ANKARA - The two Spanish teams and the Belgian A-team lead the provisional ranking after one day at the European Championship for national teams in Ankara. Dani Sánchez excelled with his win against Czech Hajek (40-18 in 15), Peter Ceulemans started with a monster victory against Swiss Canturk (40-6 in 21). The Spaniards (Sánchez and Legazpi) had a combined average of 1.777, the Belgians with the first team (Merckx and Peter Ceulemans) played 1.702. In the rankings, Spain 2 is number one with three match points, but Antonio Montes and Sergio Jimenez have already played two matches, against the Netherlands 1 (2-0) and Portugal (1-1).
The Netherlands' A team is almost certain to be eliminated, as Spain 2 already has three match points in this group and the Netherlands can only gain two match points by beating Portugal. Denmark had to cancel their participation in the championship on the day of the start, because Dion Nelin's domestic flight from Aalborg to Copenhagen was booked incorrectly. The Italian team showed up too late for its second match against Turkey 1 and was excluded from further participation. The excuse of the Italians: Emilio Sciacca did not feel well, stayed too long in his hotel and together with Alessio D'Agata, he arrived too late for the match.
The championship continues with 19 teams divided into 7 pools. Greece 1 and Germany 2 will play a double encounter in Pool F. The first match ended in a draw (1-1). Nikos Polychronopoulos won from Lukas Stamm (40-35 in 25), Tom Löwe beat for Germany the Greek Kostas Kokkoris with 40-36 in 39.
In Group B with the Italians, the battle is between Turkey 1 (Tasdemir and Cenet) and Belgium 2 (Forton and Bart Ceulemans). The Turks had a forfeit score, the Belgians beat Italy 2-0. Francis Forton won against Sciacca (40-29 in 30), Bart Ceulemans against D'Agata 40-38 in 48.
In Group A, Belgium 1 and Turkey 2 will play on Friday morning at 9.00 am (West European time) for the group win. Both teams have two match points from the win against Switzerland. In case of a draw, the average will decide. The Belgians with Merckx and Peter Ceulemans have 1.702, the Turks with Capak and Orak 1.081.
In Group B Turkey 1 (Tasdemir and Cenet) will face Belgium 2 (Bart Ceulemans/Forton) at 9.00 a.m. for group profit. With a draw, both teams finish with 3 points and the number two, depending on the numbers 2 in the other groups, still has a chance to go on.
Group C still has two contenders. Netherlands 1 was eliminated after bad losses of Jeffrey Jorissen against Antonio Montes (40-27 in 25) and Dave Christiani against Sergio Jimenez (40-14 in 16). Portugal and Spain 2 played a draw, the Portuguese (Rui Costa and Soares) have to win against the Netherlands 2-0 to have a chance of survival.
In Group D, Spanish defending champions Dani Sánchez and Ruben Legazpi had a promising start. Sánchez was the best player on the first day, winning against Radovan Hajek (40-18 in 15) with runs of 9 and 7. Ruben Legazpi was behind against Ivo Gazdos for a long time, but eventually won 40-28 in 30. The Netherlands 2, with Jean van Erp and Kay de Zwart, who had an unexpectedly nice final sprint, won 2-0 against the Czech Republic. The Orange team has to win at least against Spain, because the averages are far apart: 1.777 for Spain, 1.025 for the Netherlands 2.
In Group E, Sweden 1 and France both won against Greece 2 2-0. Torbjörn Blomdahl took his match in 32 innings, Michael Nilsson in 39, for the French Jean Reverchon won in 32 innings, Grégory Le Deventec in 35.
The Germans Stamm and Löwe of the second team and the Greeks Polychronopoulos and Kokkoris are playing for the group win in Pool F.
In Group G, Austria 1 is the leader after a 2-0 win against Sweden 2. Herbert Szivach and Nikolaus Kogelbauer beat David Pennör and Nalle Olsson. In the second match the score was 1-1, as Ronny Lindemann won atainst Pennör (40-35 in 32) and Nalle Olsson vs Cengiz Karaca with 40-39. The Austrians and Germans still meet, for Austria a draw is enough to go on to the last eight.
The matches for Friday in the final qualifying rounds:
9.00 (West European time):
Group A: Belgium 1-Turkey 2
Merckx-Capak and Ceulemans-Orak
Group B:
Turkey 1-Belgium 2
Tasdemir-Forton
Cenet-Bart Ceulemans
Group C:
Netherlands 1-Portugal
Jorissen-Rui Costa
Christiani-Soares
Group D:
Spain 1-Netherlands 2
Sánchez-Van Erp
Legazpi-De Zwart
11.00:
Group E:
France 1-Sweden 1
Reverchon-Blomdahl
Le Deventec-Nilsson
Group F:
Germany 2-Greece 1
Stamm-Polychronopoulos
Löwe-Kokkoris
Group G:
Germany 1-Austria
Lindemann-Szivach
Karaca-Kogelbauer.