Moïse Kouamé and Timéo Trufeli, two of the Blues in Ronchin (photo JMD/Sports 5962)
The Swiss team beats France (2-1) in the final of the U16 European team championship (Winter Cup cadets), played over three days on the renovated courts of TC Ronchin. A final full of suspense which concludes in style a very dense weekend of tennis, and which will certainly have revealed new Medvedev or Zverev, who already played at Ronchin during the Winter Cup a few years ago.
France – Switzerland on Sunday morning in Ronchin, it was a bit reminiscent of the same match played a few kilometers further, at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq, in 2014. It was already 10 years ago, the unforgettable Cup final Davis, who had seen Roger Federer et Stan Wavrinka thus winning the trophy against the new musketeers (Tsonga, Gasquet, Monfils, Bénéteau).
But this time, the players call each other Thomas Flynn, Thomas Gunzinger, Timéo Truffeli or Moses Kouamé. And they’re only 15 or 16 years old. Despite their young age, these players provided a good quality of play, with powerful shots, which delighted the many spectators present on Sunday for the final day.
A suspenseful finale
In any case, the suspense lasted until the end since it was necessary to play doubles to decide between the two teams at the end of the afternoon. Previously, France had taken the lead after the first single. A closely contested match, which saw the victory of Timéo Trufeli (6-4, 1-6, 6-4) against Thomas Gunzinger slightly diminished at the end of the match.
The 2nd single kept all its promises between the Swiss Thomas FlynnEuropean n°5 among cadets, and Frenchman Moïse Kouamé, n°28. The hierarchy was respected with a Swiss success, despite a first round which saw Kouamé make a good comeback with a score of 2-5 to 6-6. Flynn finally won in two sets 7-6, 6-1.
A singles exchange between Thomas Flynn and Moïse Kouamé
The double therefore made the difference. There too, we witnessed a real tug of war worthy of the Davis Cup. The Trufeli-Kouamé duo finally lost in two sets (5-7,6-7) against the Flynn-Fluri tandem, after having led 5-2 in the second set. The young Swiss therefore succeed the Czechs, winners last year on the courts of the Regional League in Marcq-en-Baroeul.
The Blues, also with Victor Barreira Bonzomwho had played against Spain and Romania, still climbed onto the 2nd step of the podium in this Winter Cup U16 established for many years now in Ronchin.
france.fr/wp-content/plugins/complianz-gdpr/assets/images/placeholders/twitter-minimal.jpg" class="cmplz-placeholder-element twitter-tweet" data-lang="fr">Silver medal for U16 boys in Winter Cup🥈
The Blues lost in the final against Switzerland after a great fight (2-1) 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/BIkLLbCm4U— FFT (@FFTennis) February 18, 2024
A silver medal for the Blues
Meet at Le Touquet
« We are obviously disappointed by this defeat in the final, especially since we had opportunities in the doubles, but we have to appreciate this silver medal”concluded Captain Bruce Liaud. “We had a very good campaign, with great successes against Spain and Romania. I have nothing to reproach the players who had an impeccable state of mind. They were exemplary. There was also a great atmosphere with the audience. But we want to get to the end of the Summer Cup now because there is a little taste of unfinished business!«
This U16 boys Winter Cup in Ronchin certainly revealed future champions. The next stop in the region will be the Junior Davis Cup (formerly Borotra Cup) at the beginning of August in Le Touquet.
M.Kouamé, B.Liaud, T.Trufeli and V.Barreira: the Blues of the U16 Winter Cup in Ronchin (photo FFT)
Final ranking of the U16 Winter Cup in Ronchin
- 1. Suisse
- 2. France
- 3. Romania
- 4. Portugal
- 5. Poland
- 6. Slovenia
- 7. Spain
- 8. Germany
2024-02-19 12:55:51
#Winter #Cup #U16 #Ronchin #victory #Switzerland
