The National men’s and women’s table tennis teams made it to the table of “8” of the Sarajevo Balkan Championship and on Wednesday they will have the first chance to “chase” medals.
Both qualified with second place in their groups. The men’s group with one win and one loss found themselves in a three-way tie in the third group, where a coefficient of +1 from the results with Serbia and Bulgaria placed them second.
The first place was taken by Bulgaria, which lost in the evening 3-1 sets to Greece, but had defeated Serbia with 3-0 sets.
The women’s national team won the second privileged position in the second group, where they defeated Bulgaria and Kosovo with 3-0 sets and in between lost with this score to Turkey.
On Wednesday, the men face Montenegro in the quarter-finals (10:00 Greece) and the women the “host” Bosnia (12:00). The former, if they win, will face Turkey in the semi-finals later in the day, while the latter will face the winner of the Romania-Bulgaria match at the top of the table.
Nine countries participate in the men’s and they formed three groups. At the start of the third group, the men’s national team played a strong match against Serbia. From the 1st position of the team, Stamatouros scored two victories, but they were not enough. Kordoutis, who made his debut with the men’s group, and Antoniadis as a second player, fought for the decisive third victory, but did not bring it.
In detail, the evolution of the match Serbia-Greece 3-2:
Nemania Tzilas-Giorgos Stamatouros 0-3 (6-11, 1-11, 9-11)
Alexa Gassef Nikos Antoniadis 3-1 (14-12, 7-11, 11-2, 11-5)
Ivor Katits-Dimitris Kordoutis 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-9)
Gassef-Stamatouros 1-3 (12-10, 4-11, 6-11, 9-11)
Tzilas-Antoniadis 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9)
The match against Bulgaria followed, which lined up two acquaintances from their time in the Greek A1, Petios Krastef (Panathinaikos athlete today) and Denislav Kotzabashev, as well as the outstanding international boy Velitskov. Stamatouros achieved two positive results in this match as well and in between Kordoutis narrowly edged Velitskov. Hatzilygeroudis made his first appearance with the men’s national team here, losing hard to Krastef.
In detail, the progress of the match Greece-Bulgaria 3-1:
Gerasimos Hatzilygeroudis-Petio Krastef 1-3 (5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13)
Giorgos Stamatouros-Denislav Kotzabasev 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8)
Dimitris Kordoutis-Yoan Velitskov 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10)
Stamatouros-Krastef 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 12-10)
In the women’s team there are 11 entries and three groups were also made. The Greek colors made a winning debut in Sarajevo when they defeated Bulgaria with 3-1 sets. Kioufi proved to be decisive with two individual victories in her first appearance with the big division group. At the start of the match, in fact, she defeated the young Sidelia Moutlou, who together with Lemonia Gaidatzis emerged first in the Balkans in the girls’ doubles this summer. The victory of Tsekouras in the third match in five sets was very crucial, while the only defeat was suffered by Papadimitriou.
In detail, the progress of the match Greece-Bulgaria 3-1:
Aliki Kioufi-Sidelia Moutlou 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6)
Malamatenia Papadimitriou-Tsvetelina Georgieva 2-3 (7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11)
Dimitra Chekoura-Damla Hasanova 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 13-11)
Kioufi-Georgieva 3-0 (11-7, 14-12, 11-9)
In the second game, our national team lost 3-0 sets to Turkey. Tsekura could have prevailed in the second match and given another development in the match, however in general the Turkales showed better.
In detail, the evolution of the match Turkey-Greece 3-0:
Simai Kulaktseken-Malamatenia Papadimitriou 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7)
Ozge Yilmaz-Dimitra Cekura 3-2 (11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-7)
Etse Harak-Aliki Kioufi 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6)
At the close of the games on Tuesday night, the Greek team was favorite against Kosovo and confirmed it with a score of 3-0 to “lock” the second place. The 21-year-old Gerasimatou made her first appearance in the capital of Bosnia and prevailed in five sets.
It should be noted that after the backhand our left-handed champion now uses a “tooth”.
In detail, the progress of the match Greece-Kosovo 3-0:
Ioanna Gerasimatou-Alma Mehmeti 3-2 (12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5)
Malamatenia Papadimitriou-Sega Hassani 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-6)
Dimitra Tsekoura-Linda Zekiri 3-2 (11-3, 11-4, 11-3)
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