July 23, 2008

European Youth Championships: Few Surprises on Final Day in Terni

Paul Drinkhall Photo By: Ayoade Ademakinwa

Courtesy of ITTF The English duo of Paul Drinkhall and Gavin Evans plus Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska and Germany's Petrissa Solja now have one thing in common. They all walked away crowned as champions in their respective singles categories on Sunday July 20th as the 51st European Youth Championships wrapped up in the Terni, a small, sleepy Italian town, a two hour drive from the capital Rome.

The debate about standards and current talent levels always runs high among European coaches and officials. In fact the European Union recently launched a number of ideas, as fall-out from a coaches conference held in Istanbul, on how to move forward and improve the standard of European table tennis.

Not a Smooth Journey
Judging by the results and the overall performances in Italy, the road to success might not be a very smooth ride for the Europeans.

Paul Drinkhall, already a name for the future in Europe, needed the full seven games against Alexander Shibaev from Russia to clinch the title everybody expected him to take. Drinkhall seems to be one step ahead of his opponents but must show more consistency in his play to become a real factor on the international scene in the years to come.

Close Final
Margaryta Pesotska defeated Amelie Solja from Germany in a tough seven game outing that went way to the wire. Pesotska finally won her second title at these championships and is the new Junior Girls’ champion of Europe winning 12-10 in the deciding game.

High Level
Both of the cadet events featured good and high level table tennis. Gavin Evans had a shaky start against the one year younger Swede Hampus Söderlund but turned things around to a solid 4-2 victory to clinch the Boys' title.

Most Successful Player
Petrissa Solja from Germany might very well be the best athlete present at the 2008 Europeans. The young German won her third title in Terni when she overcame the talented young Romanian Bernadette Szocs in the final.

Solja can now make the journey back to Germany undefeated in team and singles and doubles.