The first day of competition of the STAG European Veterans Championships was very intense. The Singles Event qualifying rounds of almost all age categories were played. Only the Over 40 and Over 45 men and women will take the field today together with the doubles and for the first time the paralympic singles.
In Group 2 of the Over 75 Germany’s Jutta BARON beat 3-0 (11-4 11-3 11-0) her compatriot Sonja CHEVALLIER 3-1 (11-8 9-11 11-4 11-4) England’s Jacqueline CHANNEL and 3-0 (11-5 11-8 11-2) Croatia’s Vera MENLA ALI.
“The most difficult match of the group was that against CHANNEL. She played very well and I had to be focused in all the points. Here in Rimini I am the no. two seed and n. 1 is Hungary’s Gizella ZACHER she is a strong adversary. I am the defending champion and I hope to win again. I am satisfied of my game. Three years ago in Budapest I prevailed 3-0 in the finals over my compatriot Edda Christa WASSERMEYER-DELEKAT. It was the last of many medals I won ” said BARON.
In Over 60 Denmark’s Lars HAUTH classified first in Group 1 defeating 3-0 (11-5 11-6 11-3) Italy’s Gabriele VIVIANI 3-1 (11-7 11-5 9-11 11-1) Germany’s Ulrich REINELT and 3-0 (11-2 11-4 11-3) Germany’s Klaus HINZ. “It was difficult to play at table 1 because of the wind. I had to slowdown the ball and not to play so fast to avoid making too many mistakes. I am not happy of my game. I have not enough rhythm and I will have to practice myself during the afternoon to get my game a little better. I am in Group 1 but I do not know whether I am top seed. I do not feel to be the favorite. There are other strong player as Germany’s Zsolt-Georg BÖHM Czech Republic’s Miroslav CECAVA or Italy’s Giovanni BISI. I am among the favorites. So far I took part in two European Championships and two World Championship. In 2016 in Alicante I reached the finals and lost to Spain’s He Cheng Zhiwen. I hope to win one more medal here”.
In Group 1 in Over 85 England’s Betty BIRD who won the title in Budapest in 2019 accounted for Czech Republic’s Eliska KREJCOVA 3-0 (11-4 11-4 11-1) England’s Audrey ROBINSON 3-0 (11-5 11-9 11-3) and Germany’s Christl RUPPRECHT 3-1 (11-5 9-11 11-4 11-5).
“I came to Rimini with the hope to participate in this great competition. I would love to be able to reach the finals even though I do not feel myself in the best conditions. My flight from England was very long because of a delay and I arrived here very tired. Before coming to Italy I competed in the British Summer League which is going to end in autumn. My participation is something I really care about very much”.
In Group 3 of Over 65 Estonia’s Rein LINDMÄE won all the matches 3-0 (11-4 11-1 11-2) over Germany’s Rainer GÜNTHER 3-0 (12-10 11-3 11-1) over Austria’s Hubert MICHELUZZI and 3-0 (11-3 11-9 11-5) over Spain’s Pere PORTA.
“I was silver medalist in Helsingborg in 2017 and Budapest in 2019 and I would like to get on the podium another time. I always play for the medals hopefully a gold one this time. I will try hard but the task is very difficult. I stopped playing for two years because of Coronavirus which means no competitions and no trainings but I dream of the podium anyway. Here in Rimini there are many great players worth playing against”.
