The Under 13 European Championships in Zagreb commenced today with favorable outcomes for the favorites in the opening round.
Topping Group A Italy represented by Francesco TREVISAN Danilo FASO Federica INTERLANDI and Matilde BUZZONI overcame Switzerland by a score of 3-2 and achieved the same margin of victory against Portugal. In Group B Czechia prevailed over Bulgaria with a score of 4-1 and narrowly defeated Belgium 3-2. Poland defeated Azerbaijan convincingly with a score of 5-0 and secured a close victory against Sweden with a score of 3-2.
France began their journey at the Under 13 European Championships in victorious fashion. In the opening match of Stage One in Mixed Teams Titouan MOREL-GONZALES Noah TESSIER Alexia NODIN and Eva LAM overcame Austria represented by Louis FEGERL Bela CSOMOR Sophia PICHLER and Mariia LYTVYN with a convincing 5-0 scoreline.
Despite the absence of the world’s second-ranked player Nina GUO ZENG France still possesses a very strong team. Titouan MOREL-GONZALES reached the finals of the Metz 2023 WTT Youth Contender Noah TESSIER achieved the semifinals in Spa and the quarterfinals in Liguanu at the WTT Youth Contender this year while Alexia NODIN reached the semifinals in Spa and Eva LAM made it to the finals in Platja d’Aro and the quarterfinals in Spa.
Coach Stephane HUCLIEZ who previously served as a head coach for seniors juniors and cadets is now leading the youngsters at the Under 13 Championships. “We have a very talented team although Nina is absent. The Federation decided she should participate in the European Youth Championships and compete in the Under 15 event. For the other players this is a new and valuable experience to play in mixed teams ” said HUCLIEZ.
The opening match against Austria was more closely contested than the result suggests. “Austria has a very strong team so we had a slow start with Eva and Titouan going the distance. Four games were decided by the narrowest of margins and the third game could have gone either way before finishing 16-14 in our favor. Also the match between Eva and Mariia was crucial for the team and it’s great that she managed to win it 3-2. It instills a lot of confidence in the other members of the team ” added HUCLIEZ.
