3rd place in the U19 mixed doubles Papadimitriou at the Youth Star Contender of Peru

Malamatenia Papadimitriou had a positive result in the mixed doubles of the Under 19 age category at the World Table Tennis Youth Star Contender of Peru, which ends today Sunday 25/06 in Lima.

In the first of the two consecutive tournaments in Latin America, which she closed to compete, the Greek champion of the category won the 3rd place in the mixed with teammate Samuel Arpas of Slovakia.

a Star is the highest tier in the WTT Youth Contender, they have all the individual events with a limited number of entries and the Greco-Slovak duo advanced as 2nd favorites on the board. He could even reach the final before losing in five sets. In the U19 singles of the powerful tournament, Papadimitriou was eliminated in the group phase, while in the junior doubles she teamed up with Julia Leal from Portugal and they placed 5-8. In another international tournament he was coached by the Thessaloniki coach Anestis Kariofyllidis and he will be with him next week in the Youth Contender of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

In Lima, our left-handed international started her matches in the early hours of Saturday 24/06 Greek time. With Arpas they had a bye in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinals they eliminated Paul Ignatio Ponce Centeno/Betris Fiore from Ecuador and Brazil respectively with 3-0 sets (12-10, 11-4, 11-8).

They also worked well together in the semi-finals, where they had a strong matchup with Steven Moreno/Lee ​​Seunghun (Korea/Puerto Rico). They led with 1-0 and 2-1 sets, but in the end they lost 3-2 and were eliminated (11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11).

The Under 19 women’s singles started on Saturday night in our hours. 28 gymnasts participated and were divided into 8 qualifying groups. Papadimitriou (number 16 in the event) was drawn from the 2nd row in the 2nd group and initially faced the Indian Yasashvini Giorpande (head). She lost 3-0 sets (8-11, 6-11, 9-11) and so the match with Crystal Melendez from Puerto Rico (No. 19), early Sunday morning Greek time, was decisive for the privileged 2nd place . Our 19-year-old international could not find a rhythm against an athlete with a pressing serve and somewhat strange game, she lost 3-0 and was eliminated from the board as the 3rd of the group (7-11, 5-11, 6-11).

Later she also competed in junior doubles with Julia Leal from Portugal. After having a bye in the round of 16, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 set by Koreans Park Gajeon/Choi Jaseo (9-11, 5-11, 5-11).