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.

The matches in Doubles event opened the second day of play at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. Main favorites were free in the first round of the main draw. In Women’s doubles event top seeded pairings from Turkiye Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ will play tomorrow in second round against the combination of Lithuania and Norway Kornelija RILYSKITE and Martine TOFTAKER. In the opening duel RILYSKITE and TOFTAKER beat Arianna BARANI and Valentina RONACALLO of Italy in straight games. On the lower half of the draw Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania will meet Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine who overcame pairings from Czechia Anna KLEMPEREROVA and Helena SOMMEROVA. The opening round produced few fierce and long matches. Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU of Greece and Helga DARI of Hungary went full distance to overcame Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria and Enisa SADIKOVIC of Luxembourg. It was the same scenario for Spain’s Ainhoa CRISTOBAL and Eugenia SASTRE who faced very strong duo from Bosnia and Herzegovina Dzana BIOGRADLIC and Harisa MESETOVIC. Julie VAN HAUWAERT of Belgium and Sara TOKIC of Slovenia overcame Austria’s Anastasiya STERNER and Spain’s Silvia COLL in five games. Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany and Luciana MITROFAN of Romania also were under pressure against Ema CUNCUROVA of Slovakia and Iolanta YEVTODII of Ukraine. In Men’s Doubles Event top seeds and last year’s winners Ivor BAN of Croatia and Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary tomorrow will clash with Filip DELINCAK and Adam KLAJBER of Slovakia. Slovakias pairings overcame Tom CLOSSET of Belgium and Miha PODOBNIK of Slovenia in the opening round. Polish duo Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI will face Flavian COTON and Aleis KOURAICHI of France. French pairing went full distance in the opening round in the match against Elias HARDMEIER and Mauro SCHARRER of Switzerland. Last year Italy’s John OYEBODE partnering Carlo ROSSI won silver but today with Borgar HAUG of Norway he was 1:2 down before managed to recover to beat Miguel NUNEZ and Arnau PONS of Spain.

Same as in Women’s Groups lower ranked players managed to upset the favorites on the opening day of play at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. Materusz ZALEWSKI of Poland seeded third in Group 7 beat top seeded David SZATOSI of Hungary 4:0 and Pierre KASES of Austria 4:2. No. two seed Simon BELIK of Czechia also prevailed against SZATOSI and KASSES. Another underdog Daniel LINDSO of Sweden rankaed only at the position no. four in Group 8 beat no. one Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia and Tom CLOSSET of Belgium. Kas VAN OOST of Netherlands beat Borna PETEK of Croatia and come back from verge of the defeat by recovering from 0:3 to beat Ondrej KVETON of Czechia 4:3. In the top Group of the qualifications Borgar HAUG of Norway lost to Flavien COTON of France; in Group 2 Hugo DESCHAMPS of France overcame Miguel NUNEZ of Spain and Balazs LEI of Hungary. Ivor BAN of Croatia prevailed against Mauro SCHARRER of Switzerland and Nicolas DEGROS of Belgium. The last round of Group phase will be played tonight and from tomorrow top eight players in singles will join qualifiers.  

The opening matches in Women’s Singles Group phase in the Under 21 European Championships in Sarajevo proved no one is safe – favorites faced serious challenges from the early hours. Top seeded player in the qualification stages Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania was forced to go full distance against Anastasiya STERNER of Austria before she won her opening match in Group 1. Next match against Karlijn VAN LIEROP of Netherlands she won in straight games. No. one in Group 2 Helga DARI of Hungary went full distance in both matches. She was challenged by Sara TOKIC of Slovenia and Mari BALDWIN of England. In Group 3 Isa COK of France had less troubled path. She easily overcame Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIU of Greece and Ainhoa CRISTOBAL of Spain. Whist the favorites in top two groups were challenged but prevailed Ece HARAC of Turkiye failed to find the answer to pressure. In Group 4 she lost to Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany and Emine ERNST of Netherlands. Both players accounted for Dzana BIOGRADLIC from BiH and concluded first two rounds unbeaten. Valentina RONCALLO of Italy prevailed against Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland to upset the rankings. She also beat Helena SOMMEROVA of Czechia to move to the leading position in Group 11. Romania’s Bianca MEI ROSU beat Julie VAN HAUWAERT of Belgium and Leah TVEIT MUSKANTOR of Sweden. Anne AVEZOU of France justified her status with two wins over Matilda HANSSON of Sweden and Jana VASENDOVA of Czechia. Anastasiaya DYMYTRENKO of Ukraine was stretched to full distance against Martine TOFTAKER of Norway and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland. The list of unbeaten players in opening rounds gores with Anna BRZYSKA of Poland Sophia KLEE of Germany Luciana MITROFAN of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales.

The European Under 21championship commenced today in Sarajevo with 112 best players on duty in Men’s and Women’s Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles Events. The organization of this major competition is entrusted to the Table Tennis Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina which today held a media conference at the Hills Hotel in Ilidža the venue of the table tennis duels in next five days. Anes ALIĆ Director of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation welcomed all the guests to Sarajevo. “This is the first time that the European Table Tennis Championship under the age of 21 is being held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In terms of strength this is the second championship in Europe and only the senior European championship is higher in rating than it. This was a big challenge for the Table Tennis Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We knew that a large and demanding organization was waiting for us. The first reactions are excellent and we believe that we will fulfill all the expectations by the end of the European Championship” said Anes ALIĆ. The Mayor of Ilidža Municipality Nermin MUZUR who visited the guests from Europe on the first day of the competition also addressed the journalists . “We are glad that the Municipality of Ilidža when it comes to table tennis is hosting such a big competition. In the last few years the Municipality has become the center of sports events both in Sarajevo Canton and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I hope it will be like that in the future as well” emphasized Nermin MUZUR. Amela MUJEZINOVIĆ general secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the coaches of our teams Vladimir IVANEK and Emina HADŽIAHMETOVIĆ spoke about the importance of the performance of the BiH national team. All the participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina KARIĆ who on Friday April 7 at the Olympic Museum in Sarajevo will organize a reception for ETTU leaders and guests on the occasion of the European Championship and the 50th anniversary of the World Table Tennis Championship (Stens) which was held in Sarajevo back in 1973. The fights for medals will be on program on Sunday April 9.

The European Under 21 Championships commences on Wednesday in Sarajevo. By the end of the week we will have crowned champions in Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles Events for a seventh time since ETTU launched this Championships in 2017 in Sochi. The leading names in their respective Men’s and Women’s Singles Events are Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland and Camille LUTZ of France. Camille’s best results at the European Championships so far are gold in Mixed Doubles in 2021 in the Category under 19. Same year she clinched bronze in Team’s Event at the Europeans and won the title at the Europe Top 10 in Under 19. French player is ready for the challenge in Sarajevo. “I am in good shape. I played a lot of matches since the beginning of 2023 so I am well prepared ” stated LUTZ.” I played at the Feeder in Antalya and I lost first round match to Ando from Japan. In addition I played in Singapore Smash and I last in qualifying stage but I managed to qualify for the main draw in WTT Amman. Overall I played 6 WTT matches since January and I have a lot of matches from National league and European Champions League.” In women’s singles below LUTZ are: Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia Ozge YILMAZ of Turkiye Charlotte LUTZ of France Elena ZAHARIA of Romania Nicole ARLIA of Italy Ines MATOS of Portugal and Mia GRIESEL of Germany. They are all directly qualified for the Stage two. Elena ZAHARIA is the reigning champion in singles. Ozge YILMAZ won the title in Doubles last year in Cluj and in 2021 in Belgium’s Spa. “Everybody is playing good. A lot of good younger players that I never played against will be there. I will be ready to fight against everyone ” promised LUTZ. “My goal is to win every match I will play. This tournament is long so I am taking it step by step.” It will be Camille’s first visit to capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I think is nice that different countries are hosting major ETTU event. I hope it will help table tennis to grow. It will be my first in Sarajevo “said LUTZ.