Two Golds and One Silver from the Czech U19 Championships in Hodonín
This past weekend, the final individual Czech Championship of the 2024/2025 season took place in Hodonín, in the U19 category. Our four representatives – Štěpán Brhel, Jindřich Morávek, Oliver Vincenec, and Eliška Stramová – made their mark at the tournament. The biggest star was Štěpán Brhel, who returned after nearly three months off and went on to win both the singles and doubles titles. Another medal came from Jindřich Morávek, who took silver in the mixed doubles.
Golden Comeback for Štěpán Brhel
For Štěpán Brhel, this was almost a home tournament – he's originally from Hodonín. After a nearly three-month break due to illness, the championships marked his return to competition. That makes his performance even more remarkable: two gold medals, in singles and doubles.
Štěpán's path to the singles title was a true thriller. In the second round, he faced Jakub Kabelka (KST Apollo Ústí nad Labem), falling behind 0:3 in sets before mounting an incredible comeback to win the match. In the final against Jakub Škalda (SK Dobré), he was once again on the brink — down 3:3 in sets and 8:10 in the final game, he saved two match points and went on to win the title.
In doubles, Štěpán teamed up with Martin Šíp from Kotlářka Prague. As the top seeds, they lost only one set — in the final — against Martin Vaigl (HB Ostrov Havlíčkův Brod) and Jiří Řeháček (El Niňo Praha), and climbed to the top of the podium once again.
"I'm speechless and feel amazing. I never expected to win after such a long break and return like this. Mentally, the match against Kuba Kabelka in the second round was the toughest — coming back from 0:3 is really hard, but I managed it. Physically, the final was more demanding. I pulled through, but hats off to Kuba," Štěpán commented after the final.
Silver for Jindřich Morávek
Jindřich Morávek, seeded second in the tournament, had high hopes. In the singles quarterfinal, he led Jakub Škalda 3:1 but couldn't hold the lead and lost 3:4. In the doubles, where he played with Škalda, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals. However, in mixed doubles, Jindra and Adéla Sazimová (SK Dobré) reached the final, where they fell 0:3 to Martin Šíp (El Niňo Praha) and Veronika Poláková (HB Ostrov Havlíčkův Brod), earning silver.
Other Results
Oliver Vincenec did not make it through singles qualification into the main draw this time. Eliška Stramová exited in the first round of singles. Both gained valuable experience that will surely benefit them in the future.
The Season Isn't Over – Next Stop: Czech Team Championships!
The season isn't quite over yet for our players. On June 7–8, we'll compete in the Czech U19 Team Championships in Havlíčkův Brod, where we'll aim to defend our gold medal from last year. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
