The matches in A Groups at the 2023 European Teams Championships Stage one continued tonight with the duels in Women’s Event.
In Novi Sad Serbia lost to Luxembourg. As it was expected NI Xia Lian was at the top of her game and she recorded wins against Izabela LUPULESKU and Sabina SURJAN. However there were no lack of upsets in that match. In the opening match Sabina SURJAN ranked at the World rankings at the position no. 110 overcame Sarah DE NUTTE who is placed at the position no. 68.
Serbia had a dream start with that victory but they faced rude awakening with the Andrea TODOROVIC’S defeat against Tessy GONDERINGER. Andrea is no. 121 in the World whilst Tessi is no. 302.
“At the beginning I had some troubles getting into the match. I was down 0-1 and 5-9 but somehow I managed to turn the set around and win it. I think that was an important moment that gave me more confidence and helped me to find my game. From the third set on I started to play more focused and with the clear strategy. This worked out quite well so that at the end I managed to win 3:1. All in all I‘m very happy with my performance today and I‘m glad that I could help the team to win ” explained Tessy GONDERINGER.
Italy also suffered four matches defeat at home soil. Czech Republic had a good start after Zdena BLASKOVA World’s no. 244 beat Debora VIVARELLI ranked at the position no. 161. Hana MATELOVA World’s no. 27 prevailed against World’s no. 70 Giorgia PICCOLIN. Nikoleta STEFANOVA was the only player to score for Italy. She beat Marketa SEVCIKOVA before MATELOVA finished the match with the victory over Nicole ARILA.
“We started very with BLASKOVA’s win. The following match was very important for us. Hana MATELOVA lost to Giorgia PICCOLIN at the European Championships. Today she showed a very good performance. Hana received very well. In the third match Nikoleta STEFANOVA overcame in straight games Marketa SEVCIKOVA to open the challenge again. In the fourth singles Italy changed Vivarelli with Nicole ARLIA. Hana began very quickly in the first set and in the second she was leading 7-3 and lost. In the next two sets however she was very confident and won 3-1. This was our first match in the group with Italy and Portugal and we are very happy of the result here in Bolzano” said Coach Petr NEDOMA.
Italy’s coach Elena TIMINA said: “I said before that the result would depend on the form of the day and a little bit of luck. Both of them were in favor of Czech Republic because their number 1 MATELOVA was in the best possible shape today and on the other side we did not guess the line-up in the way I would prefer. PICCOLIN and ARLIA made a good fight against MATELOVA even if she played very well. I believe we can beat her as well and against n. 2 we can do better. I am very happy that Nikoleta STEFANOVA gave us the first point winning for the national team after many years on the Italian ground. She showed her class and her level. She is very important for the team. It was a pity that we did not reach 2-2 because I would have liked to see Giorgia against BLASKOVA. Today Czech Republic was better but it does not mean that the next time will be the same”.
Slovakia scored at home soil in Bratislava. They beat Netherlands 3:1.
Barbora BALAZOVA overcame Tanja HELLE but world’s no 48 did it much harder than the rankings of her adversary predicts. World’s no. 330 forced Barbora to go full distance. Ema LABOSOVA lost five games match against Shuohan MEN but Tatiana KUKULKOVA gave Slovakia the lead once again. She beat Sanne DE HOOP. BALAZOVA overcame MEN in the last duel.
Turkiye overcame Hungary 3:1 in Istanbul. The back-bone of the team’s success was Sibel ALTINKAYA World’s no. 92. She beat Georgina POTA ranked at the position no. 63 and Dora MADARASZ placed at the position no. 76 at World Rankings. World’s no. 215 Ozge YILMAZ beat Dora as well. Mercedes NAGYVARADI was the only player to score for Hungary. She overcame Simay KULAKCEKEN.
