Ukrainian juniors won five gold and two silver medals at the international squash tournament in Romania

Ukrainian athletes won seven awards at the international tournament Romanian Junior Open 2026, which was held on October 16–18 in Bucharest. Ukrainian representatives became winners of five age categories, and two more young squash players won silver medals. A feature of the competition were two all-Ukrainian finals among the youngest participants.

The tournament took place at the Infinity Sport Arena and was part of the official calendar of the European Squash Federation (ESF). The competition has the Bronze category in the international ESF Junior Circuit series.

Artem Kostyukov won the Ukrainian final among boys under 11

One of the winners of the Romanian Junior Open 2026 was Artem Kostyukov, who won the gold medal in the Boys U11 category. In the group stage, the Ukrainian won all three matches, defeating two representatives of Romania and an athlete from Israel. His compatriot Mark Grabovsky also successfully passed the group stage, defeating two Romanian squash players and a representative of Bulgaria. Both Ukrainians took first places in their groups and met in the decisive match for the championship title. In the final, Artem Kostyukov defeated Mark Grabovsky with a score of 3:1 (11:7, 11:6, 7:11, 11:8). Thus, Ukrainian athletes won gold and silver medals in this age category.

This victory brought Artem the first international title in his career in this age category. The guy continues the sports traditions of his family. His mother is the famous Ukrainian squash player Anastasia Kostyukova, the champion of Ukraine and a multiple winner of national competitions, in particular, the winner of the 2023 Ukrainian Cup. In 2022, she made the history of Ukrainian squash, winning the first victory for Ukraine in a match at the World Games in Birmingham (USA). In the same year, the athlete became the silver medalist of the PSA Saarland Squash Open international tournament.

And about other Ukrainian victories

In the Girls U11 category, Ukrainian women also secured both top steps of the podium.

The winner was Oleksandra Sinelnikova, who defeated nine-year-old Anastasia Kovtun in the final with a score of 3:0 (11:3, 11:5, 11:5). For Anastasia Kovtun, the Romanian Junior Open was the first international tournament in her career. In the group stage, she won three victories over representatives of Romania and Bulgaria, without losing a single game. In particular, the Ukrainian defeated Anna Oltean, Ema Taneva and Gabriela Zarova, after which she won the silver medal in the final confrontation with her compatriot.

Another gold award for the Ukrainian team was brought by Varvara Sinelnikova, who became the winner of the competition among girls under 13 years old (Girls U13).

In the older age category Girls U19, Viktoriya Sivoplyas became the champion. In the final, the Ukrainian athlete defeated the representative of Bulgaria Emma Peteva in a tense five-game match — 3:2 (7:11, 11:9, 11:5, 8:11, 11:8).

In the Boys U15 category, another representative of Ukraine, Nestor Saplashenko, won.

In the final match, the Ukrainian squash player faced the representative of Greece, Konstantinos Christos Papatheodorou. The match ended with Saplašenko’s victory with a score of 3:1 (11:8, 11:7, 7:11, 11:9).

Thus, Ukrainian juniors won gold awards in five categories at once: Boys U11, Boys U15, Girls U11, Girls U13 and Girls U19.

In addition, Ukraine was represented at the competition by Oleksandra Orlenko, who took seventh place in the Girls U19 category.

Seven awards and two Ukrainian finals

According to the results of the Romanian Junior Open 2026, Ukrainian athletes won five gold and two silver medals. The champions were Artem Kostyukov, Nestor Saplashenko, Oleksandra Sinelnikova, Varvara Sinelnikova and Viktoriya Syvoplias. Silver awards were won by Mark Grabovsky and Anastasia Kovtun.

Ukrainians performed particularly successfully in the under-11 categories, where both finals — among boys and girls — were held between representatives of Ukraine.

The results of the tournament demonstrated the competitiveness of Ukrainian juniors on the international stage and became another successful performance of young athletes in the European ESF Junior Circuit series.