The new champion in the Men’s Singles event at the European Under 21 Championships is Flavien COTON of France. In a breathtaking final in Bratislava, he overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania to claim the title.
Bronze medals were awarded to Miguel PANTOJA of Spain and, for the second consecutive year, to the no. 2 seed Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany, who was again stopped in the semi-finals.
COTON went the full distance to defeat CHIRITA, completing an incredible comeback after trailing 0–2 in games and 4–7 in the deciding set (16-18, 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9).
“Already the opening game was incredible. I lost it 16-18, then he took the second to make it 2-0. After that, I played three amazing games and led 3-2 and 6-3 in the sixth, but I lost it 6-11! Then in the final game it was 7-4 for him, and I turned it to 10-7 for me. I managed it because I was mentally very strong. As I said before, that’s the strongest part of my game,” said COTON.
In the semi-finals, the no. 3 seed COTON faced heavy pressure from Miguel PANTOJA. The Spaniard, seeded no. 23, proved his presence in the final four was no coincidence. COTON was once again stretched to seven games (12-14, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4).
“He played amazingly. At 1-1 I was up 10-7 and lost the third game. If I had made it 2-1, it would have been a much different match,” said COTON.
The final game was another close battle.
“I didn’t start well. It was 0-2 for PANTOJA before I managed to raise my level and play better and better. My technical game at the table wasn’t at the highest level, but mentally I was very strong. I stayed focused and kept my good mental shape,” added COTON.
Iulian CHIRITA advanced to the final after a tough match against Andre BERTELSMEIER, which he won in six games (11-8, 12-10, 3-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7).
“It’s very difficult to play against Andre. He’s improved a lot over the past two years, so I carefully planned my tactics. In the first two games it worked very well, but then BERTELSMEIER changed his approach and made it very hard for me. I tried to stay focused and not get nervous, although I definitely was after losing the two middle games,” said CHIRITA.
BERTELSMEIER pushed CHIRITA to the limit, even though the Romanian had the better start in most games.
“He never gives up, and neither do I. That’s why the match was so difficult. We have very similar styles—he plays many balls to the table just like I do.”
