On the opening day of the European Youth Championships in Malmö favorites were put to a severe test. The host nation Sweden emerged successfully against the number 2 seeds Poland while the number 1 seed Romania was forced to go the full distance against Italy in the Under-19 Boys’ event. We are facing an exciting 10 days of fierce battles in Sweden.
After more than three hours of play Sweden broke the resistance of the number 2 seeds in the Under-19 Boys’ event – Poland. All three players in Team Sweden scored: William BERGENBLOCK Isak ALFREDSSON and David BJÖRKRYD overcame Mateusz ZALEWSKI Marcel BLASZCZYK and Alan KULCZYCKI. Only ZALEWSKI added points to Poland’s account.
Reflecting on his performance William BERGENBLOCK shared “It feels great. My first match was so-so but in the second one I played really well. I managed to fight for each point.”
When asked about being under 3-8 in the second game BERGENBLOCK said “I just fought for every point found some new tactics tested a couple of different services. It went well.”
The nerve-wracking duels were seen straight from the beginning. Romania was forced to go the full distance being a game away from defeat in the match against the number 11 seeds Italy.
After more than three hours of play the final duel between Andrei ISTRATE and Giacomo ALLEGRANZA determined the winner. Previously ISTRATE beat Federico VALLINO and Iulian CHIRITA overcame Giacomo IZZO but Italy was heavily into the game with both ALLEGRANZA and Federico VALLINO scoring against Darius MOVILEANU. The decisive match was extended to the final game in which ALLEGRANZA sought medical help. However he stayed in the match and eventually lost it.
In group E Finalnad overcame Estonia in another five matches duel.
