(By Steve Hopkins)
Germany was expected to be atop the Men’s podiums from the start. They had the top seed, Dang Qiu, and even without Timo Boll, their deep team included Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska. But after a singles competition that left Germany completely out of the Top 3, there was some unexpected intrigue in the team competition.
In the semifinals, France and Sweden matched up against each other. Sweden has World No. 10 Truls Moregardh and then Anton Kallberg at World No. 20 and Karlsson at No. 22 and Falck at No. 24. On paper, France would seem outmatched, except that in the Singles competition at this tournament France finished 1st and 3rd. So the question is whether the depth and consistency of Sweden would overcome the potential of the young French team (of Alexis Lebrun, Felix Lebrun, and their 28 year old elder statesman, Simon Gauzy). In the opening Doubles match, it was Sweden’s Moregardh and Karlsson narrowly winning 3-2 over Alexis Lebrun and Simon Gauzy. Felix Lebrun then kept up his amazing week by defeating Anton Kallberg 3-2 to even the match score at 1-1. Truls Moregardh then put Sweden up again with a 3-0 win over Alexis Lebrun. Felix evened the score for a second time with a 3-1 win over Kristian Karlsson. The depth of Sweden prevailed in the final match with Anton Kallberg topping Simon Gauzy 3-1 to send Sweden into the Final.
In the other Semifinal, it was strong favorite Germany against Portugal. In singles, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas has reached the Final, so with him playing two singles rounds, perhaps there was a chance? Portugal had a strong start by winning doubles. Joao Geraldo and Tiago Apolonia easily won 3-0 over the much higher ranked Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska. But Germany dominated the singles, running off three wins. Dang Qiu defeated Marcos Freitas 3-0, Dimitrij Ovtcharov dominated Apolonia 3-0, and Patrick Franziska closed the door with a 3-0 win over Marcos Freitas. Germany advances to the Final to face Sweden.
In the Bronze medal match, France had a similar pattern to their Semifinal loss in that they did not win the Doubles match, and then Felix won both singles as Alexis lost one singles match. And for Portugal, it was also similar – dominating doubles, and then having the short side of the singles – though Apologia had a surprise win over Alexis Lebrun. This again set up a final match between each side’s third player – and the depth of France won out with Gauzy defeating Joao 3-0. France takes the Bronze – and impressive and unexpected showing claiming both first and third in Singles and 3rd in teams.
In the Final, Germany finally performed as expected. Sweden won in Doubles, but Germany dominated the second seeded Swedes by winning all three Singles matches for the 3-1 win. Qiu over Kallberg 3-0, Franziska over Karlsson 3-2, Ovtcharov over Kallberg 3-0. Despite the disappointments in Singles, Germany ends the European Games with a strong showing.
The Women’s Final was a seesaw battle. Romania won the doubles to gain the early lead (Diaconu and Dragoman 3-2 over Mittleham and Shan). Bernadette Szocs then gave Romania a 2-0 lead with a 3-2 win over Ying Han. Shan and Han then won back to back singles matches for Germany to tie the score 2-2 setting up a final deciding match between Szocs and Mittleham). In that match, it was all Szocs – with the Singles champion also bringing home team Gold for Romania.
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