European Championships | 5 May 2023

Norway beat the odds and secured their place in Malmo

On the opening day of play in Osijek at Stage Two of the European Teams Championships, four teams in the Men’s Event had already secured their position in the Final Stage to be played in Malmo in September. Poland, Hungary, Norway, and Greece are already safe for the final.

In the Men’s team event, Poland’s Milosz REDZIMSKI, Jakub DYJAS, and Maciej KUBIK prevailed against Finland and Lithuania without losing an individual match. Tomorrow, Finland will play against Lithuania for the second position and a place in Malmo.

In Group 2, Hungary had the same path. Nandor ECSEKI, Bence MAJAROS, and Tamas LAKATOS beat Switzerland and Turkey 3-0 in both matches.

In Group 4, Ukraine’s Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA, Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO, and Viktor YEFIMOV secured two wins against Israel and the Netherlands, but the Netherlands overcame Latvia as well as Israel prevailed against Latvia, so we have to wait for the outcome of this group tomorrow.

In Group 3, Luxembourg suffered against Serbia, but in the second round, Serbia lost to Italy. Now, Serbia’s fate is in the hands of others. Tomorrow’s duel between Luxembourg and Italy will give the final standings.

In Group 5, Greece’s Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS, Konstantinos ANGELAKIS, and Georgios STAMATOUROS beat Ireland and Spain, but they only share first position with the team which created the biggest upset. Norway’s Borgar HAUG, Khai Noah LAM, and Alexander FRANSSON prevailed against the same adversaries as Greece. Their tomorrow’s duel will determine the leader of the group.

The winner and runner-up of each group qualifies for the final stage, making a total of 10 spots. Five third-positioned teams will play PLAY-OFF for the remaining spot.

In Women’s Teams Event Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA, Amelie SOLJA and LIU Jia completed the day one with two victors over Wales and Belgium. For Austria tickets for Sweden are already secured.

Same as Austria, Italy is also one of the teams that concluded their task on the opening day in Osijek. Nikoleta STEFANOVA, Giorgia PICCOLIN and Gaia MONFARDINI overcame Finland and Greece.

In Group 3, Bulgaria’s Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA, Maria YOVKOVA and Kalina HRISTOVA overcome Israel and Netherlands. In the same group, England with Tin Tin Ho, Emily BOLTON and Mari BALDWIN is also unbeaten after clashes with Israel and Netherlands.

The winner and runner-up of each group qualifying for the final stage, making eight spots. Four third-positioned teams will play for two remaining spots (play-off matches), and the winners of the play-off matches will qualify for the Final Stage.

In Group 4 Croatia’s Mateja JEGER MAJSTOROVIC, Hana ARAPOVIC, Lea RAKOVAC and Andrea PAVLOVIC booked the top spot with two wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Türkiye.

The winner and runner-up of each group qualifying for the final stage, making eight spots. Four third-positioned teams will play for two remaining spots (play-off matches), and the winners of the play-off matches will qualify for the Final Stage.