European Youth Championships | 1 Aug 2021

Agathe Anne AVEZOU upset the main favorite

At the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin, competition in Singles reached the quarterfinal phase and both Under 15 Boys and Girls Singles events has been littered with surprises.

Anna HURSEY of Wales was the major casualty in the Round of 32. Agathe Anne AVEZOU of France accounted for Anna after five games match (10, 4, 8, -8, 8). In the lower half of the draw Anett KAUFMANN of Germany justified her status by beating Cristin SINGEORZAN of Romania (1, 4, 1, 7) and Wiktoria WROBEL of Poland (-12, 4, 12, 6, 8).

“Wiktoria put every ball on the table and it was very difficult to play against her. I also made few errors, but in the closing stages I managed to move and play better,” said Anett.

After the upset she created in Round of 32, Agathe Anne AVEZOU continued in the winning pace and overcame Zofia SLIWKA of Poland to reach quarterfinal (7, 8, 4, 4).

“I am so happy, that I managed to beat HURSEY. My service is really good at this tournament and I am satisfied with my long backhand, I am sure I can reach the medal in singles,” said Agathe Anne AVEZOU.

She will meet Matilde PINTO of Portugal tomorrow. PINTO beat Romania's Bianca MEI ROSU in six games (-6, 9, -9, 10, 8, 6).

“I think I was in the clear zone at 3:2. before that it was very close match,” said PINTO.

Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine overcame Mia GRIESEL of Germany (5, 6, -10, -4, 6, 8).

“I lost against Mia in the Team's Event and I knew what I had to do beat her. I was calm and I stayed strong and managed to play against her good forehand,” said MATIUNINA.

Clea DE STOPPELEIRE of France withstood a spirited comeback from Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland (6, 4, 3, -9, -10, -7, 15) to win the match in seven games.

“When I though it is over at 3:0, she recovered. It was very difficult for me, but I kept on fighting,” said Clea.

In Under 15 Boys Singles event two notable names that exited the competition earlier than their rankings predicted. Martin SIP pf Czech Republic, seeded at the position 7 at the list suffered by the hands of Aleksei SAMOKHIN of Russia after grueling seven games (-5, -5, 7, 8, -8, 7, 8). In the next round SAMOKHIN beat Alan KULCZYCKI of Poland (-8, 11, 9, 7, -7, -6, 4).

“Opening games were very difficult. Alan had advantage and it was very difficult position for me,” said SAMOKHIN.

Lleyton ULLMANN of Germany, no 16 seed, lost to Leon BENKO of Croatia (3, 9, -5, -5, 13, 6). Both top seeded concluded the round in four games: Iulian CHIRITA of Romania beat Luis KRAUS of Germany (4, 4, 8, 4) whilst Felix LEBRUN of France beat Xavier WATS of Belgium (9, 5, 5, 7).

Iulian CHIRITA continued with the win over Martin FROSETH from Norway (6, 9, 5, 4).

“I never played against him, so I did not know how to play against FROSETH. It took me one game to read his tactics,” said CHIRITA.

Tom CLOSSET of Belgium overcame David SZANTOSI of Hungary to reach the quarterfinals (8, 8, 6, -10, 12).