At the Europe Youth table tennis of Serbia, which has been underway since Wednesday in Nice, Yannis Kioseloglou secured a good placement in the Under 15 singles. He entered the top eight and on Sunday, on the last day of the games, he is “chasing” the entrance in medals and everything else. The athlete of Poseidon Loutrakiou started as the sixth favorite and, after going through the group undefeated, advanced two rounds on the main board on Saturday.
At 11:00 on Sunday, he faces the number 2 of the competition, the Hungarian Lenard Szabo.
In the same tournament, Chrysovalantis Sambalis lost in the first round of the knockouts. He fought a strong fight against an athlete from Slovakia and finished his effort in positions 17-32.
Higher in Europe, in Helsingborg, Sweden, another talented athlete of the children’s category, Konstantinos Isaakidis, had a similar ranking in an established tournament. In the Under 15 of the Sweden Star Rekordspelen, Kastorianos progressed with three wins and was eliminated in the “32”.
In Nice, Kioseloglou, after topping the group, had one of a total of eight “byes” in the first round due to his high seeding position. In the round of 16, he faced Dane Emil Hasselbalk, who started as number 4, but changed his position on the board because he had qualified second from his own group. Our 14-year-old international appeared fully prepared in every respect and reached an emphatic victory with 3-0 sets (11-8, 11-9, 11-6).
On Sunday morning, in the quarter-finals, he will face the Hungarian Lenard Szabo, who on Friday had easily prevailed in the second group and on Saturday achieved another victory in the round of 16. Kioseloglou is claiming the top four and securing a medal and wants Serbia to prove to be a charm for him, since in 2021 in Belgrade he won the silver medal in Under 11 of the country’s WTT Youth Contender.
Sambalis, who had qualified for the main draw (A Finals), also with the first place from the tenth group, met in the “32” the Slovak David Kapanda, who had advanced as the second from the 12th group. The match was “close” from start to finish, just the athlete from Sarises Florina had one less ball in the critical moments (8-11, 9-11, 10-12).
In Helsingborg and the annual Sweden Star Rekordspelen, Isaakidis started his journey from his own age group, the Under 15. In the first phase, he prevailed in the fifth group, where he was the leader. He defeated Swede Verman with 3-0 sets (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) and his compatriot, Eliasson with 3-2 sets (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9 11 -8).
The board was of “128”. The athlete from Filia Orestiada had a “bye” initially and in the round of “64” he overcame the Swede Vinntreus Maximilian with 3-1 sets (11-3, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8). In the third round, he met another notable Scandinavian, Boberg Nils, and was defeated in 3-1 sets (9-11, 6-11, 11-8 5-11) and thus ranked 17-32.
Isaakidis has also competed in the Under 17 and Under 19 categories, with the tournament ending on Sunday.
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