France beat Switzerland in the final of the Mixed Teams event at the European Under 13 Championships in Kosta, while Poland and Bulgaria secured bronze medals.
This was the first team final for France at the U13 Championships, having previously celebrated only individual victories and finals. What stood out most was the absolute superiority of the French team. Not only did they win all seven matches, but their record in individual encounters was an outstanding 30–1. The only player to take a point off them was Türkiye’s Ela Su YÖNTER, who defeated Albane ROCHUT. In every other match, France proved untouchable.
In the group stage, they overcame Greece, Türkiye and Latvia, before defeating Romania and Germany in Stage 2. A 3–0 win over Bulgaria in the semifinals set up their decisive performance in the final against Switzerland.
The title match showed France’s dominance once again. Arthur LOUSTALOT and Enya HU pushed hard in the opening doubles, but Simon CLIN and Lisa ZHAO were too strong, giving France the early lead. Albane ROCHUT followed with a commanding straight-games win over Michelle WU, before Tim ESCUDIER sealed the triumph by overpowering Silas STALDER 3–0 (11–4, 11–1, 11–8).
“I honestly think the team played the perfect tournament. They only lost one match and kept such incredible focus and spirit throughout the entire event. The players have been more professional than we could ever expect from them, and I am very impressed and proud. This is a big result for France,” said coach Stephane HUCLIEZ.
Tim ESCUDIER added: “It has been a team effort all the way through, where everyone has pushed each other in every match. We have a great team spirit and everyone has played well to deserve this victory. I’m so happy.”
For Switzerland, this European Under 13 Championships marks a truly historic achievement. Enya HU, Michelle WU, Arthur LOUSTALOT, Silas STALDER and coaches Samir MULABDIC and Pedro PELZ accomplished what no Swiss table tennis team had ever done before: winning a medal at a European or World title event.
In fact, apart from veterans’ competitions, this is only the third medal in Swiss table tennis history. Thierry MILLER captured bronze in cadet boys’ singles at the 1981 European Youth Championships, while Tu DAI YONG reached the women’s singles final at the 1990 European Championships in Gothenburg, where she lost to Bulgaria’s Daniela GUERGUELCHEVA.
Bulgaria also rewrote the history books by reaching the semifinals of the team event. While Bulgarian players have collected a number of individual medals at youth championships, this is only their third team medal in European history. The previous ones came from the cadet boys’ team at the 1991 European Youth Championships, led by Kostadin LENGEROV, and the cadet girls’ team in 1979 — a team that also featured Daniela GUERGUELCHEVA, who years later went on to face Tu DAI YONG in that 1990 European Championships final.
See the pictures here
Final: Switzerland – France 0-3
- Arthur LOUSTALOT, Enya HU- Simon CLIN, Lisa ZHAO 1-3 (5-11, 7-11, 13-11, 6-11)
- Michelle WU – Albane ROCHUT 0-3 (6-11, 7-11, 3-11)
- Silas STALDER – Tim ESCUDIER (4-11, 1-11, 8-11)
