by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
A fighting display, the tiger wounded, in the opening match of the fixture, Elizabeta Samara recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Cheng I-Ching (4-11, 15-17, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4), before Bernadette Szocs followed suit.
She lost the first two games against Chen Szu-Yu, before securing the next three to give Romania a two matches to nil advantage (7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8).
Two hard fought wins, matters concluded in a rather less dramatic fashion; Daniela Monteiro-Dodean overcame Liu Hsing-Yin in four games (12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9).
“We were so angry after the defeat against Netherlands. We came here as European champions with only one motive on our mind: to reach quarter-final and to play for medal. Netherlands was one of the adversaries that we knew we had to beat in order to achieve our goal. It was very hard today. I was two games down against Cheng I-Ching, a player I have never beaten her before. Bernie was in the same position against Chen Szu-Yu. It was very close, but we had to win. We did not have any other option but the victory.” Elizabeta Samara.
Success for Romania, there was also success in the same group for DPR Korea, they maintained their unbeaten record. The trio comprising Kim Song I, Kim Nam Hae and Chao Hyo Sim recorded a three matches to nil win over the Polish outfit comprising Natalia Bajor, Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc and Natalia Partyka.
In the concluding fixtures Romania meets DPR Korea, Chinese Taipei meets the Czech Republic, the Netherlands meets Poland.
Standings (after four matches): DPR Korea 8pts, Romania 7pts, Chinese Taipei 6pts, Netherlands 5pts, Poland 5pts, Czech Republic 5pts (one point is awarded for presence, one for a win).
