The first two titles have been decided at the European 18 & Under Championships in Klosters. The Ukrainian girls pair of Viktoria Dema & Marta Kostyuk won the doubles crown with a straight sets-win over Jule Niemeier & Lara Schmidt of Germany. 15-year old Kostyuk will have the chance to go for a second gold on Sunday when she plays in the singles final.
Later, the home crowd had reason to celebrate when Jakub Paul & Damien Wenger got the better of Russians Egor Noskin & Alexey Zakharov. The Swiss pair had stressed their supporters. In the semi-final, they were trailing 6-7 1-4 versus Marvin Moeller & Henry Squire before they launched an impressive comeback. Now, they are the first Swiss to win the doubles title in Klosters since Roman Valent & Stéphane Bohli back in 2001. Overall, the host nation has been very successful in this altitude: this was their 24th medal in 21 editions of the tournament in the mountain resort of Klosters.
The 16 & Under event in Moscow saw two surprise wins. The girls’ tournament ended with Viktoriya Kanapatskaya & Anna Kubareva of Belarus brush aside top seeded Russians Daria Frayman and Vlada Koval 6-2 6-1. Meanwhile the boys’ event culminated with a battle of two unseeded teams. Germany’s Moritz Hoffmann & Justin Schlageter took the honours, outlasting Italians Marco Furlanetto & Michele Vianello 6-3 7-6(4).
There were two fairly one-sided finals at the European 14 & Under Championships in Most, with the victors conceding just four games in both events. Joel Pierleoni & Jack Pinnington Jones of Great Britain eased past Daniel Rincon & Carlos Alcaraz Garfia of Spain 6-1 6-3, becoming the first British pair to claim the title in 22 years (pictured).
The girls’ title was won by top seeds Oksana Selekhmeteva & Maria Timofeeva of Russia, who ended the hopes of home team Daria Vidmanova & Katerina Mandelikova 6-2 6-2, marking the first time since 2012 that a Czech team has not won one of the doubles titles at the 14 & under event.
Doubles Finals
14 & Under – Most (CZE)
Boys: Pierleoni/Pinnington Jones (GBR) d. Alcara/Rincon (ESP) 6-1 6-3 (pictured, ©Jet Tanaka)
Girls: Selekhmeteva/Timofeeva (RUS) d. Mandelikova/Vidmanova (CZE) 6-2 6-2
16 & Under – Moscow (RUS)
Boys: Hoffmann/Schlageter (GER) d. Furlanetto/Vianello (ITA) 6-3 7-6(4)
Girls: Kanapatskaya/Kubareva (BLR) d. Frayman/Koval (RUS) 6-2 6-1
18 & Under - Klosters (SUI)
Boys: Paul/Wenger (SUI) d. Noskin/Zakharov (RUS) 6-3 6-3
Girls: Dema/Kostyuk (UKR) d. Niemeier/Schmidt (GER) 6-0 7-5
Sunday's Singles Finals
14 & Under Boys: (1) Holger Rune (DEN) vs. (2) Hamad Medjedovic (SRB)
14 & Under Girls: (1) Oksana Selekhmeteva (RUS) vs. Dasha Lopatetskaya (UKR)
16 & Under Boys: (1) Timofey Skatov (RUS) vs. (3) Nini-Gabriel Dica (ROU)
16 & Under Girls: (5) Maja Chwalinska (POL) vs. Caijsa Hennemann (SWE)
18 & Under Boys: (1) Corentin Moutet (FRA) vs. (2) Zsombor Piros (HUN)
18 & Under Girls: (1) Marta Kostyuk (UKR) vs. (6) Kaja Juvan (SLO)