The winners of the tickets to Paris on the final day of the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo are Jieni SHAO and Fu YU of Portugal. They joined Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands and Anna HURSEY of Great Britain. “I am so relieved and happy now. Last time I qualified through the rankings and it is so difficult to play this tournament. I am also delighted that FU joined me so we are both qualified ” said SHAO. In her final match at the tournament Jieni SHAO overcame Georgina POTA of Hungary (13:11 5:11 7:11 11:4 11:5) to secure her third appearance at the Olympics. “Each match in Sarajevo was very hard but the most difficult moment was the defeat against BALAZOVA. I was leading 3-0 and lost that match. However I never gave up. I always believed it was possible to win ” said SHAO. On her way to the Olympics in Sarajevo SHAO overcame Zdena BLASKOVA of Czechia and Ozge YILMAZ of Türkiye in the group stage; she also accounted for Margaryta PESOTSKA of Ukraine before she lost to Barbora BALAZOVA in Stage 2. In Stage 3 she overcame Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia before the final match. Unlike SHAO who needed only five games to book her ticket in the last match Fu YU was stretched to the full distance against Margaryta PESOTSKA of Ukraine (13:15 11:7 11:8 13:11 9:11 9:11 12:10). “I was in the lead 3-1 then I was trailing before I came back… It was an unbelievable game and it is too early even for me to understand what happened there. Two or three times I thought I was already out but now it is only important that I have this ticket to Paris ” said YU. YU lost to POTA in Stage 2 in the second round. “For me it was important to stay focused and to take each match as it came. I never lost faith that I could win it from Stage 3 ” said Yu. In Stage 3 YU beat Debora VIVARELLI of Italy and Hana MATELOVA of Czechia. In the group stage Portugal’s player prevailed against Sarah DE NUTTE of Luxembourg and Martine TOFTAKER of Norway.

For the first time in history Moldova will have a table tennis player at the Olympic Games. On the last day of the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo Vladislav URSU secured his ticket to Paris. In the second-to-last match of Stage 3 of the tournament Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO of Ukraine also secured an Olympic spot. They joined Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece and Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland who secured their tickets after the second stage. In his last match URSU overcame Adam SZUDI of Hungary in straight games (11:9 11:7 11:4 11:4). “It is unbelievable. I could not believe I would make it. In Moldova we have never had a table tennis player represent us at the Olympics and I am so happy I am the first ” said URSU. The qualifications started five days ago with a demanding schedule both physically and mentally. “I had a very hard group with the top seed Alvaro ROBLES. Later in stage two I lost to Yang WANG who had already played here twice for the Olympic ticket. After I lost in Stage 2 I learned some lessons and studied my games against ROBLES to beat him this time. I made some adjustments with my service and it helped me ” said URSU. On his way to the Olympics URSU overcame top seed Alvaro ROBLES of Spain to avenge his defeat from the group stage and Lubomir PISTEJ of Slovakia. In the first tournament he was stopped by Yang WANG of Slovakia before overcoming Lubomir JANCARIK of Czechia. In the group stage he overcame Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and lost to ROBLES. Somehow URSU always managed to upset the favorites. “Our federation does not have much money and I am not able to travel much to collect points. When I come to the European Championships or rarely to the WTT tournaments I always play well and create upsets ” explained URSU. In another match ZHMUDENKO overcame Yang WANG of Slovakia (11:6 11:5 11:5 11:5). He ended the match by praising Ukraine. “Last night during the big boxing match Oleksandr USYK beat Tyson FURY and WORLD champion Denys BERINCHYK also won. All my family and friends told me that I could not lose. They all support me and I support Ukraine. I dedicate this win to my people of Ukraine. It is unbelievable ” said ZHMUDENKO. On two previous occasions Yaroslav lost to WANG. “Today I was focused and had great help from my coach who joined my team thanks to OVTCHAROV. I am also thankful to my Federation and the German Federation for allowing me to practice with the national team ” said ZHMUDENKO. Ukraine’s player admitted that he had great doubts after his defeat against BOBOCICA. “It was a hard blow but I stayed persistent and round after round I got better and better ” said ZHMUDENKO. Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO overcame Cedric NUYTINCK of Belgium and Paul DRINKHALL of Great Britain. In the first tournament played two days earlier he was halted in the third round in the match against Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece. Previously he overcame Ovidiu IONESCU of Romania and Juan PEREZ of Spain. In the group stage Yaroslav beat Aleksa GACEV of Serbia Mattias MONGIUSTI from San Marino but lost to Italy’s Mihai BOBOCICA.

The first part of the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo concluded with the triumph of Anna HURSEY of Great Britain and Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands in the Women’s Event. HURSEY will play in her first Olympics while EERLAND secured her third appearance. Seventeen-year-old Anna HURSEY a bronze medalist at the European Singles Championships in the Under-19 category beat Georgina POTA of Hungary in her final match to qualify for Paris. The four-time Olympian lost after five games (9:11 11:9 8:11 7:11 4:11). “It feels great to win this match. Last night I woke up a few times. I was very excited. However I did not feel so much pressure because I am still very young ” said HURSEY. “Against POTA it was important to take away the pressure from my game. I played very well.” Speaking of the challenges in Sarajevo Anna replied: “The tiredness was the hardest part. We had so many matches. I am used to playing one or two a day in other tournaments but it was difficult here. I have played seven.” On her way to the final day Anna beat Harisa MESETOVIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivana MALOBABIC of Croatia Marina DONNER of Finland Dora MADARASZ of Hungary Sara TOKIC of Slovenia and Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia. Unlike HURSEY who will represent Britain at the Olympics for the first time EERLAND will play in her third. Coming back from maternity leave the Dutch star performed at a top level in Sarajevo. In the Olympic ticket match Britt beat Barbara BALAZOVA of Slovakia (9:11 11:4 9:11 11:6 15:13 11:6). “I still cannot believe it especially considering how it all went. I had to fight for each ball. Of course I have some experience playing these kinds of tournaments but it takes some effort to get my nerves together and focus on the fight ” said EERLAND. Britt had a break after becoming a mother. “Our big goal was to achieve this success. There were a lot of doubts about whether I could do it again after pregnancy. It feels like a bigger achievement now. Not so many players come back strong after pregnancy and I am so happy. Of course the Olympics are ahead of us and we will see how will be there” said Britt. EERLAND overcame Elisavet TERPOU of Greece Sofia Xuan ZHANG of Spain Aleksandra JERSOVA of Latvia Hana MATELOVA of Czechia and Tin Tin HO of Great Britain before defeating BALAZOVA. “The match against Tin Tin was the most challenging. The pressure was so high and at the point when I was 3:1 down I was almost panicking but I found a way to calm myself and play the right tactics to win.” The competition continues with Stage 3. Three more tickets in each event will be distributed tomorrow. You can watch all the matches live on ettu.org and follow the results live here. Pictures you can see here

The first two tickets for Paris 2024 in Men’s Singles at the European Olympic Singles Qualification are booked by Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece and Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland. For GIONIS it will be his sixth appearance at the Olympics while 17-year-old REDZIMSKI will experience his first. In the Olympic ticket match 44-year-old GIONIS overcame Slovakia’s Yang WANG in straight games (12:10 11:5 11:8 14:12). Throughout the tournament he also beat Alexander GILLEN of Ireland Niagol STOYANOV of Italy and Martin ALEGRO of Belgium without losing a game. Cedric NUYTINICK of Belgium took one game from the Greek while only Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO of Ukraine forced him to go the full distance. GIONIS played at the Olympics for the first time in Athens 2004. “This one in sarajevo was the most difficult qualification tournament for me. Firstly because of my age and then because I had a very tough season behind me. Over the last two years I suffered from many injuries. I was forced to stop for four months then for five. I was out of the rankings and my chances of being at the Olympics were very slim. I tried with the tournaments but I couldn’t catch up ” explained GIONIS. “We had very stressful days here and I can say this was the most emotional tournament for me. However knowing that this was my only chance I prepared a good strategy with my coach Kostas VATSAKLIS. I spent some time in Düsseldorf training. Most of all experience taught me that you have to put stress away; otherwise playing seven matches in three days is a very hard mission.” Holding the same flag that the team used at the European Championships in 2013 in Schwechat when Greece won silver GIONIS proudly talked about how much joy this victory brought him. “Maybe we are a little superstitious but it is always a great joy to see the Greek flag.” Everyone expected a longer match between the two players with defensive styles but against WANG GIONIS showed no mercy. “We were 50-50. However against ZHMUDENKO I faced a more challenging game. It was the third match of the day yesterday and before it I told my coach that I didn’t have the power anymore. Today I felt better and the final match for the tickets just wiped away all the tiredness.” Seventeen-year-old Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland will make his Olympic debut later this summer. At the tournament the Polish player showed no fear and displayed the maturity needed to secure his place in Paris. In the final match of the tournament he beat Alvaro ROBLES of Spain in five games (5:11 11:5 11:7 11:9 14:12). “I was so stressed yesterday knowing what was coming but I managed to have a good sleep and come early to the venue to warm up. He beat me the last two times so I am happy that I managed to overturn my fortune. At the begining I played exactly the same like in those matches I lost. I forced myself to change the tactics eventually in order to win” said REDZIMSKI. REDZIMSKI admitted that he did not have high hopes for the qualification tournament. “Coming here I was sick for a week. I did not practice and was in bad shape. However I lifted myself.” On his way to Paris 2024 REDZIMSKI overcame Loic STOLL of Switzerland Lubomir JANCARIK of Czechia Denislav KODJABASHEV of Bulgaria Lubomir PISTEJ of Slovakia and Eduard IONESCU of Romania before beating ROBLES. The competition continues with Stage 3. Three more tickets in each event will be distributed tomorrow. You can watch all the matches live on ettu.org and follow the results live here. Pictures you can see here

In the penultimate round of Stage 2 of the Women’s Singles Event at the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo Georgina POTA of Hungary Anna HURSEY of Great Britain Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia and Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands secured their places in tomorrow’s two Olympic ticket matches. In her last match on the third day POTA overcame Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia in five games (11:9 12:10 11:3 5:11 11:3). “In the second game she was leading 9:6 and lost it. That was the key moment of the match. Hana is very good and I faced difficulties from the beginning of the match with her big spins and powerful game. Somehow with my old style I managed to confuse her a little to put the receive out of balance. I put some side spins and made sure she did not get the same balls ” explained POTA. In previous matches today Georgina overcame Italy’s Debora VIVARELLI 4:3 and Fu YU 4:1. “Against Debora I was leading easily 3:0 and then she turned the match around. She put every ball on the table for 3:3. Against FU the key was the opening game. It was 8:8 and she missed the service. I don’t have to tell you how good her service is so this was a present from above. After that I tuned my receive which was sufficient because in the rallies we were equal.” POTA will meet 17-year-old Anna HURSEY who recovered from 0:3 in reverse to beat Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia 4:3 (3:11 13:15 8:11 11:5 11:5 11:7 11:9). “Our styles are very different and I found it very hard to adjust to her style at first. However as I got more used to it I played much better. It was the first time that I faced her in singles. Her style is quite tricky with short-medium pimples so I had to adjust the tactics slightly going for the right balls ” said HURSEY. In the previous match Anna beat Sara TOKIC of Slovenia. “We’ve known each other for a very long time played against each other. Since we were young we grew up together.” Coming back from being down 1:3 Britt EERLAND leveled to beat Tin Tin HO of England (7:11 11:7 9:11 13:15 11:7 11:9 11:9). “She was putting very good pressure on me and I did not feel I could take control over the rallies. I felt she was deciding it. Also at 1:2 I was leading 5:1 and she started to put extra pressure. I even called for a time-out to get some rest from the game but I lost. I really felt I had to change the game to be more in control and I managed it after being down 1:3. In the decisive game it was a mental fight for both of us ” said EERLAND. In the previous round Britt also went the full distance against Hana MATELOVA of Czechia. “She was really good playing very strongly. She changed the game more on the forehand serve so I had to make some adjustments and we played at an unbelievable level.” Another thrilling comeback was performed by Barbora BALAZOVA who was down 0:3 before she beat Jieni SHAO of Portugal 4:3 (10:12 9:11 9:11 11:7 11:7 15:13 11:9). “All the opening games were very close. I lost them by narrow margins. I was missing by little which made me more and more frustrated because I felt I was close but then I was too far. We know each other well and I know how good she is in tense moments. I had that on my mind too so at 0:3 I told myself it’s not over until it’s over. I changed tactics. The placement of my serves was better and I am happy I could return to the match. Then it was 3:2 7:5 for her so I managed to recover once again to push for the deciding game. Then I was down at the beginning got the lead at 9:7 and then my service which was working stopped. The same happened to her and somehow we finished this match ” said BALAZOVA.

There is only one round remaining in the Men’s Singles Event at the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo before the first two players secure their place at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. In tomorrow’s two Olympic ticket matches top-seeded Alvaro ROBLES of Spain will meet Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland and Yang WANG of Slovakia will meet Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece. ROBLES came to Sarajevo as a leading name in the seedings and so far he has justified his rankings by beating all four adversaries. In the main draw he prevailed against Dimitrije LEVAJAC of Serbia in straight games (11:9 11:9 11:8 11:8) earlier this morning before overcoming Mihai BOBOCICA 4:2 (9:11 11:7 7:11 11:4 11:2 12:10). “I arrived in Sarajevo in good shape because I had so many tournaments in the past months. I was playing without a break for a while. Physically I am not at the very top at 100 percent but I have a very good rhythm of the game. That allowed me to beat very tough opponents in the Group and to reach the final match for the ticket ” explained ROBLES. He will meet REDZIMSKI. “Most recently we played two times this year. It was always very close. He is young but he already performs at the top level ” stated ROBLES. In the other match of the round which determined the player who will reach the Olympic ticket match Milosz REDZIMSKI beat Eduard IONESCU of Romania. Only 17 years old he overcame his two-year-older adversary (6:11 11:9 11:7 11:3 12:10). Previously he beat Lubomir PISTEJ of Slovakia 4:3. “I can say that PISTEJ is the player with a very strange and difficult style of play. On top of all it was my first time that I played against him. In the two opening games I was very aggressive and I was changing my service play every time. He did not manage to receive properly but as the match went by he became better and better especially on the receive and on the first ball ” said REDZIMSKI and continued: “Against IONESCU the results did not predict how close it was. I missed a training for a week because I was sick and after the opening game I was just excused but I forced myself to ignore it to move less but to add some power to my strokes. It worked just fine.” The record between ROBLES and REDZIMSKI is 2:1 in favor of the experienced player. “He beat me last time but I am not looking at it. If you want to go to the Olympics you have to beat good players.” On the third day of play in Sarajevo WANG overcame Vladislav URSU of Moldova 4:1 before defeating Benedek OLAH of Finland in straight games (11:5 12:10 11:9 12:10). “URSU played very well against players with a defensive style so it was very difficult for me. He had a lot of power in his forehand. He forced me to change tactics and attack him with the service which changed the course of the match ” said WANG. The statistics against OLAH did not favor WANG. “The last two times I lost against him. That’s why I had to adapt a new approach. I changed my service although it was hard. Twice it was 10:10 and it could have gone either way.” Panagiotis GIONIS overcame Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO of Ukraine after seven grueling games (9:11 11:7 11:3 8:11 11:7 9:11 11:5). It was his third match of the day having previously defeated Niagol STOYANOV of Italy and Martin ALEGRO of Belgium both in straight games. “It was good that I faced such a hard challenge against ZHMUDENKO because so far I won the matches too easily. I needed something difficult like this because tomorrow against WANG it will be very hard. This was good preparation for what’s to come next. When you win easy matches you can stumble at the first hurdle. However we both played the third match today and we were tired which also affected the game. He exceeded my expectations; we’ve played against each other so many times but he’s never been this good ” said GIONIS. We will see tomorrow’s clash of two players with a defensive style of play. “We’ve played many times before and we are very close. However he beat me in the qualifications in Qatar three years ago…but no one can predict how the match will go tomorrow. Two defenders it is going to be a long game we will be tired and all the cards are on the deck.”

In a upset at the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia defeated the top-seeded player Giorgia PICCOLIN of Italy securing the top position in Group A and advancing to the second stage. Like other group winners in the top 8 groups she will receive a bye in the opening round of the knockout stage tomorrow. PICCOLIN managed to advance to the second stage from the second position in the group. Jieni SHAO of Portugal secured two wins to progress as the leader in Group 2 with Ozge YILMAZ of Türkiye joining her from second place. Tin Tin HO of England also secured the top spot with two wins over the no. 3 seed Maria XIAO of Spain who failed to qualify for the next stage. Karoline MISCHEK of Austria also advanced accounting for XIAO and booking her place in stage 2. Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia and Sabina Surjan of Serbia justified their rankings and will compete tomorrow. Rachel MORET of Switzerland had a better ratio compared to Georgina POTA of Hungary emerging as the top player in Group E. Fu YU of Portugal showed no mercy with two straight game wins. Sarah De NUTTE of Luxembourg joined her in the next stage from the second position. Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands went the full distance twice against Sofia Xuan ZHANG of Spain and Elisavet TERPOU of Greece but maintained her top place in the group with ZHANG in second. Sara TOKIC of Slovenia defied the odds earning a bye tomorrow from the third position in the group with three wins over top-seeded Margaryta PESOTSKA of Ukraine Sibel ALTINKAYA of Turkey and Sabina MUSAJEVA of Latvia. PESOTSKA finished second. Anna HURSEY of Great Britain emerged successfully at the top of Group I by defeating all her adversaries. Croatia’s Ivana MALOBABIC finished second. The winner of Group J is Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia with Slomiya BRATEYKO of Ukraine in second place. In Group H Debora VIVARELLI of Italy claimed the leading position over Hana MATELOVA of Czechia but both moved forward. Izabela LUPULESKU of Serbia topped Group L ahead of Dora MADARASZ of Hungary. You can watch all the matches live on ettu.org and follow the results live here. Pictures you can see here

On the second day of play as the Group stage of the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification drew to a close there was a remarkable feat in the Men’s singles. Only one player seeded at the bottom of his group at position no. 4 not only secured his spot in the main draw but also emerged as the group winner. Kas VAN OOST from the Netherlands seeded 28th in Sarajevo achieved this by recording two wins and suffering a narrow 3-4 defeat ultimately earning his place in the knockout stage. VAN OOST started his campaign strongly defeating Luka Mladenovic of Luxembourg 4-2 in the opening match and following it up with another 4-2 victory over Marios YIANGU of Cyprus. Despite a loss to the top seed in Group 11 Andreas LEVENKO VAN OOST pushed the Austrian player to a full seven-game match. Levenko also advanced to the second stage. Among the tournament favorites Alvaro ROBLES of Spain progressed to the knockout stage without encountering much trouble and will enjoy a bye in the opening round tomorrow. From the same group Vladislav URSU of Moldova upset the rankings to move forward while Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece failed to secure a victory. The no. 2 seed Ovidiu IONESCU secured his place in the next stage with two wins while Ibrahim GUNDUZ of Türkiye eliminated the favorite Borgar HAUG of Norway from further contention. Daniel HABESOHN of Austria notched three wins to secure his ticket to the next stage and Juan PEREZ of Spain also progressed with one win less. In Group D WANG Yang of Slovakia and Adam SZUDI from Hungary progressed to the knockout stage as expected by the rankings. In Group E Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland advanced as the first from the group thanks to a better game ratio while the no. 5 seed Eduard IONESCU of Romania progressed as the second. Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland dominated his group with three 4-0 wins to secure his place in the knockout stage while Lubomir JANCARIK of Czechia followed suit as predicted by the rankings. From the lower-ranked groups Martin ALLEGRO of Belgium Dimitrije LEVAJAC of Serbia in Group G Mihai BOBOCICA of Italy and Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO of Ukraine in Group H Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece and Cedric NUYTINICK of Belgium in Group I Paul DRINKHALL of England and Niagol STOYANOV of Italy in Group J and Lubomir PISTEJ of Slovakia and Benedek OLAH of Finland in Group L all advanced to the next stage. The 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification is currently playing in Sarajevo. You can watch all the matches live on ettu.org and follow the results live here. Pictures you can see here