Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria successfully defended her Women’s Singles title at the LIEBHERR European Championships in Linz. POLCANOVA retained her crown which she had won two years earlier in Munich. Her doubles partner Bernadette SZOCS of Romania had to settle for the silver medal. Less than two hours after their doubles final loss to MATELOVA and BALAZOVA the two faced each other again this time in the singles final. Bronze medals were awarded to Maria XIAO of Spain and Nina MITTELHAM of Germany.
In the singles final POLCANOVA brought tremendous joy to the host nation as the packed TipsArena in Linz cheered her on.
“I am very grateful. Winning a medal at the European Championships is hard enough and now I have three again—I can hardly believe it. Since 2018 I’ve won three medals at all three European Championships which is just crazy ” said POLCANOVA.
She added: “I really have no words. I am so grateful to my family my husband my mother and of course my dad who gave everything so that I could stand here today. I am thankful for the whole team at the Olympic Center who stand behind me and have helped me so much. The match was very tough and I feel so sorry for Bernie. I would have absolutely wished for Bernadette to win. She is a really good friend. After the doubles match it was so heartbreaking. I cried so much in the locker room and didn’t know how I would manage to play the singles final. I don’t even know how I did it. The third game where I was down 1-7 was definitely the turning point. I was able to turn it around—I don’t know how—but at that moment I knew I could make it.”
For SZOCS it was a difficult day.
“It is painful that I lost both finals in one day. But as time goes by I will surely realize the value of two silver medals. I am proud of my game but POLCANOVA had her day in the singles. That’s life ” said SZOCS.
Sofia POLCANOVA is the third woman in the history of the European Championships who succeeded in retaining the singles title. Eva KOCSIAN won in 1958 and 1960 and Zoja RUDNOVA successfully defended her 1970 title in 1972. 52 years later Sofia is the third one.
The much-anticipated rematch of last year’s European Championship final in Munich came slightly earlier than expected. POLCANOVA and MITTELHAM met in the semifinals this time but the outcome was the same with POLCANOVA emerging victorious. In front of a home crowd at the packed TipsArena Sofia showed no mercy yet was fully aware of the magnitude of her achievement.
“The first set was very very important. At 2-0 I briefly lost focus and told myself I had to change something I needed to play more aggressively again. And I managed to do that ” said POLCANOVA.
SZOCS had been the first player of the day to secure her place in the final overcoming Spain’s Maria XIAO in five games.
“I’ve played Maria so many times and on top of that we were in the same club for a while. I knew it was going to be a tough match. We are also friends and during the match I avoided eye contact. It’s so difficult to play against someone you know so well. I came prepared with many tactical options because if you face her with only two or three she’ll see right through it. Also I do my best to avoid putting extra pressure on myself. When I arrived here I said I’d focus only on the next match. I’m trying to enjoy the tournament as much as I can ” said SZOCS.
Final
Bernadette SZOCS (Romania) – Sofia POLCANOVA (Austria) 1-4 (8-11 3-11 10-12 6-11 9-11)
Semi final
Bernadette SZOCS (Romania) – Maria XIAO (Spain) 4-1 (11-3 9-11 11-7 11-6 11-6)
Sofia POLCANOVA (Austria) – Nina MITTELHAM (Germany) 4-1 (12-10 11-7 10-12 11-4 11-6)
