In Leeds and the Austrian WTT Youth Contender table tennis, Alexandros Madesis and Giorgos Gerakios began their efforts on Saturday, competing in the Under 19 category. Madesis managed to qualify for the main draw with the second place in his group and the On Sunday, he will aim for the best possible placing.
Gerakios, in his debut with the Greek colors in an international tournament, “chased” the same goal strongly and lost it in the details.
In Leeds and the established Junior Open the Under 19 category is held in the last track. Madesis was in the 28th group, which consisted of four athletes, but there was one absence, that of the Slovenian Micha Podobnik.
In his first match, the current “silver” Balkan champion in the junior team defeated Poland’s Gracian Kesik with a 3-0 set (11-7, 11-2, 11-6) and ensured the qualification. In the last race, he had a strong match with the leading Italian Federico Valino. He fought back with 3-0, but the match was close and the three sets were decided at the limit (9-11, 8-11, 9-11).
In the “64” board, Madesis was drawn with Swiss Numa Ulris, who also qualified as runner-up from the 13th group with 1 win and 1 loss. If our champion gets the victory on Sunday, then in the “32” he will face the second favorite, Andre Bertelsmeier. The German came through as the winner of the second group, but in a three-way tie.
Gerakios, who in any case gained significant experience with the strong racing tests in his first participation in the blue and white, came third in the 26th group. In his premiere, he was defeated by the Belgian leader Javier Vats with 3-0. He was competitive, however, in fact two sets were decided in overtime (5-11, 10-12, 10-12).
In his decisive second game, he was strongly opposed to Slovakian Damian Floro, who in the end also won the first place in the group. The 2006-born athlete led us 1-0, then leveled at 2-2 and finally fought back in a scoreless fifth set to be eliminated (11-3, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7, 8- 11).
In the technical guidance of the two children is their coach at AEK, Kostas Madesis.
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