The favorites marched through the Round of 16 in the Under-19 Girls’ Team Event at the European Youth Championships in Malmö. Six out of eight matches concluded in straight sets showing the dominance of the top-seeded teams.
At the top of the draw Poland overcame Croatia with ease. Zuzanna WIELGOS Anna BRZYSKA and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ lost only one game on their way to the quarterfinals in their clash against Bruna BOROVEC Dora COSIC and Victoria PUSTAJ.
At the bottom of the draw Germany’s Lorena MORSCH Mia GRIESEL and Eireen KALAITZIDOU prevailed against Denmark’s Mille LYNGSØE STOFFREGEN Maja HANSEN and Emma VENDELBO CLEMENT without dropping a game.
“I think we as a team are very happy. We were the favorites before the game. In the group stage we played pretty well so we were hoping that we would win this match. We know that Denmark has some good players and that they’re all really motivated and fight a lot so we knew we had to do our best to win the match. In the end we managed to win 3-0. Some games were close so I think it was a good match ” said Eireen KALAITZIDOU. She also spoke about their next adversaries: “Portugal has a strong team. We played against some players from Portugal.”
Germany’s next adversaries Portugal’s Matilde PINTO Mariana Santa COMBA and Susana COSTA overcame Bulgaria’s Viktoria PERSOVA Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA and Sidelya MUTLU.
“It was a bit difficult to find my game against Persova in the beginning. After a while it felt better and I found a better tactic ” explained Pinto who went full distance against Viktoria. “We fought hard together and I’m very proud of my team. It was a strong team effort.”
Spain’s Maria BERZOSA Silvia COLL and Eugenia SASTRE overcame Hungary’s Emma SZOSZNYÁK Kendra MOLNAR and Judit NAGY. France with Nina Guo ZHENG Leana HOCHART and Clea De STOPPELEIRE prevailed against Belgium’s Lilou MASSART Sara DEVOS and Eloise DUVIVIER.
In a full five-match showdown Slovakia overcame Ukraine. Veronika MATIUNINA won both matches for Ukraine while Slovakia’s Ema CINCUROVA Dominika WILTSCHKOVA and Nina DAROVCOVA each posted a win.
Romania’s Bianca Mei ROSU Alesia Sofia SFERLEA and Andrea TEGLAS posted a 3-0 win over Türkiye’s Busra DEMIR Aybuke Banu SIMSEK and Asude Tuba SIMSEK.
