European Table Tennis Championship Under 21: Papadimitriou was eliminated in stage 1 of the singles

On the opening day of the Under 21 European Table Tennis Championship hosted in North Macedonia, Malamatenia Papadimitriou tried to repeat last year’s qualification to the next stage, but was eliminated with three defeats.

She started as the first favorite in the ninth group, but in an event of a very high standard she did not have her best day, as a result she was limited to fourth place. She continues from Thursday with the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles, where she has foreign partners and will be chasing a good placement. Her match in the first round of the mixed doubles was set for 10:00.

The women’s singles featured 12 groups in stage 1 with the top eight favorites of the championship avoiding them (as was the case with the men) and going straight to stage 2. The Greek champion of the category as number 17 in the singles seeding headed ninth group.

At the start of her third consecutive appearance in the institution, she faced the also left-handed Bulgarian Victoria Persova. In the match, it seemed that she lacked stability and the defeat came with 3-0 sets.

In the first set, she missed some forehands and some backhands and in the crucial second set she led 6-5 with four consecutive points, but her opponent passed her attacks for 2-0. At that point, a psychological disadvantage was created and the situation never “turned around” (6-11, 9-11, 7-11).

In the second match, Papadimitriou gave another strong match against the German Naomi Prankovich (No. 21). He struggled in the “closed” first sets, later he reduced the score, but he could not keep the same pace and lost with 3-1 sets (8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11). This defeat also resulted in elimination from stage 2 because the other results of the group did not suit them.

In the third and last tournament, Giorgos Karytsa’s athlete played for the glory against the excellent Spanish Maria Berthosa, who started from the fourth row of the groups (No. 46) and managed to come out first with an absolute victory! Our 19-year-old international did not start well, later she leveled the game, but finally suffered another defeat with 3-0 sets (5-11, 8-11, 13-15).

THE GROUP’S FINAL SCORE:

1. Berthosa 6 3-0

2. Prankovic 5 2-1

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3. Persova 4 1-2

4. Papadimitriou 3 0-3

On Thursday, the doubles matches begin. In the women’s doubles, a board of “32” has been formed. Papadimitriou and Kosik meet in the first round Ainhoa ​​Cristóbal/Josefina Neumann from Spain and Germany respectively. At 13:20 the match starts.

In mixed doubles there is a board of “64”. Palusek/Papadimitriou face Luka Stoitchev/Fani Jovanovska from North Macedonia in the first round. The match takes place at 10:00.

In the first phase of the singles, both representatives of Cyprus were eliminated from the competition. Ilia Sarpel in the second men’s group and Fotini Meletie in the first women’s group suffered three defeats each and remained in fourth place, but of course their participation in the institution is honorable and their experience valuable.