France will have two pairs competing for places in the Under 19 Boys Doubles final after an eventful quarter-final session at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar. Alongside the French combinations, Sweden and the Austrian-Bulgarian pairing also secured their places in the last four, guaranteeing themselves at least bronze medals.
Nathan LAM and Antoine NOIRAULT overcame Francesc CARRERA and Luca KHIDASHELI of Spain in four games. After edging a marathon opening game, the French pair recovered quickly from dropping the second to take control of the contest and advance.
Sweden’s Noa DAHLSTROM and Adam WALLIN also progressed in four games, defeating Croatia’s Gabriel MARJANOVIC and Andrej MRKIC. The Swedish duo dominated the opening two games, briefly saw their opponents extend the contest, but regained control to close out the match.
“We hadn’t played any tournaments together before this one, so we didn’t really have any expectations,” said WALLIN. “But we trained together in China before coming here and quickly realised we had good chemistry. Today the key was to keep moving. Earlier in the tournament we were standing too still, but this time my backhand flick created many chances for my partner to attack with his forehand. Tomorrow we’ll simply do our best and hopefully win.”
Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria and Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria continued their impressive run with a four-game victory over Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Danilo FASO, recovering well after losing the second game to secure a medal.
The most dramatic encounter of the round came in the all-French-Romanian clash, where Nathan DOUSSINET and Nathan PILARD fought back from two games down to defeat Robert ISTRATE and Robert PODAR of Romania in five games. After losing the opening two games, the French pair steadily turned the momentum in their favour before sealing victory in a tense deciding game.
Under 19 Boys Doubles – Quarter-finals
- Nathan LAM, Antoine NOIRAULT (France) – Francesc CARRERA, Luca KHIDASHELI (Spain) 3-1 (18-16, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6)
- Noa DAHLSTROM, Adam WALLIN (Sweden) – Gabriel MARJANOVIC, Andrej MRKIC (Croatia) 3-1 (11-7, 11-2, 11-13, 11-6)
- Julian RZIHAUSCHEK (Austria), Yoan VELICHKOV (Bulgaria) – Francesco TREVISAN, Danilo FASO (Italy) 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6)
- Nathan DOUSSINET, Nathan PILARD (France) – Robert ISTRATE, Robert PODAR (Romania) 3-2 (10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9)
