The top seeds in the Women’s Event at the European Team Championships in Zadar, Romania, lived up to their status and booked their place in the final, where they will face reigning champions Germany.
In the semi-final, Romania overcame a determined Netherlands team in a commanding 3–0 victory. Since 2011, Romania have reached the final in every edition of the Championships except in 2014, underlining their enduring dominance in European women’s table tennis.
Bernadette SZÖCS: “We expected the draw to look like this, so we were ready for these matchups. I knew my match against LI would be very important, because I’ve played her many times and only managed to beat her once before. This time, I felt really confident and knew that winning the first match could give our team a big boost.
It looks like an easy 3–0 on paper, but it really wasn’t, especially my match. I’m very proud of my teammates; we all did a great job today.
In the last game, I tried to be more patient because she wasn’t missing as much anymore. I had to keep finding solutions and change tactics during the rallies. It wasn’t easy at all, but I stayed calm and focused and found the right way to beat her.
We’ve played many finals against Germany before, sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, but last time we lost, so we definitely want revenge this time. Everyone in the team is playing really well, and I believe we can bring the gold home.”
Elizabeta SAMARA: “We all knew this was going to be a tough match because they are such good adversaries. We’re happy that we made it 3–0, each of us did our job, and the bench was amazing. The coaches, the teammates, the supporters, we were like a real team, like Romania used to be, like a family, we could say.
I’m the oldest one on the team, but we are all very good, and in this team we can always rotate players, it doesn’t matter who plays when, everyone can deliver.
Let’s say me against EERLAND, our last meeting was last year in Rajasthan, and I lost. The previous one, I also lost. I think I only beat her once during the pandemic in Doha. So I’m very happy that I could win this match now, in the semi-finals.
I think experience helped me deal with the pressure. Mentally, I was strong in the key moments. I’m happy about the victory, and I just try to give my teammates confidence, we all want to keep our team spirit high.”
Andreea DRAGOMAN: “We’re really happy to be in the finals. We knew from the beginning it was going to be tough, but Berni’s first match gave us a lot of energy and confidence. It was a very important win, and I’m really glad she managed to pull it off and give the team such a strong start.
As for my own match, I felt confident because we were already 2–0 up, so I just tried to stay focused on my game instead of thinking about finishing the tie. I’m really happy that I managed to stay calm and control myself to win 3–0.”
Romania – Netherlands 3–0
- Bernadette SZÖCS – Jie LI 3–2 (14–12, 3–11, 12–10, 8–11, 11–1)
- Elizabeta SAMARA – Britt EERLAND 3–1 (11–13, 11–4, 11–8, 11–9)
- Andreea DRAGOMAN – Shuohan MEN 3–0 (11–8, 11–5, 11–5)
