European Championships | 7 Sep 2019
Portugal raised the bar by reaching the final
Photo: Rémy Gros
Liebherr European Championships
Never before Women’s Team of Portugal won the medal at the Continental Championships. Today they went step further. At the LIEBHERR European Championships Portugal overcame Hungary to reach the final in Nantes.
Once again YU Fu was the back bone of team’s success Europe’s no. 10 overcame Dora MADARASZ (11-9, 11-5, 11-9) and on her second exit to the table Europe’s no 7 Georgina POTA (11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4). SHAO Jieni also prevailed against Georgina POTA (11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9).
“Our match against Germany in the quarterfinal was much harder. Here it was important to stop Georgina POTA and we managed to complete that task. Now we have to prepare for Romania. They beat is in 2017 in quarterfinal, so we have “history” with them already. However, I think now we are better team and well prepared,” said YU.
Photo: Rémy Gros
Szandra PERGEL beat Leila OLIVERA. Leila managed to create the pressure but failed to deliver the game that will eventually bring third point to Portugal (13-11, 5-11, 7-11, 8-11). Szandra won a battle for a fourth match.
“When girls beat Germany we knew it is possible to overcame Hungary. We showed we have enough quality and the confidence boosted. FU play perfectly, despite the pressure. Good thing is that SHAO is also in good shape,” explained coach XIE Juan.
