Germany played with two players once again Faster then anyone wanted the contest for bronze medal finished in favor of Austria. Still without Timo BOLL absent through illness and with no replacements allowed Germany was forced to enter the field with only two players at the Men’s Team’s Event at the European Games in Baku.  Everything was over after first match in which Daniel HABESOHN beat Patrick BAUM. “It was hard match for everyone. Do not forget that even in this horrible situation Germany beat Sweden and they played very close match against France. Both of their players are better ranked then our players. They are dangerous even under this condition ” explained Robert GARDOS.  Still in four of previous five encounters HABESOHN beat Patrick.  “We had two chances. One was the match between Patrick and Daniel and the other one is doubles for sure. We seized first opportunity ” said GARDOS. But Robert was far from happy. “We had a lot of fans who came here to give us support and what they saw? They gave money to watch the match for bronze medal and saw one singles and one doubles. Probably no one understood what happened down there in the arena.” HABESOHN confirmed it was very awkward situation. “It was strange. What if we lose? And still there were a chance we could. Everyone was nervous. I can say this was the toughest match for me here ” said HABESOHN. “When we saw the draw it worked for us. On top of all OVTCHAROV suffered from back injury.” After hard situation in Lisbon at the European championship when Patrick BAUM’S father had been killed in road accident immediately prior to the tournament Patrick FRANZISKA suffered a leg injury in the first stage of the tournament and spent most of the time on crutches; whilst Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was recovering from extensive dental surgery Germany suffered from bad fate once again. “Austria deserved the medal and that is one part of the story. The other is that the rules have to be changed. This is the worst scenario. This is the example why the current rules are wrong. They need to change it; both at the Olympic and European Games ” said coach Jorg ROSSKOPF. Speaking about the team’s draw ROSKOPFF said that his main intention was to put Dimitrij and Patrick together in Doubles so they can have one strong match more together. However he delivered some good news: “Timo is recovering. I hope he will be on duty on Wednesday in Singles.” BAUM was tired: ”Past two days were very hard and not only mentally demanding. My muscles hurt. I was slow today in two opening games. My service was too much long and I started bad. I played better from the third game but it was to late.”  Dimitrij OVTCHAROV did the math:” In past 6 games we have 6 finals. That is how I feel. In German team we all goes only for gold. We lost last two matches but do not forget that we beat Sweden even with two man.”

HAN Ying SHAN Xiaona and Petrissa SOLJA won the gold medal Team of Germany enters the history books as first winners of the Women’s Teams Event at the European Games in Baku. In Azerbaijan’s city HAN Ying SHAN Xiaona and Petrissa SOLJA overcame team of Netherlands to become first ever title winners. In the final which went full distance we saw the table tennis at its best. It started with the fantastic duel between world’s no. 10 HAN Ying and two times European champion LI Jiao. LI won in straight games but it was fantastic match. “I was very nervous before that match under enormous pressure. I wish to play against Jiao again soon; I doubt she will beat me like she did today. For sure it will not be worst than 0:3 ” said HAN. YING added that most of the pressure came from the fact that she plays for the team. “It is much easier when you play in singles. You are on your own. When you play for your team and for your country it brings a lot of pressure. When I lost opening match I was happy that I had a chance to play in the decisive one to contribute to the victory.” SHAN Xiaona overcame LI Jie to put Germany back in game. “Before the start we faced first defeat of HAN at the tournament at that made me very nervous. It was not very confortable situation ” said SHAN. Match of doubles once again proved as crucial for the victory.  “When we won it I knew it is over we will win gold. I was very focused in doubles and I was much better then in next match against LI Jie. We were sure HAN would seal the match. However when you won 3:2 you can easily say every match is crucial ” explained SOLJA. Coach Jie SCHOPP gave overall view: “For us most difficult part was to play in system which is not in use often. We are facing this kind of system only at the Olympics. That is why it was much harder then at the European Championships.” LI Jiao proved she can play at the highest level despite her long breaks from the playing field. “I have not play at the International level since Tokyo last year. That is why I had to have little bit different preparations. I had to play clever I have to outplay my adversary in mind game and that was not easy task. HAN is also very clever player. I always play good against defense and it helped too ” explained Jiao. How the experience as a coach helped you today? “A lot. Now I see things differently. Before I was nervous and I needed a lot of time to come down. Now I realize the adversary is nervous as I am and it is easier to prepare myself ” said LI Jiao.” We played good today but at the end it was so difficult for Britt EERLANDS to beat HAN. ” Coach Elena TIMINA praised her team. “I am sure that the duel between LI Jiao and HAN was the match of the tournament. The quality level was fantastic. Jie was also good against SHAN but other factors also did a work. At 1:1 and 7:7 in the moments when she played very good Jie called for time out. She approached and I asked why. She was playing good. Jie answered” I cannot see anything. Everything is black in front of me.” She was too tired.” TIMINA is sure that was one of the biggest obstacles on their way to gold. “Overall Germany with their three 3:0 victories spent something like 2 5 hours in game. We played 8 5 in last three days. The girls were just tired. Of course first of all congratulations to Germany on their quality and ability to beat all adversaries 3:0. In addition this system does not allowed much tactics. I was forced to put Britt to play decisive match.”

Iveta VACENOVSKA Renata STRBIKOVA and Hana MATELOVA won bronze The bronze medal contest between Czech Republic and Ukraine ended in favor for Czech team. Led by Iveta VACENOVSKA girls put aside yesterday’s defeat against Germany and in great style clinched bronze.  It was Iveta who gave her teammates good start. She overcame Tetyana BILENKO in the opening duel and she was the player to seal the match with the victory over Ganna GAPONOVA. Margaryta PESOTSKA scored the only point for Ukraine against Renata STRBIKOVA whilst Hana MATELOVA and STRBIKOVA overcame Tetyana BILENKO and Ganna GAPONOVA in doubles.  “It is always 50/50 when we play against each other. Recent results shows the same; we beat them at the European Championships in Lisbon and they beat us at the World Championships in Tokyo ” reminded us VACENOVSKA. ”Nevertheless I knew if we play at our best level we do not have to worry. I felt we could win.” Doubles brought important point: ”It was crucial for the victory. With this system you never knows who will play and against who ” said VACENOVSKA. MATELOVA added:” It is very hard to make a tactics when you do not know who will be your adversary. The only thing is certain is doubles.” However VACENOVSKA stated it is not such a bad thing after all: ”To be honest this system works for us in Baku. I have to admit that.”  On their way to the medal rostrum opening was the hardest. “To play against Austria was very difficult for VACENOVSKA. That was the very important match for us ” said MATELOVA. Iveta explained further: ”I live and play for 12 year in Austria. I live in Linz and I had to play against my teammates. In addition we never had won against Austria. I finally changed the course of history.”  In quarters Czech Republic beat France:” We won the medals twice at the European Championships but so far we never beat the team with two players coming from China. With GRUNDISCH they are really powerful.” Speaking about defeat against Germany in semis there was no place for regrets. “They are strong team. Maybe it is little unfair that we lost 3:0 especially losing Doubles since we were in lead in every game…Most important thing is that we get over it. We forgot the defeat and focused ourselves to bronze medal match.”

The IOC President attended the Opening Ceremony of the inaugural European Games The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Mr Thomas BACH praised the unifying power of sport to transcend cultural and political differences and bring athletes from all backgrounds together at international multi-sport events like the European Games.  During his visit to the Baku 2015 European Games Mr BACH said: “We see Russian athletes competing alongside Ukrainians. There are Serbian and Kosovan teams in these Games and we see Armenian athletes alongside their hosts from Azerbaijan. All these athletes marched together at the Opening Ceremony. This is the power of sport to bring people together regardless of background belief or nationality. This is something that sport can do and maybe something that only sport can do.” The IOC President attended the Opening Ceremony of the inaugural European Games alongside dozens of heads of state and IOC members on Friday before attending Triathlon Karate and Wrestling competitions and visiting the Athletes Village in Baku.  Mr BACH added: “The Opening Ceremony was truly spectacular full of history symbolism and culture. The Ceremony and the whole organisation of the European Games reflect the magnificent job the organisers have done in such a short period of time. It has been a great achievement.”

In their style by winning in straight matches as Germany did or playing marathons in case of Netherlands best two teams reached ultimate stage It seams like nothing can prevent Germany of winning the gold in the Women’s Teams Event at the Inaugurals European Games. After another outstanding performance they booked the place in the ultimate round of the Event. So far the team secured the medal but they will face extreme challenge. Netherlands is back in game. After Germany clinched the gold medals in two previous European Championships Dutch team was untouchable in period between 2008 and 2011. They won four titles in that period. Czech Republic suffered by the hands of German player in the semi final. HAN Ying beat Iveta VACENOVSKA in the opening duel losing only a game.  “I was not completely ready and VACENOVSKA produce few extraordinary rallies. She forced me to change the tactics to try to adopt on her style of play ” explained HAN.  Petrisa SOLJA was on duty in the second singles match. She overcame Renata STRBIKOVA. “Maybe I am little bit more adopt to her style of play then the others. She plays more like man and I used to have male sparing partners. She is very strong faster has very strange and unusual strokes. STRBIKOVA is very dangerous adversary ” explained SOLJA. However with the variety of her strokes SOLJA coped very well. German team covers all the styles and it gives coach Jie SCHOOP opportunity to focus on next duel. “When they are playing like they did in past two days I do not have the reason to worry. I am already in the match of the final in my mind.” Dutch team as everybody expected was involved in another thrilling marathon. After LI Jiao and LI Jie succeeded against Margaryta PESOTSKA and Tetyana BILENKO the pendulum swung. Ukraine’s girls Ganna GAPONOVA and BILENKO overcame Britt EERLAND and LI Jiao. EERLAND lost against PESOTSKA before LI Jie overcame GAPONOVA for the place in the final. “We expected the things would go that way. Only what was important was to avoid the 1:1 situation after first two matches; then we will be in great problem. This way we knew Jie will manage to seal the match ” explained coach Elena TIMINA.  After short break Netherland is aiming the top of the medal rostrum again.  “We have so much to offer in terms of variety of our game. Experience of Jie and Jiao now mixed with fantastic improvement of Britt are the winning combination. Britt becomes real professional. When she stands near the table she plays until the last boll. She is giving her maximum in every game whether she wins or loses. She has someone to teach her and most important she wants to learn. The atmosphere in our team pushes us to the top” said TIM

French player beat Vladimir Samsonov Even without Timo BOLL and possibility to have his replacement Germany book their semi final place at the Men’s Teams Event at the European Games in Baku. European vice champions beat Sweden to join winners from Lisbon last year – team of Portugal. Germany will play against France whilst Portugal meets Austria. Timo BOLL suffers from the stomach problems so he was unable to join his teammates today in the quarterfinal. Unfortunately coach Jorg ROSSKOPF is not sure will he be ready latter tonight for the penultimate stage. According to rules there is no possibility of replacement any of three players listed for the Team’s Event so if one got injured there is still possibility of play but with two walk overs. “This was unpleasant situation for both teams. For us obviously because we are 2:0 in reverse even before the start of the game and for Sweden because they are aware of three chances for win. It made huge pressure on our adversaries. We were in the situation that we cannot allow to be defeated even once. If we had lost one match it is –over ” explained ROSSKOPF. Having that on mind Dimitrij OVTCHAROV opened the match against Par GERELL. He had to go full distance. “GERELL’s top spins are very dangerous but at the point when OVTCAROV improved his service – receive game he was on winning tracks.” Patrick BAUM beat Kristian KARLSSON in four games. “For the game against Jon PERSSON I had doubts. BAUM was absent from the circuit for six seven months and simply he was not in such situation for a while. I decided to put OVTCHAROV. PERSSON has very strong forehand so he made it really hard for OVTCHAROV. It was not easy for him neither. It was his first match at the tournament and suddenly out of the blue he had to play against OVTCHAROV.” France booked their place in semis in superb style. Evgueni CHTCHETININE stretched Adrien MATTNET to full distance but next match was the one who attract all the attention. Emmanuel LEBESSON world’s number 79 overcame Vladimir SAMSONOV currently ranked at position no. 9. “In last 20 matches I took only on game from him. This is fantastic victory. It has been a while since I managed to beat some player from Top 10. However I have to admit SAMSONOV was not on his usual level and on the other side everything went my way today ” stated LEBESSON. Simon GAUZY and LEBESSON sealed the duel with full distance victory in doubles. Austria prevailed against Russia. “I said sometimes you are happy with the draw and then you lose…This time we were not very happy with the team’s draw but we won. I had few very difficult encounters against Alex SHIBAEV and I was not very happy that I have to play against him ” said GARDOS who won in straight games. Stefan FEGERL overcame Kirill SKACHKOV and with lot of tension Austrian parings GARDOS HABESOHN sealed the victory. “It was very tough situation. We were in position to risk everything by losing the doubles. The draw for the fourth and fifth match was not in our favor. We could not let our advantage be wasted ” said HABESOHN.

Germany will play against Czech Republic In the semi final of the Women’s Teams Event at the European Games in Baku Germany will play against Czech Republic. Iveta VACENOVSKA Renata STRBIKOVA and Hana MATELOVA beat French team 3:1. In the other semi final Ukraine who beat Sweden 3:0 meets Netherlands. Dutch team succeeded against Poland. The match lasted almost three hours before Netherlands won. “ It is always like that. We always play long matches. However one thing I still do not understand previously we had two defenders now only one and still we are incapable to finish the match faster ” said coach Elena TIMINA laughing. Li Jiao overcame Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA at the opening. “To be honest we were lucky with the draw but it did not save Jiao from pressure. Her duel was pivotal for our overall victory. She had to win it. Under those circumstances she produced perfect performance. It was very difficult for her. Li Jie had less chances against LI QIan so we were focused next on doubles. Britt EERLAND and LI Jiao did a great work together.” Against Britt LI Qian proved too strong so Jie entered the arena once again to play against Natalia PARTYKA. Paralympic champion put Jie on the severe test. “Once again Jie proved her team and fighting spirit. She gives everything for the team ” said TIMINA. Jie admitted: “I was so scared but the good thing was that Natalia never beat me. That gave me a little bit of advantage and eased the pressure.” Speaking about the pressure young Britt said that everything is easer when you have team like her. “Everything is easer with my teammates. They are such wonderful persons and players. At the beginning thy approached me and told me they will be there for me so I can tell them everything what bothers me. When someone opens to you is in that way it is easy to open yourself ” explained Britt. In the quarterfinal Germany overcame Russia in impressive style. HAN Ying gave her team dream start with the victory over Yana NOSKOVA. Despite the victory HAN was not very happy with her performance at the beginning. “It did not start the way I wanted and I lost second game. As the match progressed NOSOKOVA played better and better. She adjusted to mu style and managed to find the answer for defense ” said HAN.”We played against each other only once and I beat her but today it was much harder. Yana improved her game very much.” Unlike yesterday Petrissa SOLJA got the opportunity to play singles in quarters as well as doubles. “I woke up nervous unable to eat. However that was good sign. The tension was just at the right level ” admitted SOLJA who beat Polina MIKHAILOVA. ”It was difficult to play against the player with the defensive style but the service was the part of Polina’s game that bothers me the most. In the third game I only managed to answer on her service once or twice.” SHAN Xiaona joined SOLJA in Doubles duel: ”There were no problem at all.” Asked about the playing system with very short break between singles and doubles SOLJA answered: ”It works good for me. I am still warm after the singles. Only problem today was that I was very happy after victory in singles so I needed to come down.” Coach Jie SCHOPP was satisfied with the team’s performance. ”They were focused on victory. Only problem I had was to calm down SOLJA. She was nerveus.” What did you have to do? “Her willing to win is usually enough to put the things on right place.”

Belarus won against Czech Republic by narrow margin In the quarterfinal of the Men’s Teams Event at the European Games in Baku bronze medalists from the European Championships in Portugal last year Sweden will face silver medalists top seeded team Germany. The same team of Sweden that played in Lisbon secured the place in quarters with the victory over Ukraine: Kristian KARLSSON Pär GERELL and Jon PERSSON. Marcus SJÖBERG. Kristian KARLSSON won a close encounter against Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO. “It was really close. KARLSSON was 1:6 in reverse in decisive game. Then I call for time out so he narrowed the margin to 3:6. He started to play better and better he regained his confidence. It was good for GERELL to start his match against KOU Lei at 1:0. However judging by the level of Par’s game and the way he had played it will be extremely difficult for anyone to beat him today ” explained coach Marcus SJÖBERG. In the doubles Jon PERSSON and Ivan KATKOV joined same players from previous encounter. “It is very strange to play this format of the competition. Usually if we play in doubles we have at least one match in between to take a break. Here we have only five minutes to catch the breath ” said GERELL. Judging by the result it affected their adversaries more. Sweden won 3:0. Now they have more time to prepare for Germany. “Our biggest chance is to try to attack them in doubles. We have a lot of matches together and we are confident. If we can get with 1:1 to the third match that will open the door for us ” said GERELL. Germany’s players justified their status. Timo BOLL Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patric BAUM who joined national team after a few months break beat Spain. “Timo had an easy job against Alvaro ROBLES whilst OVTCHAROV faced only few tough moments. He won the second game 19:17 against Carlos MACHADO but generally we were never under severe pressure today “explained coach Jorg ROSSKOPF. BAUM was happy to be back in team. “I was a little bit nervous but I am confident with my game now ” said BAUM. Speaking about confidence OVTCHAROV radiate with it. “When we look at the rankings we are favorite against Sweden but we are well aware who will be at the other side of the table. They are very good as team they never give up and they fight up to the last point. However since the time I am in the national team they have never beaten us…” France with Adrien MATTENET Simon GAUZY and Emmanuel LEBESSON beat Greece 3:1 with Gionis PANAGIOTIS being the only player to score for Greece. Most thrilling match came from their next adversaries – Belarus. Team led by Vladimir SAMSONOV beat Czech Republic after five matches. European champions team of Portugal also reached next round. Romania failed to halted their progress. Austria succeeded against Croatia in straight matches. Robert GARDOS beat Tan RUIWU to give his team dream start. “We got the draw just like we wanted. In addition things got better when we made a 2:0 lead. We counted on our point in doubles as safe one and sought for a chance to won at least one singles before. It turned up we did even better. We had 2:0 before the doubles ” explained GARDOS. Stefan FEGERL beat Andrej GACINA. “We played twice before and in both encounters I beat him. Not only that event’s draw was just like we wanted but the teams’ was perfect one. Unfortunately I was a bit nervous at the beginning so the couch advised me to change the tactics and to calm down. I was to passive and I had to do more to stop GACIN of playing his backhand. It is very dangerous stroke when you play against him. I changed the style and it paid off ” said FEGERL. European champions and vice champions in Doubles Event Daniel HABESOHN and GARDOS showed no trace of weakness against Tomislav PUCAR and TAN. “After 2:0 we were relaxed. It was an easy win.” Said HABESOHN. They will play against Russia who also succeeded in straight matches against Hungary. “It is difficult to predict the outcome. A lot of will depend on team draw tomorrow.”