The quarterfinal line-up in the Under 15 Girls Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar is complete after an exciting Round of 16 featuring several major upsets. Top seeds Czechia, France, Germany, Lithuania and Romania progressed, while Sweden, Portugal and Switzerland all eliminated higher-seeded adversaries. In Monday’s quarterfinals, Czechia will face Sweden, Romania will take on France, Portugal will meet Germany, and Lithuania will play Switzerland.
Top seeds Czechia booked their place in the quarterfinals with a commanding 3-0 victory over 33rd seeds Moldova.
Laura MARSICKOVA faced the toughest challenge in the opening singles, edging Andreea DELEV in two deuce games before closing out the match 12-10, 13-11, 11-3. Adela BRHELOVA quickly doubled the advantage with a dominant straight-games victory over Camelia LIPOVAN, conceding just 10 points. MARSICKOVA and BRHELOVA then completed the clean sweep in emphatic fashion with a straight-games doubles success.
Czech coach Jakub MERTA was delighted with his team’s display.
“We keep improving with every match, and this was our best performance of the tournament. Everything worked perfectly, the girls, the team spirit and the support from the bench. It was a very clear victory. The quarterfinals will certainly be much tougher, but we are the top seeds and I believe we are capable of dealing with that challenge as well.”
Fifth seeds France also progressed comfortably, defeating Belgium 3-0.
Albane ROCHUT gave France the perfect start with a straight-games victory over Amandine RIFFLART, before Chloé HUANG doubled the lead by overcoming Temperance TANG in the closest match of the tie, edging the opening two games 12-10. ROCHUT and Eva LAM completed the sweep with a dominant doubles victory.
Lithuania advanced to the last eight with a convincing 3-0 victory over Hungary.
Emilia PSCOLOVSKA opened with a four-game win over Borbala VASS, sealing the fourth game 12-10. Kaja TVOROGAL followed with a straight-games success against Zsófia FEGYVER, including a tight 14-12 second game, before PSCOLOVSKA and TVOROGAL completed the victory in four-game doubles.
Third seeds Germany progressed with a 3-0 victory over 13th seeds Italy.
Amelie Guzi JIA defeated Alice BORSANI in four games before Anna WALTER survived the closest contest of the tie, recovering after Claudia BERTOLINI forced a deciding game to prevail 11-9. WALTER and JIA then dominated the doubles against Matilde BUZZONI and BERTOLINI to complete the clean sweep.
Seventeenth seeds Switzerland produced one of the biggest surprises of the day by eliminating ninth seeds Spain 3-0.
Enya HU gave Switzerland the lead with a straight-games victory over Eloisa BARREDA, before Ilvi ULRICH survived a spirited comeback from Mireia PARAU, winning the deciding game 11-5. HU and Michelle WU then sealed the upset in a dramatic five-game doubles match, edging Esther HASEK and BARREDA 12-10 in the decider.
Fourth seeds Sweden knocked out second seeds Poland with a 3-1 victory. Siri BENJEGARD opened with a dominant straight-games win over Lucja KOBOSZ, but Aleksandra NAWROCKA levelled the tie after edging Nike LUNDQVIST 16-14 in the deciding game. Sweden regained control in the doubles as BENJEGARD and LUNDQVIST defeated KOBOSZ and NAWROCKA in straight games. BENJEGARD then completed the upset with another composed display, overcoming NAWROCKA in four games, winning three of them by the narrowest of margins.
Tenth seeds Portugal also upset the seedings, edging eighth seeds Croatia 3-2. Maria RUIVO put the hosts ahead with a four-game victory over Sara RIVETTI, but Karla IVCIC responded by defeating Irina SILVA. Portugal regained the advantage in the doubles as RUIVO and SILVA recovered from losing the opening game to beat RIVETTI and IVCIC. IVCIC forced a deciding match by overcoming RUIVO, but SILVA held her nerve against RIVETTI. After trailing 5-0 in the deciding game, the Portuguese player produced a stunning comeback to win 11-6 and send the home crowd into celebration.
RUIVO admitted Croatia had surprised them with the strength of Karla IVCIC.
“We didn’t know the Croatian team that well. We watched a few videos, but we didn’t expect Karla to win both of her singles. The doubles turned out to be the key moment. We’ve been playing really well together throughout the tournament and winning that match gave us the confidence we needed going into the remaining singles.”
SILVA revealed what was going through her mind during the dramatic deciding match.
“When I was 5-0 down in the fifth game, my coach kept encouraging me. He told me he was proud of me whatever the result, that he believed in me and that I should just give everything, even if I made mistakes. I told myself, ‘I don’t care anymore, just put the ball on the table and fight for every point.’ After we changed ends, I felt that side of the table had been lucky for us. I started playing much better, came back to lead 9-5 and eventually won 11-6. It was an incredible feeling to secure the victory for Portugal.”
Sixth seeds Romania completed the quarterfinal line-up after edging seventh seeds Türkiye 3-2. Bianca TOMA gave Romania the perfect start with a five-game victory over Ela Su YONTER, before Kariss SERBAN doubled the advantage by defeating Ceren KAHRAMAN in four games. Türkiye responded by winning both the doubles and YONTER’s second singles to level the tie. The deciding match also went the distance, but TOMA held her nerve, pulling away in the fifth game to defeat KAHRAMAN 11-6 and send Romania into the last eight.
