Silver for Josi at the European U21 Championships
At the European U21 Championships, 15-year-old compass supported German Josi Neumann won a silver medal. Josi and her compatriot Wim Verdonschot won the medal in the mixed doubles. “It was unexpected,” said Josi after the tournament. “It was the first time we played together.”
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15-year-old Josi Neumann won silver in the mixed doubles at the European U21 Championships held in Bratislava from 7-11 May. Photo: ETTU
“We harmonised very well,” she continues. “We had fun. We laughed, but we were still serious.”
The road to the final began with a 3:1 win over Martin Froseth and Maja Hansen (Norway/Denmark). They continued with a 3:0 win over Nathan Lam and Nina Guozheng of France and then a 3:1 win over Miguel Pantoja/Elvira Fiona Rad of Spain.
“Our playing styles also harmonised well. I play with a lot of spin on the first ball – and Wim plays hard and fast with his forehand on the next. We scored several points that way.”
Smooth and close
The semi-final against Tiago Abiodun of Portugal and Hana Arapovic of Croatia went more smoothly than expected – 11:7, 11:6, 11:4. The final against Darius Movileanu and Elena Zaharia from Romania was much closer.
“We were down 1:2 and 6:10 and saved several match balls in the fourth set and won the set.”
But the decisive set was not the best for the Germans and the final score was 11:9, 8:11, 9:11, 13:11 – and finally 5:11).
“They played very well tactically and cleverly. And they have been training together for ages and have played in some competitions.”
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We harmonised very well,
Tough group in singles
In singles, Josi won her first group but finished third in the second stage, losing to France’s Nina Guozheng and Croatia’s Hana Arapovic, who joined the last 16 players in the knockout stage.
“It was a strong group and not much to say. It was a clear loss.”
Anna Hursey of Wales was the eventual winner and champion. And in the doubles, Josi and Koharu Itagaki lost in the first round to Illasova/Wiltschkova of Slovakia.
So how has your 2024/2025 season been so far? With the EYC still to play as another highlight.
“Good, thank you. I came back from a long injury in my shoulder, which was finally healed until the end of September last year. I played well at the World Youth Championships at the end of 2024 and had good results on the WTT Youth Tour in 2025. I have been more positive at the table. I beat the high ranked Yoo Yerin from Korea Republic twice. I have developed my game a lot.”
At the World Youth Championships you won a medal with the German U15 team after losing to China in the semi-finals. In the singles, you lost to China’s Yao Ruixuan in the quarter-finals. She became world champion without losing a single game.
How will you be able to beat the best Chinese players in the future?
“Yao Ruixuan is exceptional, she did not lose a single game during the World Junior Championships. But I have been close to winning against other very good Chinese players of my age. I know that I can vary my spin in the openings and the forehand loops in a way that makes them a bit nervous. But they still win because they are more consistent. They just rarely miss. So if I can develop my variation game and at the same time be more stable at the table – then I have a chance”.
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Italy's Danilo Faso caused an upset when he defeated France's Nathan Lam. The 15-year-old also beat Sweden's William Bergenblock. Photo: ETTU
Danilo collecting valuable victories
Back to the U21 European Championships. Also the compass supported Italian Danilo Faso, born in 2010 and much younger than most of his opponents, played a good event. Danilo played best in the singles where he surprised with a 4:2 win over Nathan Lam from France. Apart from that, Danilo lost to the strong Daniel Berzosa and the Portuguese Tiago Abiodun in straight sets, but in fairly even matches. Earlier in the tournament, he had also beaten Sweden’s William Bergenblock and Finland’s Aleksi Rasanen, who were both ranked higher than him.
Danilo, teamed with compatriot Nicole Arlia, lost 14:16 in the decider to Borna Petek/Natalia Bogdanowicz (Croatia/Poland) in the second round of the mixed doubles.
In the doubles, he and Belgian Tom Closset lost the fifth and deciding game 4:11 to Kas van Oost (Netherlands) and, once again, Borna Petek.
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Flavien Coton, France. The compass alumni recently became European U21 Champion. Photo: ETTU
Flavien champion in the boys singles
Compass alumnus, 17 year old Flavien Coton, showed his level and became the Europan U21 singles champion after several tough matches. Coton defeated Julian Chirita of Romania 4:3 in the final,11:9 in the decider! And in the semi-final against Miguel Pantoja from Spain – 11:4 in the decider. The quarter-final against Spain’s Daniel Berzosa was a much quieter affair – 4:1.
“We would like to congratulate Flavien, who has been supported by compass for a long time, on winning the U21 European Championship title, which adds to his collection of several European titles in the youth categories,” commented compass Managing Director Daniel Zwickl. Great job and very well done!
Check out the links below for more:
Silver for Josi at the European U21 Championships
Silver for Josi at the European U21 Championships
At the European U21 Championships, 15-year-old compass supported German Josi Neumann won a silver medal. Josi and her compatriot Wim Verdonschot won the medal in the mixed doubles. “It was unexpected,” said Josi after the tournament. “It was the first time we played together.”
none
15-year-old Josi Neumann won silver in the mixed doubles at the European U21 Championships held in Bratislava from 7-11 May. Photo: ETTU
“We harmonised very well,” she continues. “We had fun. We laughed, but we were still serious.”
The road to the final began with a 3:1 win over Martin Froseth and Maja Hansen (Norway/Denmark). They continued with a 3:0 win over Nathan Lam and Nina Guozheng of France and then a 3:1 win over Miguel Pantoja/Elvira Fiona Rad of Spain.
“Our playing styles also harmonised well. I play with a lot of spin on the first ball – and Wim plays hard and fast with his forehand on the next. We scored several points that way.”
Smooth and close
The semi-final against Tiago Abiodun of Portugal and Hana Arapovic of Croatia went more smoothly than expected – 11:7, 11:6, 11:4. The final against Darius Movileanu and Elena Zaharia from Romania was much closer.
“We were down 1:2 and 6:10 and saved several match balls in the fourth set and won the set.”
But the decisive set was not the best for the Germans and the final score was 11:9, 8:11, 9:11, 13:11 – and finally 5:11).
“They played very well tactically and cleverly. And they have been training together for ages and have played in some competitions.”
none
We harmonised very well,
Tough group in singles
In singles, Josi won her first group but finished third in the second stage, losing to France’s Nina Guozheng and Croatia’s Hana Arapovic, who joined the last 16 players in the knockout stage.
“It was a strong group and not much to say. It was a clear loss.”
Anna Hursey of Wales was the eventual winner and champion. And in the doubles, Josi and Koharu Itagaki lost in the first round to Illasova/Wiltschkova of Slovakia.
So how has your 2024/2025 season been so far? With the EYC still to play as another highlight.
“Good, thank you. I came back from a long injury in my shoulder, which was finally healed until the end of September last year. I played well at the World Youth Championships at the end of 2024 and had good results on the WTT Youth Tour in 2025. I have been more positive at the table. I beat the high ranked Yoo Yerin from Korea Republic twice. I have developed my game a lot.”
At the World Youth Championships you won a medal with the German U15 team after losing to China in the semi-finals. In the singles, you lost to China’s Yao Ruixuan in the quarter-finals. She became world champion without losing a single game.
How will you be able to beat the best Chinese players in the future?
“Yao Ruixuan is exceptional, she did not lose a single game during the World Junior Championships. But I have been close to winning against other very good Chinese players of my age. I know that I can vary my spin in the openings and the forehand loops in a way that makes them a bit nervous. But they still win because they are more consistent. They just rarely miss. So if I can develop my variation game and at the same time be more stable at the table – then I have a chance”.
none
Italy's Danilo Faso caused an upset when he defeated France's Nathan Lam. The 15-year-old also beat Sweden's William Bergenblock. Photo: ETTU
Danilo collecting valuable victories
Back to the U21 European Championships. Also the compass supported Italian Danilo Faso, born in 2010 and much younger than most of his opponents, played a good event. Danilo played best in the singles where he surprised with a 4:2 win over Nathan Lam from France. Apart from that, Danilo lost to the strong Daniel Berzosa and the Portuguese Tiago Abiodun in straight sets, but in fairly even matches. Earlier in the tournament, he had also beaten Sweden’s William Bergenblock and Finland’s Aleksi Rasanen, who were both ranked higher than him.
Danilo, teamed with compatriot Nicole Arlia, lost 14:16 in the decider to Borna Petek/Natalia Bogdanowicz (Croatia/Poland) in the second round of the mixed doubles.
In the doubles, he and Belgian Tom Closset lost the fifth and deciding game 4:11 to Kas van Oost (Netherlands) and, once again, Borna Petek.
none
Flavien Coton, France. The compass alumni recently became European U21 Champion. Photo: ETTU
Flavien champion in the boys singles
Compass alumnus, 17 year old Flavien Coton, showed his level and became the Europan U21 singles champion after several tough matches. Coton defeated Julian Chirita of Romania 4:3 in the final,11:9 in the decider! And in the semi-final against Miguel Pantoja from Spain – 11:4 in the decider. The quarter-final against Spain’s Daniel Berzosa was a much quieter affair – 4:1.
“We would like to congratulate Flavien, who has been supported by compass for a long time, on winning the U21 European Championship title, which adds to his collection of several European titles in the youth categories,” commented compass Managing Director Daniel Zwickl. Great job and very well done!
Check out the links below for more:
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