ITTF-European Championships Teams Stage 2
The Second Stage of the ITTF-European Championships Teams is playing in five groups each in Men’s and Women’s events. After two days of matches the best ranked two teams will book their positions in the Final Stage this September (3-8) in the French city of Nantes.
Men’s Event – Second Round
In Group 1 Serbia beat Lithuania 3:0 to secure one of the first two spots and place in Final Stage alongside Romania. Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC overcame Lesiv RIMAS in straight games Zsolt PETO prevailed against Medardas STANKEVICIUS after four sets while Marko JEVTOVIC concluded clash by clear win against Matias SKUCAS.
In Group 2 Denmark recorded its second win to secure its place in the Final Stage. Danish side beat Netherlands 3:0 after all three victories in straight games: Anders LIND vs. Laurens TROMER Jonathan GROTH vs. Ewout OOSTWOUDER Kasper RASMUSSEN vs. Rajko GOMMERS.
England improved its win-loss record to 2-0 in Group 3 as they beat Estonia 3:0. Each encounter has been decided in straight games. Samuel WALKER prevailed against Aleksandr LUSHIN recently crowned winner of Serbian Open Paul DRINKHAL beat Aleksandr SMIRNOV and Tom JARVIS overcame Oskar PUKK. Ukraine beat Italy 3:0 and now both sides have 1-1 win-loss record. Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA overcame Leonardo MUTTI in straight sets Viktor YEFIMOV was extended to full distance by Mihai BOBOCICA while Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO secured victory for his side by his win against Niagol STOYANOV.
In Group 4 Czech Republic secured one of first two places after exhausting clash against Hungary 3:2. Fifth encounter brought tense clash between two rising stars Tomas POLANSKY and Bence MAJOROS but Czech player won after full five games 3:2 (11:3 8:11 12:10 8:11 11:6). Israel faced easy job against Ireland 3:0 as Michael TAUBER Omri BEN-ARI and Aviv BEN-ARI overcame Ryan FARREL Zak WILSON and Sasha GILLEN respectively.
Turkey booked its place for the Final Stage thanks to second victory in full five games in Group 5. They beat Luxembourg 3:2 thanks to Ibrahim GUNDUZ who defeated both Christian KILL and Eric GLOD while Abdulah YIGENLER decided the winner by his win against Christian KILL. Finland prevailed against Bulgaria 3:1 after two wins of Benedek OLAH who was stretched to full distance twice by Teodor ALEXANDROV and Stanislav GOLOVANOV.
Women’s Event – Second Round
In Group 1 Russia booked its spot for the Final Stage as they beat Turkey 3:0. Polina MIKHAILOVA won the opener against Sibel ALTINKAYA in spite of losing first set. Olga VOROBEVA and Yana NOSKOVA beat Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ respectively.
In Group 2 Spain secured top spot and place in the Final Stage thanks to second consecutive win. They beat England 3:0 in the second round thanks to good team work: Galia DVORAK paved the way to victory by his win against HO Tin-Tin Maria XIAO overcame Maria TSAPTSINOS whilst ZHANG Xuan defeated Denise PAYET.
Talented Serbian team overcame Italy 3:0 in Group 3. Sabina SURJAN beat Chiara COLANTONI in the opener while Andrea TODOROVIC and Izabela LUPULESKU prevailed against Debora VIVARELI and TAN Wenling respectively.
Switzerland lost both games in Group 4 so Greece and Slovakia will travel to Final Stage. Slovakia beat Switzerland 3:1 in the second round thanks to Barbora BALAZOVA who recorded two wins against Celine REUST and Rachel MORET. Eva ODOROVA has provided third point for Slovakian side as she defeated Rahel ASCHWANDEN.
Bulgaria secured its spot in Final Stage thanks to second win in Group 5 against Israel 3:0. Maria YOVKOVA defeated Vital KARLIN in straight games Polina TROFINOVA beat Nicole TROSMAN while Kalina HROSTOVA was better than Karina ADAMSKY. Slovenia overcame Azerbaijan 3:0 to keep chances for the second spot after three encounters in three games: Kristina STRAZAR vs. Nazakat QARDEVA Aleksandra VOVK vs. Maryam IMANOVA Ana TOFANT vs. Bilura EMINOVA.
