European Youth Championships | 24 Jul 2021

Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Natalia MALININA clinched gold in the Girls Doubles Event

The winners of the Under 19 Girls Doubles Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin are Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Natalia MALININA of Russia. In the final they overcame Sophia KLEE and Anastasia BONDAREVA of Germany (10:12, 11:9, 7:11, 11:9). The bronze medal winners are Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland and Czech-Croatian combination of Linda ZADEROVA and Hana ARAPOVIC.

“We had very good communication with each other like throughout the whole tournament. We wanted so much to win this medal,” said ABRAAMIAN.

Previously, Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Natalia MALININA beat Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland in the semi final (7, -6, 8, 10).

“We were very focused in the match. I am happy to play with ABRAAMIAN. We are a very good pairings and we are very good combination that gives me great confidence,” said Natalia.

Elizabet justified that:” We have a very good communication in the match, we understand each other, we talk a lot. We think what would be better for our game to win a point.”

Sophia KLEE and Anastasia BONDAREVA overcame Linda ZADEROVA and Hana ARAPOVIC (6, 6, -4, 8)

“ It was a difficult match because ARPOVIC and ZADEROVA have been playing together for many years, just like us. This match was completely different from the previous one in the quarterfinals. We were focused from the first point and we played very well. I am happy that we have resolved difficult situations in our favor. I am very proud of us,” said KLEE.

BONDAREVA said: “We played very well, especially in the two openings games. In the first one, ARPOVIC and ZADEROVA played very well and changed tactics, and we were not prepared for that. After the break we talked about it, found a solution, which was very important. I am very happy because the last game was not easy. We proved we are mentally stronger, Sophia and I have been playing together for years, we know each other well, we trust each other and I think that was the key in this match. We trusted each other and we were not afraid that someone would make a mistake because we know that everything would be fine and that we just needed to keep fighting to the end of mach.“

In the quarterfinal Sophia KLEE and Anastasia BONDAREVA beat Ivet ILIEVA of Bulgaria and Ilona SZTWIERTNIA of Poland pairings that proved their worth by beating top seeds Elena ZAHARIA of Romania and Kornelija RILISKYTE of Lithuania. They needed full five games (11, -10, -12, 6, 7).

“I am proud to win this one, because it was really very difficult for us. We were stretched to full distance and every game was very close. We lost both our matches where we were 10:8 and 10:6 up. Those were very hard moments, we had a feeling we are doing everything right, but we were losing. Playing against ILIEVA's pimples scared us even before the match. We knew how difficult it will be to play against her “materials”. However, despite all this, we were brave. We never stopped. We believe in ourselves, we won European title in Doubles four years ago and we hope we will do it again,” said BONDAREVA.

KLEE added:”I was so nervous, but I kept on going despite hard moments we faced in second and third game. We already won one title together, we play very long with each other and I have confidence in this pairings.”

Linda ZADEROVA and Hana ARAPOVIC overcame Hungary's Anna VOLENTICS and Irisz LASKAI (8, 6, -9, 7).

“They made a big problem for us with short blocks. We needed some time to adjust to it. We play with each other for a long time, it helped” explained ARAPOVIC.

ZADEROVA:”I am full of emotions after we secured the medal. I am so proud of us.”

Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Natalia MALININA overcame Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany and Camelia MERENCO of Moldova (6, 9, -9, 5).

“We did not make easy mistakes. We analyzed them well before the game. We were ready for our adversaries,”said ABRAAMIAN.

In the quarters Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland halted the progress of Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania and Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU of Greece (-1, 9, 5, -7, 11).

“We lost the opening game with one point , so we had a very hard start. Luckily we recovered from that to win very close duel,” said WIELGOS.