Romania is the country to excel in the girls’ events at the European Youth Championships in Sarajevo; in both the junior and cadet events their teams have reached the final.
In the Junior Girls’ Team event they overcame Germany in the quarter-finals followed by Hungary at the penultimate stage, whilst in the Cadet Girls’ Team event the respective victims were Russia and Slovakia.

Close Call
Closest call for the Romanian junior girls came in quarter-finals against Germany. A three-two score line was the order of proceedings with Elizabeta Samara the player who steered her country to victory. She beat Amelie Solja in the opening match of the fixture and overcame Laura Matzke in the vital last match; both victories being secured in straight games.

In between the two Samara victories, Daniela Dodean had put Romania two-nil ahead by beating Laura Matzke but then Germany recovered. Rosalia Stähr won a nail-biting five game encounter against Andreea Mamaliga and Amelie Solja rose to the occasion to overcome Daniela Dodean in three straight games.

Normal Service
A tough quarter-final contest, it was to a great extent `normal service’ resumed at the semi-final stage with Hungary beaten by three matches to nil and every contest being resolved in straight games. Daniela Dodean beat Li Bin, Elizabeta Samara overcame Szandra Pergel and Andreea Mamaliga accounted for Barbara Barasso.

More Impressive
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Girls’ Team event the Romanians were even more impressive. In the quarters against Russia Cristina Hirici beat Maria Chernekova, Bernadette Szöcs followed suit to beat Tatiana Ryabova and the duo combined to win the doubles.

However, against Slovakia in the semi-finals it was a somewhat more testing encounter with the score line of three-one the end result. Bernadette Szöcs lost the opening match to Barbora Balazova but from that point onwards it was unabated Romanian success. Cristina Hirici beat Simona Lazarcikova, Hirici and Anamaria Sebe combined to win the doubles against Balazova and Lazarcikova whilst Hirici once again showed her class to end matters by beating Balazova.

Hard Way
In the final of the Junior Girls’ Team event Romania face Poland whilst in the Cadet Girls’ Team final, the adversaries are Ukraine.

The Poles reached the final the `hard way’, in both the quarters and the semis the contest went the full five match distance. Against Croatia it was Natalia Partyka who steered Poland to victory. She beat Ivanka Bilobrk and crucially in the fourth match of the contest, Sanja Paukovic. The remaining Polish win came from Marta Golota in the vital last match against Ivanka Bilobrk whilst for Croatia the successes were recorded by Sanja Paukovic against Marta Golota and by Mirela Durak in opposition to Natalia Bak.

Heroine
A reverse for Natalia Bak but in the semi-final against Russia, she was the heroine.

She beat both Ekaterina Kolodyazhnaya and Elena Troshneva in the first and last matches of the duel whilst in the second contest Natalia Partyka overcame Elena Troshneva. The Russian wins came from Marina Shavyrina against Marta Golota and from Ekaterina Kolodyazhnaya in opposition to Natalia Partyka.

Maharyta Pestotska Unbeaten
Similarly, for Ukraine in the Cadet Girls’ Team event it was a tough road to the final with Marharyta Pesotska the player they have to thank for their success. The winner of the Girls’ Singles title at the ITTF World Cadet Challenge in 2005, she remained unbeaten to steer her country to victory.

In the three-one win over Germany she beat Lena Krapf and Ann-Kathrin Hedges whilst Polina Trifnova also beat Hedges; the one German success coming in the doubles with Ann-Kathrin Hedges and Petrissa Solja beating Marharyta Pesostka and Polina Trifnova.

Semi-Final Success
Meanwhile, in the semi-final against Hungary, Pesotska beat both Krisztina Ambrus and Edna Tóth whilst in the crucial last match Polina Trifnova defeated Krisztina Ambrus in five games.

Success for Hungary came in the doubles with Rita Csaki and Edna Tóth defeating Polina Trifnova Marharyta Pesotska whilst in the opening contest Tóth overcame Trifnova

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