Serbia created the upset in Linz by beating Austria 3:2 in the stage 1 of the European teams Championships. Portugal justified their rankings and beat Italy.
Reigning European champion in singles and doubles Sofia POLCANOVA justified her status by winning both encounters against Izabela LUPULESKU (11:6 11:5 11:4) and Sabina SURJAN (11:7 11:5 11:7). OOn the other side Karoline MISCHEK suffered by the hands of the same adversaries. She lost to SURJAN (9:11 8:11 7:11) and LUPULESKU (6:11 4:11 5:11).
In the middle Tijana JOKIC was the player to make the break and gave Serbia the wings. She overcame Amelie SOLJA (5:11 11:7 11:9 11:8).
“We are very happy about this victory. It was a very tough match but we played very strong. I could beat Karoline MISCHEK. Only Sofia POLCANOVA is unbeatable at this high level. So the key point was the win of Tijana JOKIC versus Amelie SOLJA. On Friday I think they will play with LIU Jia and it will be even tougher for us. But at the moment we have a good chance to reach the final stage in Malmö” explained Sabina SURJAN.
Portugal overcame Italy in four matches. It was SHAO Jieni who led the team to success with two wins. Giorgia PICCOLIN suffered by the hands of YU Fu (7:11 5:11 11:9 9:11). SHAO overcame Nikoleta STEFANOVA (11:9 11:3 11:4) Gaia MONFARDINI beat Rita FINS (11:6 7:11 11:9 11:5) before SHAO sealed the match with the win over Giorgia PICCOLIN (11:4 11:1 11:5).
Elena TIMINA coach of Italy: “The miracle did not happen. We had a different line-up today because we had Nikoleta STEFANOVA with us and Debora VIVARELLI had a slight injury in the back and so I made this choice. I do not regret about the choice at all. The two Chinese ladies from Portugal are just better than us that’s it it’s simple. We will prepare for the next match against Czech Republic which is very important for us. I hope we can win at least 3-1 so we get chance to be the second in the group. In this moment I am a little bit disappointed. This match was not as good as the one we played in Portugal but my congratulations go to the Portugal’s team. They are a very good team maybe in top 3 in Europe in this moment. I also think we have to put this disappointment behind us. We are much stronger than a lot of people think and we have to prove it. We will try to do in the next match”.
“It was a difficult match but we managed to win it. We all played very well. We have qualified to the European Championships of next year and we are very satisfied ” Rita FINS spoke on behalf of the team.
