With first place in the group the men, with the 2nd place the women advance for a medal in the team

The first day of the Balkan championship went very positively for our national table tennis teams and the goal of winning a medal is clearly visible.

In Albena, Bulgaria, the team started on the morning of Saturday 02/09 and by early evening the groups were completed with the men’s representative group taking first place with 3 wins and the women’s team taking 2nd place with 2 wins and 1 defeat.

8 teams take part in the competition. They formed from 2 groups, played each other with the “one to all” system and, as the announcement stipulated, they all made it to the quarterfinals.

The ranking of each team counted for the pairs of the 8 group, so on Sunday 03/09 the Greek men’s team faces Albania (4th in the 2nd group) and the women’s team faces Serbia (3rd in the 1st group). The system also foresees a race for positions 3-4.

In the morning, the 1st matchday of the groups took place and immediately after the opening ceremony of the Balkan championship. After the 3 matches, all 4 teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals and the 1st and 4th and 2nd and 3rd teams crossed over. Our national men’s team is the number 1 favorite of the championship and was placed at the head of the 1st group, while the corresponding women’s team was found from the second row of the draw in the 2nd group. The team, coached for the second year in a row by Sotiris Zikos, defeated Bosnia/Herzegovina 3-0, Bulgaria 3-1 in the most difficult match and Kosovo 3-0.

Giorgos Karytsa’s women’s national team easily defeated Kosovo 3-0 and Bosnia/Herzegovina by the same score, while in between they lost to Romania 3-0, however showing full sets in the games. In the group matches, all 9 sportsmen and women, who are in the Greek team, were used. The meetings of our national teams:

Details of the Greece-Bosnia/Herzegovina 3-0 match:

Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos-Nikola Mihailovic 3-2 (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6)

Tasos Riniotis-Luka Mihailovic 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 13-11)

Makis Hatzilygeroudis-Edin Gutits 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9)

Details of the Greece-Bulgaria 3-1 match:

Tasos Riniotis-Vladimir Petkov 1-3 (4-11, 11-6, 6-11, 8-11)

Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos-Petio Krastef 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 2-11, 13-11)

George Konstantinopoulos-Eren Bekir 3-2 (11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-5)

Riniotis-Krastef 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6)

Details of the Kosovo-Greece 0-3 match:

Kresnik Mahmouti-Gerasimos Hatzilygeroudis 0-3 (5-11, 7-11, 8-11)

Fatih Karabaxakou-Nikos Antoniadis 1-3 (9-11, 13-11, 6-11, 7-11)

Blendi Hadzari-Giorgos Konstantinopoulos 0-3 (4-11, 1-11, 5-11)

Details of the Greece-Kosovo 3-0 match:

Ioanna Gerasimatou-Alma Mehmeti 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-9)

Malamatenia Papadimitriou-Lene Osmani 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-8)

Dimitra-Thomais Tsekoura-Leoreza Imeri 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 14-12)

The development of the match Romania-Greece 3-0 in detail:

Tania Plaian-Aliki Kioufi 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6)

Ioanna Singeorzan-Malamatenia Papadimitriou 3-0 (1-9, 11-8, 11-8)

Camellia Mitrofan-Ioanna Gerasimatou 3-2 (11-3, 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-4)

Details of the Greece-Bosnia/Herzegovina 3-0 match:

Ioanna Gerasimatou-Harisa Mesetovic 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-5)

Malamatenia Papadimitriou-Azna Zlotrg 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-7)

Dimitra-Thomais Tsekoura-Enra Subasic 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-5)

Bulgaria came 2nd in the 1st men’s group, followed by Bosnia and Kosovo, while in the 2nd group Serbia won the first place. In the 2nd women’s group, Romania confirmed its position as the leader, while Bosnia and Kosovo finished after Greece. In the other group, Turkey took the lead. There will be ranking games after the quarterfinals.