Poland’s KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki overcame HB Ostrov z.s. in Czech Republic in their opening match in Group A of the Champions League Men. Previously Borussia Düsseldorf also beat HB Ostrov z.s.
Pavel SIRUCEK gave hosts reason to cheer with the victory over Milosz REDZIMSKI (5:11 12:10 11:3 11:6) but from that moment Panagiotis GIONIS changed the course of the match.
On his first exit to the table GIONIS beat Michal OBESLO (11:7 9:11 11:7 11:9) and in his next individual match he beat Pavel SIRUCEK (11:8 12:10 14:12). After great fight Tomas TREGLER lost to Seongil JANG (11:5 5:11 8:11 11:7 4:6)
“The result is not the most important thing for us I was much more interested in the game of our team. For us it was the first match in the Champions League this season the Czech club has already had several difficult matches. It was important to prepare the players for it. GIONIS played excellently and his two points were decisive. Young players can’t always manage their emotions and push through the well-played match until the end. However Jang performed well he has improved a lot since the beginning of the season. When he followed the tactics it was fine. That was the most important thing for me in the match. I like the mix of our team an experienced player and the youngsters around him ” said Grodzisk Mazowiecki’s coach Tomasz REDZIMSKI.
GIONIS said it was very tought game.
“We could not count on BADOWSKI because he is injured. On the other side we met very good Czech team with SIRUCEK and OBESLO who plays very well against the players with the defensive style. TREGLER is also good player so they have three very strong players. Not to mention that home crowd created very good atmosfere for their players ” said GIONIS.
GIONIS had a break and now he is back from injury.
“After my long break it is a first time that I felt very good and confident. I played today almost like before. I need time to recover my level of play but today I felt very close to that goal. I am very happy that I helped my team to win two pints because it is very important to continue at least in the Europe Cup. Borussia is very strong and hardly that we can take the leading position from them in our Group. Our target is to be in Europe Cup and to try to win the title there.”
Dmitry PROKOPTSOV coach of HB Ostrov also praised GIONIS’ play.
“GIONIS played fantastic today. He made a minimum of mistakes and was the best player of the match. Unfortunately I am not satisfied with the result. We knew the way was through a point at third singles. Tomáš TREGLER tried but was not lucky in the end. However I think the audience saw some great table tennis.”
