The first half of the ITTF European Teams Championships Stage 1 is concluded. Beside the match in Men’s A Group Hungary vs. Austria in August in all Events the third round has been played.
In Men’s A groups almost all top seeds faced upsets. In Group A1 Portugal lost against Austria. In A2 Slovenia was severely tested against Romania but prevailed. IN Group A3 Sweden suffered by the hands of Spain whilst top seeded team in Group A4 Croatia lost against Turkey. Ukraine is still without victory. Both Slovakia and Belarus beat top seeds. In A6 Greece lost against Russia.
In Women’s A1 Group results went according to rankings and Germany beat both their adversaries Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. Netherlands did the same but not without difficulties. Both Croatia and Italy forced them to go full distance. Russia is in big problem. Girls lost both their encounters from lower ranked teams: Sweden and Belarus. In A4 Hungary lost against Spain whilst in A5 Austria recorded both wins against Portugal and Switzerland. In A6 Ukraine upset the top seeds – Poland.
In Men’s B groups favorites had much better record if we exclude sensational win of Serbia against England. Finland also went through major setback and lost against Switzerland. All other top seeds Czech Republic Italy Netherlands and Lithuania concluded first three stages undefeated.
Belgium is the only team among top seeds in Women’s B Groups to deal with the defeat. They lost against Slovakia. Serbia Turkey England and Lithuania will have summer break after successfully finished three rounds.
ITTF-European Championships Teams: here
