At the Rimini Fair everything is ready for the start of the STAG European Veterans Championships. The Opening Ceremony will be tomorrow.
The Italian Veterans Championships have just ended and many players who have won the titles will also be involved in the Continental event. Two of them are Sonja MILIC and Aldo DONDA who won the 65-70 and Over 80 competitions respectively.
“So far I took part in three editions of the European Championships in 1995 in Vienna in 1997 in Prague and in 2009 in Porec. My greatest satisfaction was the bronze medal won in Prague in the Over 40 singles. It was a surprise. My daughter Vanja who was 14 years old at the time followed me on the bench as a coach. I remembered that she was not satisfied with my game. I lost in the semifinals and I was very happy anyway. In that tournament everything went right and on my way I had the adversaries against whom my game worked well. Here in Rimini it is difficult to make predictions. When I play I always do it to win and so I will try to get the best possible result this time too. I have trained to play against long pimples and if I find athletes who use them I think I will be comfortable ” explained MILIC.
Donda is used to play great events in Italy.
“For me – he states – it is the third time after the 1986 World Championships right here in Rimini and the 2003 European Championships in Courmayeur. In 1986 it was my first experience and I was not prepared. In total this is my 10th European Championship and I have also played in six World Championships. At the World Championships of 1992 in Dublin I won the consolation tournament and at the 2009 European Championships in Porec I won the silver medal in the Over 70 doubles with Ferdinando CARÙ. Last time in 2019 in Budapest I reached the round of 16 in singles. Here in Rimini to do well you will also need to have a little luck. I will be 83 years old on July 2 the day of the finals. Who knows dreaming costs nothing”.
