At the European Youth Championships in Ostrava, the teams that progressed directly to the Round of 16 from the top two spots in the Under 19 Girls’ Teams Event are: France and Spain (Group A), Germany and Austria (Group B), Portugal and Ukraine (Group C), Romania and Hungary (Group D).
In Group B, Austria lost the final group-stage duel against Germany, but the defeat did not diminish the overall quality of their performance in Ostrava. Dorotheea ALEXANDRU, Gabriela KEZAI, and Nina SKERBINZ secured second place behind Germany.
Mia GRIESEL played in all three of Germany’s group-stage matches, all of which ended with a 3-0 scoreline. Lisa-Sophie WANG, Eireen KALAITZIDOU, Lorena MORSCH, and Elisa NGUYEN also contributed strongly.
“All of us played really well in this match. I faced KEZAI, and she had a lot of problems with my serves, so I had a big advantage there. We didn’t play many long rallies, I tried to change tactics and do things differently, and it worked,” said GRIESEL.
“In the third match, NGUYEN played against Nina SKERBINZ. It was a really close one, NGUYEN was down 1-2, then leveled to 2-2, and even trailed 6-10 in the final game, but managed to win 12-10. I think she was mentally stronger in that moment. Nina made an error at 7-10, and maybe that was the turning point when pressure got to her, but that’s just my opinion.”
GRIESEL was satisfied with Germany’s overall performance.
“We had a good seeding here, as the second seed, so of course we had expectations to fight for a medal. But it’s always tricky at the beginning, new tournament, new hall. I was especially happy with our win over Czechia. Playing them at home, with so many fans and so much noise, made things uncomfortable. It’s not easy when the entire venue is against you, but we made it, and I’m really proud.
Czechia has very good players. We had a training camp with them before EYC, so we had an idea of how they played and were able to prepare accordingly. For example, we chose our defensive player Lisa-Sophie WANG to play against them because we knew they struggle against defense.”
In Group C, Ukraine’s 2-3 loss in the second round did not prevent them from progressing directly to the Round of 16. Daria KOVALOVA, Veronika MATIUNINA, and Olha PONKO slipped to second place, while Portugal climbed to the top of Group . Ukraine beat Croatia in their final group-stage match, while Matilde PINTO, Julia LEAL, and Mariana SANTA COMBA secured a win against Bulgaria for Portugal.
In the Under 15 Girls’ Teams Event, the top two teams in each group are: Germany and Hungary (Group A), France and Spain (Group B), Austria and Italy (Group C), Romania and Poland (Group D).
Germany defeated Moldova 3-0 in the final group match to secure first place in Group A. Hungary defeated Croatia 3-1, dropping only the doubles point.
Last year’s bronze medalists, the Czech Republic, will have to continue their campaign via the play-offs. Hanka KODET and her teammates managed only one win in the group, against Belgium. France, seeded third in Group B, emerged as group winners, though their success came as no surprise. Eva LAM stood out with four singles victories and two doubles wins.
“I started with a really good match against Eloisa BARREDA and won 3:0. In the second match, Lou-Anne BOCQUET led 2-1 but lost 2-3. I’m not really sure what happened there. In the doubles, I didn’t play so well, but my partner Albane ROCHUT was amazing.
In my singles match against Renata SHYPSHA, we had great rallies. I started strong and won the first two games easily. In the third, she changed the rhyth, slowed things down, and it worked for her. But I adapted and won the last game 11:4.
I’m really proud of my performance against Czechia, especially against Hanka KODET. I was down 0-2 but came back to win 3-2. That was a really tough match, but I changed my service and the playing rhythm during the match, and I think she struggled with that, it helped me win,” explained LAM.
In Group C, Austria defeated Italy to claim the top position. However, Italy still progressed as the second-placed team, despite being seeded only fourth in the group.
