In the luxury hotel Pomegranate in Halkidiki, which is also the big sponsor of the games, the coverage of the boards in the Europe Top 16 Cup table tennis took place in the evening, which starts tomorrow in Thessaloniki and the gym of XANTH “Mimi Tsikinas”.
Panagiotis Gionis was drawn in the 1st round with the 4th favorite of the games, the Frenchman Simon Gozi. The match takes place tomorrow at 12:30 at table 1.
Katerina Toliou is called to face Georgina Pota from Hungary in the 16th team. The match starts at 14:00 (also table 1). Both of our representatives were low in seeding, in positions 9-16.
The execution system is the simple knockout. If Gionis advances to the quarterfinals, they will meet either the Portuguese Marco Freitas or the Dane Jonathan Groth. If Toliou met tomorrow, she met in the group 8 or Hana Matelova from the Czech Republic or Elizabeta Samara from Romania. The draw was broadcast live on internet, while immediately after its end at Pomegranate he prepared a smaller show with fountains and music right in front of its main entrance.
The call process was prefaced by European Union (ETTU) Marketing Director Beatrice Romanescu and then addressed by President Igor Levitin. “It is very important that we made it possible for this year to be in the Top 16. This is why I want to warmly thank the Greek federation, which came up, all those who have worked and of course sponsor them. We are sure of the success of the tournament in Thessaloniki. “We have brought the athletes to a place where they have the opportunity to rest and play in great conditions.”
The Englishman Liam Pittsford is not provided in the draw according to the sanitary measures and the (possibly temporary) quarantine, in which he is. He was, of course, included in the process and is also a second favorite. The organizers are waiting for the result in the second consecutive PCR test (it was predicted because it was preceded by two rapid tests, in which it came out positive for the coronavirus). If he comes out negative and the last test (late tonight today or early tomorrow morning) he will play normally, after all he is in Thessaloniki to be replaced by the first substitute, the Russian Kirill Skatskov.
“They have many years to play with each other. Gozi is a very good player, an excellent craftsman, who performs defensively. I believe that it will be a very nice match, I will enjoy it with my friends and I hope that Panagiotis will be the one to get the victory “, was the short comment of Kostas Vatsaklis about the draw.
Regarding the match between Toli and Pota, Giorgos Karytsas stressed: “Polis is a great athlete with a long history in the sport. It is an honor for Ksterina, that you will play with her and what we want is to show our real potential and to present ourselves as competitively as possible “.
It should be noted that both our athletes play defense in the Top 16, while in general this year’s event has four other defenders! The German Friends, the Slovak Wang, the Russian Mikailova and the Ukrainian Gaponova (who will also be rivals).
The draw was also attended by some other great figures of the sport, such as Kallinikos Doreanga, Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov from the vice-presidents of ETTU, the Swedish Jorgen Persson from the federal coach today and the Croatian from Croatia and general secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Manolis Kolimbadis.
All the pairs that emerged from the draw:
In men:
Matthias Falk (Sweden) – Wang Yang (Slovakia)
Darko Jorgic (Slovenia) – Andrej Gacina (Croatia)
Christian Carlson (Sweden) -Ruven Friends (Germany)
Patrick Franziska (Germany) -Daniel Habeson (Austria)
Simon Gozi (France) -Panagiotis Gionis (Greece)
Marcos Freitas (Portugal) -Jonathan Groth (Denmark)
Robert Gardos (Austria) -Emmanuel Lebson (France)
Liam Pittsford (England) Tomislav Pukar (Croatia)
To women:
Sofia Polkanova (Austria) -Sao Gienni (Portugal)
Nina Mittelham (Germany) -Barbora Balazova (Slovakia)
Georgina Pota (Hungary) -Katerina Toliou (Greece)
Elizabeth Samara (Romania) -Hana Matelova (Czech Republic)
Brit Erland (Netherlands) -Dora Mandaras (Hungary)
Ni Xia Lian (Luxembourg) -Yu Fu (Portugal)
Polina Mikailova (Russia) -Ghana Gaponova (Ukraine)
Bernard Socks (Romania) -Jana Noskova (Russia)
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