Elena ZAHARIA of Romania emerged as the newly crowned champion in the Under 19 Girls Singles at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In an all-Romanian final she overcame Ioana SINGEORZAN. The bronze medalists are Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales. ZAHARIA needed six games to secure her gold against SINGEORZAN (13 -4 5 8 -9 9). “I stayed focused until the end and played each point like it was the last one. I also want to congratulate Ioana; she played amazingly throughout the whole tournament and I am proud of her. She was also at the top of her game in the final. I feel extreme gratitude toward my whole team and my coaches; without them it would not have been possible ” said ZAHARIA. “Tonight for sure I will not drink to celebrate it but I will dance for hours. Then tomorrow I will hit the road again. I travel to Kongo for another tournament.” In the penultimate stage the all-Romanian clash between Elena ZAHARIA and Bianca MEI ROSU ended in favor of the higher-ranked player but not without big suspense (-3 7 -9 7 8 8). “She is a really strong player and I was not at the top of my game. This time Bianca did not seize the opportunity but she is a top-class young player and I am sure in the future she will have much better results. This time I took advantage of my experience; I had more variations in tactics to beat her ” said ZAHARIA. If this one was a close contest the clash between Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales was a jewel among thrillers. After four games ended by narrow margins SINGEORZAN recovered from 1-3 in reverse to secure her place in the final (-15 -12 10 -8 8 5 9). “After being down 0-2 I told myself I had to keep calm and maintain my composure. When I was losing I thought to myself that she is not the first player who left me in reverse. It happened many times and still I was able to win. It also made me very angry but in a good way. It motivated me to play even stronger ” said Ioana SINGEORZAN.  

Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia clinched the gold medal in the Under 15 Girls Singles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In the final she overcame Nina GUO ZHENG of France. Both girls were born in 2010. The bronze medalists are Maria BERZOSA of Spain and Leana HOCHART of France. KODETOVA faced a very strong adversary in the final. Nina performed at a very high level but it wasn’t enough to stop Hanka (11 -7 8 -7 7 5). “The end of the first game was very important. In such matches it always helps to win the opening part of the match. I don’t think this was the hardest match of the tournament; the quarter-final against Germany’s Koharu ITAGAKI was probably harder. But Nina Guo ZHENG also played great and the gold medal was at stake. I think I was a little bit better in the match. The tournament was very long but I still felt good physically. That was also important; I had enough strength ” said KODETOVA. Hanka KODETOVA faced serious pressure in the match against Maria BERZOSA of Spain before she moved further to secure her place in the final (12 -6 7 8 -6 8). “I have already played with Maria BERZOSA several times and I know that every ball is decisive. It was similar this time as well. It was a very evenly matched play and the little things decided the outcome. From the third game I felt that I believed in myself more. The rival seemed as if she was afraid. But I have to admit that even I played nervously and was a little scared at the end. It was about advancing to the finals of the European Championship so that’s understandable. I am happy that I succeeded and in the final the chances are open. I have a strong opponent waiting for me again but I will want to win ” said KODETOVA. In the other penultimate match Nina GUO ZHENG beat her teammate Leana HOCHART of France (6 7 -7 -4 12 9). “I played very well but I was also very nervous because I was playing against my teammate. We know each other very well and I have never recorded a win against her which added to my stress. She did not like my forehand because I have pimples and every time I played with my forehand she was uncomfortable ” said Nina.  

In the Under 15 Boys Singles Event Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal who was the most valuable player in the teams event justified his status by clinching the title. In the final he overcame Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland. The bronze medalists are Sandro CAVAILLE of France and Petr HODINA of Austria. After the final Tiago was overwhelmed with joy. “I feel amazing. This is unbelievable. This being my last year in Under 15 I am so happy to have the opportunity to enjoy such beautiful moments ” said Tiago. “I played against Patryk ZYWORONEK in Podgorica and he beat me 3-0 but now I am in a completely different shape. Also there I could not play well on the return which was not the case here throughout the whole tournament. Despite the weaker start in the match today I managed to find a way to be more aggressive and take over control.” In the semifinal Patryk ZYWORONEK overcame Sandro CAVAILLE of France in a thrilling match (7 7 -2 9 5). “It was a very hard match; the final result doesn’t show the real drama we had. He played very well. It was 4-1 but every game was tough. He had a good service very difficult for me. The key to winning was mental. I had a big focus during the whole match and I enjoyed every single point after I won it. I love to play surrounded by supporters; it gives me the power to play better ” said Patryk ZYWORONEK. Tiago ABIODUN showed his excellent skills in Gliwice by overcoming Petr HODINA of Austria in a tough battle (7 -7 6 -9 9 8). However he was severely challenged on his way to the final. “We already met in the teams event and it was a very hard match; maybe this one was even harder. I am very passive with my backhand so I was forced to play many balls on the forehand to be more aggressive ” said Tiago ABIODUN.  

In the Under 19 Boys Doubles Event Darius MOVILEANU and Eduard IONESCU of Romania successfully defended the title they won one year earlier in Belgrade. In the ORLEN European Youth Championships they prevailed against their teammates Iulian CHIRITA and Teodor ISTRATE of Romania. The bronze medalists are Thibault PORET and Hugo DESCHAMPS of France along with Marcel BLASZCZYK and Alan KULCZYCKI of Poland. In the all-Romanian final Darius and IONESCU won in straight games but the matches were closely contested (9 8 8). “Even though it was 3-0 it was tough. Just like in the singles event I had to face ISTRATE and it was very difficult. We know each other very well and the decisions we made in the finishing stages of the games were crucial. We performed better towards the ends and it gave us the edge today ” said IONESCU. MOVILEANU added: “They won the bronze at the Under 21 European Championships so their skills couldn’t be underestimated. They are very strong but we proved once again that we can beat anyone.” In the semifinals Iulian CHIRITA and Teodor ISTRATE overcame Thibault PORET and Hugo DESCHAMPS of France in a thrilling five-game match (-5 6 5 -11 5). “We are very happy that we finally managed to beat the French pairings. It never happened before we lost against them was most recently in Podgorica and after that they beat us in the semifinal of the Under 21 European Championships. I remember that match; we had the advantage in the initial games but eventually they beat us before they won the title. However this time it was third time lucky for us and we are in the final ” said ISTRATE. CHIRITA added: “We played very well today because we were well-prepared. We learned from our defeats. We played perfectly in the finish after being tied 2-2 in the games.” Darius MOVILEANU and Eduard IONESCU succeeded against Marcel BLASZCZYK and Alan KULCZYCKI of Poland inflicting pain in the hearts of the home nation supporters (-9 9 6 3). “It was difficult especially as they had a 1-0 lead at the beginning. They had a better start ” said MOVILEANU. Eduard IONESCU underlined his teammate’s thoughts: “They started very strong; it was the first time that we played against them. At first it was hard to adapt to their game but then we found a way by changing our tactics.”  

In the Under 19 Girls Doubles Event Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA of Poland clinched the gold medal at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In the final they overcame Mia GRIESEL of Germany and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania. On the third step of the medal rostrum stand Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania along with Nicole ARLIA of Italy and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania. In the final WIELGOS and BRZYSKA prevailed in four games (-4 10 7 4). “The gold medal at the European Youth Championships tastes fantastic! The final was a very hard match. After the first game when we lost very easily we changed tactics. Ania plays more with pimples but I played more short on the receive ” said Zuzanna WIELGOS. Anna BRZYSKA couldn’t hide her joy: “I’m really happy with this result because it’s a great feeling! I love table tennis and the medals give me big motivation. A big thanks to my teammate Zuzia our team and our coach. It’s a big success for us!” In the penultimate stage Mia GRIESEL and Bianca MEI ROSU halted the progress of Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania (5 2 7). “Mia and I already clinched the title in the Under 21 European Championships so we know each other well and know how to play together. It seemed that it was the key to success in this match – our good communication. Of course part of the success was to stay close to the table. The result does not show how difficult it was. Elena and Hana were the high seeded pairings. We were under enormous pressure. It took the best of us ” said Bianca MEI ROSU. In the other semifinal Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA overcame Nicole ARLIA of Italy and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania (-6 4 5 6). “I made a lot of mistakes in the opening game because they played to my forehand. In the second I started to play long to their backhands and Anna made a slice serve. It gave an effect because earlier they played a flip which caused more problems for us ” explained Zuzanna WIELGOS. Anna BRZYSKA said: “I think that the change of tactics with service and receive was the key to winning this game. It was a hard match but not the hardest. In my opinion the toughest match we had was with the Spanish players. They were very fighting and played really good table tennis.”  

In front of their home crowd Mateusz SAKOWICZ and Patryk ZYWORONEK secured the gold medal in the Under 15 Boys Doubles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships in Gliwice. They emerged victorious in the final overcoming Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal. The bronze medals went to Kenan KAHRAMAN and Gorkem OCAL of Türkiye as well as to Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy. All four players had previously competed in the final of the European Under 13 Championships where Türkiye’s representatives won gold. The winners from Poland justified their exceptional skills to clinch the crown in superb style (10 9 3 4). “It’s an unbelievable feeling to be a European Champion. We played a great match starting from our mentality to our performance on the table. We had fantastic cooperation during this tournament so we are very happy and enjoying this success ” said Patryk ZYWORONEK. Mateusz SAKOWICZ added: “Of course we were very nervous but who wouldn’t be in the European Championships final? We are really satisfied that we could overcome our stress and problems during the match.” In the penultimate stage Julian RZIHAUSCHEK and Tiago ABIODUN overcame Kenan KAHRAMAN and Gorkem OCAL of Türkiye (6 -5 8 7). The host nation supporters enjoyed the victory of their favorites in the semis Mateusz and Patryk. They defeated Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy (-7 9 5 8). “In the first game I played poorly. We had a little bit of a problem because we thought we would play later but then we had to rush to the hall; we had a fast warm-up and ran to the table. They surprised us with fast serves and changes in shot placement. When I played better in the next game together with Patryk we took the initiative and they couldn’t surprise us again ” explained Mateusz SAKOWICZ and added “They didn’t play as strong and we wanted to place the ball in the middle of the table. We are very happy to be through to the finals.  

Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany secured the gold medal in the Under 15 Girls Doubles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. They emerged victorious in the final defeating Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART of France (4 7 4). The bronze medals went to Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia and Maria BERZOSA of Spain as well as Julia LEAL of Portugal and Andreea BAISU of Romania. “We played very well in the final and were not as nervous as we were in the semis against Veronika and Maria. We lost against Nina and Leana in the team’s event 1-3 so the pressure was on them to justify that win. Therefore we just focused on playing our game and we executed it very well ” said NEUMANN. The key to their success was their close friendship according to both players. “We are good friends we often play with each other we practice together and we speak with each other very much ” added ITAGAKI. In the semifinals both matches were decided in straight games. Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN triumphed over Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia and Maria BERZOSA of Spain (10 9 6). After closely contested opening games the German pair took control of the match. Nina GUO ZHENG and Leana HOCHART secured their spot in the final by defeating Julia LEAL of Portugal and Andreea BAISU of Romania in straight games (4 7 4).

Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania are the newly crowned champions in the Under 19 Mixed Doubles at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In the final they overcame their fellow Romanian players Eduard IONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN. The bronze medalists are Marcel BLASZCZYK and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland as well as Teodor ISTRATE of Romania and Nicole ARLIA of Italy. MOVILEANU and ZAHARIA secured their victory in straight games (11 7 9). Elena ZAHARIA mentioned that the match was much closer than the score suggests but they fought harder for the win which was the key to their success. Darius MOVILEANU who had lost his match for a medal in the singles event just before the mixed doubles final was left speechless with emotion after their victory. In the semifinals Eduard IONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN overcame Marcel BLASZCZYK and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland in a close match (12 15 -10 2). The Romanian pair was well-prepared for a tough battle and their confidence in their game allowed them to clinch the victory. “We knew what to expect. They beat very god Romania’s pairings Iulian CHIRITA and Bianca MEI ROSU in the Round of 16. We were prepared on a very close match ” said IONESCU.“We were 6-1 or 6-2 up in opening games and it ended by narowest of margins.” SINGEORZAN pointed at very important quality of Romania’s pairings. “The opening two games were very close and even when we lost the third game we did not lost our faith. We were verey confident in our game ” said Ioana. In the other semifinal Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA prevailed against Teodor ISTRATE of Romania and Nicole ARLIA of Italy (8 6 7). The result doesn’t fully reflect the intensity of the match as Romania’s pairings did not give much space to their opponents and played aggressively to secure their spot in the final. “The result does not accurately predict how close the game was. We did not underestimate our adversaries as we knew they were very strong ” said ZAHARIA. Romania’s pairings applied a strong strategy not allowing much space for ISTRATE and ARLIA to take control of the match. “We decided to play very aggressively. I had a very good block for Nicole but this time we opted to take the initiative and attack first ” said MOVILEANU.  

In the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG of France secured the gold medal. In the final they defeated the pairing of Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Gaetane BLED of France (9 -13 4 7). The bronze medalists are Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany as well as Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART of France. After the final Nathan PILARD commented “BLED has a very strong forehand flip so I tried to avoid it as much as possible.” Nina added that her backhand was working fine saying “I put all the balls on the table.” In the semifinals the top-seeded Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany lost to Patryk ZYWORONEK and Gaetane BLED. ZYWORONEK and BLED were two games down before they made a remarkable comeback to win the match (-5 -9 5 8 7). “We had a very poor start to the game. We needed some time to find the right rhythm. I am so happy that we managed to do it. I think we were mentally stronger and much calmer ” said ZYWORONEK. BLED added “I made mistakes in the opening two games. After being down 0-2 I put more spin on the ball and played with more variations.” In the other semifinal Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG overcame their teammates Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART. “It is very difficult to play against adversaries who know you well. All of us were nervous and under pressure but I think it affected Sandro and Leana more. They did not show in the match what they usually do at the trainings ” said PILARD. Nina who played in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event last year in Belgrade expressed that this is her first tournament with Nathan by her side and they managed to stay focused and stick to their tactics.  

Medals are guaranteed for Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands and Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland in the Under 19 Boys Singles event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. They will face each other in the semifinals making it the semifinal with the lowest-seeded players in the penultimate stage ever. Kas VAN OOST’s achievement marks the first time since 2013 that a Dutch player has won a medal in the singles event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. The Dutch team had previously collected two medals in the Doubles event. The last Dutch player to win a singles medal was Britt EERLAND in 2011. Before that the last boys singles medalist from the Netherlands was Jorg DE COCK in 1996. VAN OOST seeded at position no. 50 defeated second seed Hugo DESCHAMPS of France in the Round of 16 (7 6 6 8) and then secured his place in the semifinal with a victory against Darius MOVILEANU of Romania (-7 6 4 7 -7 -1 9). Meanwhile Milosz REDZIMSKI overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania in the quarterfinals (-10 -6 15 9 5 -10 8) previously eliminating Simon BELIK of the Czech Republic (6 4 5 8). In the other semifinal top seed Eduard IONESCU of Romania will face his teammate Teodor ISTRATE. IONESCU defeated Lleyton ULLMANN of Germany (9 7 5 7) to secure his spot in the semis while ISTRATE beat Michal GAWLAS of Poland (-5 4 8 -8 1 6). In the Under 19 Girls Singles Event semifinals Elena ZAHARIA of Romania will face her compatriot Bianca MEI ROSU and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania will play against Anna HURSEY of Wales. ZAHARIA defeated Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland (4 3 10 -3 -5 4) in the quarterfinals while MEI ROSU prevailed against Mia GRIESEL of Germany in a hard-fought match (-6 8 -7 3 4 9). Earlier Mia GRIESEL beat the no. 4 seed Nicole ARLIA (8 12 4 -6 5) while SINGEORZAN defeated Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia (5 -9 9 8). HURSEY continued her impressive run against Anna BRZYSKA of Poland (9 8 7 -8 3 8). In the Under 15 Boys Singles semifinals Sandro CAVAILLE of France will meet Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Petr HODINA of Austria will play against Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal. ZYWORONEK had a thrilling match against Ralph PATTISON of England which ended after seven games (-8 -4 9 6 -7 6 7). In the Round of 16 PATTISON beat no. 3 seed Botond VARGA of Hungary (9 -7 10 9 8). In the Under 15 Girls Singles Event quarterfinals Maria BERZOSA of Spain secured a spot on the medal podium by overcoming Marziyya NURMATOVA of Azerbaijan (2 9 2 -8 14). She will face Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia who caused upsets by defeating two players seeded at position 4 Nora DOHOCZKI of Hungary in the Round of 16 and Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany in the quarterfinals (-8 9 -10 -9 4 4 9). In the other semifinal Nina GUO ZHENG of France defeated Julia LEAL of Portugal (7 4 -9 4 4) and Leana HOCHART also of France and seeded at position no. 8 prevailed against no. 2 seed Josephina NEUMANN of Germany (9 -10 7 8 -9 3).