In two days the best teams from Europe will fight for the title at the 2021 GAZPROM European Team Championships in Cluj.
The Russian team is led by the world number 53 Kirill SKACHKOV and is also composed of Alexander SHIBAEV Vladimir SIDORENKO Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV.
“I am little bit tired since I played at Hungarian Open and in Doha. In addition I had a problem with the flight so I arrived in Cluj a day later than I was planed. I did not have much time to rest at all after the Olympic Games in Japan ” said SKACHKOV.
Russia is in a Group with France and Netherlands.
“We have to be very cautious. It is a tough group. France is at the top and with Simon GAUZY who is no. 19 in the World and Emmanuel LEBESSON no. 38 they are one of the biggest favorites for the medal rostrum. We will fight hard against them but first we have to beat Netherlands. We have to go step by step. Due to the very busy schedule we did not have time to practice together much. We had only three days for that but we will do our best in Cluj ” said SKACHKOV.
The tournament commences on Tuesday with the Group stage. In the Men’s Teams Event Group A is made up of Germany Belarus and Ukraine; Group B is Sweden Belgium and Greece; Group C is England Slovakia and Serbia; Group D is Austria Poland and Spain; Group E is Portugal Denmark and Turkey; Group F is France Russia and the Netherlands. In the last two remaining groups there are four teams. In Group G there is Croatia Czech Republic Italy and Hungary; Group H comprises Slovenia Romania Luxembourg and Finland.
Each group will play a complete round robin and group winners will proceed to the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals a knockout system will be used.
Top seeds in the Women’s Teams Event in final stage groups draw Germany will face Spain and Slovakia whilst the host in Group B will meet Italy and Belgium. In Group C Austria will have to play against Belarus and Serbia whilst in Group D Ukraine will meet Czech Republic and Slovenia.
In Group D are Hungary Portugal and Croatia; Group F comprises Poland Sweden and England; Group G is Russia Luxembourg and Greece and in Group H it is the Netherlands France and Turkey.
