The Portuguese Men’s Team made history on home soil at the TMS 2014 European Team Championships, by winning their first ever European Championships title yesterday, 28 September 2014.
In front of a capacity home crowd of 2,000, the host nation upset top seed Germany 3-1 in the Men’s Team Finals to claim the title, breaking Germany’s streak of six consecutive gold medals since 2007. This historic win is made possible, in no small part, due to Marcos FREITAS of Portugal who scored two points in the tension-packed Finals match.
FREITAS, the DHS 2014 ITTF Europe Cup winner, first overcame Steffen MENGEL (GER) in three straight games (11-8, 11-8, 11-8) in the opening match, bringing Portugal into the lead.
Germany bounced back quickly as World number nine Timo BOLL (GER) defeated Joao Monteiro (POR) in three straight games (11-7, 11-1, 11-8). The third match saw an upset by Tiago APOLONIA (POR) 3-1 (11-7, 11-2, 11-13, 11-9) against world number four Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER), who was recovering from his wisdom teeth extraction just days ago.
FREITAS then rounded off matters for Portugal during the fourth and final match on a high note, as he upset the former world number one BOLL 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9). It was a moment of tears and joy for the Portuguese team and the home crowd as the national anthem was played.
Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who was amongst the TV spectators, tweeted his congratulatory message for the Portuguese Men’s Team: “Portugal, European champion of table tennis! Congratulations to the champions Marcos Freitas, Tiago Apolonia and Joao Monteiro!”
Despite the loss for the German Men’s Team, it was success for their female counterparts in defending their title.
The German Women’s Team put on a tough fight against Austria in the Finals to win their sixth title in the history of European Championships.
Despite winning 3-0, it was a tight and difficult win for the Germans as they won the first 2 sets by narrow margins.
SHAN Xiaona (GER) overcame Sofia POLCANOVA (AUT) 3-2 in five games (5-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7) in the opening set, while HAN Ying (GER) accounted for LIU Jia (AUT) 3-2 (9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10) to establish a 2-0 lead for Germany.
In the third set, Petrissa SOLJA (GER) defeated LI Qiangbing (AUT) in three straight games (11-4, 11-3, 11-9) to secure the crown for Germany.
The next challenge for these top European teams will be to prove their skills on the world stage, at the 2015 ITTF World Team Cup, pitting against the top teams from the other continents.
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