At the 67th European Youth Championships in table tennis, held in Gondomar, Portugal, compass-supported Danilo Faso (Italy) and Görkem Öcal (Türkiye) captured the singles gold medals in the U19 and U15 events respectively.

The compass duo of Ladimir Mayorov (Spain) and Louis Fegerl (Austria) won the U15 boys’ doubles title, while Mayorov, partnering Alexandra Nawrocka (Poland), also became European champion in the U15 mixed doubles.

All in all, six compass players won a total of eleven medals – a great success for the foundation.

“I am really happy,” Görkem Öcal (born in 2011) said directly after his 4:0 win in the U15 singles final against Sweden’s Emil Ellermann. “We worked so hard and had just one belief – last year I lost in the final, and this time I wasn’t going to make that mistake.”

“I am so happy it happened,” young Görkem continued. “Now I want a little break to rest, then I will start working for new victories. Thanks a lot to everyone!”

Even though the final turned into a relatively easy stroll in the park, Görkem had been tested several times earlier in the tournament – although he was never really close to losing.

Against his doubles partner Onur Guluzade of Azerbaijan in the round of 32, the match went the full seven games, but Görkem took the deciding game 11:4. Against Oliver Olejnik of Czechia in the round of 16, Görkem was 1:2 down before turning the match around to win 4:2. The quarterfinal against Hubert Kwiecinski went more smoothly, with Görkem winning 4:0.

In the semifinal against compass-supported Ladimir Mayorov, Görkem again found himself 0:2 down. From there, however, he won four straight games to secure his place in the final.

Ladimir Mayorov played an excellent U15 singles event. Being two years younger than many of his opponents, he impressed throughout the tournament. He defeated Nil Engler (Israel) 4:1 and Evgenii Dosov (AIN) 4:0 before overcoming the very strong Frenchman Noah Tessier 4:2. In the quarterfinal, he produced another impressive performance to defeat Germany’s number one, Tien Nghia Phong, 4:0.

Ladimir’s singles journey ended in the semifinal. After taking a 2:0 lead against Görkem Öcal, he eventually went down 2:4.

Danilo Faso, who defeated Görkem in last year’s U15 singles final, this time had to compete against players up to three years older in the U19 category. And how he did! Danilo, ranked 30th in the European U19 ranking and seeded 17–32 at the championships, sensationally won the whole competition!

After overcoming Georgios Kosmas of Greece, Mark Gergely of Hungary and Uros Ninkovic of Serbia, Danilo faced host nation player Tiago Abiodun in a thrilling seven-game encounter. Danilo won the first two games, but the Portuguese fought back to level the match at 3:3. In the decider, Danilo proved the stronger player and won 11:9.

“Very strong from Danilo,” compass expert coach Bogdan Punga commented from the stands. “Despite the difficulties, Danilo showed that he could handle his emotions and solve the challenges in a very impressive way.”

In the quarterfinal, Danilo defeated Poland’s Patryk Zyworonek 4:1. In the semifinal against Aleksei Samokhin (AIN, Individual Neutral Athlete), there was another seven-game thriller. Danilo was 2:3 down but turned the match around by winning the final two games 11:5 and 11:9.

In the final, the young Italian secured the biggest title of his career so far with a 4:2 victory over France’s Nathan Pilard – 10:12, 9:11, 11:9, 11:4, 11:8, 11:5.

“It was a very good match and I’m really happy with the way I played,” Danilo commented after the final. “I was quite satisfied with my game already in the team event and felt I could go for a medal in singles, but I could not dream of winning.

In a final, you know your opponent is going to play really well, so it’s important to stay calm, keep believing in yourself and try to raise your level as the match goes on. That’s what I managed to do today.”

Also remarkable was the U15 doubles triumph of Ladimir Mayorov and Louis Fegerl. In fact, no pair came particularly close to defeating them. The Spanish/Austrian compass duo, both born in 2013, had already won silver last year. In Gondomar, they went one step further and claimed gold despite being up to two years younger than their opponents.

In the semifinal, Ladimir and Louis defeated singles champion Görkem Öcal and his Azerbaijani partner Onur Guluzade 3:2, taking the deciding game 11:7. In the final, they overcame Germany’s Tien Nghia Phong and Lukas Wang, again winning 3:2 and taking the decider 11:8.

Ladimir also won gold in the U15 mixed doubles, partnering Poland’s Alexandra Nawrocka. Görkem, partnering his compatriot Ela Su Yonter, made it to the final, where they lost 1:3 to Ladimir and Alexandra.

In the singles event, Louis Fegerl won a dramatic seven-game encounter against England’s Pablo Ramirez Rioja, taking the deciding game 11:9. He then defeated Luxembourg’s Philip Theisen in straight games before losing 2:4 to Tien Nghia Phong. He gained plenty of valuable experience for the years ahead.

Besides the gold and silver medals, as well as Görkem’s bronze in the U15 boys’ doubles, compass-supported players won another four bronze medals.

Siri Benjegård returned home to Sweden with three bronze medals around her neck, won in the U15 team event, mixed doubles with compatriot Emil Ellermann, and singles. In the singles quarterfinal, Siri defeated Albane Rochut after a strong performance before losing 1:4 to eventual champion Amina Ilimbetova (AIN) in the semifinal.

“Siri has improved and developed her game, which she especially showed in the quarterfinal,” compass expert coach Evelyn Simon stated directly from the arena in Gondomar. “Against Ilimbetova in the semifinal, Siri lost the first two games by very narrow margins. Winning one of them could have changed the outcome, but overall the AIN player was stronger today.”

Joel Isaksson secured a bronze medal for Sweden in the U15 team event, winning the decisive match with the overall score tied at 2:2 both against Azerbaijan in the round of 16 and against Türkiye in the quarterfinal. Sweden then lost to Germany in the semifinal, with Germany going on to lose the final to Poland.

Adela Brhelova of Czechia, born in 2013 and with two more years to compete in the U15 events, defeated England’s Alyssa Nguyen in singles. In the round of 32, she lost 1:4 to the host nation’s Maria Ruivo. Joel Isaksson lost 1:4 to Matvei Manankov (AIN) in the round of 64.

compass Managing Director Daniel Zwickl was proud of his team:

“I want to congratulate our supported players, their coaches and parents, as well as everyone else working with them behind the scenes. Danilo managed to overcome several critical moments on his way to the title. Görkem was the favourite, which is never easy, but he lived up to expectations with a great performance and attitude, especially in the final rounds.

Ladimir impressed me with the way he performed, showing different skills throughout the ten days, winning two titles and also playing very well in singles. I also want to underline Siri’s performance throughout the whole tournament. She showed her qualities and performed very consistently. Our newest member of the compass team, Louis, also achieved a great victory in doubles. He has a lot to offer, which we will see in the future.”

To summarize, six of the seven compass players at the 2026 European Youth Championships won medals. Ladimir claimed two gold medals and one bronze, Görkem one gold, one silver and one bronze, Siri three bronzes, Danilo one gold, Louis one gold and Joel one bronze.

Overall, the compass-supported players won 11 medals – five gold, one silver and five bronze.

Bogdan Pugna: “The compass players showed that they are on their way to playing senior-level table tennis. Now it is time for some rest before sitting down and analysing the next steps in each player’s journey towards fulfilling their potential.”