Germany’s Nina MITTELHAM and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia claimed the remaining two places in the Women’s Singles semifinals at the European Championships in Ljubljana on Saturday. MITTELHAM overcame Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS to secure her third consecutive European Singles medal, while ABRAAMIAN continued her impressive campaign with victory over Wales’ Anna HURSEY to guarantee her first senior European Championships medal.
The results completed Sunday’s semifinal line-up at Arena Stožice, with MITTELHAM set to face her German teammate Annett KAUFMANN, while ABRAAMIAN will meet France’s Prithika PAVADE. Germany is therefore guaranteed a representative in the Women’s Singles final.
MITTELHAM, 29, defeated reigning European Singles silver medallist SZOCS 4-1 (11-4, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 13-11), producing a commanding performance in the opening stages before holding off a determined comeback from the Romanian.
The German took control immediately, winning the first three games with impressive consistency and aggression. SZOCS responded in the fourth, increasing the pressure and forcing MITTELHAM into a more defensive approach.
The fifth game developed into a tense battle, but MITTELHAM held her nerve to close it out 13-11 and secure another place on the European Singles podium.
“I think I played incredibly well in the first half of the match. I didn’t make any easy mistakes and took advantage of every opportunity I had,” said MITTELHAM.
“Then I became a little more passive, and she started putting me under much more pressure. I also became a bit nervous. Suddenly, so many things start going through your mind that really shouldn’t be there in a situation like that.
“But I’m simply happy. Whether it had been 4-1, 4-0 or 4-3, I would have taken any of those results. I’m in tomorrow’s semifinal, and I’m very proud and happy about that.”
MITTELHAM has enjoyed an increasingly successful record against SZOCS, although she explained that the improvements in her game were not specifically designed to counter the Romanian.
“I think I’ve incorporated a lot of things into my game through training that are now helping me enormously, particularly against her.
“But I didn’t specifically work on those things because of Bernadette. I worked on them to develop my game in general.
“Through that process, I’ve found more solutions and ways of playing that allow me to compete with far fewer difficulties against her, which is great.
“But she’s still an outstanding player. She’ll keep looking for solutions herself, so we’ll see what happens the next time we play.”
MITTELHAM’s victory guarantees her third successive European Women’s Singles medal, following silver in Munich in 2022 and bronze in Linz in 2024. A five-time European champion, she has also won Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles titles and three consecutive European Team gold medals.
Her next challenge will be an all-German semifinal against 20-year-old Annett KAUFMANN, who earlier defeated Ying HAN to secure her first European Women’s Singles medal.
“One German player will definitely be in the final, that’s true. Which one? I hope it will be me!” said MITTELHAM.
“I think we’re familiar with this kind of situation. We already had an all-German match today, and you simply have to accept these things as they come.
“We knew before the tournament that when you’re playing against other German players, these situations can arise. It could just as easily have happened in an earlier round, or I could have faced a different German opponent.
“I’m just happy that I played very, very well today. I hope we can produce a fantastic match tomorrow, and may the better player win.”
MITTELHAM also revealed how difficult it had been to recover from Friday’s demanding schedule, which included a late finish and additional commitments after the medal ceremony.
“Yesterday was definitely very exhausting. There were a lot of matches, and everything finished very late.
“After the medal ceremony, we still had doping control. By the time we managed to get something to eat and finally went to bed, it was extremely late.
“That’s not something I’m used to. It’s completely outside my normal routine.
“So today, I tried to do as little as possible apart from what was necessary, just to conserve my energy.
“But yesterday definitely gave me a lot of confidence, and I think that confidence helped me enormously today.”
For SZOCS, 31, the defeat ended her hopes of returning to the European Singles final after claiming silver in Linz in 2024. The Romanian is a three-time European champion, a former Europe Top 16 winner and the 2023 European Games Women’s Singles gold medallist.
Elizabet ABRAAMIAN secured her place in the semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Anna HURSEY of Wales (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9).
The Russian player, who had already eliminated fifth seed Jia Nan YUAN of France in Friday’s Round of 16, maintained her impressive form against another opponent enjoying an outstanding tournament.
HURSEY had produced one of the biggest surprises of the Championships by defeating defending champion Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria in seven games in the previous round.
ABRAAMIAN made the stronger start, taking the opening two games before HURSEY responded to win the third. The fourth was closely contested, but ABRAAMIAN prevailed 12-10 to establish a 3-1 advantage.
The fifth game brought another tense finish, with ABRAAMIAN closing out the match 11-9 to secure her first senior European Championships medal.
“It’s crazy! But I’m not satisfied with bronze. I want more,” said ABRAAMIAN.
“At the beginning, I wasn’t thinking about the medal at all. I was just preparing for another match, whether it was a quarterfinal or the first round of the main draw. I was focused on playing every ball.
“I’d prepared really well, and I’ve been getting better and better throughout the tournament. Of course, when you’re leading 3-1 and make a good start to the final game, you start to feel that you’re close.
“Then I lost my focus a little. I started thinking that I only needed to win one more game to reach the semifinals. That’s the problem when you start thinking too far ahead.
“You have to stay focused on every ball and every rally, and always have a plan for what you’re going to do next.”
ABRAAMIAN credited the work of her team and years of preparation for her breakthrough performance in Ljubljana.
“Overall, I think I played amazingly well. Our team has done a great job, and we’ve worked incredibly hard over the years. As they say, hard work pays off! No pain, no gain. Now I need to put some ice on my leg!” she added with a smile.
The achievement represents another important milestone for ABRAAMIAN, who previously enjoyed success at the European Youth Championships, including Singles and Doubles titles.
ABRAAMIAN will now face France’s Prithika PAVADE, who earlier defeated Elena ZAHARIA of Romania in straight games to reach her first European Women’s Singles semifinal.
The two players know each other well from their youth careers, setting up another intriguing contest with a place in the European final at stake.
“I hope we’ll have a really good match. May the best player win, and then we’ll celebrate!
“I have a lot of respect for her. She’s a great player, so I’m sure it’ll be a good match.
“First, I need to let these emotions settle, put this match behind me and start preparing for tomorrow.”
With MITTELHAM, KAUFMANN, PAVADE and ABRAAMIAN completing the semifinal line-up, Sunday’s decisive matches promise an exciting conclusion to the Women’s Singles competition in Ljubljana.
