The U18 European Championships in Freistadt delivered exciting finals to conclude the EURO 2025 event. While the Austrian U18 girls successfully defended their title and took home the gold medal, Germany dethroned defending champions Austria in the U18 boys’ final with a tight 3:2 victory. Switzerland secured the bronze medals in both competitions.
U18 Women
With a furious 3:1 (4:11, 14:12, 11:5, 11:9) win over Germany, Austria defended their European Championship title. It was the German side that initially set the tone in this rematch of the World Championship final last November, handling Austria’s service game well. However, as the match progressed, the defending champions found their rhythm through better playmaking and gained control of the game—turning it around to lead 2:1. In the fourth set, Austria earned three match points. Germany saved two of them, but Austrian attacker Magdalena Karger converted the third to secure the celebrated title defense.
Austria had already impressed in the semifinal with a straight-set win over Switzerland (11:6, 13:11, 11:6). Germany, after topping their preliminary group on Saturday, defeated Czechia clearly in the semifinal (3:0 – 11:5, 11:4, 11:2). The bronze medal went to Switzerland, who beat Czechia 3:0 (11:1, 11:2, 11:4). Czechia had previously secured a semifinal spot on Sunday with a 2:0 (11:9, 11:3) win over Italy.
U18 Men
It was a match that went the full distance, with reigning World Champions Germany dethroning Austria with a 3:2 victory. Germany twice took the lead, and both times the hosts managed to equalize (11:7, 7:11, 12:10, 3:11). In the deciding fifth set, Germany gained an early lead that Austria couldn’t recover from. With an 11:4 finish, the world champions claimed the gold medal.
The bronze medal went to Switzerland, who clearly defeated Denmark in the third-place match (3:0 – 11:7, 11:2, 11:5). In the semifinals, the Swiss had narrowly missed a spot in the final, falling to Germany 3:2 (11:9, 6:11, 11:7, 6:11, 11:8) in another five-set thriller. Austria had comfortably beaten Denmark in their semifinal (11:3, 11:5, 11:6). Denmark had previously secured a top-four finish with a 2:0 (11:9, 11:8) quarterfinal win over Italy.
U21 Women
Germany’s U21 women were the dominant team throughout the entire tournament. After an unbeaten run in the group stage, they continued their strong form on finals day. In the semifinals, they swept past Italy with ease (11:1, 11:0, 11:3) to book their place in the final. Austria, their opponent in the gold medal match, had delivered a thrilling comeback win over Switzerland in the semifinal, turning a 0:2 deficit into a 3:2 victory (5:11, 8:11, 11:8, 11:1, 11:8) – avenging their earlier loss in the group stage.
In the final, Germany once again proved too strong. Led by captain Jordan Nadermann, they held their nerve even in a close second set and secured a 3:0 win (11:5, 11:9, 11:5) to claim the historic title. Switzerland took bronze, defeating Italy 3:0 (11:3, 11:3, 11:2) in the third-place match.
U21 Men
Austria remains the benchmark in U21 men’s fistball. Just like in 2023 and 2024, Team Austria emerged as European champions again. After four group-stage wins, they powered past Italy in the semifinal on Saturday (3:0 – 11:4, 11:6, 11:7). In the final, the defending champions left Switzerland no chance, sealing the title hat-trick in front of their home crowd with a 3:0 win (11:4, 15:14, 13:11) in a high-level match.
Switzerland had earlier caused a surprise by knocking out Germany in the semifinal with a 3:1 win (3:11, 11:8, 11:7, 11:7) and reached their first final since 2014. For Germany, it was the first time since 2002 that they missed a U21 final – but they bounced back to claim bronze with a 3:1 victory (11:7, 11:3, 4:11, 11:1) over Italy.
