Slovakia beat Italy in the second match in the Group A5 in the Stage 1 of the 2023 European Teams Championships. It was straight matches victory for the guests but it came much harder than the result predicts. In two matches hosts were stretched to full distance.
Matteo MUTTI faced Lubomir PISTEJ and lost 2:3 (11:9 11:5 5:11 14:16 9:11).Matteo had four match-points in the fourth game against Lubomir but failed to convert them.
John OYEBODE lost to WANG Yang (5:11 2:11 3:11) whilst in another long distance match Andrea PUPPO lost to Jakub ZELINKA (14:12 11:6 7:11 14:16 9:11). Like MUTTI Andrea also had an opportunity to win the match since he had match point in the fourth game.
It is Italy’s second defeat in the group. Czech Republic and Slovakia has one win each.
