Elena ZAHARIA of Romania emerged as the newly crowned champion in the Under 19 Girls Singles at the ORLEN European Youth Championships. In an all-Romanian final she overcame Ioana SINGEORZAN. The bronze medalists are Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales.
ZAHARIA needed six games to secure her gold against SINGEORZAN (13 -4 5 8 -9 9).
“I stayed focused until the end and played each point like it was the last one. I also want to congratulate Ioana; she played amazingly throughout the whole tournament and I am proud of her. She was also at the top of her game in the final. I feel extreme gratitude toward my whole team and my coaches; without them it would not have been possible ” said ZAHARIA. “Tonight for sure I will not drink to celebrate it but I will dance for hours. Then tomorrow I will hit the road again. I travel to Kongo for another tournament.”
In the penultimate stage the all-Romanian clash between Elena ZAHARIA and Bianca MEI ROSU ended in favor of the higher-ranked player but not without big suspense (-3 7 -9 7 8 8).
“She is a really strong player and I was not at the top of my game. This time Bianca did not seize the opportunity but she is a top-class young player and I am sure in the future she will have much better results. This time I took advantage of my experience; I had more variations in tactics to beat her ” said ZAHARIA.
If this one was a close contest the clash between Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales was a jewel among thrillers. After four games ended by narrow margins SINGEORZAN recovered from 1-3 in reverse to secure her place in the final (-15 -12 10 -8 8 5 9).
“After being down 0-2 I told myself I had to keep calm and maintain my composure. When I was losing I thought to myself that she is not the first player who left me in reverse. It happened many times and still I was able to win. It also made me very angry but in a good way. It motivated me to play even stronger ” said Ioana SINGEORZAN.
