The pair made up of Rareş Şipoş and Andreea Dragoman secured Romania’s first medal at the European Under-21 Table Tennis Championships in Spa (Belgium), after qualifying for the semifinals of the mixed doubles event, according to Agerpres.
Şipoş and Dragoman won on Friday, in the eighth, with 3-2 in front of the French Leo de Nodrest / Camille Lutz, and in the quarterfinals they defeated the Slovaks Jakub Zelinka / Nikoleta Puchovanova with 3-0, and will face on Saturday the Russian couple Vladimir Sidorenko / Maria Tailakova, according to the website of the Romanian Table Tennis Federation.
Cristian Pletea and Tania Plăian stopped in the eighth round of the mixed doubles, defeated 3-0 by the Russians Lev Kaţman / Elizabet Abraamian.
Five Romanians qualified in the eighth singles, Andreea Dragoman, Elena Zaharia, Tania Plăian, Cristian Pletea and Rareş Şipoş.
Andreea Dragoman won Group H, with three victories, the last one being obtained with 4-0 in front of the Slovak Nikoleta Puchovanova. On Saturday, in the eighth round, he will face Kornelija Riliskyte (Lithuania).
Tania Plăian also won her group (F), with victories on the line, the last one against the Russian Anastasia Koliş (4-0). Tania Plăian will play in the eighth round against the Frenchwoman Camille Lutz.
Elena Zaharia ranked second in Group C, after Lucie Gauthier (France), managing to win the last match, 4-0 with Tatiana Kukulkova (Slovakia). Zacharias will have a difficult opponent in the eighth, the Russian Elizabeth Abraham.
In the men’s singles, Rareş Şipoş, European vice-champion in 2020, won Group B after 4-0 with the Belgian Adrien Rassenfosse in the last match.
In Group A, Cristian Pletea finished second, after the Russian Lev Kaţman, winning his last match, 4-1 with the Polish Artur Grela.
In Group E, Cristian Chiriţă finished third, losing the last match, 2-4 with the Frenchman Bastien Rembert.
Darius Movileanu lost all three matches in Group F, the last one against the French Leo de Nodrest, with 1-4.
In the eighth round, Rareş Şipoş will face the Belgian Nicolas Degros, and Cristian Pletea will have the Frenchman Irvin Bertrand as his opponent.
In the women’s doubles, Tania Plăian and Zdena Balaskova (Czech Republic) were defeated in the eighth round by the Poles Anna Wegrzyn / Katarzyna Wegrzyn, 3-1.
In the men’s doubles, the defending champions, Cristian Pletea and Rareş Şipoş, beat the Italians Matteo Mutti / Carlo Rossi by 3-2, but lost in the quarter by 0-3 to the Belgians Adrien Rassenfosse / Olav Kosolosky.
