European Games in Minsk
In the opening Round of the Mixed Doubles Event at the European Games in Minsk the duel between Mattias FALCK and Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden and Patrick FRANZISKA and Petrissa SOLJA of Germany attracted most of the attention. The match which could easily be seen in the latest stage of the Event went in favor of German duo (12-14 11-7 7-11 10-12).
Bronze medalists from both European and World Championships admitted they could not get toughest adversaries at the beginnings. FALCK recently won the silver medal at the World Championships.
“It is one of the most dangerous mixed doubles here. Mattias FALCK came here in splendid shape and we had to fight for each point. The crucial moment was in the third game. Only after that moment we managed to took the control over the match ” said Patrick FRANZISKA.
SOLJA agreed that the third game was crucial.
“It was 6-2 before we managed to fully recover. After 2-1 in games mentally we were stronger. It was easier to play after that result ” said SOLJA.
Lubomir PISTEJ and Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia easily prevailed against Luka MLADENOVIC and NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg (11-9 11-6 17-15); Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC and Izabela LUPULESKU of Serbia suffered by the hands of Alvaro ROBLES Galia DVORAK (11-4 7-11 8-11 11-7 6-11).
“We need to stay focused throughout the whole match. KARAKASEVIC is very dangerous player especially in the doubles. We could not give him the chance ” said medal winner from the Men’s Doubles Event at the World Championships.” Galia and I played together first time on 2017 and instantly we reached the quarterfinal of the World Championships but since then we had a lot of ups and downs.”
DVORAK agreed that most important ingredient for good double is good synchronicity.
“Here are the top 16 pairs in Europe so we are all nervous. It takes a lot of energy to play in the doubles it not always works but today we played in harmony ” said DVORAK.
Laurens TROMER and Britt EERLAND of Netherlands lost against Niagol STOYANOV and Giorgia PICCOLIN of Italy (9-11 11-6 11-6 8-11 8-11). Pavel PLATONOV and Nadezhda BOGDANOVA of Belarus delighted the home crowd and overcame Adam SZUDI and Szandra PERGEL of Hungary (11-8 11-8 11-6).
Nadezhda BOGDANOVA: “Yesterday I was very worried but today the support of the audience helped me. Before the match our coach told me not to hurry to keep the ball on the table. Pavel finished showed initiative and I helped him. We did not expect any particular result I was ready to fight for each ball. “
Pavel PLATONOV added: “I think we had a good match with strong opponent played correctly tactically. Nadezhda played very well. After the defeat in singles it was hard for me to mentally tune in to today’s match. I felt dissatisfaction from the unsuccessful match. Today I tried not to think about defeat anymore and concentrate on each ball. “
Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania overcame Cedric NUYTINCK and Lisa LUNG of Belgium (12-10 9-11 11-4 9-11).
“It was hard for me to play after yesterday’s defeat in the singles but we came here for gold and I put myself together ” said Ovidiu IONESCU.
Berrnadette said that she had to stay positive.
“Our goal is to clinch gold and direct pass to Olympic Games. We play together for a long time we are good friends and we know what it takes to win ” said SZOCS.
Aleksandr SHIBAEV and Polina MIKHAILOVA of Russia overcame Stefan FEGERL and Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria (6-11 12-10 11-6 11-3).
“We struggled at the beginning started little bit with the wrong tactics but we adjusted our game and succeeded ” said SHIBAEV.
Polina talked about the tactics.
“I am defender so I had to make sure to block and to prevent them from attack Aleksandr. I had to push ball deep otherwise we both were in trouble ” said MIKHAILOVA.
Laura GASNIER and Tristan FLORE of France beat Jakub DYJAS and Natalia PARTYKA of Poland (11-8 8-11 14-12 7-11 11-5).
