iFOiL Youth European Championship: Emma Schleicher wins silver, brother Moritz in fourth place

The 2025 iQFOiL European Youth and Junior Championships at Club Nautico Arzachena ended with a double triumph for the hosts. Italy's Mattia Saoncella and Medea Falcioni both won the U19 European title in a dramatic final. Particularly pleasing from a German perspective: Emma Johanna Schleicher secured the silver medal in the U19 women's category. The competitions were characterised by difficult wind conditions, which forced the race committee to make several adjustments. In the end, the Medal Series could only be completed in the U19 category, while the results in the U17 classes were decided after the quarter-finals.

Dramatic series of medals in changeable conditions

The unstable wind conditions presented the race organisers with major challenges, especially on the final day. After several delays both on land and on the water, quick adjustments had to be made. Initially, the U19 fleets were ordered to a race area further away from the shore in the hope of stronger and more consistent winds. When the conditions there did not improve, the race committee moved the Medal Series back closer to the shore, where a favourable breeze finally came up and allowed for fair racing. This decision proved to be the right one, as the decisive heats of the U19 classes could still be held, while no further races were possible for the U17 classes after the quarter-finals.

In the U19 men's race, Canada's Valentino Brewett made an impressive march from the quarter-finals to the grand final. He won both the quarter-finals and semi-finals and thus qualified for the decisive race. In the grand final, the Italian Mattia Saoncella put in a faultless performance. Despite his third place on the grid, he crossed the finish line first and secured the European title. Israeli Peleg Rajuan, who had led the overall standings before the final day, had to settle for second place. Turkey's Artun Şenol, who had performed consistently well throughout the week, completed the podium in third place. The best German was Erik Wehkamp in 35th place, Max Winkler was 42nd and Matti Winkler 52nd. Nils Präger and Siddharta Hummler finished the European Championships in 56th and 57th place, closely followed by Paul Regber in 59th. Levi Sümmchen and Noah Schmäh followed in 75th and 77th place, while Marius Müller finished in 81st place. Tom Franke finished in 91st place and Peter Matysik in 97th place completed the strong field of German participants in the U19 category.

Mattia Saoncella was overjoyed after his triumph: "What a final. That was absolutely epic. Many thanks to Valentino, Artun and Peleg, who kept the level very high. This race was absolutely fantastic. I am very happy with my performance. I'm also happy because all the sacrifices and hard work I've put in this year have paid off. So I'm very happy to have achieved this goal. And now it's time to celebrate!!!"

German silver medal in the U19 women's category

The U19 women's competition was similarly exciting. Israel's Alba Klein won the quarter-finals and progressed to the semi-finals. However, her team-mate Yaheli Leen came out on top there and qualified for the grand final, where she faced the three best athletes in the Opening Series. In the decisive race, Italy's Medea Falcioni, who was in second place in the overall standings, took the decisive step towards victory. She won the grand final ahead of Yaheli Leen. However, the special format of the competition, which takes into account the performances of the entire week by awarding points to the three best riders, helped Emma Schleicher to the silver medal. Schleicher, who had been in the lead after the first day, was able to celebrate second place in the overall standings despite a close finish in the final. Nurhayat Güven from Turkey completed the podium in third place. Eva Lotte Grünbaum finished the European Championships in 29th place, while Lia Franke came 42nd.

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The newly crowned U19 European champion Medea Falcioni was delighted: "It was a great race. It was really close. We had a collision with the Turkish girl at the last mark, but we pushed so hard that I think something like that can just happen. It was absolutely epic. I didn't necessarily have the best week ever, but I had some good battles with Emma, the German, who was so, so, so good all week. I want to congratulate her and all the other girls. Thank you to my federation, my coaches, and I hope to see you all at the next event."

Winner of the U17 classes after the cancelled Medal Series

In the U17 classes, only the quarter-finals could be completed due to the decreasing wind conditions. Frenchman Oscar Florin came out on top in the men's event, while Parla Kabasakal from Turkey advanced to the semi-finals in the women's event. As no further races were possible, the podium places were awarded based on the previous results. In the U17 men's event, the European title went to Finn Brüll from the Netherlands ahead of his compatriot Merlijn Boswijk. Czech František Burda secured bronze. Moritz Schleicher only just missed out on the podium in fourth place. Gustav Grünbaum finished 59th, just ahead of Gustav Pöschke in 60th place, Julian Ahrens took 68th place, Philipp Köhlert 70th, Felix Mann 78th and Karl Matysik 87th. Fritz Grünbaum finished the European Championships in 90th place. In the U17 women's category, France's Théa Le Borgne Zibetti triumphed ahead of Naama Palatnik from Israel and Ruya Uğurlu from Turkey. The best German was Leni Kuttruff in 54th place, with Lena Schmäh in 58th.

Results iQFOiL Youth & Junior European Championship 2025

U19 Men

1. Mattia Saoncella
2. Peleg Rajuan
3. Artun Şenol

U19 Women

1. Medea Falcioni
2. Emma Schleicher
3. Nurhayat Güven

U17 Men

1. Finn Brüll
2. Merlijn Boswijk
3. František Burda

U17 Women

1. Théa Le Borgne Zibetti
2. Naama Palatnik
3. Ruya Uğurlu

Here you can find the complete results of the iQFOiL Junior European Championship 2025: 2025iqyjeuropeansitalia.sailti.com