STAG 2017 European Championships
The start of the Round of 16 in the Men’s Singles Event proved this was the very bad day for the top seeds at the STAG 2017 European Championships. Shocks abounded in the Round of 16; against expectations Swede Anton KALLBERG departed following the footsteps of Romani’s Adina DIACONU just hour earlier.
The player who upset the order of merit was Marek BADOWSKI of Poland (1-11 7-11 8-11 11-9 11-6 11-5 5-11).
“I worked hard for this tournament but three weeks ago I suffered from the injury. I recovered and luckily the break effected positively on my play. I feel very fresh and I am happy with my game ” said BADOWSKI who is seeded at the position no. 27 in Sochi.
Polish player started in a fast line but it looked like KALLBERG will be able to recover after being 0:3 down.
“I am inspired when I have the opportunity to play against such good players like Anton is. I had confidence and that helped me to start good. When KALLBERG pushed to the decider again it was my faith that I could win that prevailed.”
Seeded only at the position no 36 17 years Tom JARVIS of England beat no. 8 seed Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic (10-12 11-9 11-8 8-11 5-11 8-11).
“I won the Spanish open and I have few quarterfinals at open competitions but I never managed to pass the Round of 32 at the major events. It is because I am always very nervous. Here I came without any pressure ” explained JARVIS.
It was first official duel between Tom and POLANSKY.
The departure of the favorites continued with Cristian PLETEA of Romania. Seeded no. 6. QIU Dang of Germany listed at the position no 14 at the seeding moved to the quarterfinal (11-8 11-13 11-13 11-13 10-12 11-9 8-11).
“I am very fast but I did not underestimated the fact that PLETEA moved very good around the table. It was very difficult match for me ” sad QIU.
Deni KOZUL of Slovenia beat Anders LIND of Denmark (11-8 13-11 9-11 4-11 9-11 3-11).
“I lost recently against him in Austria I played against him here in the group stage and won after six games. For sure I knew I have to expect the tough game. I was focus on good service and return ” said KOZUL.
Darko JORGIC of Slovenia was in the fast lane in the match against Rares SIPOS (12-10 11-7 11-6 11-9). In the duel between Martin ALLEGRO of Belgium and Patryk ZATOWKA of Poland is very much opposite scenario (11-9 11-6 8-11 6-11 11-7 6-11 11-4).
“I won two opening game and then ZATOWKA started to play much better. Together with that game my confidence also abounded me and I lost three games in the row. Luckily my forehand improved and I managed to win in the decider ” said ALLEGRO.
Killian ORT of Germany progressed to the quarter final after he accounted for Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS (11-9 3-11 6-11 11-8 11-8 12-10).
“SGOUROPOULOS has very strong blocks. I had to put big effort to stay close to the table and to keep the game under control ” said ORT.
Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia beat his club-mate from Hungary Nandor ECSEKI.
“We know each other very well. We played and practice together. In numbers Nandor has advantage when we are speaking of wins ” said PUCAR. “The most important thing is that I came here with completely different psychology. I lost so many matches because I was nervous. Now I am calm and focused ” explain PUCAR.
