Papadimitriou qualified for stage 2 of the singles at the Under 21 European Table Tennis Championship

During the opening day in Sarajevo on Wednesday, Malamatenia Papadimitriou secured qualification to stage 2 singles at the European Under 21 Table Tennis Championships, the top 32 players at the annual event, by finishing second in her group.

With remarkable performances, the Greek champion had 2 wins and 1 loss, prevailed in the match of the decisive third round and took a step further compared to her participation in the event last year, where she was eliminated in stage 1.

In the new groups that will be formed for Thursday in the singles, Papadimitriou will “chase” the best possible, while also on Thursday the boards of the Young women’s doubles, as well as the mixed doubles, will begin.

Later in the evening, after the relevant draw, she learns her next opponents in the singles.

Papadimitriou (number 32 in the championship) had a strong debut on Wednesday morning when she easily defeated the “hostess” Harisa Mezetovic with 4-0 sets. She took all the sets by a margin (11-3, 11-7, 11-3, 11-2) and her first 2 points in the third group. Mezetovic was last in the seeding list of the competition (No. 56).

In the second match, our champion had a very difficult task against the leader Isa Kok (No. 11 in the favorites). In the first two sets, things were balanced, but then the Frenchwoman got her game going and won 4-1 sets (11-13, 11-7, 3-11, 4-11, 3-11). .

Thus, Papadimitriou’s third match of the afternoon with Spain’s Ainhoa ​​Cristóbal (No. 35), who had also defeated Mezetovic and had 1 win and 1 loss, became decisive.

In a match with fluctuations, our 19-year-old champion reacted successfully after losing the first set and went ahead with 2-1. In the fourth set he had a small lead, he didn’t take advantage of it and accepted the tie in overtime, but he kept his strong mentality and with a steady performance he reached the final 4-2 and the qualification.

In the fifth set he escaped with 5-0 and completely controlled the game, while in the sixth he made a run after the initial balance (3-3) and won it with a difference (3-11, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12 , 11-6, 11-6).

THE STANDING OF THE 3RD GROUP:

Coke 3-0 6

Papadimitriou 2-1 5

———————————————-

Cristobal 1-2 4

Mezetovic 0-3 3

On Thursday, the doubles matches begin. In the U21 women’s doubles, a board of “32” has been formed. Papadimitriou collaborates for the second year in a row with Hungarian Helga Dari and in the first round they face the duo Tsvetelina Georgieva/Enisa Sadikovic from Bulgaria and Luxembourg respectively. The match starts at 13:05 Greek time.

In mixed doubles there is a board of “64”. Our left-handed international forms a duo with Polish Mateusz Zalewski. In the first round they meet the Czechs Tomas Martinko/Anna Klebererova on Thursday at 10:00.