Michal GAWLAS of Poland achieved an impressive victory in the Round of 64 defeating the fourth-seeded player Tom CLOSSET of Belgium. Despite being the 41st seed GAWLAS fought hard in a closely contested match that went to six games (-10 10 -10 9 9 13).
GAWLAS acknowledged the challenge posed by his highly ranked opponent saying “This was the toughest match for me at the Championships so far. He was the highest-ranked adversary I have faced in Gliwice. He played every ball on the table and the rallies were longer with varied placement sometimes making it difficult for me to respond. His service was also very uncomfortable. Nevertheless the key to my victory was my fighting spirit and determination.”
Initially feeling stressed GAWLAS found a turning point in the match. “At the beginning I was really tense and couldn’t play my best table tennis. When I was down 1-2 in games and 3-8 in the fourth game I told myself to stay positive and play for fun. That change in mindset had a positive effect and I’m really happy with this match ” he added.
In other notable matches Rafael KONG of Portugal made an impressive comeback from being 0-3 down against the 11th seed David SZANTOSI of Hungary (-6 -6 -5 11 4 12 2).
“It was really difficult for me in the opening three games. I knew I had to make some changes to turn the match around. In the fourth game I solely focused on the task of putting the next ball on the table. Winning that game made SZANTOSI uneasy and I was able to regain my confidence. As a result he started making mistakes under pressure. In the first three games I played the same game repeatedly but as the match progressed I introduced a lot of variations into my game ” explained KONG.
Similarly Gabrielius CAMARA of the Netherlands seeded 67th exceeded expectations by defeating the 17th seed Matthias DANZER of Germany (-9 9 9 -7 7 6).
Meanwhile the top seed Eduard IONESCU of Romania faced a tough challenge from Molo DE BOER of the Netherlands going 1-2 down before eventually recovering to secure his spot in the Round of 32.
