The French boys defended their title in the Junior Team event at the European Youth Championships in Prague.
In spite or because of a risky line-up made by coach Jacques Mommessin, the French won 3-1.
In
the Girls’ Team final, the talented Hungarian squad came close to
victory against Romania. The latter, however, prevailed 3-2 thanks to
two points by their team leader.
Courageous Line-Up
The
French were the favourites in this final and there was no need to risk
anything. Still coach Jacques Mommessin changed the positions two and
three with first year Cadet Romain Lorentz playing two Singles matches
and Victorien Le Guen on position three.
The strategy paid off.
"Maybe it was a bit of surprise for the Swedes that we put Romain to
play two matches ", Mommessin was quoted. "But it worked out well as I
wanted Tomas Le Breton to start versus Karlsson. He is normally playing
him well and I thought that could give us a good start."
Le Breton won with 3-1 and then it was Lorentz’ turn.
"Romain
then lost to Oversjö and did not play very well in the second match -
he acted nervous and without confidence", Jacques Mommessin analyzed
the performance of his protégé. "But it was great to see him comeback
against Kristian Karlsson to win the match for us.
The French
coach, however, does not want to celebrate too much. "Now we have to
look forward to the singles and grab another title."
Hirici Makes the Difference
In
the Girls’ Junior Team final, Romania’s number one Cristina Hirici was
the match winner. After two losses in the quarter-finals against
France, the 17 year old raised her level again.
Hirici kept calm
after Edina Toth brought the Hungarians ahead in the third match
against Anamaria Sebe in a five games fight. Cristina Hirici prevailed
relatively easy against Hungary’s prodigy Dora Madarasz in three games.
The crucial fifth match was played between Krisztina Ambrus and
Camelia Postoaca. The Romanian defensive player Postoaca lost the first
game but eventually prevailed in four games.
After Daniela Dodean and Elizabeta Samara, there are again young talented Romanian players who will soon appear on world level.
Results and a Blog from Prague
Find more information and results on the European Youth Championships website.
ITTF
Executive Director of Education and Training, Mikael Andersson, is on
the spot in the magnificent O2 Arena in Prague. The expert for youth
table tennis writes regularly in his blog "Eleven Points".
Source: www.ittf.com
