(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU)
Europe’s rising stars competed this week at the 2025 European U21 Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, and two of the youngest competitors left with singles titles in hand.
In U21 Men’s Singles, Spain’s Miguel Pantoja did some heavy lifting early topping the highest seed, Eduard Ionescu, in group play. Pantoja was clearly one of the top players in the event, as he continued his run all the way to the Semifinal. In that match, it was 17 year old Frenchman Flavien Coton that won 4-3. In the other half of the draw, it was Iulian Chirita of Romania to defeated Germany’s Andre Bertelsmeier 4-2. This set up a Final between another young French star (Coton is 17 like Felix Lebrun) and Romania’s 19 year old Iulian Chirita.
The Final was had an epic first game, and an epic finish. Between the first and last game were some extreme momentum changes. The first game was 18-16 in favor of Chirita. Starting game one at 16-16, Chirita won a 5-shot rally to get to game point and then won an 18 shot rally where the 17th show was a full power backhand swing for a winner. Chirita’s second game was just as strong, leading 8-4 and then holding on for the 11-8 win. However, Coton came out on fire in the third game, focusing most of his strikes towards Chirita’s backhand and forcing errors. Coton scored 4 before Chirita’s first point, and that turned out to be Chirita’s only point as Coton won 11-1. The next game was another nightmare for Chirita, as he won the first two points only to see Coton dominate ever aspect of the game winning 11-3. Coton was clearly in a groove now with the pace quickening and bigger and bigger strokes at distance – and great timing close to the table. With the two players tied 2-2, the games were again close. In the final three games it was Coton winning the first 11-7, Chirita winning the nexst 11-6, and then a tight final game that saw Chirita up early 7-4, before Coton pulled ahead 10-7… eventually Coton won 11-9. A seventeen year old is the U21 European champion… and France has another rising star to add to their already talented National Team.
A pair of Romanians joined Ukraine’s Matiunina and Wales’ Hursey in the Semifinals. Anna Hursey, the 18 year old Welsh superstar that has been making waves on the WTT tour had no trouble with Ioana Singeorzan, winning 4-0 to punch her ticket to the Final. She was joined by another 18 year old, Veronika Matiunina, who defeated Elena Zaharia 4-3. The Final included a number of close games, but Hursey ultimately won 4-1.
For full results and match highlights, visit the ETTU official site.
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