STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   Reigning champions in Junior Girl’s Team’s Event Romania succeeded in all three matches in the Group stages at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. Led by Adina DIACONU who showed no cracks in her armor so far Romania beat France Croatia and Slovenia to reach the Round of 16.   France failed to justify their second position in the group. They concluded first stage at the position no. three. Croatia beat them today. However no. two spot finally was booked by Slovenia the team that beat Croatia yesterday.   In Group B Russia was even more convincing. They are yet to lose the match. Russia recorded three 3:0 wins over Sweden Belgium and Norway. Belgium beat Sweden 3:0 in the last round to swap positions and to secure second place.   Below leading Azerbaijan with three wins Belarus and Spain fought today for the place no. two. Spain’s Ana GARCIA YHANG Xuan Xu and Alba FERNANDEZ eventually won 3:1 and progressed to the Round of 16.   Serbia on the wings of yesterday triumph over Germany gave Turkey no chance. They booked spot. No. one.   “For a first time I beat Luisa SAGER and it is very good result for me. As soon as we saw the draw we were preparing for that duel because we knew it will be crucial for us. However after the victory we did not lose our focus and motivation. We beat Turkey 3:0. The first part of the journey concluded. Now we have to wait for the outcome of the draw” said Izabela LUPULESKU.   In that Group Poland beat Germany for second position and to skip the play-off.

STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   The first stage – group phase of the Cadet Boys Teams Event concluded at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships. Top two positions in their respective groups are booked by: Russia and Italy in Group A France and Portugal in Group B Hungary and Poland in Group C and Belgium and Germany in Group D.   They will progress directly to the Round of 16 whilst the other teams will go through the play-off matches for remaining places.   In Group A Russia finished at the top without defeat. They succeeded against Italy Turkey and Ukraine. It was same case scenario for France in Group B. They succeed against Portugal Romania and Spain. However the battle for the second position in that Group was the one that kept the spectators at the edge of their seats. Portugal the only host nation representative in top Division played against Romania for the direct place in the top 16.   The back-bone of Portugal’s success was once again Tiago LI. He won two singles and doubles match.   “I was not very confident at the beginning of the game. I decided to play safe and I managed to win. It is Fransico SILVA’s  first Championships but from the start we were at the top of the game. That helped me boosted my confidence. Against Andrei TOMICA Romania’s no. one I succeeded in straight games ” said Tiago LI.   LI admitted he wanted to help his team to stay in the top division because it is his last year in cadets.   “We would like to play in the quarterfinal but our real goal is the medal. I hope it will happen.”   In Group C Hungary cruised through the tournament so far. In the last round they beat Poland but they are also safely through whilst Sweden and Denmark will have to play play-off matches.   Belgium overcame Germany Croatia and Austria in Group D.   Olav KOSOLOSKI with two wins in singles and doubles showed good performance today: “I felt confortable from the beginning. I had good feeling with the ball. First contact was good I was happy with the service and receive. We had a good game against Austria today and against Germany yesterday. I hope we will win the medal in team’s event. I also hope for the medal in doubles next week.”   Germany is second. Today they overcame Croatia. Despite two wins Felix WETZEL admitted he did not feel confortable at the beginning.   “I felt little bit shaky with the first balls but it did not take long before I settle into the rhythm. In doubles with Fernando JANZ I played for a first time at the tournament but we were well prepared ” said WETZEL.      

STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   The first stage – group phase of the Cadet Boys Teams Event concluded at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships. Top two positions in their respective groups are booked by: Russia and Italy in Group A France and Portugal in Group B Hungary and Poland in Group C and Belgium and Germany in Group D.   They will progress directly to the Round of 16 whilst the other teams will go through the play-off matches for remaining places.   In Group A Russia finished at the top without defeat. They succeeded against Italy Turkey and Ukraine. It was same case scenario for France in Group B. They succeed against Portugal Romania and Spain. However the battle for the second position in that Group was the one that kept the spectators at the edge of their seats. Portugal the only host nation representative in top Division played against Romania for the direct place in the top 16.   The back-bone of Portugal’s success was once again Tiago LI. He won two singles and doubles match.   “I was not very confident at the beginning of the game. I decided to play safe and I managed to win. It is Fransico SILVA’s  first Championships but from the start we were at the top of the game. That helped me boosted my confidence. Against Andrei TOMICA Romania’s no. one I succeeded in straight games ” said Tiago LI.   LI admitted he wanted to help his team to stay in the top division because it is his last year in cadets.   “We would like to play in the quarterfinal but our real goal is the medal. I hope it will happen.”   In Group C Hungary cruised through the tournament so far. In the last round they beat Poland but they are also safely through whilst Sweden and Denmark will have to play play-off matches.   Belgium overcame Germany Croatia and Austria in Group D.   Olav KOSOLOSKI with two wins in singles and doubles showed good performance today: “I felt confortable from the beginning. I had good feeling with the ball. First contact was good I was happy with the service and receive. We had a good game against Austria today and against Germany yesterday. I hope we will win the medal in team’s event. I also hope for the medal in doubles next week.”   Germany is second. Today they overcame Croatia. Despite two wins Felix WETZEL admitted he did not feel confortable at the beginning.   “I felt little bit shaky with the first balls but it did not take long before I settle into the rhythm. In doubles with Fernando JANZ I played for a first time at the tournament but we were well prepared ” said WETZEL.      

  In Italy USD Apuania Carrara clinched their third Championships title in 5 years with a score of 17 wins 1 draw. In the final they beat previous champions Castel Goffredo. The creators of this success were Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Mattia CROTTI.   The members of Carrara’s team are very happy after they won new trophy. “We started with caution ” says Claudio VOLPI coach of the team. “Little by little each one of our three players adjusted and matured. They boosted their confidence and lead us to the victory”.   The President of the Club Alessandro MERCIADRI continues: “I would like to thank the major of Carrara Angelo ZUBBANI present at the final too. We want to thank to every sponsor close to us our technical sponsor Joola the local press La Nazione Il Tirreno La Gazzetta di Massa e Carrara and the federal press. Every part of our society and every supporter who supported us towards the victory helped us win. The Italian Table Tennis Federation President Renato Di NAPOLI also added the extra value to the final with his presence”.  

  In Italy USD Apuania Carrara clinched their third Championships title in 5 years with a score of 17 wins 1 draw. In the final they beat previous champions Castel Goffredo. The creators of this success were Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Mattia CROTTI.   The members of Carrara’s team are very happy after they won new trophy. “We started with caution ” says Claudio VOLPI coach of the team. “Little by little each one of our three players adjusted and matured. They boosted their confidence and lead us to the victory”.   The President of the Club Alessandro MERCIADRI continues: “I would like to thank the major of Carrara Angelo ZUBBANI present at the final too. We want to thank to every sponsor close to us our technical sponsor Joola the local press La Nazione Il Tirreno La Gazzetta di Massa e Carrara and the federal press. Every part of our society and every supporter who supported us towards the victory helped us win. The Italian Table Tennis Federation President Renato Di NAPOLI also added the extra value to the final with his presence”.  

STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   Top seeded in Junior Boys Team’s Event team of France lost the match against England no. two seeds in the group in the second round of the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. Already in the opening stage they faced tough encounter against Poland but they managed to prevail.   Artur GRELA gave Poland dream start with the victory over Irvin BERTRAND but the last year’s quarterfinalists were back on track after victory of Jules ROLLAND against Kamil NALEPA in five games thriller. Bastien REMBERT had much easier job against Jan ZANDECKI whilst Irvin secured the victory after 3:0 against NALEPA.   “It is a great challenge to open the first match at the tournament. Poland had a better start but eventually we settled into the rhythm. I was not at the top of my game against GRELA but it was much easer after ” said BERTRAND.   In the same Group England beat Slovenia 3:1 before they scored against France in the full five match. Tom JARVIS was the backbone of England’s success with the wins over Jules ROLLAND and Irvin BERTRAND. Luke SAVILL recorded the victory in the decisive match but previously he lost against BERTRAND. Bastien REMBERT overcame Matthew LEETE.   No. two seeds Romania overcame Denmark in straight games. Cristian PLETEA started with the win over Martin ANDERSEN and Dragos Florin OPREA sealed the match with the victory over Rasmus MIKKELSEN. In between Rares SIPOS was under severe pressure against Andreas DILLING. He was stretched to full distance.   “There will be no easy matches here. Denmark proves it at the very beginning. Although they are seeded at the position no. ten they put us under pressure. Andreas DILLING proved he is very dangerous player ” said PLETEA.   They repeated the result in the next duel against Denmark. Serbia suffered straight match defeat against Czech Republic before they beat Denmark in full five matches.   In Group C top seeds Russia overcame Spain whilst Germany prevailed against Turkey. Russia also beat Germany but in much closer encounter – 2:3. Denis IVONIN beat Tobias HIPPLER and Gerrit ENGEMANN in the opening and decisive matches. ENGEMANN prevailed against Artur ABUSEV whilst Cedric MEISSNER lost against Lev KATSMAN. Tobias HIPPLER also beat ABUSEV   In Group D thanks to brilliant performance of Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS Greece was close to create the upset against Italy. Matteo MUTTI beat Georgios STAMATOUROS before Daniele PINTO suffered against SGOUROPOULOS by same margin 3:1. Antonino AMATO gave Italy once again the lead by beating Efstratios DAMIANIS but SGOUROPOULOS brought Greece back in game with victory over Matteo MUTTI.   Daniele PINTO won the decisive game against STAMATOUROS secure the victory. “It was not problem to me to play the decisive match. I love that kind of situations. At that point we are leveled there are no favorites. Like the game has just started ” said PINTO.”I lost against SGOUROPOULOS but I am not unhappy with my game. I played well.”   They continued in the same pace and beat top seeded Belgium. Florian CNUDDE overcame PINTO to give favorites good start but Matteo MUTTI leveled the match with the victory over Valentin PIERAERT. Antonino AMATO succeeded against Laurens DEVOS and MUTTI overcame CNUDDE. It secured the top spot for Italy before today’s encounter against Slovakia.     Top seeds in Group D Belgium beat Slovakia the team who also suffered against Greece.

STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   Top seeded in Junior Boys Team’s Event team of France lost the match against England no. two seeds in the group in the second round of the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. Already in the opening stage they faced tough encounter against Poland but they managed to prevail.   Artur GRELA gave Poland dream start with the victory over Irvin BERTRAND but the last year’s quarterfinalists were back on track after victory of Jules ROLLAND against Kamil NALEPA in five games thriller. Bastien REMBERT had much easier job against Jan ZANDECKI whilst Irvin secured the victory after 3:0 against NALEPA.   “It is a great challenge to open the first match at the tournament. Poland had a better start but eventually we settled into the rhythm. I was not at the top of my game against GRELA but it was much easer after ” said BERTRAND.   In the same Group England beat Slovenia 3:1 before they scored against France in the full five match. Tom JARVIS was the backbone of England’s success with the wins over Jules ROLLAND and Irvin BERTRAND. Luke SAVILL recorded the victory in the decisive match but previously he lost against BERTRAND. Bastien REMBERT overcame Matthew LEETE.   No. two seeds Romania overcame Denmark in straight games. Cristian PLETEA started with the win over Martin ANDERSEN and Dragos Florin OPREA sealed the match with the victory over Rasmus MIKKELSEN. In between Rares SIPOS was under severe pressure against Andreas DILLING. He was stretched to full distance.   “There will be no easy matches here. Denmark proves it at the very beginning. Although they are seeded at the position no. ten they put us under pressure. Andreas DILLING proved he is very dangerous player ” said PLETEA.   They repeated the result in the next duel against Denmark. Serbia suffered straight match defeat against Czech Republic before they beat Denmark in full five matches.   In Group C top seeds Russia overcame Spain whilst Germany prevailed against Turkey. Russia also beat Germany but in much closer encounter – 2:3. Denis IVONIN beat Tobias HIPPLER and Gerrit ENGEMANN in the opening and decisive matches. ENGEMANN prevailed against Artur ABUSEV whilst Cedric MEISSNER lost against Lev KATSMAN. Tobias HIPPLER also beat ABUSEV   In Group D thanks to brilliant performance of Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS Greece was close to create the upset against Italy. Matteo MUTTI beat Georgios STAMATOUROS before Daniele PINTO suffered against SGOUROPOULOS by same margin 3:1. Antonino AMATO gave Italy once again the lead by beating Efstratios DAMIANIS but SGOUROPOULOS brought Greece back in game with victory over Matteo MUTTI.   Daniele PINTO won the decisive game against STAMATOUROS secure the victory. “It was not problem to me to play the decisive match. I love that kind of situations. At that point we are leveled there are no favorites. Like the game has just started ” said PINTO.”I lost against SGOUROPOULOS but I am not unhappy with my game. I played well.”   They continued in the same pace and beat top seeded Belgium. Florian CNUDDE overcame PINTO to give favorites good start but Matteo MUTTI leveled the match with the victory over Valentin PIERAERT. Antonino AMATO succeeded against Laurens DEVOS and MUTTI overcame CNUDDE. It secured the top spot for Italy before today’s encounter against Slovakia.     Top seeds in Group D Belgium beat Slovakia the team who also suffered against Greece.

60th STAG European Youth Championships   Reigning European champions Junior girls Team of Romania beat Croatia and France in the opening matches of the Group stage at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships in Guimaraes.   Against Croatia Adina DIACONU’s performance brought two points to Romania. She beat Karla FRANOVIC and Andrea PAVLOVIC but Andreea DRAGOMAN suffered surprising defeat against PAVLOVIC. DRAGOMAN is currently ranked at the position no. 4 whilst PAVLOVIC occupies spot no 22 at the European junior rankings.   Lucie GAUTHIER of France also managed to beat DRAGOMAN. Adina DIACONU overcame Leili MOSTAFAVI before Tania PLAIAN beat Nolwenn FORT. On her second exit to the table DIACONU beat Lucie GAUTHIER   Russia beat Belgium in the opening match. They needed only three matches. Anastasia KOLISH overcame Lisa LUNG in the opening duel and Mariia TAILAKOVA and Kristina KAZANTSEVA followed her path in the same effective style.   “As always the opening match is the hardest but I gave my best to win it. Next one against Sweden will also be hard but we have good team spirit ” said Maria TAILAKOVA.   Same trio beat Sweden by the same margin to secure the leading spot in their Group.   Last year’s silver medalist team of Serbia showed no mercy against Poland. European’s no. 7 Izabela LUPULESKU expected closer encounter.   “We were ready for Poland. They are very dangerous and having them in the opening round was a very tricky situation. I was sure it will be much harder to beat them ” said LUPULESKU who beat Anna WEGRZYN 3:1.   Sabina SURJAN overcame Katarzyna WEGRZYN whilst Tijana JOKIC beat Agata ZAKRZEWSKA.   The most dangerous adversary in their Group Germany managed to make a lead with Luisa SAGER’S victory over Sabina SURJAN but LUPULESKU was at the top of the game. She overcame Jennie WOLF and SAGER. JOKIC added one point to the final score sheet. She beat Lotta ROSE.   Azerbaijan overcame Spain and it was Marina NIGUEZ who won one match against DENG Simeng. NING Jing and CHEN Xingtai showed no mercy against their adversaries. In the same Group C Hungary was close to produce the upset. They stretched Belarus to full distance and in decisive match Nadezhda BOGDANOVA won 11:9 fifth game against Leonie HARTBRICH.

STAG 2017 European Youth Championships   The gold medalist from Zagreb team of Russia easily prevailed against Spain in the opening round of the Cadet Girls Teams Event at the STAG 2017 European Youth Championships in Guimaraes. In the second round they beat Hungary to secure the leading position in Group A before tomorrow’s duel against Slovenia.   Ekaterina ZIROVA Elizabet ABRAAMIAN won both singles whilst Nataliya MALININA and Arina SLAUTINA won their doubles encounter. Against Hungary they also recorded 3:0 victory. Both Ekaterina ZIROVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN played in the singles and doubles matches. Spain beat Slovenia whilst round earlier Hungary also prevailed against Slovenia.   Romania won bronze medal last year in Zagreb and they look in good shape this year too. Elena -Adriana ZAHARIA was a driving force of the Romania’s success against Croatia in the opening round. She won her singles match against Zara ILIC and together with Luciana-Camelia MITROFAN recorded the victory over Hana ARAPOVIC and Hanna LONCAREVIC.   “I have the good feeling for the ball here; I play very good. In addition our team spirit is very high. We understand each other well. We were in the game 100 percent in each point ” said Elena -Adriana ZAHARIA who clinched bronze in the Team’s Event at the Poland open.   In the second match of the day they faced great difficulties against Ukraine. Luciana-Camelia MITROFAN lost the opening match against Anastasia DYMYTRENKO 2:3. Elena -Adriana ZAHARIA also lost the full distance match against Iolanta YEVTODIII before the ZAHARIA and MITROFAN in the doubles turned the course of the match against the same adversaries they met in the singles.   Croatia beat Sweden the team who also suffered against Ukraine in the opening round.   France the leading team in Group B in Cadet Girls beat Belarus and Turkey. In first match Camille LUTZ of France gave her team one point and good start before Prithika PAVADE secured the victory with another win in singles and doubles.   “I do not play often against players with the defensive style. Today I had to play against defenders in both singles and doubles match. Fortunately I felt good ” said Prithika PAVADE after the match against Belarus.   In Group B Turkey and Belarus both beat Poland.   In Group D the leaders Germany faced problem in the early stage of the match. Charlotte BARDSLEY beat Anastasia BONDAREVA in full distance match. Also in doubles favorites were stretched to full distance before Sophia KLEE sealed the match with the victory over BARDSLEY. In next round they prevailed against Czech Republic in straight games.   “The body language of my team was very good and they stick to the tactics. We feel like small family. They won because they were very good on service receive first balls and they moved very good. Practically we did not have the weak spot ” said Lara BROICH coach of the German team.   In the team for the second match Anastasia BONDAREVA was not on the list. Wenna TU Sophia KLEE and Jana KIRNER were in the team.   England and Czech Republic beat Greece.   Titleholders in Cadet Boys Teams Event team of Russia set the goals high by aiming to win all the titles. So far they are on a good way. In Group stage they overcame both adversaries on the opening day of the tournament.   They overcame Turkey and Italy both by 3:0. Against Turkey Maksim GREBNEV and Vladimir SIDORENKO succeeded in their both singles and doubles. They showed same determination in the duel against Italy.   “It is the first day of the tournament and I am not in the best of shape. I still struggle to fell the ball well. I am not adjusted to new tables. I hope it will be much better from tomorrow. We came here with the desire to win everything we could ” said SIDORENKO.   In Group B France is unbeaten. They overcame Romania before they inflicted the pain in the hart of the host nation supporters. They overcame the only Portugal’s team in top division.   Tiago LI gave a good start for the hosts with the victory over France’s no. one player Bilal HAMACHE after full five games match.   “At that point I wanted to beat LI even more. I was very motivated ” said Dorian ZHENG who overcame Goncalo GOMES before he met LI in the fourth game. “At the start I was not very focused so I needed some guidance from the coach. He told me to play in the middle and at the forehand to beat LI. It worked until the fourth game. In that game I was 8:4 in the lead and LI managed to recover and to reach 9:8. Once again I needed to get the grip of the game. I came back to win 14:12.”   In the same group Spain beat Romania after they lost against Portugal.   In Group C Hungary holds the top with two victories over Poland and Sweden. Both teams shares second position whilst Denmark is at the bottom.   Belgium secured the top spot in Group D after victory over Germany and Croatia. Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Olav KOSOLOSKY showed no mercy against Croatia in the opening round but they needed one match more to overcame Germany. Felix WETZEL of Germany scored against RASSENFOSSE.    

60th STAG European Youth Championships   Tomorrow 520 players in 45 teams from 44 Associations will start their journey hoping for glory and the medals at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships. It will be the test for the new generations.   In Portugal’s Guimaraes host team will be under severe pressure. After great success of the senior team and the title at the European Championships in Lisbon in 2014 host nation’s boys and girls will be under spotlight.   Raquel MARTINS is the best-ranked player in the Junior Girls Team at the position no. 105 at the European rankings. However she is the first year junior so she will need a little help from Daniela MOURA and Alexandra PISCO the players who had the experience of one year playing in the junior field. For PISCO it will be the third Championships but for MOURA it will be the premiere.   “We are currently in the Second Division of the teams and we hope we will be among top two teams in the Group at the end of the group stage ” said Luis SOUSA coach of the Girls team.   Portugal is seeded at the position no. two in their group behind Ukraine and above Lithania Montenegro and Cyprus.   “We expect the most from Raquel MARTINS but MOURA and PISCO brings the maturity to the team. Vitoria SANTOS is also great potential but I think she needs a little bit more experience. Next year she will be much stronger. “   All four teams had preparation in High Performance Centre in Vila nova De Gaia with the teams of England Ireland and Italy.   “They added some extra value to our work ” added SOUSA. “For girls playing in front of their families and friends in Portugal will be something special. It could create the pressure but I hope to get the best from it.”   Junior Boys are also in the second division. They will play against Finland and Luxembourg for the top position in the Group.   “We faced great difficulties even before the start of the competition. Samuel DA SILVA is injured. He had a problem with his hand and he probably will not be fully recovered to play in the Team’s event. I hope we will have him back in game for singles ” said Pedro OLIVIERA coach of the Boys team.   The success of the men’s team in Lisbon was a special moment for Portugal’s table tennis.   “The boys are motivated. They all look after the great generation of FREITAS APOLONIA MONTEIRO. Of course they will be under severe pressure here but we will try to make it work in our favor in close encounters.”   The only team that will play in the first division is the cadet boy’s team. Tiago LI is the leading player who recently won the silver medal at the Italian open.   “The most dangerous adversaries in our group is France. They are very strong but we hope we will reach our goal and stay in the top division ” said Helder MELIM cadet boy’s coach.   Preparation with England and Ireland helped team get the stability and team spirit but coach underlined that the season was very long.   “Boys are little bit tired this was very demanding season on national and international level. However they are very proud to have possibility to play at home soil and they will give their best.”   Cadet girls are in second division. Ines BATISTA will lead the very young generation. For Patricia SANTOS and Ines MATOS it is the first year in cadets whilst Silvia SANTOS is in her second year.   “We are talking about the youngest members of the team. We are trying to help them to overcame the pressure of playing at home and to turn it into our advantage ” said Cadet girls coach Marco RODRIGUES.