Ukraine and Serbia are ready for the semifinals at the 2019 European U17 Team Championships.
Serbia surprisingly made it to the semifinals in Poland by beating the English favourites 3-1.
Sara Loncar and Mihajlo Tomic gave the team a perfect start by winning a thrilling mixed double against Alex Green and Estelle van Leeuwen 21-19 23-25 21-19.
- It was amazing. I am happy with the way I played, Loncar said.
- It was a hard match for us. I think we missed three match points, but we kept focus in the third game. I am very proud that we took the first point for our country, Tomic added.
Historical day for Ukraine
Serbia will be facing Ukraine in the semifinals. The underdog, who beat Germany in the group stage, was too strong for Czech Republic. The Ukrainians won the tie 3-1.
- We are so happy. This medal is the most important team medal for us. Now we want to go to the final and to win gold, the Ukrainian players said after the tie.
The Czech team is overall happy with their performance.
- We are honoured to be amongst the best eight U17-teams in Europe. The better team won today. The margin was not so big, but small details made the difference. We knew that to win we needed at least one of the (men's or women's) doubles. The team did their best and played to their level, and I am proud of them, coach for the Czech team, Pavel Florian, said.
It is the first time that Serbia makes it to the semifinals at the team event. Ukraine won the silver medals in 2007.
Russia and Denmark will meet in the second semifinal.