Belarus wins bronze at LIEBHERR Table Tennis European Championships

The Belarusian men’s national table tennis team have not made it to the final of the ETTU European Championships and had to settle for bronze, BelTA has learnt.

Belarus lost to Greece 2:3 at the European Championships in Austria’s Schwechat. Belarus’ Vladimir Samsonov (world No.15) and Pavel Platonov (175) won the first two matches and only one game was to be won be Belarus to advance to the final. However, Greece managed to mount an impressive comeback. Belarus’ Yevgeny Shchetinin (102) suffered a defeat in the third match for a 2:1 aggregate scoreline. Vladimir Samsonov then faced Panagiotis Gionis (64). The Belarusian was ahead 2:1 when the Greek player suddenly collected himself and won the match to make the aggregate score 2:2. In the final meeting Pavel Platonov lost 1:3 to Kalinikos Kreanga (68) and Greece marched into the final.

Belarus together with Russia have won the championship bronze. The Russian team, coached by the Belarusian specialist Alexander Petkevich, lost to Germany 0:3 in the semifinal.

On the women’s side Belarus made it to the quarterfinal where they lost to the Czech Republic 2:3. In the first game of the Women's Team Championship Division for places from five to eight Belarus ousted Austria 3:2 and then lost to Hungary 0:3 to take the sixth place at the tournament. Belarus’ team included Victoria Pavlovich (15), Alexandra Privalova (121) and Yekaterina Borovok (273).

After the end of the team events the individual competitions will be in action until 13 October. Belarus will be represented by young players Vadim Yaroshenko (718), Alexander Khanin (721), Alina Orlovskaya (240) and Maria Kuchuk (393).

The greatest number of Belarus’ table tennis titles was won by Vladimir Samsonov, 37. He has snatched six medals in different events of the European Championships, while the best Belarusian table tennis player on the women’s side, Victoria Pavlovich, has become the European champion three times, including in the 2012 European Championship in Table Tennis held in Herning, Denmark.

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