7th World Youth Championships
By WBF In News On 16th August 2022
The 7th World Youth Open Championships ended on Sunday, August 14th.
The Winners:
Roll of Honour
Under 26 Open
Teams:
Gold: USA U26: Bo Han Zhu (CAN), Zach Grossack, Finn Kolesnik, Harrison Anders Luba, Kevin Rosenberg, Michael Xu (USA)
Silver: Bridgenoobs: Jacob Freeman (CAN), Nir Khutorsky, Aviv Zeitak (ISR), Sibrand van Oosten (NED), Alex Kolesnik (npc)
Bronze: Italy U26 Green: Alvaro Gaiotti, Gabriele Giubilo, Giovanni Donati, Sebastiano Scata, Valerio Giubilo (npc), Dario Attanasio (coach)
Pairs:
Gold: Sibrand van Oosten (NED) – Jacob Freeman (CAN)
Silver: Arthur Boulin – Théo Guillemin (FRA)
Bronze: Emanuel Evačić – Ivan Bilušić (CRO)
Individual:
There was just one tournament for four series: The top two both played in the U21 series:
Gold: Panagiotis Skordas (GRE)
Silver: Finn Kolesnik (USA)
Bronze: Cheung Wai Lam (HKG)
In all four series, one individual was named as the best after the medal winners.
Kevin Rosenberg (4th) was the best U26 player.
Triathlon:
Again only one ranking for the four series:
1) Finn Kolesnik (USA)
2) Sibrand van Oosten (NED)
3) Michael Xu (USA)
Finn Kolesnik wins three medals in Salsomaggiore. He had already won bronze in U21 teams in 2019. Michael Xu, like Finn, has won two medals in different categories (the U21 Pairs and U26 teams). He had previously won bronze in U16 teams (2018).
Jacob Freeman and Sibrand van Oosten have also won two medals here. Sibrand previously won a bronze in U21 teams in 2015 (on team Germany).
Kevin Rosenberg and Zach Grossack have both won the U21 team title twice (Kevin in 2017 and ’19; Zach in ’13 and ’17), after both getting a silver at U16 level (Zach in ’12, Kevin in ’14). Kevin’s parents Debbie and Michael have 17 world medals between them.
Giovanni Donati has a gold medal in U26 teams in 2015. He is a regular on the Italian Open team.
Aviv Zeitak won a gold in U16 in 2016 and Silver in U21 in 2018.
Arthur Boulin and Théo Guillemin have previously won a gold and two bronze medals in the U21 category. Alvaro Gaiotti and Sebastiano Scato won gold at the 2016 U21s, Sebastiano additionally has a bronze in the U21 pairs in 2015. Nir Khutorsky won gold at the U16 teams in 2016, and silver at U21 in 2018. Harrison Anders Luba won bronze in U16 in 2018.
Under 21
Teams:
Gold: Daddy Lahrmann: Christian Lahrmann (captain, DEN), Léo Rombaut (FRA), Nikolai Haiberg-Evenstad (NOR), Andreas Abragi, Harry Hjorth Warlenius, Ivar Lichtenstein (SWE), Jérôme Rombaut (coach)
Silver: CKIS Skawina U18: Wojciech Bąk, Kacper Kuflowski, Franciszek Kurlit, Michał Staśik (POL)
Bronze: Dąbrówka WZBS Poznań: Wiktor Chalupniczak, Szymon Gras, Jakub Nawrocki, Jakub Pilat (POL)
Pairs:
Gold: Michael Xu – Finn Kolesnik (USA)
Silver: Argay Zsolt – Kemeny Mark (HUN)
Bronze: Christian Lahrmann (DEN) – Léo Rombaut (FRA)
Individual:
Panagiotis Skordas and Finn Kolesnik (both U21 players) came first and second in the Individual.
Franciszek Kurlit (5th) was the best U21 player after the medal winners.
Finn Kolesnik and Michael Xu (see above) as well as Christian Lahrman and Léo Rombaut win two medals here in Salsomaggiore.
Christian previously won gold at the U16 Pairs in 2015 and is already a member of the Danish Open team. Léo, son of 2017 Bermuda Bowl finalist Jérôme Rombaut, won silver himself in U16 teams in 2018.
Kacper Kuflowski and Franciszek Kurlit won two medals (bronze in pairs, silver in teams) at U16 level in 2019. Michał Staśik was also on that silver-winning team in 2019.
Under 26 Women
Teams:
Gold: Norway Girls: Kaja Brekke, Thea Lucia Indrebø, Agnethe Hansen Kjensli, Mia Eline Statle (NOR)
Silver: Italy U26W Green: Sophia Capobianco, Eleonora, Federica & Valentina Dalpozzo (ITA), Dario Attanasio (npc), Valerio Giubilo (coach)
Bronze: Italy U26W White: Christina Brusotti, Zaira Davide, Annachiara & Magdalena Pelaggi (ITA), Dario Attanasio (npc), Valerio Giubilo (coach)
Pairs:
Gold: Clara Bouton – Margaux Kurek Beaulieu (FRA)
Silver: Vidhya Kamal Patel – Kalpana Baliram Gurjar (IND)
Bronze: Valentina & Federica Dalpozzo (ITA)
Individual:
Kalpana Baliram Gurjar (15th) was the best U26W player after the medal winners.
Federica and Valentina Dalpozzo are also double medallists here.
Valentina previously won gold in the U26 Women Individual in 2019. They are now joined by a third sister, Eleonora. We believe this is the first time that three siblings are on the same medal-winning team. With two sisters on the bronze-winning team as well, Bridge is clearly a family affair in Italy.
Thea Lucia Indrebø and Agnethe Hansen Kjensli have won their fourth medals, after bronze in U26W teams in 2016, and two medals in 2019, gold together in teams, and gold (Thea) and silver (Agnethe) in the pairs.
Under 16
Teams:
Gold: Blitz: Darwin Li (CAN), Albert Pedmanson, Jasper Vahk (EST), Anshul Bhatt (IND)
Silver: USS Unsinkable: Andrew Chen, Charlie Chen, Kayden Ge, Eric & Jeff Xiao, Brian Zhang (USA), Xiang Zhang (coach)
Bronze: CKIS Skawina U15: Aleks Bukat, Kacper Kisielewski, Milena Klimiuk (w), Jan Trojak (POL), Marcin Kuflowski (npc)
Pairs:
Gold: Anshul Bhatt (IND) – Darwin Li (CAN)
Silver: Aman Parekh – William Battersby (ENG)
Bronze: Martijn Goor – Wout Klarenbeek (NED)
Individual:
There was a separate Individual tournament for the under-16s.
Gold: Brian Zhang (USA)
Silver: Ignacy Kotewicz (POL)
Bronze: Thomas Bradkin (ENG)
Brian Zhang, Anshul Bhatt and Darwin Li are among the ten players to get two medals here.
Not surprisingly, none of these players have medalled before.
These are the very first World championship medals won by players from Estonia, which thereby becomes the fiftieth nation to have done so.
Under 31
Teams:
Gold: Sweece: Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas, Ioannis Oikonomopoulos (GRE), Alessandro Calmanovici, Jeremie Stöckli (SUI)
Silver: Finland: Hermanni Huhtamäki, Oskari Koivu, Maria Mylläri, Ilona Vänni (FIN)
Bronze: Agnieszkas Angels: Jakub Bazyluk, Krzysztof Cichy, Tomasz Kiełbasa, Kacper Kopka, Patryk Patreuha (POL)
Pairs:
Gold: Sagnik Roy – Sayanthan Kushari (IND)
Silver: Jamie Thompson – Andrew Spooner (AUS)
Bronze: Ioannis Oikonomopoulos – Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas (GRE)
Individual:
Oskari Koivu (9th) was the best U31 players after the medal winners.
Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas and Ioannis Oikonomopoulos complete the set of ten double medallists in Salsomaggiore in 2022.
Jamie Thompson previously won silver in U26 Pairs in 2019, while Ioannis Oikonomopoulos won bronze at U26 teams in 2015.
The entire gold-winning team in the U21 category in 2019 (Bazyluk, Cichy, Kiełbasa, Kopka) were here successfully playing under-31. Kiełbasa and Kopka also won gold in the pairs in 2019. Kacper Kopka furthermore has a silver medal from the 2015 U16 pairs. The fifth member of Agnieszkas Angels, Patryk Patreuha, won silver in the 2019 U21 Individual.
Alessandro Calmanovici won the BAM (representing Italy) in 2015.
BAM (U26, U21, U26W & U31)
Gold: France U26: Louis Bonin, Arthur Boulin, Maxence Fragola, Thomas Guichet, Théo Guillemin, Nao Tabata
Silver: Germany U26: Felix Dörmer, Sven Niklas Farwig, Maximilian Literst, Philipp Pabst, Jonathan Pieper, Maximilian Niklas Stepper
Bronze: Croatia U26: Ivan Bilušić, Emanuel Evačić, Matko Ferenca, Kristjan Stefanec, Marshall Lewis (npc)
the B-final was won by:
Japan U21: Abe Ryusuke, Inami Terushi, Kayama Yu, Shimada Kentaro
BAM (U16)
Gold: Team Tricky Bridge: Kristian Dalemark Austad, Costa Theodore Ben Guigui, Frantisek Kubat, Einar Osen
Silver: Czech Republic: Jonáš Drozd, Marek Pilát, Karolína Rečičárová, Lukáš Vachtarčík, Adam Janas (npc), Daniel Vachtarčík (coach)
Bronze: India U16: Titharaj Chowdhury, Paaval Goyal, Rashi Jahagirdar, Nachiketa Muthuswamy, Aniruddha Sanzgiri (npc & coach)