Katerina Toliou took part in the 1st Grand Smash ping pong of Singapore, another high standard individual event, introduced by the new body of the International Table Tennis Federation.
The tournament started on Monday, March 7, the four-time Greek women’s singles champion competed directly on Tuesday in the second qualifying round of the singles and was eliminated by Turkish Simbel Altinkaya.
In January, Toliou also competed in Germany’s Feeder, another new WTT series, placed 9-16 and is now seeking a solid test and a stronger Open.
In the coming days, however, the action in Asia remains for Greek internationals with Giannis Sgouropoulos, George Stamatouros and Malamatenia Papadimitriou preparing for successive matches in Doha.
Sgouropoulos and Stamatouros announced their participation in the two men’s events in the capital of Qatar. A Feeder and a Contender.
In the same city, 18-year-old Malamatenia Papadimitriou will also compete in two tournaments, first at the Youth Star Contender, which is for athletes under 19, and then at Feeder. In other words, Doha holds a total of three events in a very short period of time: From the 7th to the 11th of March of the youth, from the 13th to the 17th of March the Feeder and from the 18th to the 24th of March the WTT Contender.
At the 1st WTT Grand Smash in Singapore, Toliu had a bye in the first qualifying round of the women’s singles and on Tuesday she faced Turkala Simbel Altinkaya in the second. The match was balanced in the first two sets, as well as other times in matches between them in recent years.
Our 27-year-old international had a good chance to win the first set, but lost it in overtime. It was stressful in the next and then it was affected psychologically to lose with 3-0 sets (12-14, 7-11 4-11).
In Feeder in Qatar, Stamatouros will go through the qualifiers of the ordinary men, while Sgouropoulos will be directly on the main board.
Also, in Feeder, Papadimitriou will be in the qualifying process of ordinary women. There will also be representation in the double mixed. Stamatouros and Papadimitriou will compete in the qualifiers.
In the WTT Contender, the second tier in the institution after the WTT Star Contender, both Sgouropoulos and Stamatouros will participate in the qualifying groups.
In the top Open of the youth end, also in Doha, the girls are to compete in the two days of March 10-11. Papadimitriou is in Under 19 and will participate in the doubles with teammate Romania Ioanna Singheorzan.
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