Sporting CP beat GD Toledos team this Saturday by 3-0 in the 1st leg of the final of the Men’s National Championship played at the High Performance Center of Vila Nova de Gaia and this Sunday can guarantee the 37th national title and fifth in a row.
The Sporting team who beat Toledos by 4-0 in both matches in the regular phase faced this Saturday difficulties to overcome the Azorean club. Sporting conceded four sets in the match one less than the total number of sets lost over the entire regular phase.
Aruna Quadri who will play in the German championship next season in the TC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell team after a decade in Portugal in which he won the last seven national titles – three by GD Toledos and four by Sporting – will play this Sunday his last match by the “lions”. The Nigerian Olympic player number 20 in the World was losing 2-1 against Énio Mendes a somewhat surprising fact.
In the second match between Diogo Carvalho and Diogo Silva the clash was also very leveled but the experience of the National Team player preveiled.
In the final match between Bode Abiodun and Boboye Oyenyan both from Nigeria the sportinguista player was stronger.
Sporting team ended the regular phase with 18 wins in 18 games and reached 70 points 22 more than GD Toledos second place.
Sporting is the club with the record number of national titles 36 in total and is currently four-time champion. Club is the holder of the National Championship Portuguese Cup and José Manuel Amaro Super Cup.
Toledos has four national championship titles.
The games are all broadcast live on the television channels “A Bola TV” and RTP Açores and on the Federation’s Facebook and Youtube pages. The finals will also be broadcast live on the Facebook pages of the European (ETTU) and international (ITTF) federations.
Aruna Quadri Sporting CP player said: “It was a very difficult game since we haven’t played in a long time and Énio Mendes has always been a great player. It is always difficult to play against him but in the end I was very lucky to win. ”
Diogo Carvalho Sporting CP player added: “It was a very complicated match we have known each other for a long time and he knows how to play against me. It is very difficult for me to play against him but I managed to achieve the victory which is the most important thing. It was a very tactical game I was not able to serve short which was my goal.”
Bode Abiodun Sporting CP athlete said: “We are closer to winning the title but tomorrow we have to maintain our concentration to achieve a new victory.”
Diogo Silva GD Toledos coach and player: “We knew it was a very difficult task but we were not going to throw the towel down anyway. We will fight and try to do the best we can. Today we were close to being able to do something that would put us in a better position for tomorrow. We know that with 3-0 defeat it will be very difficult but either way we will arrive here tomorrow with the same attitude fight and try to make a good result. Tomorrow we will try to win our games regardless of whether or not we can be champions. ”
Chen Chi Shao Sporting CP coach: “In view of the long break this game was normal. The players were stopped for a long time. But we are closer to winning the title. ”
Sporting CP 3 – GD Toledos 0
Venue: Centro de Alto Rendimento de Vila Nova de Gaia
Umpires: Celeste Araújo / Rui Oliveira (Aveiro)
Aruna Quadri 3 – Énio Mendes 2 (11-4 9-11 7-11 11-7 11-3)
Diogo Carvalho 3 – Diogo Silva 1 (13-11 9-11 11-8 11-7)
Bode Abiodun 3 – Boboye Oyenyan 1 (11-8 11-4 10-12 11-6)
Sporting CP coach: Chen Chi Shao
GD Toledos coach: Diogo Silva
