European Championships | 24 Aug 2014
Germany vs. Portugal great clash to start
Germany, the leading name in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events at the forthcoming TMS European Championships in Lisbon will have very tough job from the very beginning of the Championships. In both disciplines, they are the top seeds but of cour
Germany, the leading name in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events at the forthcoming TMS European Championships in Lisbon will have very tough job from the very beginning of the Championships. In both disciplines, they are the top seeds but of course eyes are focused very much on the host nation, Portugal.
That is why the Group A will be under spotlight from September 24th. Germany will meet host nation Portugal in the opening stage of the Men’s Event. That is the outcome of the draw held today in Lisbon with the help of Ricardo ROBERTO, first Portuguese player ever to win medal at European Youth Championships.
In Group A, top seed, last year’s winner, Germany will play against Portugal, Austria and Hungary. Last year in Schwechat, Portugal was 7th, Austria 9th, whilst Hungary was 4th in Challenge division – 16th overall.
In Group B Greece, the team that won first ever Team’s medal at European championships last year, will have to repeat great performance in Portugal in order to beat France, Spain and Slovakia. Last October backspin player with a lethal forehand top spin, Panagiotis GIONIS led Greece to a sensational silver medal in the Men’s Team event at the Liebherr European Championships.
In Group C, bronze medal winners from Austria, Belarus will need the fantastic skills of Vladimir SAMSONOV to face a great challenge from Sweden, Italy and Poland. In Group D, Russia will play against Croatia, Romania and Czech Republic.
In Men’s Challenge Division in Group E are: Ukraine, Lithuania, Denmark, Latvia. Group F consist of: Slovenia, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Ireland. Group G: England, Turkey, Luxembourg and Finland. H: Serbia, Belgium, Estonia, Norway.
There are two Groups in Men’s Standard Division. In I will play: Israel, Wales, Azerbaijan, Iceland and Malta. In Group J are: Netherlands, Montenegro, Cyprus, Scotland and San Marino.
In Women’s Championships Division, top seeded team of Germany will meet Austria, France and Turkey in the first phase. Silver medalists from Austria, team of Romania will play against Poland, Spain and Portugal. The duel between Spain and Portugal will certainly add extra suspense in this group. Russia, the bronze medal winner, will meet Hungary, Luxembourg and Netherlands in Group C. In Group D, another bronze medalist, Czech Republic will play against Belarus, Sweden and Ukraine.
In Challenge Division in Group E are: England, Wales, Lithuania and Azerbaijan. F: Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Scotland. G: Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Finland. H: Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Norway. In Women’s Standard Division are: Israel, Belgium, Montenegro, Kosovo and Malta.
At the TMS European Championships the final results and placements for each team will be used as qualifications for 2015 European Games which will be held in Baku (Azerbaijan). Top 14 teams from Championship division will be directly qualified together with the winner of Challenge division and host – Azerbaijan Table Tennis Association. All qualified Associations must have respective NOC´s confirmation for participation before and NOT later than March 1st 2015.
Click here to read/download the official draw
