The quarterfinal line-up is set in the Under 15 Boys Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar. Top seeds Spain will face third seeds Germany, eighth seeds France meet fifth seeds Czechia, ninth seeds Romania take on fourth seeds Poland, while Sweden will play Türkiye for the remaining semifinal place.
Top seeds Spain progressed with a 3-1 victory over 15th seeds Italy. Ladimir MAYOROV gave Spain the opening point with a four-game victory over Tommaso SIMI, controlling the first two games before holding his nerve to close out the fourth 12-10. Italy responded through Pietro CAMPAGNA, who produced a commanding straight-games victory over Alexander MALOV, edging the third game 12-10 to level the tie.
Spain regained the advantage in the doubles as Marcos GOMEZ and MAYOROV defeated CAMPAGNA and SIMI in straight games, winning each game 11-7. MAYOROV then returned to complete the job, beating CAMPAGNA in straight games to send Spain into the last eight.
Eighth seeds France also enjoyed a comfortable passage, sweeping 23rd seeds Israel 3-0. The opening singles proved the closest contest of the tie as Nolan JOHNSTON recovered from losing the first game to defeat Nir ENGLER in four. Noah TESSIER then comfortably overcame Maor NICHANEVICH before TESSIER and Quentin SANDONA dominated the doubles, allowing their Israeli opponents just 15 points to book a quarterfinal meeting with Czechia.
Fifth seeds Czechia advanced with a convincing 3-0 victory over 11th seeds Ukraine. Ondrej MORAVEK edged Mark VORONOI in three competitive games before Oliver OLEJNIK defeated David DROBOV in straight games after surviving a tight opening game 13-11. MORAVEK and OLEJNIK then completed the sweep with a straight-games doubles victory over Ivan BUR and VORONOI.
Third seeds Germany also progressed in straight matches, defeating 18th seeds Slovakia 3-0. Lukas WANG overcame Filip NAGY in four games before Tien Nghia PHONG produced a dominant straight-games victory over Rastislav SVEC, conceding only 18 points. Slovakia offered much stronger resistance in the doubles, but WANG and PHONG prevailed 11-6 in the deciding game to complete the sweep.
Ninth seeds Romania produced one of the biggest upsets of the Round of 16, eliminating seventh seeds Austria 3-1.
Louis FEGERL gave Austria the lead with a straight-games victory over Tudor SAFTOIU, but David TORO responded by defeating Sung Bing CHEN in four games.
The turning point came in the doubles. FEGERL and CHEN raced into a two-game lead before TORO and SAFTOIU staged a superb comeback, conceding just seven points across the next two games before taking the decider 11-8. TORO then completed Romania’s comeback with an emphatic straight-games victory over FEGERL.
Fourth seeds Poland also had to recover from behind before defeating 21st seeds Bulgaria 3-2. Miroslav SCHMIDT gave Bulgaria the opening point by edging Jakub TURECKI in five games. Hubert KWIECINSKI restored parity with a four-game win over Stefan BONCHEV, but Bulgaria moved back in front after SCHMIDT and BONCHEV claimed the doubles.
KWIECINSKI forced a deciding match with a straight-games victory over SCHMIDT before TURECKI completed Poland’s comeback, recovering twice against BONCHEV to prevail 11-6 in the deciding game.
Sweden booked their quarterfinal place after edging Azerbaijan 3-2. Onur GULUZADE defeated Joel ISAKSSON in five games to put Azerbaijan ahead, but Emil ELLERMANN levelled the tie with a dominant straight-games victory over Ruslan KARIMOV. ELLERMANN and Erik KOGERFELT then gave Sweden the lead with a four-game doubles victory.
GULUZADE forced a deciding match by overcoming ELLERMANN, but ISAKSSON secured Sweden’s place in the quarterfinals with a commanding straight-games victory over KARIMOV.
Sweden’s coach Sebastian LUNDHAL praised his team’s collective effort.
“I think it was a very good performance. We worked together as a team and that made the difference. The doubles were definitely crucial. We also know we can challenge the number one players from other teams. We came close in both of those matches, but our doubles are very strong. We don’t rely on one outstanding player. Instead, we have three players at a similar level and teamwork is our biggest strength.”
ELLERMANN was pleased with both his own display and the team’s approach.
“I think it was a good performance. I won my first match quite comfortably, but in the second I started well before my opponent found his rhythm after a very close second game. From then on he played at a really high level and it became much more difficult. As a team, everyone gave their best. We fought for every point, especially in the key moments, and stayed together throughout the match. We feel comfortable here, we’re playing well, and it doesn’t matter who we face next. We’ll just play our game.”
Türkiye completed the quarterfinal line-up after fighting back to defeat England 3-2.
Görkem OCAL opened with a dominant straight-games victory over Dimitar DIMITROV, but Pablo RAMIREZ RIOJA edged Emre BUCAK in five games to level the tie.
England moved ahead by winning a dramatic doubles contest, with Oscar NIKOLLI and RAMIREZ RIOJA overcoming OCAL and Ali Enes SEREN 14-12 in the deciding game after the Turkish pair had forced a fifth.
OCAL once again proved decisive, producing another commanding straight-games victory over RAMIREZ RIOJA before BUCAK defeated DIMITROV in straight games to complete Türkiye’s comeback and secure a place in the quarterfinals.
