The Romanian men's national team was defeated by Portugal 3-0, on Friday, in its first match in Group B of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan (South Korea).
Romania was defeated by Portugal PHOTO: Facebook/Romanian Table Tennis Federation
Eduard Ionescu was defeated by Marcos Freitas 3-2 (7-11, 11-3, 8-11, 14-12, 13-11), after a very close match. The second duel was also very balanced, but Joao Geraldo defeated Ovidiu Ionescu 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 12-10). In the third confrontation, it ended with the victory of a Portuguese, Tiago Apolonia, who defeated Iulian Chiriţă 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7), writes Agerpres.
Romania will next play Egypt (Saturday, February 17, 06:00), Thailand (Sunday, February 18, 13:00) and Iran (Tuesday, February 20, 06:00).
The male team is made up of Ovidiu Ionescu, Eduard Ionescu, Darius Movileanu, Andrei Istrate, Iulian Chiriţă, trainers Andrei Filimon, Ionuţ Seni and physiotherapist Adrian Mîrza.
40 female and male teams participate in the competition. The World Team Championships are a qualification criterion for the Paris 2024 Olympics, and the first eight teams will have direct qualification for the Olympic Games.
The winners of the groups will qualify directly for the round of 16, and the 2nd and 3rd place teams will enter the round of 16.
