL.   The victory came as a birthday present for Camille LUTZ.   “I am very happy because we won on this day. I struggled because both players has a defensive style of play and it was difficult for me to adapt. However we managed to win. This year in Spain we suffered against Russia and we want to do better this time ” said Camille LUTZ     In the quarterfinal of the Event all four duels concluded in straight matches with only one surprising result. Turkey won first medal in Cadet Team’s Event and they did it in very superb style. Turkey overcame Romania in straight matches. Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC were the creators of the big success. Both succeeded in singles and doubles.   Russia overcame Czech Republic Belarus overcame Moldova and France beat Lithuania.  

Junior Girls Teams Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships   In the final of the Junior Girls Teams Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships Romania will play against Russia.   Russia prevailed against last year’s silver medalist Serbia in the great battle which lasted full five matches. Mariia TAILAKOVA overcame Sabina SURJAN who also suffered against Anastasia KOLISH. Daria SHADRINA proved too strong for Tijana JOKIC whilst Izabela LUPULESKU was only unbeaten player in Serbia’s team.   “We know this is going to be a hard match. In my first match I was two games in reverse against Sabina SURJAN. I used a tactics that did not work. After that I started to change my game. I put more rotation in the ball and I attacked more. Sabina is strong on the left so I started to attack her to the right and to the forehand ”said Mariia TAILAKOVA.” This is not our first final although we missed one last year but we were here already and we want to win a trophy.”   Romania beat Azerbaijan to deny them of the place in the final. Andreaa DRAGOMAN lost 2:3 against NING Jing but Adina DIACONU beat both NING and CHEN Xingtai and lost only one game in two matches. Tania PLAIAN beat DENG Simeng.   “This is my 5th final in Team’s Event and I hope we will achieve our plan to retain the title. We had hard matches today especially against Azerbaijan. Their players are very fast. I needed to keep with their rhythm and even to be faster. We needed constantly to change the pace of the game. They use Chinese rubbers and that caused the problem. In both matches I struggled with receive and I had to put a lot of spin into my first ball “ said Adina DIACONU.   All favorites justified their rankings on their way to the medal rostrum. In the quarterfinal Romania overcame Czech Republic after another superb performance of Adina DIACONU and Andreaa DRAGOMAN. Zdena BLASKOVA added just one point for her side. She beat Tania PLAIAN.     Azerbaijan beat Poland in similar fashion whilst Russia showed no mercy against Slovenia.   Kristina KAZANTSEVA admitted they suffered more against Germany in pervious round.   “I lost my match against Germany that is why I was very nervous today but Slovenia failed to put us under pressure.”   The only real battle was the one between Serbia and Spain. After 2:2 in matches and two wins of ZHANG Xuan Xu Sabina SURJAN faced Ana GARCIA in the decisive match. She was 0:2 down and 6:9 in third game before she recovered to win the match.   “I was so afraid before the decisive match but when I got to the point that I have nothing to lose everything changed. I had a great support from the bench I started to play without the pressure and soon I was at the top of the game ” said SURJAN.    

60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes   Top seeded team in Cadet Boy’s Teams Event Russia overcame Croatia to reach the quarterfinal at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes.   They will meet Poland the team who needed also only three matches to beat Slovakia. Belgium succeeded against Ireland whilst Hungary beat Czech Republic. Germany halted Norway’s progress and France prevailed against Greece; Sweden beat Italy.   Most important for hosts Portugal will also play for medal tomorrow. In the big battle they overcame Ukraine 3:2. They will meet Belgium.   “With this win we feel more confident for tomorrow. Support from the crowd and the teammates gave us wings. I won the decisive game because I was able to change the pace of the game. Main difficulties was because my adversary in fifth match Valentyn YUNCHYK changed the side of the blade and since he is the defensive player he put a many balls on the table. I was tired but I succeeded ” said Goncalo GOMES  

60th STAG European Youth Championships   Sweden halted England’s progress to book their place in the quarterfinal of the Junior Boys Team’s Event at the 60th European Youth Championships in Portugal. They joined Russia Greece Belgium Russia Italy Germany France and Romania.   England stretched Sweden to full five matches. Tom JARVIS beat Simon SODERLUND and Matthew LEETE overcame Jonathan THIMON but Truls MOREGARDH showed no mercy. He overcame Luk SAVILL and JARVIS. In the decisive match SODERLUND beat SAVILL.   “England played very good but we were prepared for this game and we had a great team spirit that lead us to the victory ” said MOREGARDH. “In next round I think we have a good chance against Greece.”   Greece prevailed against Czech Republic after fierce battle in five matches.   “It is the first time for us to play for the medal. We are so excited. Now we will meet Sweden but we believe we can win. They are favorites but we will fight ” said Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS who overcame Jan VALENTA and Jiri MARTINKO. “I feel confident especially with my backhand and footwork. “   Russia succeeded against Croatia in straight matches and Italy followed their path with 3:0 victory over Hungary. By the same margin Germany beat Slovenia France overcame Spain and Romania beat Slovakia. Belgium needed five matches to overcame Poland.  

60th STAG European Youth Championships   Reigning champions team of Russia secured the place in the quarterfinal of the Cadet Girls Team’s Event at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Giumaraes. In the last eight they will meet Czech Republic.   “I was 2:1 down in the opening match but after three games I was able to adjust my game and to move better. As a team we expecting the victory. We are here for gold ” said Russia’s Elizabet ABRAAMIAN.     In other matches Turkey will play against Romania Belarus against Moldova Lithuania against France.   Czech Republic overcame Bulgaria on their way to the quarters. They needed full five games.   “It was the match full of ups and downs. Only first match was easy. Kristyna PENKAKOVA beat Kalina HRISTOVA in straight games. After that Linda ZADEROVA had 1:0 lead and 5:1 in the second game. It looked like she easily won it but Ivet ILIEVA recovered ZADEROVA got injured …She played in the doubles with PENKAKOVA and won it by she could not repeat it in second singles match. Once again she lost in five games. PENKAKOVA however proved she is very strong. She saved three match points in the decisive game of the decisive match to win it eventually ” explained coach of the Czech team Andrea BOTKOVA.   Turkey beat Slovakia Romania overcame Belgium Belarus beat Germany Moldova overcame Hungary Lithuania prevailed against Croatia and France beat Italy.   “Prithika PAVADE played three games in the row and it affected her focus. That is why she was 0:2 down in the fourth game. However she recovered and won it ” said French coach Remy LUDOVIC.