The first eight places in the knockout stage of the Under 15 Girls Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar have been decided. Czechia, Spain, France and hosts Portugal topped their respective groups, while Croatia, Türkiye, Germany and Sweden joined them by finishing runners-up after a dramatic conclusion to the opening phase of the competition.
op seeds Czechia completed a perfect Group A campaign, while Croatia claimed the second qualification place after edging Hungary in a dramatic final-round encounter.
Czechia finished unbeaten with three victories from three matches. Croatia, Hungary and Belgium all ended on four points, with Croatia taking second place, Hungary third and Belgium fourth.
Czechia wrapped up first place with a convincing 3-0 victory over Belgium. Laura MARSICKOVA survived a hard-fought five-game battle against Temperance TANG, prevailing 12-10 in the deciding game after twice trailing in the match. Adela BRHELOVA then comfortably defeated Amandine RIFFLART in straight games before BRHELOVA and MARSICKOVA completed the clean sweep with a four-game doubles victory.
The battle for second place went all the way, with Croatia overcoming Hungary 3-2. Karla IVCIC gave Croatia the lead by defeating Borbala VASS in five games, but Zsófia FEGYVER levelled the tie after edging Lucija NOVAK in another deciding game. IVCIC and Sara RIVETTI restored Croatia’s advantage with a four-game doubles victory over FEGYVER and Izabell IVANICS. FEGYVER once again brought Hungary level by beating IVCIC in straight games, forcing a decisive fifth match, where NOVAK defeated VASS in straight games to send Croatia into the knockout stage.
Czech coach Jakub MERTA was delighted with his team’s consistency throughout the group stage.
“We were the highest-seeded team in the group, but we knew the group stage would be difficult. The opening match against Hungary was a very important step because it gave the team confidence. Our biggest strength was the balance across the whole squad. We didn’t lose a single singles match, which shows the players were in excellent form. I’m very satisfied with their performance.”
Group B produced one of the closest finishes of the day. Spain edged Türkiye 3-2 in the decisive final-round encounter to finish first, while both teams progressed to the knockout stage. Poland and Italy both ended with one victory, but Poland claimed third place on countback.
The decisive clash lived up to expectations. Ela Su YONTER gave Türkiye the perfect start with a commanding straight-games victory over Mireia PARAU, before Eloisa BARREDA levelled the tie by defeating Ceren KAHRAMAN in straight games. Türkiye regained the advantage in a dramatic doubles contest as YONTER and KAHRAMAN edged BARREDA and Esther HASEK in five games, recovering after letting a match point slip in the fourth game. Spain responded through BARREDA, who defeated YONTER in another five-game battle to force the decider. In the final match, PARAU held her nerve to overcome KAHRAMAN in five games and secure first place for Spain.
Poland finished the group stage with a 3-2 victory over Italy. Matilde BUZZONI and Claudia BERTOLINI each won five-game battles to give Italy a 2-0 lead, defeating Aleksandra NAWROCKA and Lucja KOBOSZ respectively. Poland then mounted an impressive comeback. NAWROCKA and KOBOSZ reduced the deficit with a straight-games doubles victory before NAWROCKA defeated BERTOLINI in four games to level the tie. KOBOSZ completed the turnaround with a convincing straight-games victory over BUZZONI, but despite the win Poland narrowly missed out on qualification.
France completed a perfect Group C campaign, while Germany secured the second qualification place after defeating Ukraine in the final round.
The French team finished unbeaten with three victories from three matches. Germany claimed second place, while Israel finished third ahead of Ukraine.
Germany confirmed qualification with a convincing 3-0 victory over Ukraine. Anna WALTER opened the tie with a straight-games win over Sofiia BOIKO, before Amelie Guzi JIA defeated Veronika PRYSHCHEPA in four games to double Germany’s advantage. Lotta ROTHFUSS and Chenhao CHEN then completed the clean sweep with a straight-games doubles victory over Mariia DROBOVA and Yuliia SLIESARENKO.
France rounded off the group stage with a 3-1 victory over Israel. Chloé HUANG gave France the lead before Ofek NAHUSHI levelled the tie with a five-game victory over Lisa ZHAO. Zhao and Albane ROCHUT restored France’s advantage by defeating Gali BEZALEL and NAHUSHI in the doubles, before ZHAO returned to seal the victory with a commanding singles success over BEZALEL.
Germany coach Jie SCHÖPP admitted France had justified their status as favourites.
“The defeat against France didn’t come as a big surprise because we knew they were the favourites. What was really disappointing was that we lost the doubles match.”
Hosts Portugal completed a defeat-free Group D campaign, while Sweden secured the second qualification place after defeating Greece in the final round.
Sweden confirmed their place in the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory over Greece. Siri BENJEGARD gave the Swedish team the perfect start with a commanding straight-games victory over Anastasia MICHALAROU, before Nike LUNDQVIST doubled the advantage by defeating Elpida TASIOU in four games. Greece kept the tie alive through the doubles, as MICHALAROU and TASIOU overcame Alicia ENBOM and LUNDQVIST, but BENJEGARD returned to the table to seal Sweden’s qualification with another convincing straight-games victory.
Portugal secured first place with a 3-1 victory over Romania in the decisive clash for the top of the group. Maria RUIVO put the hosts ahead by defeating Maya MADAR in four games, but Kariss SERBAN responded for Romania with a four-game victory over Irina SILVA. Portugal regained control in the doubles as RUIVO and SILVA defeated SERBAN and Nadalia IONASCU in four games before RUIVO produced another outstanding performance, overcoming SERBAN in straight games to complete Portugal’s perfect group campaign.
Pedro OLIVEIRA: “It was a very emotional match because we knew it would decide whether we finished first in the group or had to go through the play-off. We were very strong in the service and receive phase and tried to attack every point aggressively. We knew our opponents were technically very strong, so that was the key to our victory.”
