Romania's Ovidiu Ionescu showed his strength to crush Germany's Patrick Franziska 4-0 in the round of 16 at the Liebherr 2020 ITTF European Championships in Warsaw on Saturday.

It seemed that Ionescu had to expect a tough challenge to beat No. 4 seed Franziska, but the Romanian dominated from the very beginning.

In the quarterfinal he will face the Portuguese Marcos Freitas, who knocked out Truls Moregard 4-2.

In the men's doubles, Robert Gardos and Daniel Habesohn will not defend the crown as they lost 3-0 against the Hungarians Adam Szudi and Nandor Ecsneki in the quarterfinal. The top seeds Qiu Dang and Benedikt Duda are also out of the competition after they suffered a massive defeat against the duo from Russia, Leo Katsman and Maksim Grebnev.

"It is our first medal as seniors and it is a great feeling, although it was also the main reason why we had such a bad start. Thinking of the medal brought us trouble; we were under pressure and we failed to play as well as we could in the start of the match... Until the end it was a close game, but we kept it under control", Grebnev said.

In the women's singles, Petrissa Solja of Germany booked her spot in the semi-final after two thrilling games. In the round of 16 she beat the Pole Natalia Bajor, then the German was too strong for the Portuguese Yu Fu. Solja won both encounters by 4-3.

She will fight for the place in the final against the Romanian Elizabeta Samara.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)