Mixed start to doubles events for British squad in Montenegro
There were three wins for British athletes and some narrow losses as the doubles events started in the Montenegro Para Championships in Podgorica.
MD8 - Group 1
Dan Bullen teamed up with Gonzalo Acosta, the class 3 former PanAmerican Championship medallist from Uruguay who is competing for the first time since 2019. They started well in their first match against the class 4 Polish pair of Rafal Liz, European bronze medallist, and World number six Krszysztof Zylka leading 1-0 and 2-1 before losing 11-7 in the fifth. They lost their second match against the class 4 pair from Serbia Aleksandar Jevremovic and Nebojsa Ilic 3-0 and were beaten 3-0 in their final group match by the class 3 pair from Slovenia Bojan Lukezic and Primoz Kancler from Slovenia, who were bronze medallists in the Costa Brava Spanish Open in March.
MD8 – Group 2
Andrew Guy and Lee York were beaten 3-0 in their first match by the experienced German pair of class 3 World and European team gold medallist Thomas Bruechle and two-time European team gold medallist Jan Guertler but kept their hopes of progressing with a 3-0 win against class 1 Marian Kamien from Slovakia and Daniel Staszak from Poland, bronze medallist in the men’s class 5 singles here. Guy and York needed to win their final match against Tomislav Spalj, bronze medallist in the men’s class 4 singles, and European team bronze medallist Sebastian Vegsund but the Croatian/Norwegian pair were 3-0 winners.
MD14
Theo Bishop and his partner Eleftherios Mavris from Greece, the class 6 silver medallist at the Al-Watani Para Championships in Jordan last month, lost their opening match to the class 6 pair of Thomas Rau, the European bronze medallist from Germany, and Bobi Simion, the European silver medallist from Romania, 3-0 and did not progress after a 3-0 loss to class 8 Vit Spalek and class 6 Petr Hnizdo from the Czech Republic.
WD14-20 RR
Grace Williams and class 7 Pilar Gonzalez from Spain had a great battle against the teenage Polish pair of Barbara Jablonka and Magdalena Sutkowska Pawlasek which they eventually lost 11-8 in the fifth. They lost to class 8 World number five Juliane Wolf and class 6 World number four Stephanie Grebe from Germany 3-0 and play the last two matches in the round-robin event tomorrow.
XD4-10 – Group 1
Lee York and Slobodanka Guresic from Montenegro renewed their partnership after playing together in the Slovenia Open last month. They had a tough opening match against Thomas Bruechle and class 4 World number five Sandra Mikolaschek which the German pair won 3-0 but won their second match against class 2 Peter Lovas and class 4 Jana Valentova from Slovakia 3-0. They play their final group match tomorrow against Mitar Palikuca and Ana Prvulovic from Serbia.
XD4-10 – Group 3
Dan Bullen and Samra Kojic from Montenegro lost their opening match to the strong Serbian pair of class 3 Mladen Ciric and class 4 World and European champion Borislava Peric-Rankovic 3-0 and were then 3-0 winners against the class 1 pair of Gregorios Chryssikos, silver medallist at the Al-Watani Para Championships, and 16-year-old Evanthia Bournia from Greece. They play their final group match tomorrow against Iker Sastre from Spain and Caroline Tabib from Israel.
XD14
Theo Bishop and class 6 Eirini Drakonaki from Greece lost their opening match to class 6 Haris Eminovic from Bosnia Herzegovina and Stephanie Grebe 3-0 and were then beaten 3-0 by class 7 Pjetro Paljusevic and class 6 Milijana Cirkovic from Montenegro. They play their final group match against Michal Deigsler and Barbara Jablonka from Poland tomorrow.
XD17-20 RR
Grace Williams and Aviv Gordon from Israel, the men’s class 9 singles gold medallist, took the first set against Pablo Jacobsen, the class 8 French Open bronze medallist, and class 8 World number two Aida Dahlen but the Norwegian pair came back to take the match 3-1. Williams and Gordon lost their second match against Pavao Jozic, the class 7 European silver medallist, and Mirjana Lucic, the class 9 World team champion from Croatia 3-1 and play their final match in the round robin event against Steffen Salomonsen and Nora Korneliussen from Norway tomorrow.