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.  

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.    

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 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   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.