Orestiada Balkan Youth Championship: Bronze medal for the boys, 5th place for the girls

Our national children’s team achieved the distinction of winning the bronze medal in the Balkan championship today 29/06 in Orestiada.

In the “Nikos Samaras” indoor gym, the Under 15 category finished first in time in the team and Greece managed to climb to the 3rd step of the podium after an overall wonderful course, which included 5 wins and 1 loss.

That loss came in the details to Turkey in the semi-finals 3-2, but the team got the medal they thoroughly deserved with an emphatic 3-0 win against Serbia in the match for places 3-4. A little while later the girls finished their effort in the 5th place of the team.

They closed their matches with two victories and clearly showed with their remarkable performances that they had the potential for a better placement. Later in the evening, the teenagers, who are fighting for the gold medal with Turkey, and the juniors, playing for the 5-6 places, finish their matches.

THE CHILDREN’S PROGRESS TO THE KNOCK OUTS

The knockout matches started in the morning for the two groups. Early on, local athletes and other friends of the sport showed up to cheer on all our teams with cheers, flags and drums! The boys chased the best with a spirited and competitive quality and achieved success, showing that they can achieve something substantial in the upcoming European Championship. In total they had 5 wins and 1 loss. George Kosmas and Yiannis Koutras were mainly supported by coach Konstantinos Kostopoulos, Costas Fakaros and Petros Liotsis complemented the team exceptionally well. Kosmas had an amazing two days and won the team title without defeat!

In order to initially enter the 4th place of the Balkan championship (and after yesterday’s first place in the group), our national team had to lose 3-2 in a shocking quarter-final against Montenegro. They lost 1-0 and 2-1 and prevailed with a marginal score in the final (3-2 sets and 12-10 points).

Details of the Greece-Montenegro 3-2 match:

Giannis Koutras-Stefan Radonic 1-3 (13-11, 4-11, 5-11, 5-11)

Giorgos Kosmas-Jaaksa Krivokapits 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-2, 11-8)

Koutras/Kosmas-Radonic/Krivokapic 2-3 (8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11)

Koutra-Krivokapic 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5)

Kosmas-Radonic 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10)

A new “thriller” followed, which did not, this time, have a happy ending for our representative group. In the semi-finals, Turkey lost 3-2. The details of the match turned out in favor of the neighbors, who notably rely on two great younger talents, who a few days ago made Turkey (together with two girls) European champions in the under-13 team. Kosmas scored two great victories, one with a reversal from 0-2 sets. Very crucial was the double, which was decided for the Turks with 4 sets ending with a marginal difference!

The development of the semi-final Turkey-Greece 3-2 in detail:

Gorkem Otsal-Yiannis Koutras 3-1 (4-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9)

Kenan Kahraman-Giorgos Kosmas 2-3 (11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 2-11)

Ocal/Kahraman-Kosmas/Koutra 3-1 (13-15, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9)

Ocal-Kosmas 0-3 (6-11, 7-11, 5-11)

Kahraman-Koutra 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-6)

In the match against Serbia, Greece had the odds slightly on its side and did not miss the opportunity to climb to the third step of the podium. Having the solutions in all moments of pressure, the same duo prevailed with 3-0 and came 3rd place. Serbia had earlier beaten Bulgaria 3-1 in the quarter-finals before losing 3-0 to Romania.

The evolution of the match Serbia-Greece 0-3 in detail:

Borislav Rajic-Yiannis Koutras 1-3 (11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 9-11)

Nemanja Markovic-Giorgos Kosmas 1-3 (12-10, 6-11, 4-11, 7-11)

Kosmas/Koutra 1-3 (11-6, 10-12, 4-11, 9-11)

THE PROGRESS OF THE GIRLS IN THE KNOCK OUTS

The girls’ national team had qualified 2nd from their group and entered the knockouts with one line-up change. In the quarter-final against Moldova, coach Dimitris Papadimitriou had second player Kasimi and on the bench was Boula, who competed yesterday in the group. Moldova also had a player with a defensive style of play, but the damage was done by the left-handed Cireac, who also uses a rubber combo. Greece led 1-0, but lost 3-1 and was out of the 4th place

The progress of the match Greece-Moldova 1-3 in detail:

Mavra Kontopoulou-Ina Lesinskaya 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-2)

Alcistis Kasimi-Ekaterina Sireak 0-3 (7-11, 5-11, 3-11)

Kontopoulou/Kassimi-Lesinskaya/Sireak 1-3 (11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 10-12)

Kontopoulou-Sireak 0-3 (7-11, 4-11, 6-11)

Continuing for positions 5-8, our national team had an easy victory against Kosovo. Score 3-0 without losing a set.

Details of the Greece-Kosovo 3-0 match:

Mavra Kontopoulou-Aiola Behouli 3-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-3)

Vasiliki Bula-Taibe Rouli 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-4)

Alkistis Kasimi/Kontopoulou-Machir Soyeva/Rouli 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-3)

Bulgaria was the opponent in the last ranking match. Here Stella Mavromataki took the opportunity of the only participation in the team, while all four of our athletes were used. After a balanced match of three hours, the Greek team won 3-2 and took 5th place.

The evolution of the match Bulgaria-Greece 2-3 in detail:

Anita Petkova-Stella Mavromataki 2-3 (9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11)

Venda Niazieva-Alkistis Kasimi 3-2 (8-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8)

Nina Nikolova/Niazieva-Mavra Kontopoulou/Vasiliki Boula 2-3 (8-11, 10-12, 11-2, 12-10, 7-11)

Petkova-Kassimi 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-8, 12-10)

Niazieva-Mavromataki 1-3 (10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11)