Maciej Kolodziejczyk hat eine EM-Medaille im Doppel sicher
Photo:
APA/EVA MANHART
ÖThe Austrian table tennis already has three medals at the Linz European Championships. After Sofia Polcanova / Robert Gardos won mixed silver on Friday, Polcanova and the Romanian Bernadette Szöcs and also unexpectedly Marek Kolodziejczyk and the Moldovan Wladimir Ursu took a double podium place. Szöcs/Polcanova beat Maria Xiao/Adian Diaconu (ESP/ROU) 3:0 (7,13,9), Kolodziejczyk/Ursu Peter Hribar/Deni Kozul (SLO) 3:0 (9,14,10) in the quarterfinals.
In both games it was certain that the teams with ÖTTV participation stopped set points in the second round. For Polcanova it was the tenth victory in those title fights, with only one loss. “Of course I’m very happy with the second medal. But I still have a very busy program today and I have to focus on the next task,” said the 30-year-old. “I’m trying to take this competition game by game. The schedule is very tight. There is not much time to adapt to the opposition.”
Szöcs/Polcanova are defending champions and will play against Serbian Izabela Lupulesku/Sabina Surjan for a place in the final on Saturday (4pm). It will also be very difficult for Kolodziejczk/Ursu on Saturday, as they now face French Olympic bronze medalists Alexis and Felix Lebrun. Bronze is guaranteed to the losers as third place is not contested. This is a great success for Kolodziejczyk on his first trip to the European Championship in the general class.
After a successful revenge against Xiao for defeat in the mixed final, Polcanova had to play her singles round of 16 against Sweden’s Christina Källberg at lunchtime.
