England’s youngest team face testing matches at European U13 Champs

September 25, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

An emphatic win over Estonia was sandwiched by defeats to higher-ranked Romania and Croatia as England got their Mixed Team campaign under way at the European Under-13 Championships.

England, ranked at No 18, were drawn in Group B, where they faced second seeds Romania in their first match.

Dimitar Dimitrov & Amber Lemmon lost a close four-game doubles match to Mihai Iordan & Kariss Serban, and Lemmon later led Serban 2-1 before losing in five as England were beaten 5-0 – although never outclassed.

England then beat Estonia 5-0, dropping only one game across the five individual matches. This set up a key match against 11th-ranked Croatia to decide second place in the group.

Sinan Surensoy & Lemmon were beaten in four in the opening doubles, and Assil Sarriâ€s defeat by Sara Rivetti left England with a lot to do.

Dimitrov pulled one back with a fine 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6) win over Matija Zohil, but Lemmonâ€s defeat by Karla Ivcic meant England could not win – though Surensoy did put a gloss on the final scoreline with a 3-0 win over Ivan Smiljanic.

England now face Portugal and Slovenia in the second group stage of the competition in Kosta, Sweden.

Sinan Surensoy in action in Kosta

Results

Mixed Team
Group B
Romania 5 England 0
Mihai Iordan & Kariss Serban bt Dimitar Dimitrov & Amber Lemmon 3-1 (11-6, 12-14, 11-8, 11-9)
Nadalia Ionascu bt Assil Sarri 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-9)
Matei Nita bt Sinan Surensoy 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8)
Serban bt Lemmon 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5)
Iordan bt Dimitrov 3-0 (15-13, 11-5, 11-5)

England 5 Estonia 0
Dimitrov & Lemmon bt Marat Fjodorov & Arina Sokolova 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-7)
Sarri bt Anastassia Boglova 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-9)
Surensoy bt Matvei Sotskov 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-2)
Lemmon bt Sokolova 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-2)
Dimitrov bt Fjodorov 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-4)

Croatia 3 England 2
Ivan Smiljanic & Karla Ivcic bt Surensoy & Lemmon 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9)
Sara Rivetti bt Sarri 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-5)
Dimitrov bt Matija Zohil 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6)
Ivcic bt Lemmon 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-4)
Surensoy bt Smiljanic 3-0 (11-8, 14-12, 11-4)

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