The atmosphere in the BP Arena in Cluj is heating up. Two rounds of the second stage of the men’s and women’s Singles at the European Under 21 Championships concluded today after the fierce fights.
Top seeded player in the Men’s Singles Germany’s Kay STUMPER suffered the defeat by the hands of Lilian BARDET of France on his first exit to the table in Cluj.
“I am more that happy about my performance today. It was my first match in this Stage and I felt good I played well. I played against Kay before when we were juniors and I never beat him so far so I am really happy. My guess is that the key moment of this match was in the game four when Kay was leading 8-4. I changed my service because I taught that this was the only option I had in order to improve my game. I managed to win the fourth game my fighting spirit was up so I managed to win the match. There are still two matches more on this group I do not know the other players so we will se what will happen said Lilian BARDET.
French player overcame Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia in next round (6 6 4 2) to secure the top spot. Kay STUMPER is currently second after win over Andrea PUPPO of Italy 4-1(8 -7 5 3 8).
Player who received the wild card to come to Cluj Vladislav URSU of Moldova suffered his first defeat in his seventh match at the tournament. He is still unbeaten in doubles but lost first match in Singles after four wins in two stages. He failed to take advantage of match point and let Darius MOVILEANU of Romania to recover to win 4:3 (6 4 -8 -6 -4 12 9). With the great sense of relief MOVILEANU said:
“I am really proud that I managed to win this match. I knew very well from the very beginning that this match is going to be a very difficult one for me. Vladislav is an excellent player and this match was the first match I played against him. It was a crazy match… I was leading 2-0; then Vladislav managed somehow to take the lead so he led 3-2. I saved three match points. It was not the first time when I saved match points but this time it was just crazy. At this level every point is important and we are supposed to fight fiercely for every point. I did my best to be focus on the service and the receiving of the service. After taking the lead 2-0 the quality of my services decreased But I improved significantly my play in the last game which I won.”
Tomorrow is the last round of second phase of the singles event.
Now I have two wins in two matches and tomorrow I will play my third match against Kas VAN OOST. I have never played against him but I will give my best in order to win my last match in the group said ” Darius.
Dimitrije LEVAJAC of Serbia prevailed against Borgar HAUG of Norway in the opening round of the Second Phase.
“Uuuf!!! It was a very tough match. HAUG is a very good player and also we play in doubles together at this tournament so it was not easy at all. I would say that overall it was a great match 4-2 it was not an easy one. I was leading 1-0 then 2-1 but he always somehow managed to make a draw. I was trying to stay focused thinking only to the next point I kept going and it was a successful tactic for me. The key to win it might be the fact that I was a little bit more aggressive. I was trying to attack more. It seems that it worked ” said LEVAJAC.
“The group I am playing now might be the strongest group of the tournament. Everything is open every match is fifty fifty. However I should say that his first win doesn’t mean anything. I must stay very focused for the next two matches because it is going to be tough.”
It proved right because he lost the next match against Andrei ISTRATE of Romania (7 -4 -8 -9 5 -11).
In Group F Ivor BAN of Croatia justified his rankings with the wins over Carlo ROSSI of Italy (9 8 8 -8 7) and Andrii GREBNIUK of Ukraine (3 9 9 -8 7). After initial defeat ROSSI overcame David SZANTOSI of Hungary (-12 8 5 2 5).
“David SZANTOSI is few years younger than me so I did not know him very well. It was a nice surprise to see that David played a very good game. In the beginning of the match I tried to find the best approach to play. My first service and first ball were good and I managed to win points. In the end he started to miss a little bit more balls. The Group I am in is not an easy one. This morning I lost my first match against the Croatian Ivor BAN who played very well. Tomorrow I will play the last match in the group to get into the main draw. I will play against Andrii GREBNIUK tomorrow morning and I do not expect an easy math. Its very important for me to win it and I will give everything in order to win ” said Carlo ROSSI.
