European Youth Championships | 15 Jul 2024

France Halt Poland's Progress to Reach the Final of Under 19 Girls Teams Event

Reigning champions Romania will face France in tomorrow's final of the Under 19 Girls teams event at the European Youth Championships in Malmö. No. 1 seeds Poland were defeated in their match against France, equaling last year's achievement and clinching the bronze medal. The same goes for Germany.

Seeded at position no. 3, France beat the top-seeded Poland in straight matches. Nina Guo ZHENG set the pace with a 3-1 victory over Zuzanna WIELGOS. Leana HOCHART also lost only one game against Anna BRZYSKA, while the duel between Clea De STOPPELEIRE and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ went the full distance.

“I feel very happy because we beat Poland 3-0. They are such a good team. I felt stressed when I won 3-2. It was a difficult match for me, so I feel very lucky right now. I had 2-0 and 8-4, and then the pressure came. She came back with two games. But I won, that’s the most important,” said Clea De STOPPELEIRE.

Last year's finalists Germany played a re-run of the ultimate stage duel in Gliwice, but this time Romania concluded the match with one duel less, winning 3-1. Both teams came to Sweden with rejuvenated line-ups. There was only one exception on both sides: Bianca MEI ROSU and Mia GRIESEL.

Mia was the only scorer for Germany tonight. She beat Alesia Sofia SFERLEA, but failed to repeat the success against Bianca MEI ROSU. Lorena MORSCH also lost to Bianca, and Andrea TEGLAS secured the third point for Romania in the duel against Eireen KALAITZIDOU.

“We are ready for the finals and to win the title. Romania is a good team. We will see, but we hope to win tomorrow,” said MEI ROSU. “It was a tough match and we had to play well to win. Our goal when we came here was to reach the final. We are looking forward to playing against France in the final. We will have to play at our highest level to win.”

The final will be played tomorrow at 17:30 CET.