Newly crowned champions in the Under 15 Girls Doubles Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava are Alexia NODIN and Lou-Anne BOCQUET of France. In the final, they overcame Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany. The bronze medals went to Renata SHYPSHA of Spain and Siri BENJEGÅRD of Sweden, as well as Laurynne CABARDO and Angelina BEBAWY of Sweden.
The final was a one-sided affair, with NODIN and BOCQUET dominating the German pair from start to finish.
“We are really happy that we won. To be honest, we expected a tougher match. We tried not to make many mistakes and played with confidence. We focused closely on the tactics our coach gave us, and that helped a lot. Actually, there wasn’t a single game that was particularly hard, but the first one was the most important—it gave us momentum,” explained NODIN.
In the semi-finals, NODIN and BOCQUET also delivered a commanding performance, defeating CABARDO and BEBAWY in straight games.
“We are very happy to reach the final. We didn’t expect this win at all, it was a bit of a surprise for us. Even though we won 3-0, it wasn’t as easy as it looked. We have a really unique playing style, BOCQUET is a left-handed attacker and I am a right-handed defender, which is quite rare in doubles. That gave BOCQUET more time to step in and attack. We also felt really good before the match, so we’re thrilled with the result,” they shared.
Unlike the French pairings, the reigning champions from 2023, ITAGAKI and NEUMANN, were taken to the full distance in their semi-final against 2024 runners-up SHYPSHA and BENJEGÅRD.
NEUMANN said: “To be honest, we expected to win before the match, but it turned out to be much tougher than we thought. It was a difficult situation for us, we had a problem with the transfer and didn’t have time to practice beforehand. But we managed to stay mentally strong and get through.”
ITAGAKI added: “I think the third game was the most difficult. We were ahead but made some easy mistakes and lost it, which put us 1-2 down. Fortunately, we stayed focused and managed to come back and win.”
Final
- Alexia NODIN and Lou-Anne BOCQUET of France – Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-2)
Semi final
- Koharu ITAGAKI and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany – Renata SHYPSHA of Spain Siri BENJEGÅRD of Sweden 3-2 (11-1, 7-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-6)
- Alexia NODIN and Lou-Anne BOCQUET of France – Laurynne CABARDO and Angelina BEBAWY of Sweden 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-4)
