Top seeds Spain recovered from dropping the opening match to defeat ninth seeds Romania 3-1 in their first Group A encounter of the Under 15 Boys Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar.
Romania made an excellent start through David TORO, who overcame Alexander MALOV in five games. TORO won the opening game before MALOV fought back to lead 2-1, but the Romanian regained control by taking the final two games 11-7 to secure the first point of the tie.
Ladimir MAYOROV quickly brought Spain level with a commanding straight-games victory over Mihai IORDAN, conceding only 15 points.
Marcos GOMEZ and MAYOROV then put Spain ahead in the doubles. They defeated Tudor SAFTOIU and TORO in three games, although the Romanian pair pushed them all the way before falling 13-11 in the second game.
MAYOROV returned to seal Spain’s victory, beating TORO in straight games to complete the top seeds’ successful start in Gondomar.
“We lost the first match, but we did not panic. We know each other very well because we play against each other very often. I am very happy with my performance and with the way I beat TORO. We are going for all the wins here,” said MAYOROV confidently.
Last year, Spain, represented by MAYOROV and Tianxiang ZOU, were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Italy.
France also made a winning start in Group A by overcoming England 3-2. Noah TESSIER gave France the opening point with a four-game victory over Dimitar DIMITROV. The French player recovered after dropping the second game and held his nerve to claim the fourth 13-11.
Nolan JOHNSTON then doubled France’s advantage with a straight-games victory over Pablo RAMIREZ RIOJA. Although RAMIREZ RIOJA pushed him hard in the closing stages, JOHNSTON prevailed 13-11 and 11-9 in the final two games.
England responded in the doubles as RAMIREZ RIOJA and Oscar NIKOLLI defeated TESSIER and Quentin SANDONA in three games to reduce the deficit.
RAMIREZ RIOJA then levelled the tie by overcoming TESSIER in four games. After taking the opening two games, he recovered from losing the third to send the match to the deciding fifth rubber.
JOHNSTON proved the hero for France, dominating DIMITROV in straight games while conceding only ten points to secure a 3-2 victory.
In Group B, second seeds Türkiye were pushed all the way by hosts Portugal before prevailing 3-2. Rodrigo ANDRADE gave Portugal the lead with a four-game victory over Emre BUCAK, but Görkem OCAL restored parity by defeating Eric PEREIRA in straight games. ANDRADE and PEREIRA then put the hosts back in front with a 3-1 doubles victory over OCAL and BUCAK. Türkiye fought back once more, with OCAL overcoming ANDRADE in straight games before BUCAK defeated PEREIRA 3-1 in the deciding match.
Seventh seeds Austria also made a winning start, beating 14th seeds Denmark 3-1. Sung Bing CHEN and Louis FEGERL established a 2-0 lead with convincing straight-games victories over Julius FREDENSBORG and Noah SIMONI, respectively. Denmark stayed alive when Zacharias AL MOALEM and Elias SKAJEM edged FEGERL and CHEN in a dramatic five-game doubles contest, but FEGERL returned to defeat FREDENSBORG in straight games to secure Austria’s victory.
In Group C, third seeds Germany enjoyed a comfortable start, defeating 12th seeds Hungary 3-0. Tien Nghia PHONG opened the tie with a four-game victory over Peter ZUBOR, edging a tight third game 12-10 before closing out the match 13-11 in the fourth. Lukas WANG then doubled Germany’s lead, recovering from losing the opening game to overcome Simon ZSIGMOND in four games. WANG and PHONG completed the sweep with a straight-games doubles victory over ZSIGMOND and ZUBOR.
Fifth seeds Czechia also opened with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland. Oliver OLEJNIK and Ondrej MORAVEK both recorded convincing singles wins to put Czechia firmly in control. Switzerland responded through Arthur LOUSTALOT and Charlie HURTADO, who edged MORAVEK and OLEJNIK in a dramatic five-game doubles encounter. After recovering from 2-1 down, the Czech pair held a 9-4 lead in the deciding game but were unable to convert it.
Martin MERKER, coach of the Czech Under 15 boys’ team, reflected on the performance:
“It was an important start to the tournament and it is good that we won. It is a great shame that the boys did not extend their lead in the fifth set after leading 9-4. Doubles is very important in this competition, and I believe they will learn from it. Ondra MORÁVEK is not yet playing at the level I expected, but I am pleased with how he improved in his second singles match. Hopefully, next time he will be even better.”
MORAVEK quickly put the disappointment behind him, returning to defeat LOUSTALOT in straight games and secure the tie for Czechia.
In Group D, fourth seeds Poland opened with a 3-1 victory over Ukraine. Hubert KWIECINSKI put Poland ahead with a dominant straight-games win over David DROBOV, but Volodymyr NEVIZHYN levelled the tie by defeating Jakub TURECKI in four games. KWIECINSKI and TURECKI restored Poland’s advantage with a 3-1 doubles victory over NEVIZHYN and Mark VORONOI, before KWIECINSKI completed the win by edging NEVIZHYN in a hard-fought five-game encounter.
Sweden produced one of the opening day’s standout results by sweeping Italy 3-0. Emil ELLERMANN and Erik KOGERFELT both recorded convincing straight-games victories in the singles before combining to overcome Tommaso SIMI and Pietro CAMPAGNA in a thrilling five-game doubles contest to complete the clean sweep.
