Gionis was eliminated in the “32” at the European Games

For the round of 32 singles table tennis at the European Games, Panagiotis Gionis faced Alexis Lebrun, number 5 in the favorites and much younger than him, and suffered a 4-2 set defeat. He equalized the score twice, he clearly had the potential to reach the great victory, but the excellent Frenchman found the composure and the solutions to advance to the round of 16.

Our 43-year-old international was placed in positions 17-32 and a key conclusion from his third participation in as many European Games is that he remains strong at the beginning of his big goal and desire for the sixth Olympic tournament in a row.

With his defeat, the Greek presence in Poland was completed. Giannis Sgouropoulos, Katerina Toliou and Elisabeth Terpou also competed and the federal coaches Costas Vatsaklis (men) and Giorgos Karytsas (women) sat on the benches.

Against the steadily rising Frenchman it was certain that Gionis would look to take advantage of his vast experience. This was seen in many balls with the false-false or the attacks, but the 20-year-old opponent with a range of hits and sometimes unpredictable game escaped from the pressure.

The sets: 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 8-11.