In a fantastic final Eduard IONESCU of Romania secured the gold medal for the second year in a row in the Under 19 Boys singles at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In the final he overcame Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland. The bronze medalists are Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands and Teodor ISTRATE of Romania.
IONESCU needed five games to overcome Milosz REDZIMSKI (8 5 -8 9 12).
“I am so proud I managed to defend my title. I had a really slow start here. I was not at the top of my game in the team’s event at the beginning. I needed some time to adjust to the venue. However as the tournament went by I was playing better and better. By the time I got to the finals everything fell into place. Milosz already beat one of my teammates so I was well prepared for his game. Even so it was not much helpful. He has a very unique service game and I lacked a bit of my own experience of playing against him since I never did. It is good that in the Round of 16 I won the hardest match for me here. Beating Thibault PORET after being 1-3 down boosted my confidence and eventually brought me to the gold ” said IONESCU.
Milosz REDZIMSKI moved to the ultimate stage after a convincing victory over Kas of the Netherlands in a match that lasted four games (7 6 6 4).
“I’m really happy to make it to the finals of this tournament. In the semifinals I played very well against the opponent from the Netherlands. He played a good game too but I was really confident and made good decisions. For me it is important that I’m well-rested. In the previous days I had a big problem with that so I couldn’t play my best table tennis. Now I feel very strong and I hope that I will play a good game in the final ” said REDZIMSKI and added: “I was better than VAN OOST in service and receive. That was really important because later I could take the initiative and win the points.”
In the other semifinal Eduard IONESCU overcame Teodor ISTRATE (1 -7 -9 7 8 8).
“It is sad when you have to stop your friend in such an important match. We train together play together travel together we are like a family. Despite my victory I am not 100 percent happy because I feel bad for Teodor ” said IONESCU. “On the other side I am very happy with my performance and I hope I can maintain it in the final that lies ahead of me.”
