DaveR
07-20-2008, 05:40 PM
England's best ever European Youth Championships by a long way, Terni in Italy will not be forgotten for a long time.
4 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals!
The Roll of Honour
Cadet Boys Team........Silver..........Gavin Evans, Liam Pitchford, Sean Cullen, Daniel Lowe
Junior Boys Singles.....Gold and Bronze - Paul Drinkhall (Gold) - Darius Knight (Bronze)
Cadet Boys Singles.....Gold and bronze -Gavin Evans (Gold) - Liam Pitchford (Bronze)
Junior Boys Doubles....Gold -Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight
Cadet Boys Doubles....Silver -Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck(Belgium)
Junior Mixed Doubles...Gold and Bronze - Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya (Russia) (Gold) - Darius Knight and Amelie Solja (Germany) (Bronze)
Cadet Mixed Doubles....Bronze -Gavin Evans and Petrissa Solja (Germany)
and
Cadet Boys Consolation Singles...Winner - Sean Cullen
The morning saw the 9 possible individual medals resolve themselves into 4 Bronzes and 5 Silver/Gold, the afternoon converted those five into 4 Gold and a Silver.
Mixed Doubles started the day with both England/German Pairs, both No 1 seeds, Darius Knight and Amelie Solja losing in the Junior Mixed semi final and Gavin Evans and Petrisse Solja losing in the Cadet Mixed semi final. No such problems for no 2 seeds in the Junior mixed as Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya reached the final with a 3-1 defeat of Borna Kovac of Croatia and Aurore Dessant of France.
Next round of interest was the Junior and Cadet Boys Doubles, neither team stumbled, Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight beat Thomas Le Breton and Victorien Le Guen of France, they dropped the third set but dominated the fourth to win 3-1.
In the Cadet Doubles Gavin Evans partnered by Cedric Nuytinck of Belgium went the full distance with Quentin Robinot and Dorian Nicholle winning 11-7 in the fifth.
Next up were the Consolation finals and Sean Cullen took the winners trophy in the Cadet Boys Consolation Singles beating Leonardo Mutti of Italy in 4 sets.
So to the Singles Semi Finals
In the Junior Boys Paul Drinkhall faced Daniel Kosiba of Hungary, Paul dropped the second set at deuce but in general he was always on top and ran out a 4-1 winner. Darius Knight faced the Russian no 2 seed Alexander Shibaev, the Russian is a very strong player who is not averse to a bit of gamesmanship and Darius was not at all happy over the manner of his 4-2 defeat. A Bronze for Darius is hopefully some consolation.
In the Cadet Boys, Gavin Evans, seeded one, was in charge, after 4 games shared equally, running out a 4-2 winner over Simon Gauzy of France. The wonderful run of Liam Pitchford finally came to the end as Sweden's Hampus Soderlund took the Final place with a 4-1 win. A bronze therefore for Liam
So to the afternoon
First the Mixed Doubles, Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya of Russia against Honor Szocs and Canelia Postoaca of Romania.
The British/Russian duo started very slowly and a little nervously and lost the first set quite easily, they recovered from this setback in a manner which got better and better as the next 3 sets progressed, Junior Mixed Doubles Gold for Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya.
Next series of matches Boys and Girls Doubles, in the Junior Boys Doubles Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight dominated from the first point over Bojan Crepulka and Marko Petkov winning comfortably in 3 sets. A Gold medal for Paul and Darius.
In the Cadet Doubles it was the same story on the other foot, the all Belgian pair of Julien Indeherberg and Emilien Van Rossomme, no. 1 seeds were always in control over the no. 2 seeds Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck also of Belgium, like the junior final it was 3-0 and Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck were limited to just a Silver medal.
Final round and the highlight of the day, Cadet Boys Singles, Gavin Evans against Hampus Soderlund of Sweden, Gavin started really well but was pegged back by Soderlund and had to scramble to take the first on deuce. The second and third games went to the Swede but from then on Gavin played superbly winning 3 sets on the trot to become European Cadet Boys Singles Champion.
On the other side of the hall Paul Drinkhall, no 1 seed, was battling it out against number 2 seed Alexander Shibaev of Russia, first two games went to Paul, Shibaev replied with the next two, fifth game to Paul but although he looked good in the sixth game it was Shibaev who took it.
One set to 11 to decide the championship, Paul got his nose in front, kept his form under some intense pressure form the Russian and took the final set 11-6 to become European Junior Boys Singles Champion.
Paul Drinkhall is of course a triple Champion at this event, a feat achieved by only a very limited few in the Championships, and the first for almost 50 years, only Cobrirzan of Romania in 1958, Negulescu of Romania in 1959 and Polankovic of Czechoslovakia in 1961 have achieved the Junior boys treble.
Gavin Evans with a Team Silver, Doubles Silver, Mixed bronze and of course Singles Gold emphasized his standing amongst the rest of Europe.
Liam Pitchford came of age and performed really well and while Darius Knight will not be totally content with two Bronze medals and a Doubles he played excellently on the last three days of the Championships under the coaching of Alan Cooke
A very young Junior and Cadet Girls squad are not competitive with the best of Europe by quite a long way but they improved on the Junior and Cadet girls positions on the previous years and should be commended for their efforts.
Results
Cadet Boys
Semi Finals
EVANS G. (ENG) beat GAUZY S. (FRA) -6;5;-9;10;8;5
PITCHFORD L. (ENG) lost to SODERLUND H. (SWE) 9;9;5;-9;9
Final
EVANS G. (ENG) beat SODERLUND H. (SWE) 13;-7;-6;7;8;10
Junior Boys
Semi Finals
DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat KOSIBA D. (HUN) 2;-12;9;8;5
KNIGHT D. (ENG) lost to SHIBAEV A. (RUS) 5;-7;9;7;-6;8
Final
DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat SHIBAEV A. (RUS) 8;6;-7;-5;4;-9;6
Cadet Mixed Doubles
Semi Finals
EVANS G./SOLJA P. (ENG-GER) lost to LORENTZ R./GASNIER L. (FRA) 4;12;5
Junior Mixed Doubles
Semi Finals
KNIGHT D./SOLJA A. (ENG-GER) lost to SZOCS H./POSTOACA C. (ROU) 8;8;4
KOVAC B./DESSAINT A. (HRV-FRA) lost to DRINKHALL P./KOLODYAZHNAYA Y. (ENG-RUS) 14;9;-10;1
Final
DRINKHALL P./KOLODYAZHNAYA Y. (ENG-RUS) beat SZOCS H./POSTOACA C. (ROU) -6;6;4;3
Junior Boys Doubles
Semi Finals
DRINKHALL P./KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat LE BRETON T./LE GUEN V. (FRA) -9;6;9;9
Finals
DRINKHALL P./KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat CREPULJA B./PETKOV M. (SRB) 6;8;6
Cadet Boys Doubles
Semi Finals
ROBINOT Q./NICOLLE D. (FRA) lost to EVANS G./NUYTINCK C. (ENG-BEL) -4;4;5;-3;7
Final
INDEHERBERG J./VAN ROSSOMME E. (BEL) beat EVANS G./NUYTINCK C. (ENG-BEL) 4;7;9
Cadet Boys Consolation Singles
Final
CULLEN S. (ENG) beat MUTTI L. (ITA) -7;5;6;4
The Above article is from the ETTA but highlights we should shout from the rooftops if we are to gain more funding from the Government, we also praise all involved in the afore mentioned results.
The positives should be pushed forward with so many sports looking for recognition and so few gaining it.
Well done!
http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/table/team1.jpg
4 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals!
The Roll of Honour
Cadet Boys Team........Silver..........Gavin Evans, Liam Pitchford, Sean Cullen, Daniel Lowe
Junior Boys Singles.....Gold and Bronze - Paul Drinkhall (Gold) - Darius Knight (Bronze)
Cadet Boys Singles.....Gold and bronze -Gavin Evans (Gold) - Liam Pitchford (Bronze)
Junior Boys Doubles....Gold -Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight
Cadet Boys Doubles....Silver -Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck(Belgium)
Junior Mixed Doubles...Gold and Bronze - Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya (Russia) (Gold) - Darius Knight and Amelie Solja (Germany) (Bronze)
Cadet Mixed Doubles....Bronze -Gavin Evans and Petrissa Solja (Germany)
and
Cadet Boys Consolation Singles...Winner - Sean Cullen
The morning saw the 9 possible individual medals resolve themselves into 4 Bronzes and 5 Silver/Gold, the afternoon converted those five into 4 Gold and a Silver.
Mixed Doubles started the day with both England/German Pairs, both No 1 seeds, Darius Knight and Amelie Solja losing in the Junior Mixed semi final and Gavin Evans and Petrisse Solja losing in the Cadet Mixed semi final. No such problems for no 2 seeds in the Junior mixed as Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya reached the final with a 3-1 defeat of Borna Kovac of Croatia and Aurore Dessant of France.
Next round of interest was the Junior and Cadet Boys Doubles, neither team stumbled, Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight beat Thomas Le Breton and Victorien Le Guen of France, they dropped the third set but dominated the fourth to win 3-1.
In the Cadet Doubles Gavin Evans partnered by Cedric Nuytinck of Belgium went the full distance with Quentin Robinot and Dorian Nicholle winning 11-7 in the fifth.
Next up were the Consolation finals and Sean Cullen took the winners trophy in the Cadet Boys Consolation Singles beating Leonardo Mutti of Italy in 4 sets.
So to the Singles Semi Finals
In the Junior Boys Paul Drinkhall faced Daniel Kosiba of Hungary, Paul dropped the second set at deuce but in general he was always on top and ran out a 4-1 winner. Darius Knight faced the Russian no 2 seed Alexander Shibaev, the Russian is a very strong player who is not averse to a bit of gamesmanship and Darius was not at all happy over the manner of his 4-2 defeat. A Bronze for Darius is hopefully some consolation.
In the Cadet Boys, Gavin Evans, seeded one, was in charge, after 4 games shared equally, running out a 4-2 winner over Simon Gauzy of France. The wonderful run of Liam Pitchford finally came to the end as Sweden's Hampus Soderlund took the Final place with a 4-1 win. A bronze therefore for Liam
So to the afternoon
First the Mixed Doubles, Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya of Russia against Honor Szocs and Canelia Postoaca of Romania.
The British/Russian duo started very slowly and a little nervously and lost the first set quite easily, they recovered from this setback in a manner which got better and better as the next 3 sets progressed, Junior Mixed Doubles Gold for Paul Drinkhall and Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya.
Next series of matches Boys and Girls Doubles, in the Junior Boys Doubles Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight dominated from the first point over Bojan Crepulka and Marko Petkov winning comfortably in 3 sets. A Gold medal for Paul and Darius.
In the Cadet Doubles it was the same story on the other foot, the all Belgian pair of Julien Indeherberg and Emilien Van Rossomme, no. 1 seeds were always in control over the no. 2 seeds Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck also of Belgium, like the junior final it was 3-0 and Gavin Evans and Cedric Nuytinck were limited to just a Silver medal.
Final round and the highlight of the day, Cadet Boys Singles, Gavin Evans against Hampus Soderlund of Sweden, Gavin started really well but was pegged back by Soderlund and had to scramble to take the first on deuce. The second and third games went to the Swede but from then on Gavin played superbly winning 3 sets on the trot to become European Cadet Boys Singles Champion.
On the other side of the hall Paul Drinkhall, no 1 seed, was battling it out against number 2 seed Alexander Shibaev of Russia, first two games went to Paul, Shibaev replied with the next two, fifth game to Paul but although he looked good in the sixth game it was Shibaev who took it.
One set to 11 to decide the championship, Paul got his nose in front, kept his form under some intense pressure form the Russian and took the final set 11-6 to become European Junior Boys Singles Champion.
Paul Drinkhall is of course a triple Champion at this event, a feat achieved by only a very limited few in the Championships, and the first for almost 50 years, only Cobrirzan of Romania in 1958, Negulescu of Romania in 1959 and Polankovic of Czechoslovakia in 1961 have achieved the Junior boys treble.
Gavin Evans with a Team Silver, Doubles Silver, Mixed bronze and of course Singles Gold emphasized his standing amongst the rest of Europe.
Liam Pitchford came of age and performed really well and while Darius Knight will not be totally content with two Bronze medals and a Doubles he played excellently on the last three days of the Championships under the coaching of Alan Cooke
A very young Junior and Cadet Girls squad are not competitive with the best of Europe by quite a long way but they improved on the Junior and Cadet girls positions on the previous years and should be commended for their efforts.
Results
Cadet Boys
Semi Finals
EVANS G. (ENG) beat GAUZY S. (FRA) -6;5;-9;10;8;5
PITCHFORD L. (ENG) lost to SODERLUND H. (SWE) 9;9;5;-9;9
Final
EVANS G. (ENG) beat SODERLUND H. (SWE) 13;-7;-6;7;8;10
Junior Boys
Semi Finals
DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat KOSIBA D. (HUN) 2;-12;9;8;5
KNIGHT D. (ENG) lost to SHIBAEV A. (RUS) 5;-7;9;7;-6;8
Final
DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat SHIBAEV A. (RUS) 8;6;-7;-5;4;-9;6
Cadet Mixed Doubles
Semi Finals
EVANS G./SOLJA P. (ENG-GER) lost to LORENTZ R./GASNIER L. (FRA) 4;12;5
Junior Mixed Doubles
Semi Finals
KNIGHT D./SOLJA A. (ENG-GER) lost to SZOCS H./POSTOACA C. (ROU) 8;8;4
KOVAC B./DESSAINT A. (HRV-FRA) lost to DRINKHALL P./KOLODYAZHNAYA Y. (ENG-RUS) 14;9;-10;1
Final
DRINKHALL P./KOLODYAZHNAYA Y. (ENG-RUS) beat SZOCS H./POSTOACA C. (ROU) -6;6;4;3
Junior Boys Doubles
Semi Finals
DRINKHALL P./KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat LE BRETON T./LE GUEN V. (FRA) -9;6;9;9
Finals
DRINKHALL P./KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat CREPULJA B./PETKOV M. (SRB) 6;8;6
Cadet Boys Doubles
Semi Finals
ROBINOT Q./NICOLLE D. (FRA) lost to EVANS G./NUYTINCK C. (ENG-BEL) -4;4;5;-3;7
Final
INDEHERBERG J./VAN ROSSOMME E. (BEL) beat EVANS G./NUYTINCK C. (ENG-BEL) 4;7;9
Cadet Boys Consolation Singles
Final
CULLEN S. (ENG) beat MUTTI L. (ITA) -7;5;6;4
The Above article is from the ETTA but highlights we should shout from the rooftops if we are to gain more funding from the Government, we also praise all involved in the afore mentioned results.
The positives should be pushed forward with so many sports looking for recognition and so few gaining it.
Well done!
http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/table/team1.jpg