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.
