ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Gondomar,
Portugal’s Joa MONTEIRO booked his place in the quarterfinal of the ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Gondomar in the great style. He reached the top position in the group 1 by beating reigning champion, no. one seed and best-ranked European player Dimitrij OVTCAHROV.
After established quick lead tonight, Joao faced similar situation to the previous match against Simon GAUZY.
“Very quickly I established the lead. I had 2:0, before OVTCHAROV recovered and pushed it to the decisive game. Then I change the rhythm of the match once again. I had 10:4, OVTCHAROV hit some important balls and at the end it was very close,” said MONTEIRO.
Without any doubt Joao did a great job by himself by beating Germany’s player, but in the surprising conclusion of the matches in Group 1, Simon GAUZY of France recovered after two defeats earlier in the day, to beat no. five seed Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece. That victory was insufficient to give him place among top eight players on day two, but it sealed GIONIS’ fate and to delight to host supporters helped Joao MONTEIRO to reach the spot no. one or two.
“I know I had to beat OVTCHAROV to be sure I will play in the quarters. Also I could calculate on outcome of the match between GIONIS and GAUZY, but I liked it more this way. To overcame OVTCHAROV in order to book my place it is much better scenario.”
Stefan FEGERL of Austria prevented any surprises. In the third match of the day, he recorded another victory, which secured his leading position in the group 2. Vladimir SAMOSNOV who received free evening after the withdrawal of Adrien MATTENET is second.
Bastian STEGER of Germany recorded three victories in the Group 3. Robert GARDOS of Austria suffered four games defeat by his hands in the round three. In the direct duel for the second position and knock out stage Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden inflicted the pain in the harts of the host’s by beating title winner from the 2014 Marcos FREITAS.
In the Group 4 Andrej GACINA of Croatia withdrew due the leg injury. It left only Tiago APOLONIA and Alexander SHIBAEV in the run for the top two positions. In their direct clash at the end of the day APOLINIA beat Russia’s player to reach top place.
