On Thursday, in the first round of the Italian World Table Tennis Feeders in Biella, Panagiotis Gionis did not feel any pressure against the young Puerto Rican Angel Naranjo and, beating him with a 3-0 set, passed to the “32”.
Thus, on Friday the degree of difficulty rises, as his next opponent will be Attalos Nyagol Stoyanov, number 124 in the world.
We remind you that the Greek representation in the neighboring country’s tournament also continues in doubles, as earlier on the same day Panagiotis Gionis/Konstantinos Angelakis qualified for the first eight in the men’s doubles and Giorgos Stamatouros/Malamatenia Papadimitriou in the mixed doubles.
Gionis and Naranho are only one place apart this week in the international rating table. Gionis is at number 196 and Naranjo at 195. However, our champion was a clear favorite beforehand, not only because his current position in the world rankings is not representative of his value, but also because he has better quality.
This was also proven at the table. Gionis was careful and consistent and took the sets without having to charge when the 19-year-old from Puerto Rico has a lot of difficulty against the defensive style of play.
The sets: 11-4, 11-4 and 11-6
Through 2023, Naranjo had three WTT youth tournament singles 5-8 finishes, two Youth Star Contender and one Youth Contender. He was also third in the Caribbean Championship and fifth in the Central American and Caribbean Games.
The second round match with Stoyanov is set for 15:40 Greek time on Friday at table 3. The Italian eliminated India’s Satyan Gnanasekaran 3-1 in the first round.
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