João GERALDO (Les Loups d’Angers France) and Leila OLIVEIRA (U Sebastianense FC) are the new Portuguese National Singles champions after winning the National Championships held at the Pavilhão Municipal de Mozelos.
João GERALDO succeeds Diogo CHEN in the singles after beating Gonçalo Gomes (CD 1.º Maio) by 4-0 in the final. It is the second Portuguese National Singles title for GERALDO who had already won in 2015. The 3rd place was conquered by António MALHEIRO (AR Novelense) and Ivo Silva (GDCAAA Guilhabreu).
Leila OLIVEIRA (U Sebastianense FC) beat in the final the sixteen years old player Inês MATOS (Boa Hora FC) by 4-1 and regained the title she had won for the last time in 2014.
The young player Inês SALGADO (CTM Mirandela) only fifteen years of age and Raquel ANDRADE (GDCS Juncal) won the bronze medal.
In the doubles event the new national champions are António MALHEIRO and Silas MONTEIRO (Men´s Doubles) Olga CHRAMKO and Rita FINS (Women’s Doubles) and Bode ABIODUN / Patrícia SANTOS (Mixed Doubles).
Joao Geraldo said “I managed to justify my value at this competition. It’s always good to win a tournament. I’m happy with my performance because I think I played at a good level.”
The most difficult match was the game against David BESSA in the quarterfinals: “without any doubt and you can see it even by the score it was the only a game I lost in the whole tournament. After that match my game got a lot better and the semi-finals and the final were my best matches.”
The restrictions caused by the pandemic confinement triggered by Covid-19 virus did not affect the athlete’s training. “I have been working at the High Performance Center for quite some time and I never had any problem to do my trainings. I have been doing my normal practices. The High Performance Center and the Portuguese Federation have allowed me to keep my regular training schedule.”
João GERALDO also said “Next week I’m going to play in France and I have the opportunity to win the French National championship with my club. The team hasn’t won the National title in 22 years. There are four games left and if we win them all we will be champions. It only depends on us and now that’s the main goal.”
For GERALDO the results obtained in the Qatar Open in March in the French championship and in the Portuguese Championship show that “I am in good shape and I am very happy with my performance. It’s been a very positive season for me especially because I’ve never had such an important role in my team.”
Leila Oliveira said “My performance has been evolved with the games I played. I’ve been improving along the tournament gaining confidence in every match and then in the final I had to be very focused because Inês is a very strong opponent. I’m quite self-assured for the rest of the season.”
