The table tennis national team had a bye in the round of 16 at the European Championship in Malmö. It was eliminated by strong France, which was better with the Lebrun brothers with a score of 3:2.
They each contributed a point for Slovenia Darko Jorgić and Deni Kožulhe lost two matches Peter Hribar, and Jorgić one. In the Slovenian camp, they counted on two points from Jorgić and one from Kožul, this would be the only realistic possibility for Slovenia to beat their rivals.
For this purpose, she is a selector Andreja Ojsteršek Urh Kožula was placed as the third player, and Hribar as the second player. Her plan would have worked if Jorgić defeated both Lebrun brothers, Felix and Alexis, but that didn’t happen. It broke already in the first confrontation, when he was overtaken by Felix, a competitor who also eliminated him in the strong July tournament in Ljubljana.
Hrastničan was well on his way to repaying him, he led 2:1, but then he smoothly lost the fourth set, and after a bitter fight, the fifth. With this, the chances became almost zero, as Hribar, the third-ranked Slovenian in terms of quality, has a hard time beating players from Europe’s top.
The Slovenians leave the championship with a victory against Turkey and defeats against Denmark and France. The girls already had a bye in the preliminary group, in which they lost against Romania and Croatia.
Round of 16:SLOVENIA – FRANCE 2:3 Darko Jorgić – Felix Lebrun 2:3 (-5, 2, 6, -4, -9) Peter Hribar – Alexis Lebrun 0:3 (-7, -7, -5) Deni Kožul – Can Akkuzu 3:2 (-5, 9, -6, 4, 8) Jorgić – A. Lebrun 3:1 (7, 9, -7, 6) Hribar – F. Lebrun 0:3 (3, 2, 9)
Source: Rtvslo
