At just 16 and 14 years old Nina GUO ZENG and Leana HOCHART of France pulled off the biggest upset of the Women’s Doubles Round of 16 at the LIEBHERR European Championships in Linz. The young French duo eliminated two-time European champions and multiple medalists Elizabeta SAMARA and and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania in a thrilling match.
“We are much younger and played without pressure. We enjoyed the game. Our advantage was having nothing to lose while all the pressure was on SAMARA and DIACONU. We were brave and didn’t crack especially at the end when it was 2-2 and 10-10. We stuck to our tactics ” explained Nina GUO ZENG.
The French duo who won silver at the Under-15 European Championships last year will now face another surprise winner Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU and Sabina SURJAN. The Serbian pair triumphed in straight games over Germany’s Yuan WAN and Sabine WINTER a two-time European champion and former runner-up.
“I was unusually optimistic before the match. I’ve played against Yuan many times in the Bundesliga and knew we could win. More importantly Izabela and I played for each other creating opportunities together ” said SURJAN.
Next up is a showdown with GUO ZENG and HOCHART. “They pulled off an upset but so did we ” said LUPULESKU laughing. “We’re only seeded 12th but here we are playing for a medal. I was sick two weeks ago then had a knee injury so I only had two days of preparation and I focused entirely on doubles. Our friendship is helping us achieve much better results than expected.”
In other action Sweden’s Linda BERGSTRÖM and Christina KALLBERG overcame Germany’s Annett KAUFMANN and Nina MITTELHAM the latter a former European doubles silver and gold medalist. However the Swedish pair proved too strong today.
KALLBERG said: “It was similar to yesterday’s match where we were leading 2-0 but played a bad third game. Then we were down 8-10 in the fourth and I thought ‘No I don’t want to lose like we did yesterday in the mixed doubles.’ We managed to pull ourselves together and turn it around. I’m really proud of us.”
BERGSTROM added: “We were very strong in the aggressive play. Even when we were put in defensive positions we still played forward. We always talk about aggressive defense and how that’s our playing style. Even if Stina has to block. I think Stina was amazing with her forehand always daring to step around. Even if she missed a shot she was ready for the next one.”
