After a shaky start at the Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb Germany began day two with full determination. The team consisting of Jonathan GAISER Amelie JIA Anna WALTER and Lukas WANG defeated Romania 4-1 in the opening round of the day.
Romania’s team had a stronger start as Alexandru Lazar IONEL and Patricia STOICA won their opening match against Jonathan GAISER and Amelie JIA.
“They played very well. In the second game they targeted Amelie with their serves causing significant trouble for our team. However Anna played her best match of the tournament so far followed by a very convincing performance from WANG who was at the top of his game. Amelie lost the opening game against STOICA but then found her rhythm and won the next two games. After the fourth game she decided to change her service which turned out to be a good decision. We experienced a little déjà vu from the match against Spain in the duel between GAISER and IONEL. Jonathan had a convincing 2-0 advantage before IONEL managed to level the score. Jonathan was playing too far from the table but in the decisive game he adjusted and turned the match around to win ” explained coach SABO.
On the opening day of play in Zagreb Romania the number 8 seeds upset the order in Group F and emerged as the leaders after defeating the number 6 seeds Ukraine (5-0) Greece (4-1) and Estonia (5-0). They advanced to the next stage to face Czechia and Germany.
Germany failed to live up to their leading position on day one losing to Spain (3-2) but managed to bounce back with victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova both with a score of 5-0.
“Before the match we knew that our chances were 50-50 and we anticipated a long match. Samuel KUHL and Anna WALTER couldn’t capitalize on all the chances they created against Ladimir MAYOROV and Renata SHYPSHA. In addition Amelie JIA struggled against Jiaqi GUO. She won the opening game but after that GUO deciphered her service game and with better reception GUO emerged victorious. Lukas managed to bring us back with a secure victory over Roc GILBERT while Anna added another point to the scoreline with a victory over SHYPSHA. However in the decisive match MAYOROV pushed Spain to victory in a close five-game duel against KUHL ending with a score of 14-12 in his favor ” explained coach Katharina SABO.
Coach SABO emphasized that the mixed team event provides valuable experience for the young players.
“Last year we had the Challenge but participating in the European Championships takes it to a whole new level”
In the opening round of Stage Two Ukraine defeated Sweden (3-2) Turkey prevailed against Poland (3-2) France beat Bulgaria (5-0) Spain defeated Israel (3-2) and Hungary overcame Switzerland (4-1).
