Volos met the expectations again this year in the development tournaments of E.F.O.E.P.A.

It went down in history today 22/10 in the afternoon, leaving positive impressions, another developmental table tennis tournament in Volos and the region of Thessaly in general.

And if it was a bet for the hosts to succeed in the games at the municipal indoor gym of Nea Ionia, even though they came very shortly after the devastating floods and their consequences, then it was definitely won.

In the 2nd open of this year’s series of E.F.O.E.P.A. 151 sportsmen and women took part with three last-minute absences (2 pompadours and 1 mini pangorasida), they unfolded their good figures in pursuit of distinctions and received warm applause. The tournament was organized by the Northern Greece Local Committee of the federation in collaboration with the local club “ASEA Volos Kentavros”, the Region of Thessaly (Regional Units of Magnesia and Sporades) and the municipality of Volos. The gold medal was won by Yannis Malamoudis in the teenagers, Stella Tzaridou in the juniors, Yiannis Kioseloglou in the girls, Georgia Spanou in the girls, Giorgos Sassanis in the girls, the debutant Chen Yudie in the girls, Nikos Alexidis in the mini girls and Panagiota Tsekari in the mini snowballs.

From 11am on Saturday there was plenty of action across 14 tables and quite a few unexpected results. The program ended today at 5pm with the decisive games for the championships and certainly all the children contributed to give pleasant notes in the heavy atmosphere from the tough test of the city.

Yiannis Malamoudis and Giorgos-Nikos Gerakios gave the teenagers a strong “battle” for first place. From the 4th place in the seeding, the 18-year-old Malamoudis prevailed in a swing match with 3-2 sets and enjoyed his first gold medal this year (11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9). The presence in the final, in the second event of the EFOEPA, in which he appears, was also a success for the Greek-English young man. The first two favorites were left out of the medals. The number 1, Giannis Koutras, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Gerakios with 3-2 sets in an exciting match. Yiannis Anastasiadis won 3-0 sets in the same round from Giorgos Kosmas.

In the juniors, an unprecedented condition was created in the conduct system because there were only 7 entries. A group was formed and the winners emerged after a pool of six matches. As the announcement of the development tournaments states “if in a category there are 6 or 7 entries, the competition system of the category turns into a one-on-one group in one round”. The series of matches brought to a finale, like a final, the match for the gold medal. It was claimed by the first favourites, Stella Tzaridou and Evangelia Meramvelliotaki respectively, who until that time had only won 3-0 sets (5 in total). As everyone expected, the match between them was balanced until Tzaridou prevailed with 3-2 sets (7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6). The bronze medal was won, as in Pefki, by Qi Xinyu of Chinese origin, who is 15 years old and by choice competes in juniors. He had 4 wins and 2 losses.

In the boys’ final, Yiannis Kioseloglou (No. 2) and Konstantinos Alexoudis (No. 3) met a few months after their respective confrontation in the Panhellenic K13 championship in another part of Thessaly, in Trikala. Then Alexoudis had prevailed, now the athlete from Loutraki took the victory and even with a great reversal from 0-2 sets. He thus gave an ideal follow-up to his similar success in the development of Pefki three weeks ago (9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7). Alexoudis had defeated the 1st favorite, Kostas Fakaros, in the 4th round with 3-2 sets, while in the quarterfinals Anastasios Fousekis had eliminated defender Theofani-Giorgos Mitkas (No. 4) with 3-0 sets.

Georgia Spanou took the lead among the girls, progressing exceptionally well as number 3. In the final, she faced Irini Chrysostomidou, also an athlete from Florina, and overcame her opposition with 3-0 sets (12-10, 11-7, 11-6). It should be added that Irini’s sister, Nestoria, had achieved a great victory in the 8th round with a 3-0 set against the 1st favorite and last year’s Greek women’s champion, Christina Tzenidis.

In the papaides, the pair of the final was the same as the open of Pefki. Giorgos Sassanis defeated Spyros Fousekis much more difficult than anyone can believe watching the final 3-0 set and celebrated his second trophy this year (12-10, 11-8, 15-13).

In the women’s basketball, the main thing to say from Volos is that the fans of the sport saw another talented girl of Chinese origin. This is Chen Yudie, who lives permanently and goes to school in Athens and trains at Espero Kallithea. She played her first official matches and emerged as the winner. In the exciting final, she defeated the number 2 of the games, Elpida Tassiou, with 3-2 sets (11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-8). The athlete from Thessaloniki had given an equally ambiguous match in the semi-final round against the 1st favorite, Aphrodite Sarikakis and had won with 3-2 sets.

Nikos Alexidis went a step further in the mini-papaides after the 3rd place in Pefki. In the final, he defeated his teammate in AS Pera Thessaloniki Dimitris Karakatsani with 3-0 sets (11-5, 11-8, 11-3). With the same score, he prevailed in all his games.

The 1st favorite, Panagiota Tsekari, dominated the mini pankorasides, losing just one set in total. The athlete from Sarises Florina prevailed in the final with a 3-0 set of Fanis Mitropoulos (12-10, 11-7, 11-6).

The winners in each category:

TEENAGERS

1. Yiannis Malamoudis (Phoenicia Agia Sophia Piraeus)

2. Giorgos-Nikos Gerakios (AEK)

3. Giorgos Kosmas (AO DAO Tavros)

CHILDREN

1. Stella Tzaridou (HAN Thessaloniki)

2. Evangelia Meramvelliotaki (GAO Piraeus)

3. Qi Xinyu (AO Tataula)

CHILDREN

1. Yannis Kioseloglou (AO Poseidon Loutraki)

2. Konstantinos Alexoudis (GS Filia Orestiada)

3. Kostas Fakaros (AO Phoenix Agia Sophia Piraeus)

GIRLS:

1. Georgia Spanou (Sarises Florina)

2. Irini Chrysostomidou (Sarises Florina)

3. Nestoria Chrysostomidou (Sarises Florina)

PAMPADES:

1. Giorgos Sassanis (AO Telamon, Salamina)

2. Spyros Fousekis (AES Ikaros Kastritsiou)

3. Michalis Bithavas (AES Ikaros Kastritsiou)

PANGORASIDES:

1. Chen Yudie (Esperos Kallithea)

2. Elpida Tassiou (AO Thermis Thermaios)

3. Aphrodite-Ioanna Sarikakis (GAS Elefsis)

MINI PAMPADEES:

1. Nikos Alexidis (AS Pera Thessaloniki)

2. Dimitris Karakatsanis (AS Pera Thessaloniki)

3. Yiannis Stogiannis (EA Thessaloniki)

MINI PANGORASIDES:

1. Panagiota Tsekaris (Sarises Florina)

2. Fani Mitropoulos (Sarises Florina)

3. Theodora Stromata (FAS Trikala)

THE “LITTLE” FINALS

The games for 3rd place were also very interesting. In the juniors, there was no “small” final because everything was judged in one phase, in the pool of the single group. In the five sets, only one match was reached: It was that of the papaids, where Michalis Bithavas beat Dimitris Alexandridis of Telamos Salaminas 3-2. In the girls, Nestoria Chrysostomidou defeated Anna-Fanouria Mitka (HAN Thessaloniki) with 3-1 sets.

In the teenagers, Giorgos Kosmas defeated his teammate in DAO Tavros Iraklis Kerasidis with a 3-0 set and in the boys Kostas Fakaros with the same score against Anastasios Fusekis of Poseidon Loutraki.

In the mini singles, Yiannis Stogiannis beat Christos Tsakalides from ASEA Kavala with a 3-1 set. In the women’s singles, Aphrodite-Ioanna Sarikakis defeated Natalia Kapagiannidou (GAS Elefsis) 3-0, and in the mini women’s women’s, Theodora Stromata also won 3-0 against Marianas Kalantzopoulou (ASEA Kavala).

THE GREETINGS FROM THE MUNICIPALITY, THE BENEFITS TO THE PARTICIPANTS AND THE PRIZES

On Saturday morning, before the start of the games, Giorgos Vlioras, president of D.O.E.P.A.P.-DI.PE.THE, made a greeting. of Volos (of the organization for culture, education, sports) and municipal councilor of the municipality of Volos. “Thank you very much to all the participants, as well as everyone who is here with the missions. We are happy that we are hosting a development tournament in table tennis for another year and we are sure that we are holding a good event even though you do not find us, as a region, at our best moment”, he emphasized among other things.

Local organizers secured benefits from sponsors. All the children were given bags with 3 small waters, 2 bananas, 1 juice, 1 sandwich and 1 croissant. The coaches were given 2 waters, 1 sandwich, 1 croissant and 1 banana.

The EFOEPA-Local Committee of Northern Greece and the local Centaur awarded plaques to Dorothea Kolyndrinis, deputy governor of Magnesia and Northern Sporades from the Region of Thessaly, George Vliora and the municipal councilor of the municipality of Volos, George Prattos, for their valuable contribution to the sport. Also, as last year in Agria Volos, so this year in Nea Ionia, the Greek Rescue Team of Magnesia supported the tournament and provided, where needed, its valuable services.

The president of Centauro Volos, Nefeli Tsitsani, is omnipresent to help in any matter. From its board of directors, the president of E.F.O.E.P.A. met the athletes. Kostas Papageorgiou, the general secretary Xenia Stathis and the member and president of T.E. of Northern Greece Christos Tassios.