Several leading contenders saw their title hopes ended in the opening knockout round of the Under 19 Singles events at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar. While most of the favourites advanced, both the boys’ and girls’ draws witnessed notable upsets that opened up the competition. The Under 19 Boys Singles Round of 64 produced a series of surprises, with four of the top ten seeds eliminated. Top seed Marcel BLASZCZYK of Poland made an impressive start, beating Spain’s Alvaro GIMENO in straight games. Second seed Nathan LAM of France also progressed, although Montenegro’s Stefan RADONJIC provided strong resistance before LAM sealed a five-game victory. Fourth seed Antoine NOIRAULT of France had to dig dip against Poland’s Mateusz SAKOWICZ. Portugal’s fifth seed Tiago ABIODUN delighted the home crowd with a commanding straight-games win over Israel’s Natanel ABRAMOV, while seventh seed Robert ISTRATE of Romania recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Israel’s Or MAGEN in six. The biggest upset came when third seed Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia was eliminated by Serafim ORLOV (AIN). After trailing by two games, ARPAS fought back to level the match, but ORLOV regained the initiative to clinch the deciding game 11-9. Another major surprise followed as sixth seed Balazs LEI of Hungary suffered a straight-games defeat to Croatia’s Deni VALE. VALE admitted that facing a higher-ranked opponent allowed him to play freely. “Before the match, I didn’t feel any pressure because he was the sixth seed. I just focused on playing my own game and doing what I normally do. I’m very happy with my performance today. My tactic was to serve to his forehand and be aggressive from the start. If he was able to make the first attack, I knew I would be in trouble because he’s a very powerful player on both sides. That’s why I tried to keep the serve short and make the first attack myself. That worked well today. “I just want to take it one match at a time. Every player at this stage knows how to play, so I don’t think about whether I have a good or a bad draw. Everyone is strong, and I just want to focus on the next match.” Eighth seed Ivan KAHN of the Netherlands also exited the competition after losing in six games to Poland’s Jan MRUGALA, while tenth seed Samuel MICHNA of Poland fell to Sweden’s Peter ALESTEDT in five games. Nathan PILARD of France advanced comfortably against Belgium’s Matt CLOSSET, Romania’s Robert PODAR defeated Spain’s Dario SALCEDO in five games, and Hungary’s Botond VARGA impressed with a straight-games victory over Austria’s Julian RZIHAUSCHEK. Among the closest encounters, Scotland’s Kailun YUAN edged Denmark’s Dominykas SAMUOLIS 12-10 in the deciding game, while Poland’s Patryk ZYWORONEK recovered from two games down to defeat Estonia’s Pert LEHTLAAN in another seven-game thriller. Spain’s Francesc CARRERA also needed the full distance before overcoming Germany’s Noah HERSEL 11-8 in the seventh game. Ukraine’s Nazarii SOLODKYI, Sweden’s Noa DAHLSTROM, Slovakia’s Damian FLORO and Serbia’s Uros NINKOVIC were among the other players to secure places in the Round of 32. The Under 19 Girls Singles draw was considerably kinder to the favourites, although it still produced one major upset. The biggest shock came when Poland’s Matylda HADRYS eliminated eighth seed Maria BERZOSA of Spain in emphatic fashion. HADRYS dominated the encounter from start to finish, recording a convincing 11-6, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 victory. Top seed Nina GUO ZHENG of France recovered after dropping the opening game against Poland’s Zofia SLIWKA before prevailing in six games. Third seed Leana HOCHART of France advanced comfortably in straight games, while fourth seed Julia LEAL delighted the home supporters with a commanding victory over Austria’s Mariia LYTVYN. Fifth seed Karolina HOLDA of Poland and sixth seed Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia also advanced without dropping a game. Seventh seed Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland progressed against Bulgaria’s Sidelya MUTLU. Ninth seed Alesia Sofia SFERLEA of Romania survived one of the most dramatic matches of the day, edging Denmark’s Maja HANSEN in seven games after recovering from an early deficit. Tenth seed Lilou MASSART of Belgium enjoyed a comfortable straight-games victory over Romania’s Andreea BAIASU, while 11th seed Nina SKERBINZ of Austria fought back from 2-1 down to eliminate Sweden’s Gabriela AALTONEN in six games. France’s Alexia NODIN, Germany’s Lisa-Sophie WANG, Israel’s Elinor DAVIDOV, Hungary’s Judit NAGY, Luxembourg’s Enisa SADIKOVIC, Hungary’s Rebeka NAGY, Eseniia SHIROKOVA (AIN), Uliana TIMASHEVA (AIN), Poland’s Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA and Zlata TEREKHOVA (AIN) also advanced to the Round of 32.

The leading contenders largely lived up to expectations as the Under 15 Boys and Girls Singles events reached the Round of 32 at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar. All of the top ten seeds progressed in the boys’ event, while the girls’ competition produced one notable seeded casualty and several hard-fought seven-game contests. Top seed Görkem OCAL of Türkiye opened his campaign with a straight-games win over Israel’s Maor NICHANEVICH. Second seed Alexander MALOV of Spain also advanced after defeating the Netherlands’ Jarnelo ERICH in six games, while third seed Ondrej MORAVEK of Czechia beat Ukraine’s David DROBOV. Fourth seed Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain faced the stiffest test among the leading contenders. After losing the opening game to Israel’s Nir ENGLER, MAYOROV recovered impressively to win the next four games and book his place in the Round of 32. Fifth seed Hubert KWIECIŃSKI of Poland, sixth seed Tien Nghia PHONG of Germany, seventh seed David CAPANDA of Serbia, eighth seed Lukas WANG of Germany, ninth seed Emil ELLERMANN of Sweden and tenth seed Roger QUESADA of Spain all progressed without major difficulty, each conceding no more than a single game. Several lower-seeded players also impressed. Romania’s David TORO came through a six-game battle against Austria’s Benjamin BIAN, while Czechia’s Oliver OLEJNIK also needed six games to overcome Germany’s Jonathan KRAFT. Evgenii DOSOV (AIN) prevailed in six games against Czechia’s Vojtech LASTOVKA, and France’s Noah TESSIER advanced with a four-game victory over Poland’s Olaf GLANERT. Among the biggest upsets of the knockout round, Slovakia’s Filip NAGY rallied from two games down to defeat Ireland’s Peadar SHERIDAN in seven games, while France’s Quentin SANDONA edged Serbia’s Branko DRAGOLJEVIC in another dramatic seven-game encounter. Belgium’s Bryan ZHANG also produced a fine comeback, recovering from two games down to eliminate Bulgaria’s Stefan BONCHEV. Azerbaijan’s Onur GULUZADE and Austria’s Chen Sung Bing recorded notable victories over Illion ZWART of the Netherlands and Romania’s Mihai IORDAN, respectively. Türkiye’s Emre BUCAK defeated Jakub TURECKI of Poland in six games, while Finland’s Jimi KOIVUMAKI edged Sweden’s Erik KOGERFELT in another six-game encounter. Portugal’s Rodrigo ANDRADE delighted the home crowd with a four-game victory over Romania’s Tudor SAFTOIU, and Ukraine’s Volodymyr NEVIZHYN advanced comfortably against Luxembourg’s Spyros SARIGIANNIDIS. In the Under 15 Girls Singles, most of the leading contenders booked their places in the Round of 32, although several were pushed to the limit. Fourth seed Sophia PICHLER of Austria recovered from twice falling behind to beat Türkiye’s Belinay DAVUS in six games. Sixth seed Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland and eighth seed Enya HU of Switzerland also had to battle through six-game contests. Ninth seed Zsófia FEGYVER of Hungary recovered from 3–2 down to defeat England’s Soraya RAHMANI-WALENTYNSKA in seven games. Another marathon followed as Lithuania’s Emilia PSCOLOVSKA came from behind to eliminate Romania’s Kariss SERBAN in seven games. Top seed Siri BENJEGARD of Sweden produced a commanding straight-games victory over Croatia’s Lucija NOVAK, while second seed Amelie Guzi JIA of Germany recovered after losing the second game to defeat Serbia’s Karina AGYANSZKI in five. Third seed Adela BRHELOVA of Czechia was tested by England’s Alyssa NGUYEN but came through in six games. Seventh seed Barbora GUASSARDO of Slovakia also progressed, defeating Germany’s Chenhao CHEN in five games. However, tenth seed Laura MARSICKOVA of Czechia was eliminated by France’s Chloé HUANG in straight games. France’s Eva LAM and Daria KHARLOVA (AIN) advanced without dropping a game, while Türkiye’s Ela Su YONTER recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Portugal’s Núria MADEIRA in five. Romania’s Nadalia IONASCU swept past Spain’s Mireia PARAU in straight games, while Portugal’s Matilde SOUSA thrilled the home supporters with a hard-fought seven-game victory over Italy’s Claudia BERTOLINI. Another Portuguese player, Maria RUIVO, also survived a seven-game contest, edging Croatia’s Karla IVCIC 12–10 in the decider. There was further success for the host nation through Irina SILVA, who recovered after losing the opening game to defeat Ukraine’s Yuliia SLIESARENKO in five.

Ana SLADOJE and Emina CERIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina produced one of the biggest surprises in the Under 19 Girls Doubles event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar by reaching the Round of 16. Their breakthrough came after a stunning victory over the No. 13 seeds, Lorena MORSCH and Elisa NGUYEN of Germany, before following it up with another impressive win against Inna LESCINSCAIA and Ecaterina SIREAC of Moldova to secure their place among the last 16. The Bosnian duo have been playing together for six years and have already collected two bronze medals at the Balkan Championships, in Greece in 2023 and again this year. Reaching the last 16 at the European Youth Championships now stands as the biggest achievement of their partnership. “This is our biggest achievement together so far. The match against Germany was definitely the toughest one we’ve played in this tournament, so we’re really proud of each other,” said SLADOJE. Reflecting on the key to their victory over the German pair, she explained how a tactical adjustment made all the difference. “We changed our tactics a little. Our coach told us that we had to stop them from getting into their game right from the first point. We had to keep the play short and not allow them to open up the rallies. That was especially difficult for my doubles partner, Emina, because she’s an attacking player and doesn’t naturally play that kind of short game. But we stuck to the plan. They kept trying to attack first, and we had to adapt. It was really demanding to stay disciplined for four sets and keep the rallies short, but in the end it worked.” The pair carried that confidence into their Round of 32 encounter against the Moldovan combination of LESCINSCAIA and SIREAC, a team they knew well from previous meetings. “Before this tournament, we had already played against the Moldovan pair when we won our previous bronze medal, and we lost that match 3-1. So we already had a good idea of how they play. During the warm-up we focused on preparing for their style, and I think that really helped us going into the match.” Ukrainians Alina OVRIAKH and Tetiana PUKALO stunned the No. 12 seeded Hungarians Judit NAGY and Rebeka NAGY 3-2 to book their place in the quarter-finals. Ranked only No. 47 on the seeding list, the Ukrainian duo recovered after losing the opening game and held their nerve in the deciding stages to eliminate one of the tournament favourites. Top seeds leana HOCHART and Nina GUO ZHENG of France cruised to the Round of 16, as well as no. 2 seeds Maria BERZOSA of Spain and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania. The Round of 32 of the Under 19 Boys Doubles largely followed the seeding, with most of the leading pairs progressing comfortably. Top seeds Nathan LAM and Antoine NOIRAULT of France recovered from dropping the opening game to defeat Hungary’s Balazs POOR and Botond VARGA 3-1, while third seeds Balazs LEI and Samuel ARPAS needed just three games to dispatch Israel’s Yali MOR and Lior Koren SEREF. Fifth-seeded Robert ISTRATE and Robert PODAR of Romania also advanced after overcoming Mark GERGELY and Lenard SZABO of Hungary in four games, and sixth seeds Julian RZIHAUSCHEK and Yoan VELICHKOV enjoyed a straightforward 3-0 win over Greece’s Georgios KOSMAS and Gianni KOUTRA. Second seeds Marcel BLASZCZYK and Tiago ABIODUN rounded off the favourites’ progress with a commanding straight-games victory over Poland’s Jan MRUGALA and Mateusz SAKOWICZ. There were, however, a few surprises. Croatia’s Gabriel MARJANOVIC and Andrej MRKIC upset fourth seeds Samuel MICHNA and Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland in five games, while Germany’s Noah HERSEL and Mio WAGNER eliminated the Italian pair Jacopo CIPRIANO and Giacomo IZZO after a tightly contested four-game encounter. Denmark’s Johan HAVSTEEN and Dominykas SAMUOLIS also produced an upset by defeating the AIN pairing Serafim ORLOV and Aleksei SAMOKHIN 3-1.

France has already secured a place in the Under 19 Mixed Doubles final at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar after both of its remaining pairs progressed to the semi-finals. Top seeds Antoine NOIRAULT and Leana HOCHART produced another commanding performance, defeating Ivan KAHN of the Netherlands and Julia LEAL of Portugal 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 11-8). They will now face teammates Nathan LAM and Jade HUYNH, who overcame Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Manon LOTH 3-1 (12-10, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9). The other semi-final will see Portugal’s Tiago ABIODUN and Mariana SANTA COMBA take on Romania’s Robert ISTRATE and Bianca MEI ROSU. ABIODUN and SANTA COMBA continued their impressive run after eliminating the second seeds in the previous round, edging Poland’s Marcel BLASZCZYK and Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9). ISTRATE and MEI ROSU also recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Khai Noah LAM of Norway and Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-2). Tiago ABIODUN said: “It was a really tough match. From the start, I believed we always had a chance. The third game was very important because it was so close. At 10-4, I just kept telling myself, ‘Next point, next point, next point.’ Then it became 10-9, and on match point I hit a ball that would have gone out if it hadn’t clipped the edge. It touched the table, and I’m very happy. This is the first time Mariana and I have played together, and I think we’re improving with every match. I’m really happy with the way she’s playing, and with my own level as well. Now we have a semi-final to win, and our goal is the gold medal.” Bianca MEI ROSU explained: “This medal is very special for us because it’s our first European Championships playing together. It’s a big achievement, and I hope we can continue like this tomorrow.” Robert ISTRATE added: “Our first match today wasn’t our best—we had to fight all the way and won 11-9 in the deciding game. In the quarter-finals we played much better, even though our opponents were stronger. I think we’re improving with every match. Tomorrow we want to play our best table tennis, show our true level, and hopefully reach the final.” Earlier in the day, the Round of 16 produced only one major surprise, with the majority of the leading pairings progressing to the quarter-finals. Top seeds Antoine NOIRAULT and Leana HOCHART of France defeated No. 13 seeds Jan MRUGALA and Karolina HOLDA of Poland in straight games, while second seeds Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG of France were upset by No. 9 seeds Tiago ABIODUN and Mariana SANTA COMBA of Portugal. Third seeds Robert ISTRATE and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania overcame No. 12 seeds Luca KHIDASHELI and Irina GIMENO FONT of Spain in four games. No. 5 seeds Nathan LAM and Jade HUYNH of France beat No. 10 seeds Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria and Lilou MASSART of Belgium, while No. 6 seeds Ivan KAHN of the Netherlands and Julia LEAL of Portugal recovered to defeat No. 31 seeds Dario SALCEDO and Renata SHYPSHA of Spain in five games. No. 7 seeds Marcel BLASZCZYK and Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA of Poland also needed the full distance before overcoming Daniil VITORSKI and Lizaveta TSIMASHKOVA of AIN. No. 8 seeds Khai Noah LAM of Norway and Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia edged No. 23 seeds Aleksei SAMOKHIN and Aleksandra BOKOVA of AIN in a five-game thriller, while Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Manon LOTH eliminated No. 35 seeds Serafim ORLOV and Eseniia SHIROKOVA of AIN in four games. Semi-finals Antoine NOIRAULT, Leana HOCHART (France) – Nathan LAM, Jade HUYNH (France) Tiago ABIODUN, Mariana SANTA COMBA (Portugal) – Robert ISTRATE, Bianca MEI ROSU (Romania)

The race for the Under 15 Mixed Doubles title at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar has reached the medal stage, with the top seeds, Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye, leading the semi-final line-up. The Turkish duo secured their place on the podium with a straight-games victory over Poland’s Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO, 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-8). “I think we played very well in this quarter-final, so we’re really happy to have secured a medal. This morning we were 0–2 down against the Russians, but we believed in ourselves and managed to come back and win. That gave us confidence, and I think we’re playing even better now. Of course, we want to become champions, but first we have to play well. Then we’ll have our chance,” said Görkem OCAL. The Turkish pair will face Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN in the semi-finals after the unseeded duo produced another remarkable comeback. Trailing France’s Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT by two games, SAVELEV and KHARLOVA recovered to win 3-2 (6-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10). The second semi-final will feature Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland against Sweden’s Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD. MAYOROV and NAWROCKA booked their place with a 3-1 victory over Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR (11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5), while ELLERMANN and BENJEGARD survived a thrilling five-game battle against AIN pair Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA, prevailing 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10). “This was the most important match for both of us because it decided whether we would win a medal at the European Championships. For me, this is the most important competition of the year, so we’re really happy. It’s the first time we’ve played together, and so far it’s been going really well. I hope we’ll have the chance to play together more often in the future,” said Ladimir MAYOROV. Earlier in the day, the Round of 16 produced few surprises, with most of the seeded pairs progressing to the quarter-finals. Top seeds Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye defeated Germany’s Tien Nghia PHONG and Lotta ROTHFUSS 3-0, while No. 11 seeds Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT of France also advanced in straight games, overcoming Ukraine’s Volodymyr NEVIZHYN and Veronika PRYSHCHEPA. No. 5 seeds Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland withstood a spirited comeback from AIN pair Matvei MANANKOV and Amina ILIMBETOVA to record a 3-2 victory. No. 27 seeds Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA of AIN beat Sung Bing CHEN of Austria and Michelle WU of Switzerland 3-0, while Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR eliminated the fourth seeds Louis FEGERL of Austria and Adela BRHELOVA of Czechia in four games. No. 66 seeds Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN continued their impressive run with a straight-games victory over Israel’s Nir ENGLER and Gali BEZALEL. No. 8 seeds Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO of Poland defeated England’s Oscar NIKOLLI and Alyssa NGUYEN 3-1. The only highly seeded pair to exit the competition in the Round of 16 were No. 9 seeds Jakub TURECKI and Lucja KOBOSZ of Poland, who were beaten 3-1 by second seeds Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD of Sweden.

Position Under 19 Boys Under 19 Girls Under 15 Boys Under 15 Girls 1 France France Poland France 2 Romania Romania Germany Germany 3 Poland Germany France Switzerland 3 Spain Portugal Sweden Sweden 5 Sweden Spain Romania Czechia 5 Slovakia Poland Spain Lithuania 7 Italy Austria Czechia Romania 7 Austria Bulgaria Türkiye Portugal 9 Czechia Ukraine Ukraine Poland 9 England Hungary England Italy 11 Denmark Belgium Bulgaria Türkiye 11 Hungary Czechia Italy Spain 13 Bulgaria Croatia Austria Moldova 13 Portugal Türkiye Azerbaijan Croatia 15 Switzerland Denmark Israel Hungary 16 Belgium Slovakia Slovakia Belgium 17 Germany Lithuania Serbia Bulgaria 18 Croatia Sweden Lithuania England 19 Luxembourg Moldova Portugal Slovakia 19 Israel England Hungary Israel 21 Greece Serbia Luxembourg Ukraine 21 Ukraine Israel Greece Luxembourg 23 Montenegro Italy Denmark Slovenia 23 Serbia Greece Croatia Greece 25 Netherlands Netherlands Belgium Azerbaijan 25 Lithuania Azerbaijan Switzerland Scotland 27 Finland Bosnia and Herzegovina San Marino Serbia 27 Norway Slovenia Moldova Bosnia and Herzegovina 29 Slovenia Latvia Finland Denmark 29 Estonia Ireland Scotland Estonia 31 Bosnia and Herzegovina Switzerland Netherlands Latvia 31 Scotland Montenegro Latvia Norway 33 Azerbaijan Estonia Norway Montenegro 33 Türkiye Scotland Cyprus Cyprus 35 Ireland — Estonia — 36 Moldova — Slovenia — 37 Wales — Bosnia and Herzegovina — 38 Cyprus — — — 39 Latvia — — — Team Events Medal Table Rank Association Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 France 3 0 1 4 2 Germany 0 2 1 3 2 Poland 1 0 2 3 4 Romania 0 2 0 2 5 Sweden 0 0 2 2 6 Spain 0 0 1 1 7 Portugal 0 0 1 1 8 Switzerland 0 0 1 1