Last year’s bronze medallists in the Under 15 Boys Doubles Event, Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy, climbed two steps higher on the podium at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava. In the final, they overcame Austria’s Louis FEGERL and Spain’s Ladimir MAYOROV. The bronze medals went to Hungary’s Mark GERGELY and Lenard SZABO, as well as Türkiye’s duo Görkem ÖÇAL and Kenan KAHRAMAN.
FASO and TREVISAN controlled the final, though their young opponents, MAYOROV, who turned 12 on the day of the match, and FEGERL, aged 12 years and one month, deserve great credit. (They are not the youngest finalists in history, however; Prithika PAVADE was one month younger when she reached the Cadet Mixed Doubles final in 2016.)
“We knew they were very good. They played really well throughout the tournament, especially in the semifinals. We won 3-0 – I think the fact that we’ve played together for a long time gave us a big advantage,” explained FASO.
TREVISAN added: “It wasn’t an easy match. Each game was really close, and they played at a high level. Last year, we lost in the semifinals, but this year we were better prepared and practiced a lot together. I’m really proud that we won!”
In the semifinals, FASO and TREVISAN faced Hungary’s GERGELY and SZABO and finished the match in commanding fashion.
“We were up 2-0, but then they started playing better and won the third game. After that, we changed tactics a bit, played closer to the table and more aggressively. The last game was tough; we were 10-9, they leveled to 10-10, and it got stressful. But we stayed focused and closed the match. We had already played against them in the team event, so we knew what to expect,” said FASO.
TREVISAN explained why he held up six fingers after the victory:
“We really believed we could win and went into the final with that mindset. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we were optimistic and ready to play our best. After the win, I showed six fingers – it represents the six members of my family: me, my mom, dad, and my three brothers.”
FEGERL and MAYOROV reached the final after a dramatic semifinal win over the second seeds, ÖÇAL and KAHRAMAN of Türkiye.
“We’re really happy. We knew it would be a tough match, they were the no. 2 seeds, but we just kept fighting. We were 2-0 up, but they came back to 2-2. I think we got a bit nervous, and they also changed tactics. In the last game, we returned to our game plan, using more short balls to prevent them from spinning, and we controlled every ball,” said FEGERL.
MAYOROV added: “Today is my birthday, so this is the best gift I could ask for! This has been my best tournament so far—I played really well and I’m proud of my performance. I really wanted gold, so FEGERL and I gave it everything. We were a little nervous, but I believed in us. We had a real chance, and we fought hard because we knew our opponents were very strong.”
Final
- Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy – Louis FEGERL of Austria and Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-7)
Semi final
- Danilo FASO and Francesco TREVISAN of Italy – Mark GERGELY and Lenard SZABO of Hungary 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 12-10)
- Louis FEGERL of Austria and Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain – Görkem ÖÇAL and Kenan KAHRAMAN of Turkey 3-2 (11-8, 13-11, 5-11, 5-11, 11-4)
