In the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event at the ORLEN European Youth Championships Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG of France secured the gold medal. In the final they defeated the pairing of Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland and Gaetane BLED of France (9 -13 4 7).
The bronze medalists are Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany as well as Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART of France.
After the final Nathan PILARD commented “BLED has a very strong forehand flip so I tried to avoid it as much as possible.” Nina added that her backhand was working fine saying “I put all the balls on the table.”
In the semifinals the top-seeded Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany lost to Patryk ZYWORONEK and Gaetane BLED. ZYWORONEK and BLED were two games down before they made a remarkable comeback to win the match (-5 -9 5 8 7).
“We had a very poor start to the game. We needed some time to find the right rhythm. I am so happy that we managed to do it. I think we were mentally stronger and much calmer ” said ZYWORONEK.
BLED added “I made mistakes in the opening two games. After being down 0-2 I put more spin on the ball and played with more variations.”
In the other semifinal Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG overcame their teammates Sandro CAVAILLE and Leana HOCHART.
“It is very difficult to play against adversaries who know you well. All of us were nervous and under pressure but I think it affected Sandro and Leana more. They did not show in the match what they usually do at the trainings ” said PILARD.
Nina who played in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event last year in Belgrade expressed that this is her first tournament with Nathan by her side and they managed to stay focused and stick to their tactics.
