Ukraine performed a quite remarkable recovery; at the quarter-final stage they lost the opening two matches against Romania, before winning three in a row to seal victory.

Sofia Sheredeha experienced defeat at the hands of Bianca Mei Rosu (11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6), Veronika Matiunina was beaten by Ioana Baiasu (12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11, 16-14). In the doubles, the Ukrainians appeared on the brink of defeat, they lost the opening two games, won the third and sparked a recovery (12-14, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7).

A ray of hope, Veronika Matiunina overcame Bianca Mei Rosu (11-9, 11-9, 11-8), before Sofia Sheredeha accounted for Ioana Baiasu to complete the fightback (11-2, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8).

Confident in their approach with no changes to the selection required, a 3-0 win was recorded against the French duo of Gaetane Bled and Leana Hochart to reserve a place in the final.

Similarly, but not in quite such a dramatic fashion, the top seeds, the German pairing of Annett Kaufmann and Mia Griesel, experienced a severe test.

After recording a 3-1 win against the Belarus duo comprising Ulyana Miashchanskaya and Veronika Varabyova; facing Poland, the German pair needed the full five matches to secure victory.

Mainstay of the success was Annett Kaufmann; the heroine was Mia Griesel.

Annette Kaufmann beat both Natalia Bogdanowicz (11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5) and Wiktoria Wrobel (12-10, 11-8, 14-12), in the vital fifth match of the contest Mia Griesel overcame Natalia Bogdanowicz (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7).

Somewhat differently in the boys’ team event, comprehensive wins were the order of the day, as the favourites to contest the title progressed.

Represented by Dragos Alexandru Bujor and Iulian Chirita, the top seeded Romanian duo posted a 3-0 win against the German combination formed by Luis Kraus and Lleyton Ullmann, before securing a 3-1 success in opposition to the third seeds, the Czech partnership of Stepan Brhel and Martin Sip.

Similarly, the French pairing comprising Flavien Coton and Felix Lebrun, the second seeds, asserted their authority.

A 3-0 last eight win against Slovakia’s Kristian Uherik and Samuel Arpas was followed by the same margin of victory in opposition to Russia’s Roman Vinogradov and Aleksei Samokhin.

Notably, at the quarter-final stage, Roman Vinogradov and Aleksei Samokhin had secured a 3-1 win in opposition to the no.4 seeds, the Polish combination of Alan Kulczycki and Michal Wandachowicz.

The final and the play-off fixtures in both the boys’ team and girls’ team events will be staged on Friday 30th July.

Gazprom 2021 European Youth Championships results