France’s Lucie Gauthier concluded her Women’s Singles Group C campaign in perfect fashion, making it three wins from three with a ruthless display against Ukraine’s Anastasiya Dymytrenko (11-6, 12-10, 11-5, 11-8). The runner-up spot was reserved by Romania’s Elena Zaharia, who also needed just four games to see off Slovak counterpart Tatiana Kukulkova (11-3, 13-11, 11-9, 12-10).

Group F ended in major disappointment for Anastasia Kolish after the top-ranked entry in the group failed to contain Romania’s Tania Plaian (11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8). Lithuania’s Kornelija Riliskyte joins Plaian in the knock-out draw following her second position finish in the group.

“I was playing for the top spot in the group soI was very focused against Kolish. Of course, I got some extra confidence from yesterday’s good result. The match against Riliskyte was not easy, especially as I saw her beating Kolish before our duel. I was a little bit afraid before the start, but as the match progressed everything went well,” said Tania Plaian

Tensions were high in Group H as German’s Franziska Schreiner and Turkey’s Ece Harac met face-to-face in what was essentially a play-off for the runner-up spot. Following a gruelling six-game contest, it was Schreiner who held the upper hand (11-7, 11-4, 13-15, 11-3, 13-15, 11-8) and makes her way through to the Round of 16 alongside group winner, Romania’s Andreea Dragoman.

The remaining Round of 16 positions have been awarded to Russia’s Mariia Tailakova and Elizabet Abraamian, France’s Camille Lutz, Germany’s Annett Kaufmann, Serbia’s Sabina Surjan, Poland’s Katarzyna and Anna Wegrzyn, Slovakia’s Ema Labosova, Italy’s Jamila Laurenti and Croatia’s Hana Arapovic.

Laurens Devos is out of the Men’s Singles running after the Belgian hopeful fell short in a crucial head-to-head against Poland’s Samuel Kulczycki (12-14, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9).

There was better luck for the other host nation representatives in action. Olav Kosolosky accounted for Slovakia’s Jakub Zelinka (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9) to claim the runner-up spot in Group H. Nicolas Degros and Adrien Rassenfosse experienced defeat in their encounters with group winners, Germany’s Feng Manbo (11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4) and Romania’s Rares Sipos (11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7), but had done enough on the previous day to ensure their passage to the next round.

“As before, I lost the opening match but I still managed to go through. I was not very worried, and I am confident with my game here,” said Rares Sipos.

Russian star Vladimir Sidorenko suffered a third-straight defeat to finish bottom of Group D, losing out to Slovakia’s Adam Klajber 4-3 (3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9). Meanwhile, France’s Irvin Bertrand outclassed Carlo Rossi 4-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5) to beat the Italian to top spot.

The other players to progress were France’s Leo De Nodrest and Bastien Rembert, Russia’s Lev Katsman and Maksim Grebnev, Romania’s Cristian Pletea, Greece’s Ioannis Sgouropoulos, Croatia’s Ivor Ban and Germany’s Cedric Meissner.

Irvin Bertrand and Leila Mostafavi extended their run in the Mixed Doubles event, after the French pair earnt a notable 3-0 quarter-final win over the fierce Russian partnership of Lev Katsman and Elizabet Abraamian (13-11, 11-3, 11-8). Romania’s Cristian Pletea and Rares Sipos will play no further part in the Men’s Doubles following their defeat to Belgium’s very own Adrien Rassenfosse and Olav Kosolosky (13-11, 11-9, 11-7), while Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz and Ece Harac recovered a 1-2 deficit to beat Italy’s Jamila Laurenti and Anastasiya Dymytrenko to a semi-final ticket (11-8, 5-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8).

For event details for the 2021 European Under 21 Championships click here.