Linz (pm/gü) – It was the day of the European Championship debuts for Sophia Klee, Elisa Nguyen, Mia Griesel, Andre Bertelsmeier and Fanbo Meng from Fulda. Three out of five kept a clean slate and have a good chance of making it into the main field. The two DTTB mixed teams also impressed and are confidently in the main field.
The DTTB men presented themselves in a completely confident manner on the first day of the tournament in Linz. Fanbo Meng from TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and Andre Bertelsmeier were able to prevail in their groups of three with two wins each and will meet a group runner-up in the relegation round. Bertelsmeier had just as little trouble in the opening match against Barish Moullet (SUI) as Fanbo Meng had against Vladimir Petkov (BUL). In the second game, Andre Bertelsmeier gave up the opening set against Anton Limonov (UKR), but ultimately brought the match home confidently with 3-1 sets. “I was very nervous at the start, but after that it went very well. “I played very dominant and really good table tennis,” said the European Championship debutant. And Meng also missed the opening set against the Englishman Connor Green, but held his own in the subsequent sets.
“I did my best and I’m very happy that I was able to play here and gain experience – the adult European Championships are completely different than when I was young,” says Elisa Nguyen, who returned after two defeats against Elena Zaharia (ROU) and Martine Totftaker (NOR) has already been eliminated from her group of three and the European Championships are over for her. The 15-year-old, who secured her starting place in Linz in the internal elimination tournament, showed a very good match, especially against the European youth champion Elena Zaharia, missed a big lead in the first set and only lost the second in extra time: “I found mine second game better than the first. I had more chances and played better, even though I didn’t win a set.”
Sophia Klee will play for group victory on Wednesday morning
There was light and shadow for Mia Griesel: While the 18-year-old was able to clearly win her opening match against Leman Abdulhamidova (AZE), she lost to Komelija Riliskyte (LTU) without winning a set. Tomorrow she will fight against Margo Degraef (BEL) for second place in the group and the chance for the relegation round. Things went better for Sophia Klee, who, like Mia Griesel, qualified for the European Championships thanks to a medal at the U-21 European Championships last year. In her two duels against Zemfira Mikayilova (AZE) and Amelia Uce-Nikolov (MKD) she didn’t drop a set and tomorrow she will play against youngster Matilde Pinto (POR) for group victory and a better starting position in the relegation round in the evening. “I was able to quickly get over my nervousness in the first game and was also very happy with the confident win against a defender in the second match,” says Klee.
On Wednesday morning Mia Griesel and Sophia Klee will be in action with their last group games. From 7:25 p.m. the relegation round for a place in the main field will be played.
Mixed doubles shows confident performance
Could this be a hopeful new mixed? In their first doubles match together, Patrick Franziska and Annett Kaufmann showed a confident performance. “I feel comfortable and don’t have the feeling that Patrick will pack his bags immediately if I make a mistake,” says Annett Kaufmann with a smile after the opening win in the mixed qualifiers in three straight sets against Thor Christensen and Emma Clement from Denmark They only trained for twenty minutes in Düsseldorf last week, but Patrick Franziska also had fun: “We’ve grown big, we both have power and self-confidence. I see light for the future.” In the near future, the first main round awaits tomorrow with the Turkish duo Ibrahim Gündüz and Sibel Altinkaya.
The performance of Mia Griesel and Andre Bertelsmeier was just as confident, but against a stronger opponent. The third-place finishers at the 2023 Youth World Cup, Mateja Jeger and Filip Zeljko from Croatia, did not win a set and are also in the main round of the European Championship. “We played very well against very strong opponents. We are lucky to be in the main round. The sticking point was definitely the second set, which we were able to win after falling behind,” said Bertelsmeier after the game. In the first main round they will meet Gaia Monfardini and John Oyebode from Italy.
Group 15
Fanbo Meng – Vladimir Petkov BUL 3:0 (7,11,7)
Fanbo Meng – Connor Green ENG 3:1 (-10,8,6,4)
Fanbo Meng is group winner.
Games on Wednesday with German participation
Women’s singles, qualification group
11.40 a.m.: Mia Griesel – Margo Degraef BEL, table 9
11.40 a.m.: Sophia Klee – Matilde Pinto POR, table 7 – live stream
Relegation round from 7:25 p.m
Men’s doubles, 2nd round qualification*
15.55: Andre Bertelsmeier/Fanbo Meng – Ondrej Kveton/Jan Valenta CZE
*The winners of this match advance to the main draw
Mixed – Round Best 32
5.40 p.m.: Andre Bertelsmeier/Mia Griesel – John Oyebode/Gaia Monfardini ITA Table 7 – Livestream
6.20 p.m.: Patrick Franziska/Annett Kaufmann – Ibrahim Gündüz/Sibel Altinkaya TUR Table 7 – Livestream
