by Ian Marshall
Felix Lebrun, a right handed pen-holder in the guise of Wang Hao, led France to victory in the boys’ team event; he remained unbeaten throughout the whole competition.
At the final hurdle, France, the second seeds, recorded a 3-1 success against the Romanian combination of Dragos Alexandru Bujor and Iulian Chirita, the top seeds.
Felix Lebrun beat Dragos Alexandru Bujor (12-10, 11-8, 11-5) and Iulian Chirita (13-15, 11-2, 13-11, 11-9); sandwiched in between, he partnered Antoine Noirault to doubles success (11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 6-11, 11-4).
The one win for Romania was recorded in the second match of the contest when Iulian Chirita overcame Flavien Coton (12-10, 11-4, 12-10).
Outstanding from Felix Lebrun, it was the same from Annett Kaufmann, in her singles matches, she maintained an unblemished record, the only reverse being at the semi-final stage against Poland when partnering Mia Griesel. A doubles reverse was experienced at the hands of Natalia Bogdanowicz and Wiktoria Wrobel (11-3, 11-9, 14-12).
In the final against Ukraine, Annett Kaufmann and Mia Griesel underlined the reasons why they occupied the top seeded position.
Mia Griesel beat Veronika Matiunina (6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 12-10), before Annett Kaufmann accounted for Sofia Sheredeha (11-6, 11-3, 11-6) and a doubles success in opposition to Anastasiia Khachaturova and Veronika Matiunina (12-10, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5) brought matters to a conclusion.
It was the sixth occasion in the history of the European Youth Championships, the cadet team events first being held in 1969 in Obertraun, when Germany had secured the cadet girls’ team title; for France it was their tenth such boys’ team success.
Attention now turns to the individual events in the cadet age group, play concludes on Monday 2nd August.