On the last day of play at the Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb Titouan MOREL-GONZALES and Eva LAM of France clinched the gold medal in the Mixed Doubles Event. In the final they emerged victorious against Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA of Poland. The French pair played superbly delivering an outstanding performance throughout the entire event. They maintained a flawless record by not dropping a single game on their way to claiming the title. In the final against the Polish pair of Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA who were the sixth seeds MOREL-GONZALES and LAM triumphed convincingly with a resounding 3-0 victory (6 8 8). “I am absolutely thrilled. We have proven ourselves to be the best in Europe and this success will give us great self-confidence ” expressed a jubilant MOREL-GONZALES. LAM added “Not only have we secured the championship crown but we did it in a big style with a 3-0 win in the final. Moreover we came here as the 17th pair on the list.” The French coach Stephane HUCLIEZ highlighted the exceptional synergy they share as a pair. “It is an excellent result especially considering that we didn’t reach the medal in the team competition even though we came very close. Titouan and Eva make a great pair. Titouan has a strong serve and won a lot of points with it while Eva has a solid game at the table and blocks well ” said HUCLIEZ. Previously the sixth-seeded Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA halted the progress of the number one seeds Lukas WANG and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany. The Polish pair managed to recover from being down 0-2 to secure their place in the final. “It was a very close match and the main point is that we didn’t change our tactics. It was important to stick to our plan and wait for the preferable position on the table. We maintained our focus and it paid off ” said coach Alan WOS. In the penultimate stage Titouan MOREL-GONZALES and Eva LAM prevailed without due alarm. They defeated Lenard SZABO and Lizett FAZEKAS of Hungary in straight games. “I am very happy not only because of their performance but also because of the atmosphere within the whole team from Monday until today. They listened very carefully were focused on the tasks and tactics we agreed upon. Titouan and Eva had never played together in Mixed Doubles before nor had they even trained together for this event but they displayed a very mature game here ” said coach Stephan HUCLIEZ. Mixed Doubles final Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA of Poland – Titouan MOREL-GONZALES and Eva LAM of France 0-3 (6-11 8-11 8-11) Semi final Lukas WANG and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany – Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA of Poland 2-3 (11-8 11-9 9-11 6-11 9-11) Lenard SZABO and Lizett FAZEKAS of Hungary – Titouan MOREL-GONZALES and Eva LAM of France 0-3 (8-11 1-11 9-11)

Türkiye will be written in the history books as the first-ever champion of the Team’s Mixed event at the Under 13 European Championships. In Zagreb Türkiye composed of Gorkem OCAL Kenan KAHRAMAN Buse KOCAK and Nil BASARAN prevailed against Italy in straight matches. The silver medalists from Italy included Danilo FASO Francesco TREVISAN Gioia PICU Matilde BUZZONI Giulio CAMPAGNA and Federica INTERLANDI. Spain and Germany secured the bronze medals. Türkiye was in the fast lane right from the beginning. Both teams understood the importance of the opening duel in the Mixed Doubles and when Gorkem OCAL and Buse KOCAK took control the chances for victory significantly increased. Türkiye’s pairings overcame Danilo FASO and Matilde BUZZONI losing only one game in the duel. Nil BASARAN widened the gap with a convincing victory over Gioia PICU. The match moved to the stage where Francesco TREVISAN had to fight to keep Italy in the game but Kenan KAHRAMAN had different ideas. Although TREVISAN won the second game he failed to withstand the pressure. “We are very happy to win this medal. It is a great honor to be the first winners of the Championships. Our team showed great unity and the players had excellent team spirit ” explained coach Gökmen OCAL. In the play off match for the position no. five France overcame Hungary 3-0 whilst in the match fpor the position no. 7 Czechia prevailed against Ukraine 3-0. Poland overcame Switzerland 3-0 to secure the position no. 9 and Romania beat Sweden 3-2 to book 11th place. Bulgaria overcame Israel 3-1 in their duel for the 13th position. Italy – Türkiye 0-3 Danilo FASO Matilde BUZZONI – Gorkem OCAL Buse KOÇAK 1-3 (8-11 11-7 6-11 8-11) Gioia PICU – Nil BASARAN 0-3 (3-11 7-11 5-11) Francesco TREVISAN – Kenan KAHRAMAN 1-3 (6-11 11-7 9-11 3-11) Final standings 1 Turkiye 2 Italy 3 Spain 3 Germany 5 France 6 Hungary 7 Czechia 8 Ukraine 9 Poland 10 Switzerland 11 Romania 12 Sweden 13 Bulgaria 14 Israel 15 Belgium 16 Austria 17 Portugal 18 Greece 19 Moldova 20 Azerbaijan 21 Croatia 22 Bosnia and Herzegovina 23 Slovakia 24 Estonia 25 Lithuania 26 Island 27 Lavia 28 Kosovo

Top seeds in the mixed doubles event at the European Under 13 Championships in Zagreb Lukas WANG and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany reached the quarterfinal stage to be played on the last day. Germany’s pair prevailed against Vidar LARSSON and Laurynne CABARDO of Sweden in the round of 16. In the next stage they will meet Noah TESSIER and Lisa ZHAO. The French duo overcame Israel’s Nir ENGLER and Gali BEZALEL. On their way to the round of 16 ENGLER and BEZALEL overcame Hungary’s Peter ZUBOR and Szonja SZOGI who created an upset by beating the number 5 seeds Francesco TREVISAN and Federica INTERLANDI of Italy. Poland’s Jan MRUGALA and Julia CZAJA are safely through to the quarters where they will meet Alexandru IONEL and Patricia STOICA of Romania. Titouan MOREL-GONZALES and Eva LAM of France proved too strong for Kacper Piwowar of England and Lana Benko of Croatia. The French pairings will meet Jakub DOBOSZ and Aleksandra MAKAR of Poland. Turkiye’s Gorkem OCAL and Nil BASARAN justified their status to reach the quarters. For the medal they will clash with Lenard SZABO and Lizett FAZEKAS of Hungary.

Italy emerged triumphant against Spain in another series of straight matches. Danilo FASO and Matilde BUZZONI opened the encounter with a victory over Ladimir MAYOROV and Renata SHYPHA. “Our mixed doubles team had performed well in two matches prior to the team event so they were well warmed up ” said Italian coach Gianluca ABBATICCHIO. Italy boasts two leading players in the seeding list Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN but Gioia PICU has proven that the team can rely on her. “Gioia’s victory over Jiaqi GUO was a surprise but in this tournament she has already shown that she can compete against any opponent. It was not a major surprise considering how well she played in previous days in Zagreb. After her win most of the work was done as we were confident in TREVISAN’S abilities. TREVISAN and FASO are very strong in this category ” explained Coach ABBATICCHIO. Speaking about the forthcoming match against Turkey the coach promised “It is going to be a battle.” Spain -Italy 0-3 Ladimir MAYOROV Renata SHYPSHA – Danilo FASO Matilde BUZZONI 0-3 (6-11 10-12 7-11) Jiaqi GUO – Gioia PICU 2-3 (11-6 9-11 11-8 7-11 3-11) Roc GILBERT – Francesco TREVISAN 1-3 (2-11 7-11 11-9 5-11) Germany – Turkiye 0-3 Samuel KUHL Anna WALTER – Gorkem OCAL Buse KOCAK 1-3 (8-11 7-11 11-8 4-11) Amelie JIA – Nil BASAN 1-3 (7-11 11-8 8-11 9-11) Lukas WANG – Kenan KAHRAMAN 0-3 (8-11 11-13 5-11) Italy and Türkiye’s Mixed Teams have secured their places in the final of the Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb. They emerged victorious in superb style during the semi-finals. Turkish team unlike Italy the top seed exceeded expectations to reach the ultimate stage. Seeded at position number 13 Turkey will compete for the gold medal tomorrow at 7 PM CET. In the penultimate stage they showed no mercy in the match against Germany. “We are very happy to have reached the final. It is very important for us. This achievement is significant for our players as it would be their first medal at the Europeans. We have worked very hard for this and remained highly focused ” said coach Gökmen OCAL. Throughout the match Türkiye dominated their opponents. Gorkem OCAL and Buse KOCAK set the pace of the duel with their victory over Samuel KUHL and Anna WALTER which proved challenging for their adversaries. Nil BASARAN and Kenan KAHRAMAN won their individual matches against Amelie JIA and Lukas WANG. “Tactically we outplayed them but I believe that more than tactics and strategy it was our desire to win that prevailed ” added coach OCAL.

The qualification stage of the Boys’ and Girls’ Singles events at the Under 13 European Championships concluded with very few upsets. Most of the favorites safely reached the knockout phase of the competition in Zagreb. In the Boys’ event the number one seed Danilo FASO of Italy prevailed against Melker JAHANSSON of Sweden and CHEN Seung Jin of Austria without losing a game. The Swedish player also secured his place in the next round. Another Italian Francesco TREVISAN cruised through the group matches beating all adversaries in straight games. However in Group 2 Lowis VOGLER of Switzerland defied the odds and moved forward with victories over Peter ZUMBOR of Hungary and Alozis LIMANIS of Latvia. The leaders of Groups 3 4 5 and 6 Lukas WANG of Germany Gorkem OCAL of Türkiye Kacper PIWOWAR of England and Jan MRUGALA of Poland also safely progressed with a clear record. In Group 7 Mateusz WISNIEWSKI of Poland emerged as the top player with a 3-2 victory over the 7th seed Matt CLOSSET of Belgium. The 27th seed Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain defeated the 14th seed Alexandru POP of Romania and finished the first stage as the leader in the group. In the Girls’ event Josephina NEUMANN of Germany was forced to go the distance in a match against Renata SHYPHA of Spain but eventually emerged victorious. Both girls moved to the knockout stage. Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia and Lizett FAZEKAS of Hungary joined them as expected. However Serbia’s Teodora SUDZUM upset the rankings and also secured her place in the main draw after a victory over Austria’s Sophia PICHLER. Deimante ADLYTE of Lithuania also caused an upset by defeating the 4th seed Lisa ZHAO of Spain. She also overcame Turkey’s Buse KOCAK and Iceland’s Guobjorg GUNNARSDOTTIR. The 5th seed Siri BENJAGARD of Sweden failed to pass the qualification stage. Adela BRHELOVA of Czechia and Martina HRABAJOVA of Slovakia qualified for the main draw. Among the players who caused upsets are Nadja DJULOVIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina Khadija EYLAZOVA of Azerbaijan Klara KONCAR of Croatia Valeria CRAVCENCO of Moldova Gioia PICU and Federica INTERLANDI of Italy and Aleksandra MAKAR of Poland.

Tonight at 7 PM CET the semi-finals of the Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb will take place. Italy will face Spain while Germany will play against Türkiye. The match for the title will be played at the same time tomorrow. Spain reached the penultimate stage undefeated after six matches and two stages of the group phase. Ladimir MAYOROV Roger QUESADA Renata SHYPHA Jiaqi GUO and Roc GILBERT overcame Germany (3-2) Bosnia and Herzegovina (5-0) and Moldova (5-0) in the opening stage. Without much trouble they also defeated Switzerland (5-0) but faced a tough challenge against Israel (3-2). However the real drama unfolded in the last match when Spain played against Hungary for a place in the semi-finals.Three out of five matches went the full distance including the final duel between MAYOROV and Lenard SZABO. The Hungarian player eventually won and despite Spain already securing 3 points and the overall victory Szabo and Mayorov fought fiercely until the last point. The top-seeded Italy led by Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN who have not lost a single individual match in both group phases faced some pressure in matches against Portugal (3-2) and Switzerland (3-2) but easily triumphed against Kosovo (5-0). In the second stage Italy defeated Sweden (3-2) and Ukraine (3-2). Young Gioia PICU showed that she could also handle the pressure and recorded four out of four victories in both group stages. The outcome of the standings in Group 2 remained unknown until the end. Despite suffering two defeats in two stages Germany advanced to the semi-finals. Jonathan GAISER Amelie JIA Lukas WANG Samuel KUHL and Anna WALTER lost to Spain (2-3) in the opening stage but bounced back by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina (5-0) and Moldova (5-0). In the next stage they overcame Romania (4-1) but lost to Czechia (2-3). Overall Czechia and Romania each lost only one match in the two stages highlighting the importance of each individual match in this system. Türkiye’s Gorkem OCAL Buse KOCAK Nil BASARAN and Kenan KAHRAMAN beat Croatia (4-1) and Lithuania (4-1) but they suffered a loss to Hungary (2-3) in the opening stage. They faced challenges in both instances but emerged victorious against Poland and France (3-2) and easily defeated Bulgaria (5-0).

After five matches in the Mixed Teams Event at the Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb Italy has maintained their unbeaten record. However justifying their leading position in the standings has proven to be a tough challenge. Yesterday Italy emerged victorious against Portugal (3-2) Switzerland (3-2) and Kosovo (5-0). Today they demonstrated their strength by defeating Ukraine. They are yet to face Sweden. Italy holds the number one seed in the mixed teams event with Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN ranked first and second in the singles standings. FASO and Matilde BUZZONI are the second seeds in Mixed Doubles. “I am satisfied with our current position. We faced some tough moments but despite the difficulties we managed to win all the matches. Against Ukraine today Francesco TREVISAN and Federica INTERLANDI lost their match against Volodymyr NEVIZHYN and Diana KOLIENIKOVA despite being favorites. On the other hand Gioa Maria PICU had a successful match against Tatiana PUKALO which gave us a great boost of confidence. FASO and Trevisan lived up to their expectations ” said coach Emmanuele DELSANTO. The coach also highlighted the improvement in PICU’s game. “Previously Gioa struggled during crucial moments when the score was at 10-8 or 8-10. She lacked self-confidence. Now she has managed to turn those close games in her favor ” added DELSANTO. Coach Delsanto expressed his disagreement with the scoring system where a 5-0 win gives 5 points to the winner a 4-1 win gives 4 points to the winner and 1 point to the defeated team and a 3-2 win gives 3 points to the winner and 2 points to the defeated team. “I believe this scoring system is flawed because in certain situations narrow victories may not be sufficient.” In the same group Ukraine defeated Sweden (3-2).   See the pictures here