The first act in the Panhellenic table tennis championship for teenagers-teenagers 2021-2022 was completed on the afternoon of Sunday 13/3. In a full two-day competition, the Regional Individual Games took place in five cities of the country, which constituted the qualifying phase of the annual event for athletes up to 18 years old.
In Athens, Florina, Patras, Chios and Heraklion of Crete the local winners for Attica, Northern Greece, Western Greece / Peloponnese, Chios and Crete respectively emerged and were judged most of the qualifications for the final phase of the institution (the other qualifiers will be removed from the evaluation boards in April).
About 200 children from 57 unions across the country took part. Efstathios Manolopoulos and Angeliki Evmorfiadis in Attica, Giannis Anastasiadis and Magdalini Iliopoulou in Western Greece, Athanasios Tzenidis and Fotini Dimitriadis in Northern Greece, Petrosos and Konstasos L Crete.
Groups in the first phase and knockout games in the second included the system in place in each area. The ticket for the finals, which will take place in Patras from Saturday, April 16 to Tuesday, April 19, was won by 32 boys and 21 girls and the total number of qualifications in the singles (48 and 32 respectively) will be completed by the evaluation tables of EFOEPA . The final phase will also have the team and doubles matches.
In the federal hall of the Peace and Friendship Stadium, the Regional Championship for Attica and islands lasted two days. In the juniors, Efstathios Manolopoulos from AS Gymnasium won. He was also the 1st favorite and reached the gold medal without losing a set. In the final, Iraklis Kerasidis of DAO Tavros prevailed with a 3-0 set (11-3, 11-4, 11-4). The 3rd place was shared by George Katsaprakakis (Athena Magoufanas) and Savvas Vatsaklis (Proodos Voutzas Rafinas).
In the juniors, Angeliki Evmorfiadi won her maiden trophy in any individual event of EFOEPA. The athlete from Telamonas Salamina advanced as the 3rd favorite and in the exciting final she defeated in five sets Mariana Kreanga, daughter of our legendary champion Kallinikos (10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5). The bronze medal was won by Vassilia Chalari (GAO Piraeus) and Mavra Kontopoulou (Radamanthys).
The corresponding event for Northern Greece was hosted on Saturday at the indoor gym of Florina. The winner in the simple junior category was the left-handed Athanasios Tzenidis of HAN Thessaloniki, who was also the number 1 favorite. In the final, he defeated the 2nd favorite, Sotiris Sapakos of OEA Thessaloniki (11-4, 19-17, 11-9) with a 3-0 set. Konstantinos Fraggakis of ASEA Kavala and 12-year-old Konstantinos Alexoudis of Filia Orestiada climbed the 3rd step of the podium.
Fotini Dimitriadis lifted the cup in the junior singles. The athlete of ASEA Kavala made an impressive run as number 4 in seeding. In the balanced final, he defeated with 3-2 sets Dimitra Petsiva of ASEA Kavala, who was the 3rd favorite (11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6). The bronze medal was won by Despina Aba (Sarises of Florina) and Katerina Alexoudi (Ethnikos Alexandroupolis).
The qualifiers for Western Greece and the Peloponnese took place in the federal hall of the Pampeloponnisian Stadium in Patras. In the teenagers, Giannis Anastasiadis of Poseidon Loutraki won first place. He was number 1 in the favorites and in the final he faced Konstantinos Sotiriou from Finikes Patras (No. 2). The two of them met very recently in the final of the children’s category in the development tournament of Pera Athens. Anastasiadis emerged victorious on Sunday with 3-1 sets (11-8, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8). The bronze medal was won by Dimitris Sotiropoulos (PAL Finikes Patras) and Giannis Koutra (Poseidon Loutrakiou).
Magdalini Iliopoulou became the champion among the juniors. The first two favorites also competed in this final. Iliopoulou from Finikes Patras (No. 2) prevailed with 3-2 sets in a final full of fluctuations against Eugenia Karathanasi (No. 1), who has a defensive style of play and plays in the same club (7-11, 11-7 , 11-7, 6-11, 11-9). There was also a “small” final in the program, because the 3rd place also qualified. It was won without a match by Alexandra Bithava (PAL Finikes Patras), as Katerina Ioannou (AES Ikaros Kastritsiou) could not play.
In Chios the event took place on Sunday at the gym of Kampochora. The 14-year-old Petros Liotsis from Nireas Kardamylon confirmed the role of the 1st favorite and won the local title, as he had done in the respective Regional Championships for men and children. In the final he surpassed his teammate in Nireas and 2nd favorite Panagiotis Kriekoukis. Nikos Xenakis (also from Nireas) and Michalis Kokkodis (Orion FROM Chios) finished together in 3rd place.
In the juniors, the balance of power changed because three favorites (Boula and sisters Noure) were absent at the last minute. The gold medal was won by Markella-Ioanna Sgouta from Orion. In the final, she defeated Virginia Xyntari from the same club. Maria-Markella Kontopoulou and Hariklia Zagkotsi from Orion were also ranked third.
Finally, in Crete, the matches were held on Sunday in the hall of the Pancretan stadium, in Heraklion. They were just about the teenagers. The 1st place was won by Konstantinos Deredakis of OEA Rethymno, who was also the 1st favorite. In the final, Manolis Tzouliadakis (No. 6) was defeated by the same club with 3-1 sets (11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9). There was also a “small” final for the 3rd and last place, which led to the final phase. There, Apostolos Niolakis of OEA Rethymno defeated Pantelis Vogiatzidakis of the same club with a 3-0 set.
Follow News Bulletin 247 on Google News to be the first to know the latest news .
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
