Positions 9-6 of the Zadar European Team Table Tennis Championship will now be claimed by the Men’s National Team. In the round of 16, the representative group had an epic encounter with the “host” Croatia. The whole trio gave a huge fight without having the odds on their side, they showed great quality and soul for three hours, until they “bent” 3-2 sets.
The final was sensational in front of hundreds of Croatians, it became… a fire with her red shirts because, although she found herself behind in the score 2-0, she equalized with a terrible comeback and took the lead in the last individual match.
The excellent Giorgos Stamatouros finally lost in four sets to Gatsina, but he was able to surprise with his appearance. Just as the admirable in another tournament, Panagiotis Gionis, had the opportunity to win his first match.
In the third match in a row, Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos had a great performance and gave the impetus for the “hunt” for the upset.
Coach Kostas Vatsaklis made his own effort from the bench and kept morale high even in the most difficult moments.
Earlier, the National Team had achieved its main goal: To enter the round of 16 and at the same time get the “ticket” for the World Team Championship.
In Thursday’s match, Yannis Sgouropoulos was out of the team, as he felt discomfort in his shoulder and did not train.
In detail, the evolution of the match Croatia – Greece 3-2:
Tomislav Pukar – Giorgos Stamatouros 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-9)
Andrei Gatsina – Panagiotis Gionis 3-1 (11-7, 12-10, 10-12, 12-10)
Ivor Ban – Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos 2-3 (9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 2-11)
Pukar – Gionis 1–3 (11-7, 12-14, 3-11, 11-13)
Gatsina – Stamatouros 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8)
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