The Serbian national para table tennis team won three medals at the European Championship in the Swedish city of Helsingborg.
Ana Zelen and Sanja Bogunović won silver in doubles, while Mitar Palikuća claimed two bronze medals—one in singles and one in doubles with Mladen Ćirić. Before departing for the continental championship, both head coach Zlatko Kesler and Serbia’s top hope, Mitar Palikuća, were expecting at least one medal. However, they returned from Sweden with three medals, continuing their streak of podium finishes at major competitions.
“As I said before leaving for the European Championship, since we were weakened by the absence of Borislava Perić Ranković and Nada Matić, who retired from active play, we were hoping for at least one medal. Ana Zelen and I were the main contenders for a medal in our team. But it was risky to predict anything, so we knew that even one medal would be a success. In the end, we won three medals, which is a great achievement for us,” said Palikuća.
The member of Novi Sad’s club Spin lost in the semifinals of class 4–5 to Czech player Filip Nahazel after a tough battle, 3–2. The same score occurred in doubles, where Mitar and Mladen Ćirić were defeated in the MD 8 class semifinal, also after a fierce fight, 3–2, by French players Florian Merien and Emeric Martin.
“I repeated the success from the previous European Championship, where I also won bronze in singles and doubles. Overall, I’m satisfied with the two new medals, especially for the national team but also for myself, as well as for the medal won by Ana and Sanja. Still, I have to say there’s some regret about missing the finals in both events. Both semifinal matches went to the fifth set, and in both I lost 12:10 in the final set. It came down to tiny details in my singles match as well as in doubles with Mladen.”
The Serbian para table tennis players will now take a short break before resuming training.
“We’re training with reduced intensity, and before New Year we’ll take a well-deserved break lasting just under a month. Next year the World Championship in Thailand awaits us. The competition will be tougher, since in my case categories 4 and 5 are merged, just like at the European Championship. I will probably finish this year ranked third in the world in categories 4 and 5. Qualifications for the World Championship last until July next year. I hope to attend as many tournaments as possible and play well to qualify for the World Championship. I also hope that some of my teammates from the national team will manage to secure a spot at the global event,” Palikuća concluded.
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Author: Dnevnik, Foto: Privatna arhiva