The draw for the Second Stage of the European Championships in Osijek was conducted today in Sarajevo during the European Under 21 Championships. The top seeds in 5 Groups in Men’s Event are Poland Hungary Serbia Ukraine and Spain. Top seeded teams in four groups in Women’s event are Austria Italy Netherlands and Turkiye. After the withdrawal of teams Estonia (both men’s and women’s) and Montenegro (men’s) the ETTU Executive Board decided to offer vacant places to teams who finished third in the Stage 1 B groups tournaments. For two vacant places in Men’s Tams events applications from the following Associations were received: Bosnia Herzegovina Latvia and Ireland. For the vacant place in the Women’s T eam event following applications were received: Bosnia and Herzegovina Latvia and Norway.

The emotions reaches new heights and the tension rase as we approaching the final day of the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. In women’s singles event at the penultimate day of play Nicole ARLIA of Italy Sophia KLEE and Mia GRIESEL of Germany as well as Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia booked their places at the medal rostrum. Less than an hour after Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Mia GRIESEL of Germany reached the final of the Women’s Doubles event they returned to the venue to clash against each other in the quarters of the singles. It was Mia GRIESEL who progressed further after a close seven games battle (9 -8 6 -9 10 -7 7). Another partnership tasted same fate. Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia overcame Elena ZAHARIA of Romania (-8 6 10 11 -4 10). “We know each other since we were kids. We played at the tournaments for decade and each time we met it is fierce and close battle. Sometimes she wins sometimes it is me…and then again and again we go round in circle. We know each other to the soul and it is only the current inspiration and stronger head that prevailed. This time was no difference. Both of us made so many variations in tactics each time we were down ” said Hana. Nicole ARLIA of Italy overcame Anna BRZYSKA of Poland after seven games (-9 8 -9 3 -6 6 5) and she bursted into tears at the end. On the other side Sophia KLEE of Germany concluded her match in more safe mode. KLEE needed five games to overcame Anna HURSEY of Wales (10 9 -3 5 3).

In the semi final of the Men’s Singles Event at the European under 21 Championships top seeded player Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland will meet his teammate Samuel KULCZYCKI whilst in other penultimate stage match we will see Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Andrei Teodor ISTRATE of Romania. In quarters Csaba ANDRAS was driving seat in the match against Maciej KUBIK of Poland (9 3 4 8). He was first to reach the semi final. “Yes it was very fast and I have to thank my coach for the perfect preparation. In three previous occasions it was different case scenario. At Top 10 in Tours KUBIK beat me 2:4 and later in juniors I succeeded twice but in both matches we went full distance. That is why I put great effort to prepare myself. I talked with my coach watched videos and even had a good run training before the match ” said Csaba.”I commenced the quarters with great dose of confidence and won it comfortably.” Earlier in morning session ANDRAS overcame Darius MOVILEANU of Romania. Opposite to ANDRAS last to leave the venue after the quarters was Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland who accounted for Eduardo IONESCU Romania (-7 11 8 -12 8 -10 6). IONESCU won the opening game recovered after 1:2 and 2:3 to level the match and then had a lead 5:2 in decisive game before he lost 6:11. Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania (4 10 -2 -6 10 2) and Andrei Teodor ISTRATE of Romania accounted for Albert VILARDELL of Spain (7 4 4 -8 9).

  The finalists of the Men’s Doubles Event at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo are Hugo DESCHAMPS and Thibault PORET of France and Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland. That is the outcome of the semi final clashes after which two Romania’s Doubles had to settle with the bronze as a consolation. Hugo DESCHAMPS and Thibault PORET overcame Iulian CHIRITA and Andrei Teodor ISTRATE of Romania after four very close games (-3 16 9 10). “It was really close three out of four games ended with narrow margin. To acheived that you need to be very strong mentally and to maintain the focus ” said Hugo DESCHAMPS. It commenced well for the Romania’s CHIRITA and ISTRATE. “They had 1:0 and 5:1 and if they had managed to close the second game in their favor we would be lost. We fought hard to come back and we managed it. We even faced six game points against us before we won 18:16 second game. We had another bad start in third game by being 1:5 down…we had to come back so many times in semis but eventually we played very good at the end ” said Thibault PORET. Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland overcame Eduard IONESCU and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania (8 -7 -9 10 6). “We had to comeback from 1:2 and to survive 10:10 before we managed to settle into the rhythm. In the last game it was much easier. We made 4:0 very quickly and at the end I was able to play few very risky points that paid off. Maciej sealed the match in effective way ”explained KULCZYCKI. KULCZYCKI hopes Polish duo will avenge the recent defeat against Hugo DESCHAMPS and Thibault PORET at the WTT Feeder in Dusseldorf. “They beat us two months ago I hope it will be opposite now ” stated KULCZYCKI.

In tomorrow’s final of the Women’s Doubles event at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo Mia GRIESEL of Germany and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania will play against Anastasiya DYMYTRENKA and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine. Ines MATOS and Matilde PINTO of Portugal and Agathe Anne AVEZOU and Isa COK of France were halted in the semis. Anastasiya DYMYTRENKA and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine were in fast line in their match against Agathe Anne AVEZOU and Isa COK of France (7 5 1). “The preparations were crucial for this victory. We came here in good shape and my coach Christina TOTH prepared us very well ” explained MATIUNINA. “I was working with TOTH in Munich whilst DYMYTRENKA prepared in Kyiv but we put all together very well here.” Anastasiya DYMYTRENKA added:”Our team spirit is very high. We really enjoy our game here.” Mia GRIESEL and Bianca MEI ROSU overcame Ines MATOS and Matilde PINTO of Portugal (-7 11 5 5). “We reached the final on our very first Championships together so we are very happy ” said Mia.”We have very good communication and despite the fact that we did not have chance to play together against Portugal’s pairings we know them very well from the singles.” What can we expect in the final. “For us it is important that we show the best of us and we hope we will enjoy the game ” said Bianca MEI ROSU.

Poland secured two medals in the Mixed Doubles Event at the European under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. Romania reserved one and French-German combination also won the medal. In the quarterfinal Romania’s Eduardo ONESCU and Ioana SINGEORZAN overcame no. one seeded pairings Ivor BAN and Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia (6 -6 8 -11 6). They will meet Milosz REDZIMSKI and Anna BRZYSKA of Poland. Polish duo accounted for Darius MOVILEANU and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania (10 -14 9 6). Samuel KULCZYCKI and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland prevailed against Andrei ISTRATE and Luciana MITROFAN of Romania (9 2 6). They will play in the semi final against Flavien COTON of France and Mia GRIESEL of Germany who departed Iulian CHIRITA and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania (8 11 -10 -4 5)

In the Men’s Doubles Event at the European Under 21 Championships we saw the scenario from the Women’s Doubles repeated. Reigning champions exited the venue one round short of medal rostrum. In the quarterfinal of Hugo DESCHAMPS and Thibault PORET of France overcame title holders Ivor BAN of Croatia and Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary (-10 8 7 -6 2) “In such close matches it is important to stay calm and focused and we did it especially in nerves wrecking fifth game. We lost fourth game but we did not let affect our game ” said PORET. PORET and DESCHAMPS won silver medal at the European Youth Championships in Under 19 category. “We also played at the French nationals ” said DESCHAMPS.”This was so far hardest match for us in Sarajevo.” In the semi final they will meet Iulian CHIRITA and Andrei Teodor ISTRATE of Romania who overcame Milosz REDZIMSKI and Mateusz ZALEWSKI of Poland in straight games (8 8 8). “We were very calm. We did not play under pressure especially since we were confident after very important win in previous round. We managed to beat VILARDELL and GOLDIR from Spain pairings with very difficult style. We came back from losing second game to win third 11:9 and in fourth we were down 7:10 to win 12:10. It gave us confidence ” said ISTRATE. CHIRITA was ready for some jokes after the match and he said laughing:”We won because Teodor was not so agitated. However in more serious tone he continued:”It was not so easy to beat Polish pairings as the results predicts. It was very close and we played point for point.” Romania will have another representative in the semi final. Eduard IONESCU and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania overcame John OYEBODE of Italy and Borgar HAUG of Norway (-15 9 10 8). They will meet Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland who beat Ondrej KVETON and Radim MORAVEK of Czechia (7 -8 1 8). “We were very consistent with our game which is important for doubles. Of course the service and receive game worked well for us today. “

In the Women’s Doubles event at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo the medal winners are already known. Tomorrow the semi finals will be played but this time without reigning champions Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ of Turkiye who were halted by Ines MATOS and Matilde PINTO of Portugal. Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ won gold in two previous Championships but today Portugal’s combination proved too strong in the quarterfinal. MATOS and PINTO play together in Portugal’s league but they won their first medal at the European Championships. “The key to our success was to understand what is the best for the partner. On each point we were thinking where to put the ball to be most comfortable for other player to play ” explained PINTO. In the Round of 16 Portugal’s pairing halted Naomi PRANJOVIC of Germany and Luciana MITROFAN of Romania. “We were 2:0 in advance but they recovered. It was most important that we maintained our focus in the fifth game ” said MATOS. Two years ago Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine clinched the title at the Europe Top 10 and she also collected three silver medals at the European Youth Championships in Under 15 category in Singles Mixed Doubles and Team’s events. Today with Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO she aded another medal in Doubles. Anastasiya was fifth last year in Europeans but those two players was teamed up for a first time in Sarajevo for doubles. In the quarterfinal they overcame Sophia KLEE of Germany and Anna HURSEY of Wales. “We were only focused on our game and to fight for each ball. It was the same tactics we used for seeds no. two Hana ARAPOVIC and Elena ZAHARIA in previous round ” said MATIUNINA DYMYTRENKO added:”We are so happy we won the medal together on our first event.” Mia GRIESEL of Germany and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania also secured the place at the medal rostrum after they overcame Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland. They will meet MATOS and PINTO. Agathe Anne AVEZOU and Isa COK of France beat Nicole ARLIA of Italy and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania. Nicole clinched silver last year partnering Gaia MONFARDINI but this time French pairings won very close five games battle. Agathe Anne AVEZOU and Isa COK will play against Ukraine’s pairings.

The atmosphere in Hills hotel venue in Sarajevo at the European Under 21 Championships is heating up. Two round in the second stage of the Women’s Singles Event was on program today and it ended with few casualties. Top seed Camill LUTZ of France was safe from surprises. She overcame Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO of Ukraine and Kornelija RILISKYTE of Lithuania without due alarm. No. two seed Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia also recorded two wins. She beat Ukraine’s Veronika MATIUNINA and Germany’s Sophia KLEE. “First match agains KLEE was difficult as every opening duel at the Championships but when I managed to get into my rhythm it got easier. I had to adjust my game a little especially against Sophia who plays very strong game ” explained Hana. Asked about the goals Hana explained that she likes to keep it simple. “I did not set any goals. I am here to give my best and I hope I will be satisfied with my performance. Competition is at the high level as usual. Romania and France are here with strong teams ” explained ARAPOVIC. No three seed Ozge YILMAZ of Turkiye suffered from the hands of Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales. Anna prevailed in both her matches in straight games. She also beat Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria. On the other side in both her matches Bianka won in six games. “I feel more confident now when I overcame the favorite. Maybe I could finished the match earlier but I was more focused on the result and less on my game at the end ” admitted MEI ROSU. Romania’s player will meet HURSEY in the last match tomorrow. “She beat me last time but I believe I have a chance in Sarajevo. I will fight ” promised MEI ROSU. Charlotte LUTZ of France no. 4 seed overcame Anna BRZYSKA of Poland after seven long games and Luciana MITROFAN of Romania in six games. Sara TOKIC also overcame MITROFAN but she was stretched to full seven games. Sara lost to Anna. Helga DARI of Hungary beat no. 5 seed Elena ZHARIA of Romania in six games but herself suffered by the hands of French Anne AVEZOU. Ane is at the top of the Group E because she also beat Dora COSIC of Croatia. Natalia BOGDANOWICH of Poland also exceeded her rankings and secured the top position in Group F. She beat Germany’s Naomi PRANJKOVIC and Portugal’s Matilde PINTO. Romania’s Ioana SINGEORZAN beat no. 7 seed ines MATOS of Portugal and Leah MUSKANtOR of Sweden. Ines beat Iolanta YEVTODII of Ukraine. Isa COK of France beat no. 8 seed Mia GRIESEL of Germany and Anastasiya STERNER of Austria.

In lower Groups Maciej KUBIK of Poland secured two wins. He beat Flavien COTON of France and Barish MOULLET of Switzerland. No. 6. seed Kay STUMPER of Germany was forced to withdraw due the illness Andrei ISTRATE of Romani took the leading role in Group F. In straight games he overcame Borgar HAUG of Norway. Romania’s success continued with Iulian CHIRITA who overcame Hugo DESCHAMPS of France and John OYEBODE of Italy. However it did not go that smooth for Romania’s Darius MOVILEANU. Ivor BAN of Croatia created the upset by beating no. 8 seed in six games. Ivor also prevailed against Miguel NUNEZ of Spain. Top seeds in singles event joined the best qualifiers from the opening day of the European Under 21 Championships on the second day of play in Sarajevo. In the opening round no. three seed Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary was under severe pressure in the match against Adam KLAJBER of Slovakia. They went full distance after ANDRAS was 1:3 down. Top seeded Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland overcame Andrea PUPPO of Italy in straight games. Prevailed twice without losing the game. He beat Elias HARDMEIER of Switzerland and Andrea PUPPO of Italy. “ I feel comfortable playing with this balls and despite that I play for first time on this tables I feel very good here. Only problem is that I feel very tired. I played Polish league went to Portugal for first stage of European Championships where we beat the hosts…and now I am here. No time to rest. I was not challenged so far but I think it will be different tomorrow in the last match of the group. Albert VILARDELL has a really tricky style ” said REDZIMSKI. What is your goal in Sarajevo? “To reach the medal rostrum ” said REDZIMSKI.”There few players in very good shape here. Csaba ANDRAS and Eduard IONESCU play very good here.” French Thibault PORET created the upset by beating reigning champion and no. two seed Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland. “I have never played against him before. Maybe in the doubles but that is not the same. I had to study his game and I did a good job. I watched so many videos of him. The key of todays success was to be aggressive. I took the control early in the match.” said PORET. In the last match PORET will meet Kas VAN OOST of Netherlands. “I have not played against him neither…I guess I have to study videos tonight again ” said PORET. No. three seed ANDRAS beat Mateusz ZALEWSKI of Poland and Adam KLAJBER of Slovakia. In the last match he will play against Alexis KOURACHI of France. No 4 seed prevailed against Daniel LINDSO of Sweden and Tomas MARTINKO of Czechia.