LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships
The preliminary phase of Men’s Doubles Event at the LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships already provide exciting matches. Although it is the early phase there were no lack of thrilling duels.
Jesus CANTERO of Spain play in Doubles with Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia. In preliminary round they beat Tomas MIKUTIS and Borgar HAUG (Lithuania/Norway)
“We were relaxed and we started very well. KARAKASEVIC did not miss the ball. MIKUTIS and HAUG played very safe did not want to risk much and at some point they were very nervous. On the other side we played aggressive ” said CANTERO.
Under 21 Champions Ibrahim GUNDUZ and Abdullah YIGENLER of Turkey overcame Deni KOZUL and Jan ZIBRAT of Slovenia.
“We feel very confident. We have been playing for three years together and we hope we can reach the medal rostrum in Alicante ” said GUNDUZ.
Marko JEVTOVIC and Zolt PETE beat Bence MAJOROS of Hungary and Anders LIND of Denmark.
“Last time we played together in the quarterfinal of the European Championships in Russia. It has been a while…However we feel confident here and this victory is very important ” said PETE.
JEVTOVIC still trying to adapt to differences since he last time played at the big Championships.
“I was absent 3 years…Now everyone plays atomic table tennis. It is unbelievable.”
Diogo CARVALHO and Diogo CHEN of Portugal overcame Pavel SIRUCEK and Tomas TREGLER of Czech Republic.
“With good start we gained safe advantage and eased the pressure. We forced Czech pairings into the mistakes ” said CARVALHO.