Under 15 Boys Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin concluded with the victory of France. In the final they overcame spirited team of Romania in four matches at the edge of the knife.Czech Republic and Russia won bronze medals. Once again Felix LEBRUN played the pivotal role in French success. LEBRUN remain unbeaten status throughout matches against Israel Slovakia Russia and Romania. “It was hard match for all of us. Especially the doubles were close and I was under big pressure. I had to win my last match ” said LEBRUN. Coach Jerome BAHUAUD added:”It was very important. Two year before we lost to Romania. It was close and it was unbelievable how the players were focused.” Final France – Romania 3:1 Felix LEBRUN – Dragos Alexandru BUJOR 3:0 (12:10 11:8 11:5) Flavien COTON – Iulian CHIRITA 0:3 (10:12 4:11 10:12) Felix LEBRUN Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT – Dragos Alexandru BUJOR Iulian CHIRITA 3:2 (11:9 11:7 4:11 6:11 11:4) Felix LEBRUN – Iulian CHIRITA 3 :2 (11:9 11:7 4:11 6:11 11:4) UNDER 15 1 FRANCE 2 ROMANIA 3 CZECH R. 3 RUSSIA 5 GERMANY 5 POLAND 7 BELGIUM 7 SLOVAKIA 9 SWEDEN 9 TURKEY 11 HUNGARY 11 PORTUGAL 13 BULGARIA 13 ISRAEL 15 SWITZERLAND 16 SPAIN 17 CROATIA 18 ITALY 19 ESTONIA 19 NORWAY 21 UKRAINE 21 LUXEMBOURG 23 NETHERLANDS 23 SLOVENIA 25 BELARUS 26 LITHUANIA 27 AUSTRIA 28 BIH 29 SERBIA 30 GREECE 31 ENGLAND 32 FINLAND 33 LATVIA 34 MALTA 35 GEORGIA
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV clinched bronze at the 2020 Tokyo
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV has successfully taken home the bronze medal in Tokyo after beating LIN Yun-Ju in an extraordinary seven-game thriller. He emerged successful in seven games saving four match points in the sixth prior to securing victory (13-11 9-11 6-11 11-4 4-11 15-13 11-7). A men’s singles bronze medal secured at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the splendours of the ExCeL Arena; now nine years later at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday 30th July in the capital city’s Metropolitan Gymnasium the now 32 year old repeated the feat. Once again OVTCHAROV beat an adversary from Chinese Taipei to reserve the third step of the podium only on this occasion it was in a much more dramatic fashion. In London’s docklands in a hard fought engagement he had accounted for CHUANG Chih-Yuan (12-10 9-11 8-11 13-11 11-5 14-12); in Tokyo the no.7 seed he overcame LIN Yun-Ju the no.5 seed a contest of high drama. After the match OVTCHAROV was overwhelmed with the emotions. “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster ride for four days. Days at the Olympics feel like years. Last four days felt like 5 years and everything is in slow motion. I had a such a strong vision at the beginning. I believed I could go all the way but then all the sudden I was almost out against Hugo. I recovered and I thought I got another chance…Then the match against MA Long yesterday when everything broke apart in the last point. I believed firmly in the win against MA Long. Afterwards I said to my father that the defeat was so difficult I can never play table tennis again. He said: ‘Dima if you win today everything will look different again.’ At that point I was not sure if I could hold the racket again. But he was right.” OVTCHAROV continued: “ I slept very badly and scraps of this game kept coming back. Lin is incredibly strong technically he is on the level of the best Chinese. The match ball that he had in the sixth set I thought for a fraction that’s it for me now. I had help from above that this ball hit net and went out. Then it was suddenly 9: 3 in the 7th game then the nervousness came up again. What I managed to do makes me just as happy as I was disappointed yesterday. What a rollercoaster ” said OVTCHAROV. Asked to compare this experience to one from London five years ago OVTCHAROV said: “At that time I went to London with the aim of winning bronze. And nobody thought I would do that back then. I worked a lot on my game even during the Corona period. I had this belief that this time I would go further than the semi-finals. 2012 the defeat in the semi-finals was forgotten after a second. I already thought of Chuang in the game. The defeat yesterday felt so hard. “ Most impressively Dimitrij OVTCHAROV has won a medal in every Olympic Games in which he has competed. Additionally he won men’s team silver in Beijing (2008) men’s team bronze in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016). Success for Dimitrij OVTCHAROV soon after it was success for China’s Ma Long. The no.2 seed he overcame colleague Fan Zhendong the top seed (11-4 10-12 11-8 11-9 3-11 11-7) to secure gold. Ma Long now becomes the first player to retain the men’s singles title at an Olympic Games and the first to win on two occasions. He has won every time when he has played; in London in 2012 he only played in the men’s team event. Play resumes with the men’s team and women’s team events on Sunday 1st August. Final Ma Long CHN – Fan Zhendong 4: 2 (4 -10.8.9 -3.7) Bronze Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Ma Long CHN 3: 4 (-11 -8 9 9 -7 5 -9)
ETTU President Levitin congratulated
Romania and France will play for title in Under 15 Boys Team’s Event
For the title in the Under 15 Boys Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin tomorrow will play Romania against France. In the semi final they prevailed against Czech Republic and Russia. In the semi final Romania’s Iulian CHIRITA easily prevailed against Stepan BRHEL in straight games opening match. Dragos Alexandru BUJOR also gave no hope to Martin SIP and Romania was very quickly on a way to victory with 2:0 lead against Czech Republic. BUJOR and CHIRITA failed to finish the match with the point in doubles and BRHEL and SIP won to help Czech Republic return into the game. It did not last for long. CHIRITA beat SIP in four games. “After easy start we lost in doubles and my match against SIP was very close. The key was to stay focused which we did. We fought like the lions ” said CHIRITA. Two years ago Romania bet France in Ostrava 3:2. “I hope it will be the same this year. I am looking forward our final match ” added CHIRITA. France beat Russia in four matches. Felix LEBRUN beat Roman VINOGRADOV in four games to give France a good start but Aleksei SAMOKHIN beat Flavien COTON to level the score before French pairings prevailed in five games thriller. At the end LEBRUN was at the top of the task. He overcame SAMOKHIN. “I won the opening match against VINOGRADOV 3:1 but it was 11:9 at the end. Then COTON played very good but he failed to halt SAMOKHIN. We had to win our doubles. How close it was the results predicts easily – it was 11:9 11:9 in last two games ” reminded LEBRUN. Speaking of tomorrow’s final LEBRUN added: “I lost the decisive match in the duel against Romania and I hope I will avenge that defeat this year.” The toughest battle in the quarterfinal was seen in the duel between Russia and Poland. Long after all three central tables were empty the real drama was playing on table two. No. 5 seeds Russia had extremely close start with two wins in five games. Firstly Aleksei SAMOKHIN beat Alan KULCZYCKI and then Roman VINOGRADOV overcame Michal WANDACHOWICZ. It seemed Russia was en route for victory when Poland recovered to win the doubles in straight games. On his second exit to the table VINOGRADOV was once again stretched to full distance and he showed great strength in the decisive moments of the match to seal the duel. In the quarterfinal other three duels concluded in straight matches. France beat Slovakia and it was only Flavien COTON who was under pressure. He was forced to go full distance against Kristian UHERIK. Felix LEBRUN faced no problems against Samuel ARPAS. In doubles French pairings lost only one game. Czech Republic overcame Belgium. Belgium’s Xavier WATS and Tom CLOSSET could not find the answer for Martin SIP and Stepan BRHEL. Romania halted Germany in the quarters after three matches. Dragos Alexandru BUJOR and Iulian CHIRITA won their both singles matches against Luis KRAUS Lleyton ULLMANN; in doubles BUJOR and CHIRITA overcame KRAUS and Manuel PROHASKA.
Germany and Ukraine will play for gold in Under 15 Girls Team’s Event
In the final of the Under 15 Girls Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin Ukraine will meet Germany in the match for gold. France and Poland were halted in the semi final tonight. In the semi final Annett KAUFMANN preformed superbly to secure 1:0 lead for Germany in the match against Natalia BOGDANOWICZ. The tables turned after Wiktoria WROBEL entered the game. It was Poland’s player who was in the fast lane against Mia GRIESEL. At 1:1 BOGDANOWICZ and WROBEL gave Poland the lead. Once again KAUFMANN was at the top of her game to push Germany in the decisive match. BOGDANOWICZ failed to change the course of the duel. “For a first time we faced the situation when the advantage was on the other side of the table. So far we were always in the lead but now it was pressure on us. We had to recover from 1:2 in reverse and I am proud we made it. I am proud of all team and our coach we fought like crazy. Also Polish team was fantastic; they brought the best of us ” said KAUFMANN. For the match against Ukraine KAUFMANN only promised good fight. “I dod not know what would be but I am sure we will give our best. I know the girls from previous tournaments but the Team’s event is something different ” said KAUFMANN. In other semi final in furious start Veronika MATIUNINA overcame Gaetane BLED to give Ukraine the lead in the match against France. Sofiia SHEREDEHA continued in similar vein against Leana HOCHART. In doubles Ukraine’s pairings MATIUNINA and SHEREDEHA took an early lead but Clea DE STOPPELEIRE and Agathe Anne AVEZOU fought hard to stay in the match. After long distance thriller Ukraine prevailed. “It turned out that it was much easier match then the one against Romania in the quarterfinal. We won the singles easily but the doubles was the crazy match. We were 3:9 down in the fifth game and we won it 11:9. It is incredible! We are very confident and we believe we can win tomorrow in the final. We hope we will play even better than today” said MATIUNINA. For the first time in the history of the European Youth Championships Romania and Russia will not have the representatives in the Under 15 Girls semi – final. After Russia lost to Portugal in the Round of 16 day earlier today it was Romania who excited earlier than their ratings predicted. After five long matches in the quarterfinal Ukraine won. Bianca MEI ROSU gave Romania better start with the win over Sofiia SHEREDEHA. Ioana BAIASU kept the team on the winning course after the victory over Ukraine’s Veronika MATIUNINA. The turning point was the doubles match when the duel ended in five games in favor of Ukraine. MATIUNINA then leveled and SHEREDEHA secured the decisive point. France represented by Loana HOCHART and Clea DE STOPPELEIRE in singles and with Anne AVEZOU and DE STOPPELEIRE in doubles overcame Portugal’s Mariana SANTA COMBA and Matilde PINTO in straight matches. Annett KAUFMANN performed maturely to lead Germany to the semi final after 3:1 win over Belarus. KAUFMANN beat Ulyana MIASHCHANSKAYA and Veranika VARABYOVA in both her singles and added third point to the score – list with the win in doubles partnering Mia GRIESEL. Poland also needed four matches to overcame Belgium. Natalia BOGDANOWICZ and Wiktoria WROBEL posted two victories in singles before Belgium’s Lilou MASSART and Eloise DUVIVIER won their doubles match. However WROBEL recovered quick from that defeat to
OVTCHAROV lost his seven games thriller against MA Long
Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was closer than ever to win his 19th match against MA Long but it wasn’t meant to be. In the semi final of the Men’s Singles Event at the 20202 Tokyo Olympics Dimitrij OVTCHAROV lost the seven-games battle against MA. In seven games the Olympic and World champion from China only made one point more than 2017 World Cup winner and World number one in 2018. Points scored: OVTCHAROV 68: MA Long 69. After a 81 minutes of the duel between two uncompromising attackers – MA Long had the better end 13:11 11: 8 9:11 9:11 11: 7 5:11 11:9. Similarly to the match against Hugo CALDERANO in the quarter-finals the day before Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was 2-0 in reverse at the beginning. He could have won the first game after a strong start and 8:4 advantage and set ball at 10:9. As against CALDERANO OVTCHAROV fought his way back – which not many succeed against the Chinese players. “It was a shame that I didn’t take the first game. I only thought from point to point not about winning and not about losing. My match plan went well I had the best player in the world on the verge of defeat. “ The ten-times European champion won games no. three and four but the 32-year-old three-times World champion was unimpressed. The showdown came in the seventh game. Previously in the backhand duels when it came to that OVTCHAROV had an advantage due to his toughness and the clever change of pace and placement. MA Long dominated the forehand and it was precisely this his greatest weapon next to his serves that he suddenly used more often in the seventh game and managed to run around the backhand several times. “It was an amazing game from Dima right from the start. Extremely exciting and high-quality until the end which is seldom seen. He was well prepared you could see that. And he played all of his tactical opportunities “said national coach Jörg ROSSKOPF. It was great match by all means. “That was certainly one of my best games but after the match point it was more or less just emptiness and deep pain. I couldn’t believe the game was over. I have my wife and called my father right after the game. Without my family I wouldn’t be able to do this and I wanted to hear her voice. The words were good for me. “ The only previous meeting when MA Long had been extended the full distance by Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was their very first. In the men’s singles final at the 2009 ITTF World Tour Danish Open in Frederikshavn when a 20 year old Ma Long had secured a hard earned win (13-15 11-8 8-11 11-7 11-8 10-12 11-5). In Tokyo MA Long now faces colleague FAN Zhendong; in an equally absorbing contest the top seed he beat LIN Yun-Ju the no.5 seed (6-11 11-9 14-12 13-15 11-9 9-11 11-8) It is the first time when both men’s singles semi-finals at an Olympic Games have been decided in full distance matches. In fact there has only ever been one previous men’s singles Olympic Games semi-final which gone the full distance; that was in 1992 in Barcelona when Jean-Philippe GATIEN beat China’s MA Wenge in those days best of five games each games to 21 points (20–22 22–20 21–16 12–21 21–13). Once again Dimitrij Ovtcharov faces an opponent from Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal match; in London (2012) he beat CHUANG Chih-Yuan to secure the third step of the podium. However prior to London 2012 he had never lost to CHUANG Chih-Yuan in a world ranking event. He had prevailed at the 2005 Volkswagen Open China and at the Liebherr 2009 Men’s World Cup in Moscow. In Tokyo it is different he has lost four of their most recent five matches against Lin Yun-Ju; the one win is the most recent earlier this year in March at the WTT Middle East Hub Contender tournament in Doha. Dimitrij Ovtcharov prevailed in the final. Meanwhile later in the day CHEN Meng won the women’s singles gold. After recording a semi-final win against Singapore’s YU Mengyu the no.26 seed (11-6 11-8 11-7 11-6) CHEN Meng justified her top seeds position; she accounted for colleague SUN Yingsha the no.2 seed (9-11 11-6 11-6 5-11 11-4 11-9) to secure the title. Success for CHEN Meng followed success for Japan’s Mima Ito; beaten by SUN Yingsha in the penultimate round (11-3 11-9 11-6 11-4) she accounted for YU Mengyu (6-11 11-8 11-7 11-7 11-6) to reserve the third step of the podium. Bronze for Mima ITO but more significantly a first ever Olympic Games women’s singles medal for Japan in the table tennis events at an Olympic Games. The men’s singles bronze medal match is scheduled for 8.00 pm (local time) on Friday 30th July the gold medal contest one hour later.
Straight matches wins for Russia Romania and France
In the Round of 16 of the Under 15 Boys Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin top favorites Romania and France easily prevailed. Russia joined them after another straight matches victory. Germany was forced to go full distance before they booked their place in the quarters in the match against Hungary. Romania’s Dragos Alexandru BUJOR and Iulian CHIRITA secured passage to the next stage after straight matches win over Spain’s Daniel BERZOSA and Pablo BOBO. In another three matches straight duel Russia’s Aleksei SAMOKHIN and Roman VINOGRADOV proved too strong for Switzerland represented by Timothy FALCONNIER and Noe KEUSCH. “The most important thing is that we have very strong team. We support each other very much. We expected to reach the quarterfinals and now we will have very difficult match against Poland. They are playing very good ” said VINOGRADOV. Felix LEBRUN and Flavien COTON pushed France to the quarterfinal after win over Israel’s Itay AVIVI and Eitay SHUSHAN. “COTON played very good match against AVIVI. That was important. He lost his opening game and then he recovered at the end. That gave me better position for my match I played after 1:0 for France. In doubles it was very close again ” said LEBRON. Czech Republic was starched to four matches in the duel against Bulgaria. Martin SIP and Stepan BRHEL overcame Georgi STOYANOV and Yoan VELICHKOV “It is overall good performance for the whole team. That was important to be good as a team. The competition here is very fierce but I believe that we have a quality and if we maintain our focus we will reach the medal rostrum ” said SIP. Belgium’s Xavier WATS and Tom CLOSSET overcame Sweden’ s David BJORKRYD and Isak ALFREDSSON in four matches. “The opening game against David BJORKRYD was the key moment for me. It was very close he is very good player. When I managed to win we were on the right track. We are playing well here and I hope we can win win the medal ” said CLOSSET. Poland’s Alan KULCZYCKI and Michal WANDACHOWICZ overcame Turkey’s Yiğit Furkan ŞIMŞEK and Ugurcan DURSUN. Hungary’s David SZANTOSI and Balazs LEI put Germany’s Luis KRAUS Lleyton ULLMANN on severe pressure. Slovakia’s Kristian UHERIK Samuel ARPAS were also tested but they prevailed against Portugal’s Rafael KONG and Tiago ABIODUN.
Portugal secured their place in the quarterfinal of the Under 15 Girls Event
In the quarterfinal of the Under 15 Girls Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin will play Germany vs. Belarus Poland vs. Belgium Ukraine vs. Romania and France vs. Portugal. Portugal created the major upset in the Round of 16 by beating Russia in four matches. Anastasiia IVANOVA beat Julia LEAL to give the favorites the dream start but Matilde PINTO showed no mercy. She won both her singles matches and doubles with Mariana SANTA COMBA. It was very difficult to play against Russia but our double is much stronger. That was the important point ” said Matilde PINTO. Germany was first to book the place in the Round of 8 after straight matches win over Turkey. Mia GRIESEL and Annett KAUFMANN won both their encounters in singles and in doubles against Nihat NEBHAN Aybüke Banu ŞIMŞEK and Büşra DEMIR. Poland’s Natalia BOGDANOWICZ and Wiktoria WROBEL followed the suit and beat Portugal’s Silvia COLL and Maria BERZOSA in another straight matches duel. “It was difficult match but we had confidence in each other. The atmosphere in the team is very good and that helped us in duel against Spain. Despite the result it was very close match. We did not set high goals before we came here. We came to Varazdin to play and to perform the best we can. Now when we reached quarters we hope we will win the medal ” said Natalia BOGDANOWICZ. Ukraine’s Veronika MATIUNINA Olha PONKO and Sofiia SHEREDEHA overcame Czech Republic in four matches. Adela SAZIMOVA was the player who scored for the Czech team. “Czech team is very strong so we had to play at very high level. The crucial moment was the win in doubles. We knew we have to win that one and we were calm and focused. We are here to win the gold and I hope we will make it ” said Veronika MATIUNINA. Belarus succeeded against Slovakia in four matches. Dominika WILTSCHKOVA gave Slovakia better start with the win over Ulyana MIASHCHANSKAYA Veranika VARABYOVA leveled against Michaela BITOOVA. In doubles MIASHCHANSKAYA and VARABYOVA overcame WILTSCHKOVA and Nina DAROVCOVA to widen the gap. VARABYOVA was the player who concluded the match with the win over WILTSCHKOVA. “ I played very good and I am happy that my team is proud of me. Now I hope for a medal ” said VARABYOVA. Belgium’s Lilou MASSART and Eloise DUVIVIER overcame Croatia’s Sena SMAILJI and Marla VIDAKOVIC in three matches. French team represented by Gaetane BLED Clea DE STOPPELEIRE and Agathe Anne AVEZOU overcame Slovenia’s Sara TOKIC and Enya MOLTARA. Romania’s Ioana BAIASU and Bianca MEI ROSU prevailed against Hungary’s Emma SZOSZNYÁK Nora TANACS and Evelin MULLER.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV reached the penultimate stage of the Singles Event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Penultimate round places at stake thus a major opportunity to gain a precious medal on Wednesday 28th July at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was the one name that remained. Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC departed the scene as did HAN Ying also from Germany. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV the no.7 seed recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Brazil’s Hugo CALDERANO the no.4 seed (7-11 5-11 11-8 11-7 11-8 11-2); a surprise according to status but not when considering history. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV had won both prior international exchanges; in the ITTF World Tour he prevailed in 2014 in Qatar and in 2019 in the Czech Republic. “He played extremely strong in the first two games hitting every ball and missing nothing. He put a lot of pressure on me and I couldn’t find my game but I just told myself to stay in it and wait for my chance which eventually came. I could tell he really wanted to close out the third game and I started to spot the pressure on him using it to my advantage. Suddenly something shifted in the game and I was on top. I’m feeling tired after this match but I’m excited for tomorrow so I’ll rest sleep and give my all tomorrow ” said OVTCHAROV. Alas for Darko JORGIC the no.18 seed it was the end of what proved to be a most memorable adventure a quarter-final men’s singles place was beyond expectations. He experienced defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s LIN Yun-Ju the no.5 seed (11-4 11-7 11-4 11-6). Thus the decision of their one previous international meeting was reversed. At the 2016 World Junior Championships in Cape Town Darko JORGIC had prevailed. Defeat in straight games for Darko JORGIC at the corresponding stage of the women’s singles event the outcome was the same for HAN Ying. The no.12 seed the consistency of China’s SUN Yingsha the no.2 seed proved too great (11-8 11-3 11-8 11-6). Success for SUN Yingsha as status advised it was the same for colleague CHEN Meng the top seed. She beat Hong Kong’s DOO Hoi Kem the no.8 seed (6-11 6-11 11-6 11-9 11-1 11-8) It was the same for the host nation’s Mima Ito the no.3 seed she accounted for Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee the no.7 seed (11-5 11-1 12-10 11-6). However there was an upset. Singapore’s YU Mengyu the no.26 seed ousted Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA the no.5 seed (8-11 11-5 14-12 11-6 11-2). Women’s singles: semi-finals 11.00 CHEN Meng (CHN) v YU Mengyu (SGP) 12.00 Mima ITO (JPN) v SUN Yingsha (CHN) 20.00 Bronze Medal Match 21.00 Gold Medal Match Meanwhile in the men’s singles FAN Zhendong the top seed overcame Korea Republic’s JEOUNG Youngsik the no.10 seed (12-10 11-9 11-6 11-5); Ma Long the no.2 seed ended the adventures of Egypt’s Omar ASSAR the no.28 seed (11-7 11-9 11-6 11-13 11-6). Men’s singles: semi-final 15.00 FAN Zhendong (CHN) v LIN Yun-Ju (TPE) 16.00 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) v MA Long (CHN) The semi-finals of the women’s singles will be played on Thursday 29th July followed by the bronze medal and gold medal matches; also the men’s singles semi-finals will be played. However the bronze and gold medal men’s singles contests will be staged on Friday 30th July.
Romania posted three straight matches victories at the beginning of the Under 15 Boys Event
Romania had a most impressive start of the Under 15 Boys Team’s Event at the GAZPROM European Youth Championships in Varazdin. After three duels in Group Stage they recorded three straight matches victories. Czech Republic and Poland are theGroup C and Group D winners. At the opening match in the Group A in Under 15 Boys Event favorites Romania’s Dragos Alexandru BUJOR and Iulian CHIRITA overcame Croatia’s Ivan HENCL and Leon BENKO in straight matches but for Sweden it was reverse scenario. No. two seeds Isak ALFREDSSON Elias SJOGREN and David BJORKRYD suffered in the opening round of the Team’s event against Portugal’s Tiago ABIODUN and Rafael KONG in long five matches. Romania stayed at the good course with the wins over Sweden and Portugal overcame Croatia. In the direct clash for the top position in the Group Romania showed no mercy. “The opening match against Tiago ABIODUN set the course of the match. I beat him 3:2 and it was 11:9 in the decisive game after 8:3. It was a fierce battle but after that we were in control ” said Dragos Alexandru BUJOR. In Group B France represented by Flavien COTON Felix LEBRUN and Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT overcame Belgium’s Tom CLOSSET and Xavier WATS. Spains’ Daniel BERZOSA Hugo URQUIZAR and Juan LOPEZ lost to Ukraine’s Nazarii SOLODKYI and Leonid YAKYMCHUK. Elian ZEMMAL entered the game in the second match to help France beat Spain. Belgium recovered to overcame Ukraine. In Group C favorites Czech Republic failed to post the victory in the opening duel against Germany. Lleyton ULLMANN Luis KRAUS beat Martin SIP Stepan BRHEL and Jindrich MORAVEK. In other match of the opening round Russia faced no problems. Roman VINOGRADOV Serafim ORLOV and Aleksei SAMOKHIN overcame Italy’s Giacomo ALLEGRANZA and Daniele SPAGNOLO. Russia then lost to Czech Republic and Germany posted another win over Italy. In the last round Czech Republic beat Italy and Russia overcame Germany. Poland was in the safe zone in Group D. Michal WANDACHOWICZ and Alan KULCZYCKI overcame Slovakia’s Pavol BILKA Samuel ARPAS and Kristian UHERIK. In the second encounter they prevailed against Hungary and then they beat Netherlands. Hungary’s David SZANTO and Balazs LEI overcame Dutch team with Brent RONDE Ivan KHAN and Christiaan VERWOERT. Slovakia also overcame Netherlands.
