The A.M.A. World Table Tennis Championship in Granada returns after four years, with Greece living the proud and unprecedented moment of double competitive presence. The World Para Table Tennis Championships takes place 6-12/11 and our country is represented by Giorgos Mouchthis and Evanthia-Irini Bournia.
In their first appearance at a world championship, both will compete in the singles, the 28-year-old champion in the upright class and the 16-year-old champion in the class 1 wheelchair. They have been in the Andalusian city since Friday, there they will complete their preparation and begin their effort on Wednesday.
On Friday night, both teams learned their opponents, Mukhtis in the “knock out” table and Bournia in the group. Eleftheria Daudakis and Milan Ignatovics are on the mission of the National Sports Federation of Persons with Disabilities (EAOM-AAMeA) for technical guidance.
In the men’s class 6 there are 18 entries and there are straight “knock out” matches and no groups. The scoreboard is of “32”, in the first round there will be only two matches and Mukhtis advances “bye” to the “16”. There, he will face the British Martin Perry next Wednesday. Should he get the win and qualify, he will meet either Chile’s Cristian Detoni or Spain’s Alvaro Valera, who is bottom of the table as second favourite, in the quarter-finals.
In women’s class 1, six athletes are competing and they have been divided into two groups. Bournia is in the first group and has opponents from Poland Dorota Buclav (captain) and South Africa Mariam Almirisl. It faces them consecutively on Wednesday and Thursday, while Buklav and Almirisl meet on Tuesday in the opening of the group. The first two places will qualify for the final stage.
The schedule for our athletes’ matches in Greek time:
Wednesday 09/11:
At 12:30 Bournia – Bouclav Table 2
At 15:30 Mukhtis – Peri no table has been set yet
Thursday 10/11:
At 13:15 Bournia – Almirisl Table 4
The World Championship is hosted at the “Palacio Municipal de Deportes de Granada”.
The events and classes, as listed in the ITTF prospectus, are as follows:
Men’s singles (classes 1 to 11)
Women’s singles (classes 1 to 11)
Men’s doubles (classes MD4, MD8, MD14, MD18, MD22)
Women’s doubles (classes WD5, WD10, WD14, WD20, WD22)
Mixed doubles (classes XD4, XD7, XD10, XD14, XD17, XD20, XD22)
* Spain organizes for the first time a world championship for athletes with disabilities in the 22-year history of the institution.
* The corresponding 2020 event was canceled due to the coronavirus. The previous one took place in 2018 in Latsko, Slovenia.
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