XIII Games of the Small States of Europe - update
AFTER the second day of competition at the XIII Games of the Small States of Europe Cyprus leads the medals table with 60 decorations, including 21 gold and 27 silvers, while Iceland is second with 40 and Luxembourg in third with 16 gold out of their total 30 medals.
Cypriot shooter Kyriakos Christoforou brought an end to his fellow countryman Antonis Andreou’s reign in Men’s Skeet competition after claiming the gold medal. Antoniou finished the competition in second place after previously winning a remarkable five gold medals in five consecutive GSSE events. The two athletes had previously gone head-to-head only once at the 1995 GSSE in Luxembourg in an event which saw Andreou celebrating the gold and Christoforou in second place.
Manolina Konstantinou and Mariota Aggelopoulou representing Cyprus are the first Women’s Beach Volleyball team to secure a place in the semifinals. They overcame Jeanne Schneider and Norma Zambon of Luxembourg yesterday; winning the match in straight sets after 40 minutes of play to record their third overall victory at the Games.
At the same time both men’s and women’s volleyball national team recorded victories in their first games of the GSSE. Demetris Apostolou had seven points and four more players recorded six as Cyprus beat San Marino 3-0 after just over an hour of play, while the women’s team overcame Liechtenstein 3-1 in their first round outing.
In Men’s Tennis Singles both Cypriot representatives were eliminated during yesterday’s program. The Cypriot number two and the fourth-seed Photos Kallias was defeated by Jirka Lokaj of Liechtenstein 6-3 6-4 in the opening match on the center court of the National Tennis Center in Nicosia, while the third seeded Benjamin Balleret on Monaco beat Philippos Tsangarides 6-1, 6-1.
Women’s basketball team suffered a narrow defeat against the gold medal favorite Malta 53-48 after a hard fought battle at the Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Athletic Center. Valentina Ionova led Cyprus with 12 points, while Kalia Papadopoulou chipped in with 10. Sophia Theologou was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards for 22 minutes on the court. The Cypriot ladies are free today while tomorrow evening they face Iceland in a game that could decide the silver medal holders. The men’s basketball team continued to dominate after demolishing Iceland 87-54 and it seems that nobody can prevent them now of claiming the gold medal in the competition. Vasilis Kounas came off the bench to lead Cyprus with 14 points, while Panayiotis Trisokkas added 13. Giorgos Neophytou netted 12 points, all in the final seven minutes of the game, while Joseph Garcia and Aris Koronides had 11 and 10 points respectively. Christos Stylianides’ men take on the absolute outsiders San Marino this evening at 20:30.
Courtesy of the Cyprus Mail
