The table tennis tournament at the European Games in Krakow commenced today at the Hutnik Arena. Alongside the preliminary rounds in singles the main draw for mixed doubles was also played.
The opening round featuring the best of 16 pairs was not immune to upsets. The tenth-seeded Türkiye’s pair Ibrahim GÜNDÜZ and Sibel ALTNIKAYA defeated the sixth-seeded Swedish duo of Truls MOREGARD and Christina KALLBERG in a grueling five-game match (7 5 -3 -8 11).
The quarterfinals will bring an even greater challenge for the Türkiye’s pairings. They will face the European mixed doubles champions from 2020 in Warsaw QIU Dang and Nina MITTELHAM of Germany. The German team overcame Luka MLADENOVIC and NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg in the Round of 16 (-6 4 9 7).
The top-seeded pair Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania also had to battle through a grueling five-game match to defeat Deni KOZUL and Katarina STRAZAR of Slovenia (7 5 -5 -9 4). In the next round they will face Robert GARDOS and Sofia POLCANOVA. The Austrian pair proved too strong for John OYEBODE and Gaia MONFARDINI of Italy (6 7 8).
The second-seeded duo Alvaro ROBLES and Maria XIAO of Spain secured a 3-1 victory (-8 4 8 3) against Anton LIMONOV and Solomiya BRATENKO of Ukraine. In the quarterfinals they will meet Serbia’s Dimitrije LEVAJAC and Izabela LUPULESKU who defeated Tomas POLANSKY and Hana MATELOVA of Czechia in another closely contested match (1 -9 -9 9 2).
The 3rd-seeded pair Lubomir PISTEJ and Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia emerged victorious against Liam PITCHFORD and Tin Tin HO of England (6 -5 5 8). In the next round they will play against Nandor ECSEKI and Dora MADARASZ. The Hungarian pair defeated Samuel KULCZYCKI and Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland (5 6 -7 -9 7).
