by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Mainstay of the victory was Elizabeta Samara, in the second match of the fixture she beat Katerina Tomanovska (11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6), before in the fourth match bringing matters to a conclusion by overcoming Hana Matelova (11-6, 12-10, 11-8).

“We made a good start of the Championships and I am very happy to say that all the girls are in very good shape in Sweden. We never suffer from lack of motivation but this is special moment for us. We are here as a European champions and we have to live up the reputation.” Elizabeta Samara

Undoubtedly the Czech Republic is a formidable outfit.

“Their style is very similar to mine, spin on spin, aggressive an attacking game; so it makes them very dangerous and hard to beat. I am happy firstly because of my victory over Hana Matelova, last time we played against each other it was very close three-one victory. Czech players are always hard to beat. I still have nightmares from the defeat six years ago in the first round of the European Championships.” Elizabeta Samara

The one further win for Romania was recorded by Bernadette Szocs in the opening match of the fixture when she beat Hana Matelova (11-4, 11-9, 11-4); for the Czech Republic, the one success came courtesy of Karin Adamkova. In the third match of the engagement she beat Daniela Monteiro-Dodean (4-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-7, 11-7).

“Dana was so unlucky today. She lost by narrow margin and she twisted her ankle during the game. It is noting severe but it affected her game this morning.” Elizabeta Samara

Impressive from Romania, it was a confidence building start against a worthy opponent.