2018 STAG European Championships
Romania won the gold medal in Cadet Girls Teams Event. Elena ZAHARIA and Luciana MITROFAN beat Russia. They recovered from being two matches in reverse to take the crown from last year’s winners.
Girls were not the top favorites to win the title since the juniors were under main spotlight.
“Top favorites were the boys with Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS then came Junior girls…We though we can reach the medal gold was not an objective. However personally I felt different. As every coach I was aiming for title ” said coach Marian FILIPAS.
However FILIPAS did not let his objectives change the tactics.
“Playing among top 16 in Europe is a very difficult task. There are no easy matches here. That is why we did not think about the medal rostrum we were just focused on the next match. We went step by step without any calculations what might be if…”
Tough challenge come from Moldova in group stages.
“That was really difficult as one we were playing in the semi final against France. We create a strange situation. In the Group stage we lost against the second team of France. I gathered players and we talked a lot about that match; what was wrong and what we have to do to improve the game. They accepted everything and then beat first team of France in semis.”
Against Russia in the final Romania was two matches down.
“In modern sport one coach is not enough any more. You need to have complete team of experts in order to have top class result. Now we have psychologist physiotherapist…Both athletes’ body and mind are under severe pressure. In the final I saw MITROFAN was in pain almost crying so I call for a short break and she got help. After that they won the doubles and eventually the match.”
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