European Championships | 12 Jan 2023

Czech Republic made it two out of two under STRBIKOVA’s lead

In two days Czech Republic recorded two wins in Group A2 of the Stage one of the European Championships Team. After Italy, they prevailed against Portugal tonight.

Ines MATOS gave guests good start. She overcame Zdena BLASKOVA (4:11, 11:7, 11:7, 11:6), Marketa SEVCIKOVA beat SHAO Jieni to level the match (4:11, 11:9, 11:3, 11:7). Jana VASENDOVA overcame Patricia SANTOS (11:8, 8:11, 10:12, 11:5, 11:9) and Katerina TOMANOVSKA overcame SHAO Jieni (11:7, 11:5, 11:9).

This is second win for the team under the leadership of Renáta ŠTRBÍKOVÁ.

"We are very happy with the win. The Portugal team was not with the strongest lineup, but I also rested Hana MATELOVÁ. It was fifty fifty. Markéta ŠEVČÍKOVÁ performed excellently, defeating SHAO Jieni. I really didn't expect that before the match. And the match was also very difficult for Jana VAŠENDOVÁ, who was playing for the Czech national team for the first time. She was nervous, she lost a big lead in two sets, but in the end she was able to finish it successfully. I am very happy with her. It was a collective performance today, which makes me happy."

XIE Juan coach of Portugal said: "This match was not important for us from the point of the result, because we already secured the progress to the European Championship. After the first individual match, also the first place in the group was secured. However, this result is not what I expected. We definitely didn't come here to lose. As for Shao Jieni, she is not in good physical condition, so she did not play at one hundred percent. However, Ines MATOS and also Patricia SANTOS played well,"