by Ian Marshall, Editor

Very much in harmony, Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska gave Germany the perfect start against Portugal, they accounted for Tiago Apolonia and João Monteiro in three straight games (12-10, 11-7, 11-4).

Impressive from Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska, it was arguably more impressive from Dimitrij Ovtcharov; no doubt having relinquished his men’s singles title, a player with a point to prove. He overcame Marcos Freitas in a similarly relentless manner (11-8, 11-2, 11-6).

“This is all about team work and as a team we proved the stronger. I am also happy with my performance. I know Marcos very well and in my case sometimes to play him is not very good option. I played my best table tennis since we arrived here and I hope I will keep this level tomorrow in the final.” Dimitrij Ovtcharov

The momentum in favour of Germany, Patrick Franziska secured the victory but not without some moments of trepidation; facing Tiago Apolonia, a recovery from a two games to nil deficit was needed (7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6).

Directing matters was Jörg Rosskopf, the men’s team national coach.

“We started with an excellent performance from Timo and Patrick in doubles. Ovtcharov was perfect against Marcos, the player with whom he is playing in the same club. Only in the opening game when he was 2-4 down was there any difficulty, from then on he always had the advantage. I am also happy with Patrick’s performance. It is very important for the team that he could recover from such hard moments and that he is ready to fight until the last point. I cannot criticize anything about his game; in the opening games Apolonia played at his best; his level was unbelievable. Patrick managed to adjust and the level of his match at the end of the second game was very high. After that I just advised him to slightly adjust his tactics and to keep on fighting.” Jörg Rosskopf

Success for Germany was followed by 3-1 victoryfor Sweden; similar to Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska, Jon Persson and Kristian Karlsson proved a partnership in harmony. They beat Anders Lind and Tobias Rasmussen (11-5, 12-10, 11-6) to give Sweden the ideal start.

“We moved very well. We were very aggressive. In second game they had a 10-8 lead but we were better in the finish.” Jon Persson.

Jonathan Groth maintained his quite outstanding form to level matters by overcoming Mattias Falck (11-1, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7) but that was the end of Danish success. Kristian Karlsson accounted for Tobias Rasmussen (11-6, 11-8, 11-7), Mattias Falck overcame Anders Lind (11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5).

“I felt I could beat Jonathan in the open game, I had a good chance but he was very aggressive and very confident. He is playing unbelievable table tennis here. The spin Lind puts on the ball is difficult to counter. I prepared well. He is not easy player to beat. I was aggressive from the beginning.” Mattias Falck

“I am very happy with the outcome of the match also with the level of my performance. I was also in good shape yesterday. Today everything was right.” Kristian Karlsson

The bronze medal contest and final will be played on Saturday 29th June.

Quotes of the Day

Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Saturday 22nd June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Sunday 23rd June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Monday 24th June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Tuesday 25th June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Wednesday 26th June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Thursday 27th June)
Minsk 2019 2nd European Games: Quotes of the Day (Friday 28th June)

Results

Minsk 2019 2nd European Games – Table Tennis: Latest Results

Information

Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Qualification Procedure
Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Schedule of Play

Seeding

Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Seeding – Men’s Singles
Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Seeding – Women’s Singles
Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Seeding – Mixed Doubles

Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Special Team Ranking Men (December 2018)
Minsk 2019 European Games – Table Tennis: Special Team Ranking Women (December 2018)