England’s men were stunned by veteran Panagiotis Gionis as Greece’s 3-1 win eliminated them from the European Championship.
After yesterday’s 3-2 win over fourth seed Portugal, England were hopeful of progressing as group winners.
Instead, their hopes were dashed as Greece progressed alongside Portugal after a three-way countdown.
Having lost 3-1 to Portugal in their first match, Greece knew that a 3-0 or 3-1 victory would see them through, and it was 45-year-old defender Gionis who was the main architect of England’s demise as he defeated both Paul Drinkhall and Tom Jarvis.
England effectively took the lead when Jarvis averted a developing crisis when he was two games behind Ioannis Sgouropoulos.
A timeout at 7-8 down in the third – Jarvis had led 7-5 – was the catalyst. Whatever John Murphy and the bench players said spurred Jarvis on to take four points to get back into the game.
His opponent, ranked 359th but who has been in the top 150, had until then shown commendable composure and little skill near the table, turning Jarvis’ attacks back on him as he won the first game 11-4 and the second 12-10, after saving a game point.
But in the fourth and fifth games, the Englishman increasingly matched Sgouropoulos, conceding just nine points in the games, and just three in the decider, which he led 8-0 and 10-1.
Drinkhall was on fire when he beat Joao Monteiro as England beat Portugal yesterday, but things didn’t quite happen for him today against former world number 18 Panagiotis Gionis.
It was only in the third that Drinkhall showed his best form and won that game 11-8 to reduce the deficit. Furthermore, the 45-year-old Gionis was in control and conceded no more than seven points in any of the three games he won, helping Greece get back on level terms.
With Gionis back on the pitch in match 4, the third draw between Sam Walker and Giorgios Stamatouros was crucial. Walker is almost 300 spots above his opponent (182 to 472), but the gap was not reflected in a tight encounter.
Walker led 5-3 in the first and 6-2 in the second but could not convert on both occasions and his frustration was reflected when he picked up a yellow card in the third as Stamatouros secured a 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8) victory.
Needing to win, Jarvis didn’t get off to the best start as Gionis won four of the first five points. Jarvis worked his way back to 4-4 and then to 7-7, after which the Greek maestro scored four consecutive points.
Jarvis led the second 4-1, but took his timeout at 4-5 and didn’t get his next point until 4-7. He fought back to 6-7, but it was again 11-7 in favor of Gionis and Greece was only one game away.
Once again there was an England lead in the third, but 6-4 became 6-9 and it was almost over. Jarvis picked up two points to force a timeout for Gionis, then leveled the score at 9–9.
But Greece was not to be denied and Gionis took his second match point and caused a big celebration in the blue corner and a time for reflection in the red.
Results
Men’s Group D
Greece 3 England 1
Tom Jarvis Bt Ioannis Sgouropoulos 3-2 (4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3)
Panagiotis region BT Paul Drinkhall 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5)
Giorgios Stamatouros BT Sam Walker 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8)
GIONE bt jarvis 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 12-10)
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