2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships
The winners of their respective Groups in Men’s Singles event at the 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships in Minsk booked their positions in the Round of 16 to be played tomorrow. Top 8 players are: Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic Darko JORGIC of Slovenia Andreas LEVENNKO of Austria Cristian PLETEA of Romania Andrei PUTUNTICA of Moldova Andras CSABA of Hungary Patryk ZATOWKA of Poland and Rares SIPOS of Romania.
The players placed at the position no. two in their respective Groups also joined them for tomorrow’s battles in the main draw: Artur ABUSEV of Russia Stanislav KUCERA of Czech Republic Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece Jiri MARTINKO of Czech Republic Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia Deni KOZUL of Slovenia Tobias HIPPLER of Germany and Marek BADFOWSKI of Poland.
Tomas POLANSKY concluded the second phase of the tournament unbeaten. In last two rounds Tom JARVIS of England lost against POLANSKY (11:4 11:8 9:11 3:11 11:6 11:6) before the top seeded player in the event accounted for Artur ABUSEV of Russia (11:3 6:11 11:7 11:7 11:6).
“I played against JARVIS a year ago and he beat me back then so I am proud of how I performed today. I knew from the very beginning that the match was not going to be easy at all I was focused on the process from the first point and through the game. I won first two games which proved as very important. I had to change tactics during the game: in the beginning I produced fast shots but it proved to be unsafe so I adapted to the situation and added patience to the table making shots more accurate in a slower manner ” Tomas explained how he beat no. two seeded player in his Group JARVIS
About the match against ABUSEV POLANSKY said:” I won the first game 11-3 which made me believe hat the match was going to be easy so I let go the situation a little bit. This is why I lost the second game so I told myself I had to be fully concentrated moreover ABUSEV’s play got better so I had to put much efforts to win.“
Cristian PLETEA of Romania overcame Jiri MARTINKO of Czech Republic (11:4 11:7 14:16 11;9 11:5) and Ibrahim GUNDUZ of Turkey (15:13 11:8 7:11 9:11 11:6 11:6).
“I started the game against MARTINKO with great confidence and played well. The third game was a tricky one with me winning at 16-14 there were lots of lucky balls. I was getting angry but my coach calmed me down and it helped me. Indeed the fourth set was finished with 11-9 in my favor I was relaxed while my rival was not ” said PLETEA.
Darko JORGIC of Slovenia beat Dennis KLEIN of Germany (12:10 15:13 7:11 11:4 11:8) and Stanislav KUCERA of Czech Republic (11:9 11:9 11:6 11:9).
“I won three games quite easily but I kept in mind that I had to be 100 percent concentrated on the game nothing more. It was proven when I was leading 7-2 in one of the games and then it became 7-7 in split second so then I realized I wasn’t focused all the time. This is very important” reflected JORGIC.
Andreas LEVENKO of Austria lost two games in last two matches. He beat Carlo ROSSI of Italy (15:13 11:8 11:6 11:7) and then Malte MOREGARD of Sweden (11:2 5:11 9:11 13:11 13:11 11:3).
“Everything worked fine except my receives. MOREGARD has the strongest services of all players here in my opinion. When I started losing points I decided to put the ball to the table and this change was the key to success” said LEVENKO.
The biggest upset so far at the tournament was made by Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary. He was placed only at the position no. four in group F but he managed to find his way to the top. In last two games he succeeded. He beat Konstantin CHERNOV of Russia (9:11 11:13 11:13 11:7 11:6 11:1 10:12) and Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus (11:2 11:3 11:8 12:10).
“I’m tired now after having played two days of the competition. When I finished my previous match my coach told me that it would be better next time but now I feel I’m not in my best. Anyway I’m happy that I’m the first in my group although some people call it “the group of death”. Also I’m the youngest player in men’s singles at this tournament I’m 15 now ” reminded Csaba.
As it was expected the matches involved Romania’s Rares SIPOS could not conclude without the drama but this time there was a happy end for Romania’s player. In the last match of the day against Marek BADOWSKI of Poland he was stretched to full distance (11:3 7:11 11:9 11:7 8:11 8:11 11:8) before he succeeded. SIPOS previously also overcame Anders LIND of Denmark (15:134 11:9 8:11 11:6 11:5).
“I had had a lot of pressure put on me before the match because I played with my rival in Sochi the last year and I lost that game. I knew I had to win because elsewhere I would have been at the second place. I’m the first in my group that’s a pleasure for me ” said SIPOS at the end of the day.
Patryk ZATOWKA overcame Tobias HIPPLER of Germany (5:11 11:9 11:4 11:7 11:6) and Maciej KOLODZIJCZYK of Austria (7:11 11:9 11:7 8:11 11:7 13:11).
“ I played softly in the first set and that was my mistake. More force – more points. 6 games is alright but it could have been better ” said ZATOWKA.
