Greek athletes enjoyed games at the European Veterans Table Tennis Championship

Veteran sportsmen and women over 40 years of age from 39 countries attended the category European Table Tennis Championships in Sandefjord to combine a large number of matches with the unique experience of staying in a beautiful country and socializing with thousands of fellow athletes and among them ten Greeks.

Our country, which has consistently participated in European and world championships in recent years, had participation in six different age categories of men with Stavros Plakantonakis, Fanis Tsahakis, Yiannis Tzavelas, Dimitris Aronis, Anastasios Pouliezos, Antonis Potiris, Nikos Sinatsakis, Thanasis Heimonas, Nikos Papatheodorou and Michalis Stamatakis.

No accolades came this time, but there were good placements, notable performances and certainly a lot of fun from these…passionate fans of the game. We will write epigrammatically what the Greek athletes did at the Sandefjord Convention Center with the help of the reports that the Panhellenic Table Tennis Friends Association (pofepa.gr) had these days on its website.

First in the simple:

In the 45 and over category, Sinatsakis was ranked fourth in the 23rd group with 3 defeats in the same number of matches and was eliminated from the main table.

Potiris came third in the 13th group with 1 win and 2 losses and was also eliminated.

In the over 50 category, Tzavellas qualified for the main board with second place from the 24th group. Recorded 2 wins and 1 loss.

Heimonas also advanced to the next phase from a group of three. He finished second in the second group with 1 win and 1 loss.

Tsahakis was eliminated with third place in the 25th group. He had 1 win and 2 losses.

In the over 55 category Papatheodorou was last in the ninth group without

win in three matches.

In the same way, Aronis was also eliminated, who was limited to the fourth place of the 24th group, knowing 3 defeats.

In the over 60 category, Stamatakis took third place. He had 1 win without a match and 2 losses in the 15th group and did not make it to the main board.

In the over 70 category, Pouliezos qualified for the main phase of the “knock outs”. He competed in the eighth group and took second place with 2 wins (1 without a match) and 1 loss.

In the over 80 category, Plakantonakis participated in the ninth group and was eliminated with third place. He had 1 win and 2 losses.

On Tuesday 27/06, the doubles matches began with the qualifiers. In groups, it was the first phase again and there were two qualifiers in the main tables:

In the over 45 category, Potiris and Synantakis ranked fourth in the 11th group. They had 3 defeats in as many matches.

In the over 50 category, Tzavellas teamed up with Israel’s Grempel. They suffered 3 defeats and were fourth in the seventh group.

Tsahakis and Papatheodorou stayed in the fourth place of the 12th group. They had 3 defeats in as many matches.

Chimonas/Aronis were eliminated with third place in the 19th group. They recorded 1 win without a match and 2 losses.

In the over 55 category, Stamatakis and the Belgian Dussart were limited to fourth place in the 14th group without a win in 3 races.

In the over 70 category, Pouliezos competed alongside the Swiss Heinzelmann. They had 2 wins and 1 loss in the 13th group and qualified for the main table.

Plakantonakis and his German teammate, Wenk, with whom they won the double bronze medal at the Oman World Championship last January, qualified first in the over 80 category. In the first group they had 2 wins in as many games.

On Wednesday 28/06 there was a day off and the European continued with the singles “knockout” matches. From the initial qualifiers:

In the over 50 category, Tzavelas was eliminated by England’s Nicholls with 3-0 sets in the round of “128”.

In the same category, Heimonas had a “bye” in the first round and was eliminated with a 3-0 set by the German Harler in the “64”.

In the over 70 category, Pouliezos defeated the Italian Manca with 3-0 sets for the “128” and lost with the same score to the Estonian Lindmae in the “64” phase.

In the over 60 category, Stamatakis was eliminated in the first match of the “consolation”, as was Papatheodorou in the over 55 category.

In the over 55 category, Aronis won 2 consolation games and was eliminated in the “32” by the German Never with a 3-0 set.

In the same category and the corresponding scoreboard, Tsahakis advanced with 2 wins and was beaten in the “16” by the Frenchman Triolier with 3-0 sets.

In the over 80 category, Plakantonakis advanced with two wins in the consolation, until he was defeated in a derby in the eight by Slovakian Milkovic with 3-2 sets.

In the over 45 category, Potiris scored 1 consolation win and was eliminated in the “32” by Croatian Pocuca with 3-0 sets.

In the same category and in the “consolation” matches, Sinatsakis was defeated in the “64” phase.

Finally, on Friday, the matches included the doubles “knockouts” for the Greek athletes. In the main draw of the over 80 category, Plakantonakis and the German Wenk were defeated in the round of 16 by the Swedes Johansson/Jagebro with 3-0 sets.

In the main draw of the over 70 category, Pouliezos and the Swiss Heinzelmann were eliminated in the round of “64” by the Norwegians Helseth/Aall with 3-1 sets.

The duo Tsahakis/Papatheodorou went further in the consolations. With 2 wins he reached the top eight of the over 50 category.

Stamatakis/Dussart (Belgium) and Tzavellas/Grempel (Israel) remained in the round of 32.