Table Tennis Championships – The next medals for Austria
They have already won bronze side by side in mixed doubles, and Robert Gardos and Sofia Polcanova are now following suit in men’s and women’s doubles. Together with Daniel Habesohn, Gardos defeated the Germans Dang Qiu/Benedikt Duda 3:2 in the quarter-finals and is thus in the semi-finals on Thursday. The final also takes place on Thursday, there is no match for third place.
Bronze is guaranteed for them, as is Polcanova, who will compete with the Romanian Bernadette Szócs from 1.15 p.m. against the sensational pairing Maria Xiao/Adina Diaconu (Spa/Rum/29) for the final.
In the Quarterfinals against Yu Fu/Shao Jieni, the Singapore Grand Smash Bronzes dominated just as they had before against Poland’s Natalia Partyka/Natalia Bajor, who the tournament No. 3 had impressively defeated in just 19 minutes.
Crime with a happy ending
It was tighter for Austria’s men’s duo, who followed 2-0 in sets before the Germans forced a decisive set. The ÖTTV duo was able to win this by a hair’s breadth with 13:11. For the two Austrians it is already the fifth medal in a doubles competition at the European Championships. Two times gold (2012, 2018) and two times silver (2013, 2015) have been recorded so far. (apa/red)