European Youth Championships | 16 Jul 2024
Romania Defend Title in Under 19 Boys Teams Event
Photo: Manfred SCHILLINGS, DTTB
Romania defended their title in the Under 19 Boys Teams event at the European Youth Championships in Malmö. This victory marks their third consecutive gold in this event and their 34th overall in the 66-year history of the EYC. In the final, they overcame Germany in straight matches, while France and Slovakia secured the bronze medals.
From last year's winning team, Eduard IONESCU was absent, but Iulian CHIRITA took over the role of leader, proving his capability by remaining unbeaten throughout the entire championships so far.
Germany took a risk with their lineup, but it didn’t pay off. Andre BERTELSMEIER opened the match against CHIRITA, who won in four games. Andrei ISTRATE then overcame Wim VERDONSCHOT 3-1, before Darius MOVILEANU needed one game less to defeat Lleyton ULLMANN.
“I feel very happy that we won the Under 19 boys team title for the third time in a row together with my teammates. We’ve been the same team for three years, and I'm happy that we managed to win again. It was a little bit hard at the beginning, but we managed to play better and better. I think the key to this match was Germany changing BERTELSMEIER to the second position, so I played him in the first match and could win. I'm very happy that all my teammates played very well,“ said CHIRITA.
CHIRITA'S personal record is equally impressive: “For 3 years in a row, I did not lose in team's at the European Championships. I hope I will not lose next year either. This gives me much confidence for the singles event, so I hope I will continue to play better and better.“
In addition to Iulian CHIRITA, the Romanian team included Andrei ISTRATE, Darius MOVILEANU and Dragos BUJOR. Germany's complete list of players included Andre BERTELSMEIER, Wim VERDONSCHOT, Manuel PROHASKA, Matej HASPEL and Lleyton ULLMANN.
The bronze medalists from France were Flavien COTON, Nathan LAM, Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT, and Celian BESNIER. Slovakia's team included Samuel PALUSEK, Samuel ARPAS, Damian FLORO and Jakub GOLDIR.
Final Under 19 boys teams event
Romania – Germany 3-0
Iulian CHIRITA - Andre BERTELSMEIER 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11)
Andrei ISTRATE - Wim VERDONSCHOT 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 2-11, 11-5)
Darius MOVILEANU - Lleyton ULLMANN 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4)
