Finals Day : Slovenia and Slovakia take the women’s and men’s titles
The fourth and last day started with teams playing off for their final positions, which will determine their seeding next year. Gibraltar’s women were good hosts and gave way to the other teams by settling with position 9. The men’s team ended the championship with a win against Latvia and position 13.
The first medal of the day was decided between Romania and Italy. Bronze went to Romania, which makes it their best result ever. The women’s bronze match between Sweden and Italy was a replay of their pool match. And again the Scandinavians had the better end.
The women’s final was also a replay of the pool match between Slovenia and Romania. And the lineup was exactly the same, with each player facing the same opponent as on Wednesday. And curiosly each match had the opposite result. Thus after losing on day 1 the Slovenians reversed the result to a 2:1 victory and claimed the title as ETC Division 3 Champion.
In the men’s final veteran Marek Manik started with a 3:0 victory for Slovakia, which was levelled by Norway’s Andreas Knoph winning 3:1. And Norway went on to take the lead with Sindre Roaldsey securing a win in five sets. But David Kubicek battled back and his 3:1 victory meant 2:2 in matches, but 9:7 in games for Slovakia, making them this years’ champion.
Draws & Results on TS LIVE STREAMS & REPLAYS
Day THREE : Medals are ready to go !
Friday was semifinals day and the men were first on. Italy is featured a very young team this year lead by experienced Yuri Farneti and up against Norway today. And the PSA Pro secured a clear win for his team. But the Norwegians were just too strong for the young Italians on positions 2, 3 & 4. The Scandinavians not only secured their place in the final, but also promotion to Division 2 next year.
The second semi was heavily contested between Slovakia and Romania. The experienced Slovaks prevailed against the young Romanians. The score was 2:1 with the last match not completed as the tie had been decided.
The first women’s semi was also a close affair, with the better end for Slovenia by beating Sweden 2:1.
Last on for the day was Italy vs Romania. Again the tie went to the final match. Enthusiastically cheered on by her team mates Alexandra Ghiorghisor secured her team the place in the final and the first time ever promotion to Division 2 for a Romanian team.
So tomorrow’s women’s will be a replay of the pool match, where Romania narrowly won 2:1.
Final Women: Slovenia v Romania 3/4 Playoff: Sweden v Italy
Final Men: Norway v Slovakia 3/4 Playoff: Italy v Romania
Day TWO :
Pool matches continued Thursday morning in the shadow of the iconic rock.
Romania and Slovenia head Women’s Pool B and commence to the semi finals. Pool A will be completed Friday morning, but Sweden and Italy look likely to get through.
The men’s event switched from pool to knockout in the afternoon. In the first quarter final Italy beat Luxembourg 2:1 with the last match not completed since the tie had been decided. Tomorrow they play Norway, who narrowly beat Liechtenstein on point countback.
Slovakia beat Jersey 4:0 to reach tomorrow’s semis, where they will meet Romania, who beat Malta 3:1.
Day ONE :
The pool matches started on a beautiful day at Europa Point on the southern tip of Gibraltar.
In men’s pool B a strong Luxembourg team secured a draw against better seeded Slovakia. The Slovaks are displaying an MC logo in memory of their team mate Miroslav Celler, who tragically passed away early this year.
Romania celebrated a double victory against Slovenia, with men and women beating their Balkan rivals for the first time.
Hosts Gibraltar were denied victory in both events inspite of an enthusiastic home crowd.
After two rounds of the men’s event Italy and Luxembourg have the lead in pools A and B. Pool C is a close race between Norway and Malta. In pool D it was a draw between Romania and Liechtenstein and the winner might be decided on point countback at the end of the pool stage.
In women’s pool A Italy has a comfortable lead, with Sweden, Croatia and Malta battling for the second place in the semifinals. Women’s pool B is headed by the young Romanian team ahead of Slovenia.
Draws & Results on TS LIVE STREAMS & REPLAYS
Men’s Pools :
A : Italy, Gibraltar, Jersey
B : Slovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, Isle of Man
C : Norway, Malta, Guernsey, Latvia
D : Croatia, Romania, Liechtenstein, Slovenia
Women’s Pools :
A : Sweden, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Gibraltar
B : Slovenia, Greece, Luxembourg, Romania
The top two finishers in the men’s and women’s events will be promoted to Division Two for 2024.
