Greece 1 emerged victorious in the Under-15 Mixed Teams Event while Denmark claimed the title in the Under-13 category at the Loutraki tournament marking the conclusion of the opening stage of the 4th Europe Youth Series table tennis competition.
In the Under-15 category Greece 1 defeated Georgia 5-3. In the Under-13 category Denmark narrowly outlasted Greece 1 with a 5-4 score in the final.
Overall Greece performed admirably and had the potential to win two gold medals. The event featured two 3rd-place finishes with Greece 2 in both the Under-15 and Under-13 categories. Bronze medals and a trophy were awarded to all four teams aligning with the total number of participating entries.
In the U15 category Greece 1 competed against Georgia twice within a few hours. In the morning the hosts secured a 6-3 victory while the final match was more intense. The score reached 4-3 with the provision that the match wouldn’t be officially clinched if Greece failed to reach 5-3 in the meantime. However they did reach that point. In the second game BITKHAVA secured a 3-0 set win finalizing the score (although the referees unofficially allowed the ninth game to continue due to its proximity to the end with KYOSELOGLU beating GABARASVILI 3-0). Christos tsarsitalidis and Roula Lambrinidis supported the team in the final.
The Greece 2 team which secured 3rd place consisted of Kostas FAKAROS Theofanis-Giorgos mitkas Stella Mavromamataki and Angela NURE with coaching from Michalis ANGELIDIS Roula lambrinidis and Pavlos Telopoulos.
The younger division’s team event finals were even more thrilling. Local athlete Sophia PHILI participated and demonstrated remarkable performance despite her inexperience in such matches. The outcome was decided in the details and GRÖGERTSEN with a narrow margin in the 5th set secured a 5-4 victory bringing Denmark the trophy.
The Denmark team was coached by Laurits Jelsbak thomsen and Ida Boending Schoesler. Coach THOMSEN expressed his thoughts on the U13 team’s success and the experience at the Greek Open.
“The final was a very tough and close match. We had previously faced the Greek team in the group with the same score. They have skilled players and it was a difficult match but we managed to win in the end. It was a great experience ” he commented. Regarding the decision to play all the team matches in the team competition he stated “I think it was great for all the athletes to play all the team games. Initially we thought the games would be played until one team reached five wins. However we saw that all nine games were to be played in the group. It was beneficial from a competitive perspective and for the athletes’ experience. They’ve already played many matches at the international tournament level so the change in the system was really good.”
Greece 2 who secured 3rd place included Nikos Angelidis Dimitris GEORGALLIDIS Despina DEMETRIOU and Aphrodite-Ioanna SARIKAKI coached by Michalis ANGELIDIS and Kostas DIMITRAKOPOULOS. Greece 3 finished in 4th place with Anastasios FOUSEKI Konstantinos ISAAKIDIS Athanasia GOGA and Elpida TASIOU led by coach Anita HATSATRIAN.
The award presentation was carried out by the President of the Hellenic Table Tennis Federation (E.F.O.O.Epa.) Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU for the U15 category winners and the General Secretary Xenia STATHI for the U13 category winners. Throughout the first two days of the Open the national men’s coach Kostas VATSAKLIS.
Detailed results of the final
Greece 1 – Georgia 5-3
Giannis Koutra/Vassiliki Boula-Nicolo Tskartisvili/Anastasia Tskartisvili 3-1 (11-7 12-10 14-16 11-9)
Boula-Tekla Lippartelliani 3-0 (13-11 11-5 11-4)
Kutra-Mate Gabarasvili 3-0 (11-6 11-3 11-3)
Alexandra Bitkhava-An. Tskartishvili 0-3 (5-11 6-11 6-11)
Giannis Kyoseloglou-N. Tskartisvili 2-3 (11-8 7-11 9-11 11-3 10-12)
Boula-An. Tskartisvili 2-3 (8-11 11-3 13-11 3-11 9-11)
Koutra-N. Tskartishvili 3-2 (9-11 11-7 11-6 9-11)
Bitchava-Lipartelliani 3-0 (12-10 11-6 11-3)
Greece 1 – Denmark 4-5
Konstantinos Alexoudis/Anna-Fanuria Mitka-Malik Severinsen/Celinda Vung 3-2 (11-9 11-5 9-11 2-11 11-8)
Alexoudis-Emil Hasselback 3-2 (11-8 2-11 4-11 11-6 11-5)
Mitka-Andrea Gregertsen 3-0 (11-8 11-6 11-6)
Sophia Fili-Vung 0-3 (6-11 2-11 8-11)
Spyros Fousekis-Severinsen 1-3 (8-11 12-10 2-11 6-11)
Mitka-Vung 3-1 (7-11 12-10 11-6 11-3)
Alexoudis-Severinsen 1-3 (6-11 8-11 13-11 13-11 10-12)
Fusekis-Hasselback 0-3 (4-11 4-11 7-11)
Fili-Gregerchen 2-3 (10-12 11-9 11-6 5-11 9-11)
