Seeded only at the 22nd position at the beginning of the ORLEN European Youth Championships Team Sweden halted the progress of the sixth-seeded Romania and beat the odds to reach the quarterfinals. Siri BENJAGARD Gabriella AALTONEN Laurynne CABARDO and Angelina BEBAWY shone in their debut.
“It is our first European Championships. Angelina 2010 and Siri were born in 2011 Laurynne was born in 2010 and I was born in 2009 ” said Gabriella.
Beating Romania was a big upset and Sweden needed five games to achieve it. Andreea JIFICU won both points for Romania.
“It was a very intense match but we were all very focused on the game. We also received great support from the bench. Our main strength is our team spirit. All three of us scored today ” Siri Gabriella Angelina and Laurynne complemented each other’s comments after the match.
Tomorrow they will meet Czechia. Veronika POLAKOVA and Hanka HODETOVA overcame Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan had preparation training in Havířov a week before leaving for the European Championship and I must say that they surprised me with their performance here. They seemed noticeably weaker in training but here they performed well. The girls had to play very carefully and not underestimate anything which they succeeded in doing in the end. However it was a big fight in every match ” said coach Tomáš VRŇÁK.
France beat Türkiye in straight matches and they will meet Ukraine who also prevailed in the Round of 16 after three matches against England. Polina PASHCHENKO Daria KOVALOVA and Veronika VASYLENKO represented Ukraine.
“I only played in the doubles but I know that this match plays a very important role. The girls rely on me ” said Veronika. “We are very happy that we reached the quarterfinals. We expect a very close and difficult match but I think we are able to elevate our game to a higher level and play even better. I feel that the key to success is in our hands.”
Moldova’s Inna LESCINSCAIA and Ecaterina SIREAC reached the quarterfinals. They accounted for Italy. In the next round they will meet Germany. The second-seeded team represented by Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN overcame Austria in straight matches.
