The first of three September SG Junior Cup international tournaments on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour is drawing to a close at Chișinău Arena. In the U12 competition, Moldovan players claimed one title, reached both doubles finals and recorded several strong results in the singles events.
The SG Junior Cup U12 took place in Chișinău from 29 August to 6 September and is a Category 2 event on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour. The programme included boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles competitions. The U12 singles events followed a distinctive format: players first competed in round-robin groups before the top eight boys and girls advanced to the knockout stage.
Moldova was particularly well represented in the girls’ singles play-offs, with three players — Emilia Ciumac, Amelia-Elena Seremet and Anastasia Josan — reaching the last eight. Ciumac opened the knockout stage with an emphatic 6–0, 6–1 victory over Israel’s Taisia Mikheeva before losing 1–6, 4–6 to Kazakhstan’s Adel Mazhitova in the semi-finals. Josan also reached the last four, defeating Mariia Prasolova 7–6(4), 6–1 before falling 3–6, 2–6 to another Kazakh player, Darya Mekebayeva. Seremet was beaten 0–6, 0–6 by Mekebayeva in the quarterfinals.
That set up an all-Kazakhstan final. Mazhitova took the opening set 6–4, but Mekebayeva responded by winning the second 6–1 before taking the deciding match tie-break 10–4 to claim the SG Junior Cup title.
Moldova had two representatives in the boys’ singles play-offs — Robert Surlari and Kiril Pogor. Surlari lost his quarterfinal to Romania’s Tudor Stefan Enceanu 4–6, 2–6, while Pogor produced a convincing 6–1, 6–2 victory over Ukraine’s Kyrylo Maliuta. Pogor then faced Turkey’s Erkin Kalmutskiy in the semi-finals. Kalmutskiy, who had beaten Ukraine’s Matvii Zbaranskyi 6–0, 6–2 in the previous round, defeated the Moldovan 6–1, 6–3 to reach the final.
In the other half of the draw, Ukraine’s Tymofii Skuz and Romania’s Tudor Stefan Enceanu battled for a place in the final. After losing the opening set 3–6, Enceanu edged the second on a tie-break, 7–6(6), before winning a dramatic deciding match tie-break 12–10. In the final, Kalmutskiy proved too strong, defeating Enceanu 6–2, 6–1. The Turkish player completed the entire singles play-off without dropping a set.
Moldova’s biggest success came in the girls’ doubles, where both finalist teams featured Moldovan players. Anastasia Josan and Romania’s Teodora Mironescu defeated Darya Mekebayeva and Alexandra Sadcenco 6–1, 6–0 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Emilia Ciumac and Teodora Maria Nita 7–5, 6–2 in the semi-finals. In the other half of the draw, Mariia Prasolova and Amelia-Elena Seremet won their quarterfinal 6–4, 6–0 and then defeated Ukraine’s Avrora Cherkas and Mariia Maslii 7–5, 6–0 to reach the final.
Josan and Mironescu won the title with a 6–4, 6–1 victory over Prasolova and Seremet. Anastasia Josan therefore finished her home tournament with a doubles title to go alongside her singles semi-final appearance.
The hosts also came close to another title in the boys’ doubles. Maxim Armas and Robert Natan Vainberg defeated Mihai Alexandru Bordei and Stanislav Muntean 6–4, 3–6, [10–5] in the quarterfinals before beating Mihai Poparcea and Daniil Zavorotco 6–0, 6–3 in the semi-finals.
In the other half of the draw, Ukrainians Tymofii Skuz and Matvii Zbaranskyi defeated Korhan Uzun and Kaan Yesil 6–0, 6–2 before coming through a much tougher semi-final against Erkin Kalmutskiy and Kiril Pogor. After losing the first set 3–6, the Ukrainian pair took the second 7–5 and then won the match tiebreak 11–9. In the final, Skuz and Zbaranskyi defeated Armas and Vainberg 6–1, 6–1.
The four SG Junior Cup U12 titles were therefore shared among players representing several countries. Kazakhstan’s Darya Mekebayeva won the girls’ singles title, Turkey’s Erkin Kalmutskiy triumphed in the boys’ singles, Moldova’s Anastasia Josan and Romania’s Teodora Mironescu won the girls’ doubles, while Ukraine’s Tymofii Skuz and Matvii Zbaranskyi took the boys’ doubles title.
For Moldovan tennis, the home tournament delivered much more than Josan’s doubles title. Three Moldovan girls reached the singles play-offs, with Josan and Ciumac advancing to the semi-finals; Kiril Pogor reached the boys’ singles semi-finals; and Moldovan players were represented in the finals of both doubles events.
The international junior tennis programme in Chișinău continues immediately. The next SG Junior Cup, this time for players aged 14 and under, begins on 7 September. It is also a Tennis Europe Category 2 tournament and runs through 13 September. It will be followed by the SG Junior Cup U16, another Category 2 event, from 14 to 20 September.
