Madesis, Kosmas, Sarikakis and Madesis reached the quarter-finals of the Kosovo Youth Contender

In the finals of the World Table Tennis Youth Contender in Kosovo, there were four high placings for the Greeks in singles in three different categories. Alexandros Madesis and Giorgos Kosmas were ranked 5-8 in the Under 19 athletes category.

Aphrodite Sarikaki had the same tally in the Under 15 female athletes and Cleo Madesi reached the quarterfinals of the Under 11 girls. The overall very positive presence is also reflected in other elements.

Madesis, who ends in 2024 as a teenager, battled to five sets with the world-class Korean to enter the top four. Sarikaki, making her first appearance at the event, also won 3-2 sets in the eight against a favorite from Bulgaria.

The 10-year-old Madesis placed 5-6 in her first outing for an international match. Kosmas claimed two sets against the current Balkan runner-up in the junior doubles and last year’s singles.

We remind you that the highest placing in the tournament was recorded in the Under 19 mixed doubles, where Madesis and Evangelia Meramvelliotaki won third place.

In Pristina the final had only knockout games. In the Under 19 boys category, Madesis (number 10 in the seeding), winner on Saturday in his group, faced in the round of 16 the Turkish Arda Edis (No. 18), who had passed as second from the second group. Our champion found himself behind in the score, but recovered immediately and prevailed with 3-1 sets, already winning two sets by a large margin (8-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-1).

In the eight, the degree of difficulty rose even more, since the opponent was the Korean Kwon Hook, first favorite of the open, number 25 in the world ranking of Under 19 and 14 in that of Under 17. The AEK athlete, however, immediately became a threat with excellent appearance.

He led 1-0 and lost the second set by the smallest margin. He regained the lead and it eventually cost him starts in the next few sets. Kwon jumped out to a 4-0 straight away and handled it brilliantly with strong attacks and a very good pace (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 1-11)

Kosmas was also strong in the morning in the round of 16 against a Turkish obstacle. International Gianniotis (No. 12), who on Saturday had qualified with second place from his own group, was imposed a 3-0 set by Khalil Zer (No. 11), winner of the sixth group (12-10, 11-6, 11 -9).

In the quarterfinals, he met as an outsider the Bulgarian Ioan Velitkov, the third favorite of the games. He entered the table very well and after the first two sets he could at least be at 1-1. He did not succeed and the left-handed opponent with the unquestionable quality now had a clear psychological advantage (9-11, 10-12, 4-11).

In the girls’ Under 15 category, Sarikaki (No. 10) had already done well by qualifying on the board as a group winner. On Sunday in the first round, with 12 gymnasts on the board of “16”, she would have faced Yoninda Ibrahimi, but she advanced without a fight, as the gymnast from Kosovo did not dismount.

By the way, in the same way, Sarikaki defeated three scheduled matches with local gymnasts and this is bad when every participation in Youth Contender requires a good number of matches.

In the quarterfinals, the Athenian champion faced Beroslava Balkanska, third favorite in the category. Bulgaria had prevailed in the third group and then, in the round of 16, had a bye. Sarikaki did not enter the match so well, but she gradually improved her performance. After the initial 0-2 set, he reached the tie, until he “bent” in five sets and with a very small difference (7-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11).

Finally, in the Under 11 girls Madesis (No. 7) was on the board with the second place in her group, she had already succeeded in her first mission abroad and tried for something more by playing freely. She took the lead in the quarter-finals against strong Mongolian Ayalgu Erdenequag (No. 3) and eventually lost 3-1 sets (11-5, 6-11, 3-11, 6-11).

The scoreboard had two byes and, thus, the athlete of AO Heraklion 2001 was placed 5-6, as had happened in the corresponding category of boys and with Theofanis Markoulakis in the Youth Contenders of Croatia and Slovenia at the beginning of the season.