The Women’s Doubles medals were decided in emphatic fashion at the ROMSTAL European Under 21 Championships in Cluj-Napoca, with all four quarter-finals ending in straight-games victories as the remaining pairs secured their places on the podium.
Top seeds Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine and Romania’s Bianca MEI ROSU continued their impressive run with a commanding 3-0 victory over Dora COSIC of Croatia and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland. The favourites controlled the match throughout, winning 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 to guarantee themselves at least a bronze medal.
The Ukrainian-Romanian partnership may not have extensive experience together, but their understanding both on and off the table has already become one of their strengths.
“We communicate very well away from the table. That helps us on court as well,” explained MEI ROSU.
Having entered the tournament with limited experience as a pair, the semi-final appearance already represents their best result together.
“We have only played one tournament before this, so reaching the semi-finals here is our best result. Now we are aiming for the final,” said MEI ROSU.
MATIUNINA believes there is still plenty of room for growth, particularly as they gain more experience alongside each other.
“We play well together. If we continue to play more tournaments as a pair, we will improve naturally because we will understand each other better instinctively,” she said.
Their communication during matches remains concise and focused on the tactical details that can make the difference at the highest level.
“We keep it very short and simple because there is not much time between points. We focus on tactics,” noted MEI ROSU.
MATIUNINA added: “We mainly discuss the service, the receive and the first two touches.”
French pair Leana HOCHART and Elise PUJOL were equally convincing. Facing Nicole ARLIA of Italy and Maria BERZOSA of Spain, the French duo delivered strong performance, allowing their opponents little room to settle as they progressed with a 3-0 win (11-5, 11-4, 11-6). Although they have only played together on a few occasions before, the partnership continues to develop well.
“This is only our second or third tournament together, but we understand each other very well,” explained HOCHART.
Communication remains a key element of their success. During matches, the pair focus on discussing tactical adjustments and preparing the first attack whenever possible.
“We mainly talk about tactics and the first ball. That is what we focus on during the match,” said HOCHART.
Poland celebrated a medal-winning performance through Anna BRZYSKA and Zuzanna WIELGOS. The pair overcame Czech combination Hanka KODET and Veronika POLAKOVA in straight games. After taking control early, the Polish duo completed an 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 victory to move into the semi-finals.
The final medal position went to Alexandra CHIRIACOVA of Moldova and Sara TOKIC of Slovenia. They produced another dominant display against Lilou MASSART of Belgium and Enisa SADIKOVIC of Luxembourg, winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 to complete a clean sweep of 3-0 quarter-final victories.
PHOTO by: Mihaela-Ionela BOBAR and Simion Sebastian TĂTARU
