In the semifinal of the Mixed Doubles event at the European Games Krakow tomorrow will feature a match between QIU Dang and Nina MITTELHAM of Germany against Alvaro ROBLES and Maria XIAO of Spain. In another penultimate stage duel Nandor ECSEKI and Dora MADARASZ of Hungary will meet Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania.
The top-seeded pair Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania defeated Robert GARDOS and Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria in four games (-12 7 3 4).
“It was a very difficult match for me. Firstly we faced very dangerous opponents. It was a rematch of our semifinal duel at the European Championships. Secondly this match came just a few hours after my defeat in singles against Darko JORGIC. I won the opening game against Darko and had an advantage in the next one before he made a comeback. Unfortunately in mixed doubles we encountered a big problem right from the beginning. We lost the opening game by a close margin. Thankfully Bernadette and our coach knew how to handle this situation well. They helped me to regain focus and stay on the right path ” said IONESCU.
SZOCS had no doubts about their victory even during the tough moments.
“We lost the opening game but I felt that we were playing well. At no point did I think we could lose ” said SZOCS.
Bernadette emphasized their strong partnership with IONESCU.
“We have been playing together for a long time and I know how to reach and calm him in tough situations. Ovidiu is a very sensitive person so our friendship is a crucial part of our success. Last time we won silver in Minsk and now I hope for gold ” stated SZOCS.
No. four seeds European mixed doubles champions from 2020 in Warsaw QIU Dang and Nina MITTELHAM proved too strong for Türkiye’s pair Ibrahim GÜNDÜZ and Sibel ALTNIKAYA 3-1 (-9 6 3 9).
Nina MITTELHAM: “We started well in the first game and led 6:2. At 8:7 for us from our point of view GÜNDÜZ makes a serve on the wrong side I stopped playing but the referee didn’t see it. There was a discussion and afterwards I was very very angry. We lost the set unfortunately but then we managed to focus and play better won more rallies. I made a few simple mistakes at the beginning. It was important that we stayed calm and didn’t let the guy get to us. I’m glad we won the match.”
Dang QIU: “On paper we were the clear favourites. In the first game there were a few arguments that cost us the game. We were actually well prepared and started well. In the last game we were 0:4 behind and still turned it around. I still know GÜNDÜZ’s very good serves from the European Championships in Munich. In the best-of-five mode everything happens very quickly. So we were already in the fifth set with one leg in between.”
The second-seeded duo of Alvaro ROBLES and Maria XIAO of Spain managed to overcome Serbia’s Dimitrije LEVAJAC and Izabela LUPULESKU in a close five-game contest (-6 10 3 -9 7).
“LEVAJAC and LUPULESKU played at their highest level until the very last point. It was not easy for us to find our rhythm against them. That’s why I believe the key to our success was maintaining a positive spirit after losing the opening game. We were in a difficult position in the first game and throughout the second but we never gave up. We stayed focused and fought for every ball ” said ROBLES.
Nandor ECSEKI and Dora MADARASZ of Hungary defeated the 3rd-seeded pair Lubomir PISTEJ and Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia in straight games (7 5 8).
“The match was much closer than the results predicted. It was our best performance since we teamed up together at the World Championships a year and a half ago ” said Nandor ECSEKI.
MADARASZ added “I believe the key to our success was our ability to read their receiving game.”
Nandor also mentioned that they learned from their victory over Samuel KULCZYCKI and Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland the previous day.
“We were up by two games before they made a comeback to level the match. We managed to withstand their comeback but today we were determined not to let our opponents create a similar scenario. We remained focused and played our best on every point.”
