How the Greek athletes finished the first phase in the National categories of France

They are the inter-club ping pong championships of France, which every year gather the vast majority of Greek athletes and together with the opportunity given to them for strong games, they get special colors from their quality and results.

Following last year’s cancellation due to the coronavirus, the tournaments from the third to the fifth inter-club division of France are held normally this year and, after the closing of the first section, new groups will be formed for the final outcome of the effort of all teams.

More than twenty Greek athletes participate in the event, they have a strong presence this year as well, in fact many celebrated with their teams top places in the groups.

Tassos Riniotis, Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos, Costas Lagogiannis, Giannis Vlotinos, Nikos Antoniadis, Dimitris Kordoutis, Iasonas Kordoutis, Stratos Damianis, Dimitris Papadimitriou, Gerasimos Petrisis, Gerasimos Petrisis are competing in the French National. Konstantinos Lykostratis, Anestis Kariofyllidis, Elisavet Terpou, Dimitra-Thomas Tsekoura, Georgia Zavitsanou, Aliki Kioufi and Ioanna Gerasimatou.

Briefly, we will present what the “expatriates” of the Greek table tennis and their teams did in the first phase, according to the data provided by the French federation on the internet.

In men, National 1 is the third division in the country after Pro A and Pro B. Roman, in which Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos is competing for another year, ended the first phase in the fourth group with a defeat. He lost 8-3 sets away from Kounio Villeneuve and finished in fourth place with 15 points. The two-time Greek men’s singles champion had a total of 15 wins and 3 losses.

Also, in the fourth group of National 1, Antib of Dimitris and Jason Kordoutis took fifth place with 11 points. In the end, he lost to Boulogne Bilancour with 8-1 sets. The Kordouti brothers have a full season. Playing some matches with the second team of Antibes in National 3, Jason showed a record of 13 wins and 11 losses and Dimitris 8 wins and 12 losses.

In the same category, Costas Lagogiannis’s Charter 2 was satisfied with the seventh and penultimate position in the first group with 10 points. In the final, they drew 7-7 away from home with Vatinie. The experienced international had 10 wins and 5 losses in this phase.

In the third group of National 1, Enemon 2 of Konstantinos Lykostratis remained in last place with 3 points. Last Saturday, they conceded a 7-7 home draw at Korbevua. Our left-handed athlete had an individual record of 6 wins and 9 losses.

In National 2, Tasos Riniotis’ Nis Kavigal starred in the second group, as he usually does in recent years. He came first undefeated, collecting 20 points and in the next phase he will claim the rise. At the end of the first phase, Nis defeated Marmant 8-4 at home.

In the same category, Ermon Plessi, in which Dimitris Papadimitriou and Gerasimos Petris compete, was ranked sixth in the third group. In the final, he defeated Betun 8-3 and collected 12 points. Papadimitriou presented a very good record with 15 wins and 2 losses, while Petris, who is still gathering his first experiences from abroad, had 9-9 respectively.

In the eighth group of the first phase and also in National 2, Saint Denis of the Damian Army was reduced to seventh place with 9 points. In the last match, it was defeated at home with an 8-0 set by Reims Olympic. The Greek Young Men’s champion in 2020 had a total of 5 wins and 7 losses.

In National 3, Saint Pierre 2 of Giannis Vlotinos, Anestis Kariofyllidis and Zisis Doukeris was flawless in the fourth group. He took the lead with seven wins in as many matches and 21 points and is fighting for promotion. On Saturday, they defeated Gran Quevil as a guest with 8-3 sets. The arrogant Vlotinos had 100% efficiency with 11 victories in 11 games. Doukeris presented 11 wins and 2 losses and Kariofyllidis 6 wins and 1 loss.

In the same group, Nikos Antoniadis’ Koudoun took the third place with 15 points. In the seventh game, he bent at home for Igni with 8-3 sets. As the first player of his team, the international athlete had a total of 13 wins and 2 losses.

In the second group of National 3, the Vilier of Antonis Malinakis won the second place with 17 points. He equaled the top, in fact, with Rouen SPO. In its last match, it defeated Oror Vitr 8-1 away from home. With an agreement for a few participations, the champion from Hanioti showed only victories in 5 matches.

In the fifth group of National 3, Manom ​​2 of Iakovos Aivatidis took sixth place with 11 points. On Saturday, they beat Saragenburg 8-6 away from home. In his first year in a foreign championship, the 19-year-old champion scored 8 wins and 7 losses in the initial phase.

In the same category, Gerasimos Hatzilygeroudis’ Pontage Sergi 2 took first place in the tenth group. In fact, he scored the absolute number of successes and collected 21 points. In the final, he crushed Arnaz away with 8-0 sets. Hatzilygeroudis was a great protagonist of the team with 15 victories in an equal number of matches.

Also in National 3, Gresivondan Beledon, where he went after the start of the championship, Alexandros Madesis finished in sixth place in the 14th group with 12 points. At the end of the first phase, they defeated Nis Cavigal 2 at home 8-6. The Greek youth champion in his “maiden” season abroad has individual statistics of 11 wins and 4 losses.

In women, and National 1, we first had the presence in the same group of three teams with Greek athletes. In the second group, Alice Kioufi’s Ren Paul Beer 1 and Saint-Pierre 2, where Elisabeth Terpou and Georgia Zavitsanou are competing, tied at the top and all 17 points.

According to the official ranking on the FFTT site, Ren Paul is 1st and Saint Pierre is second, however both go to the second phase to meet the first teams from the other groups. Dimitra Tsekoura’s Esirol also participated in the second group. The team took sixth place with 13 points.

On Saturday in the last match, Rehn drew 7-7 with Saint-Denis. Esirol lost 8-1 at home to Saint-Quentin-2, while Saint-Pierre beat Annecy 8-2 away.

Terpou completed the first phase of the championship with a personal record of 13 wins and 4 losses. Zavitsanou, having given her last matches in mid-November, had 4 wins and 4 losses. Tsekoura had statistics of 9 wins and 7 losses.

Kioufi, who played mainly in National 1, but also had some matches in National 2 with Ren Paul Beer’s second team, has a total record of 8 wins and 7 losses.

Also, in National 2, Ermon / Erbil, where Ioanna Gerasimatou competes, took second place with 18 points. In the final of the first phase, it suffered its only defeat and was at home with 8-2 ​​sets from Monzan / Laval, which emerged as the winner of the group. The young champion did extremely well on an individual level with 12 wins and just 1 defeat.

In France, Fotis Arvanitis is also testing his strength for the first time, competing with Esirol Eben in the Pre National. In the first months of the championship, he had 9 wins and 12 losses.