Table tennis: Polcanova leads the ÖTTV squad at the home European Championships in Linz

In addition to the Olympic fifth, the two veterans Daniel Habesohn and Robert Gardos will also be hunting for medals in Upper Austria from October 15th to 20th. The Austrian Table Tennis Association announced this on Monday. “It’s a very good mix,” said ÖTTV sports director Stefan Fegerl in a statement about the domestic squad.

In the women’s singles, state champion Liu Yuan (38), Karoline Mischek (26), Anastasia Sterner (19) and 15-year-old Nina Skerbinz secured the other ÖTTV starting places. Skerbinz and Sterner will celebrate their European Championship debut in the general class in Linz. For Polcanova, it’s all about successfully defending her title at home. Two years ago she won the gold medal in Munich in the singles and doubles with Bernadette Szőcs, and at the Summer Games in Paris the 30-year-old took fifth place as the best European woman.

“Serious chances of winning one medal or another”

“Thanks to our top performers, especially Sofia, of course, we have a serious chance of winning one or two European Championship medals, but we are also aware of the strong competition,” added Fegerl. Polcanova will also compete in the mixed doubles together with Gardos; the duo won bronze in Munich.

In the men’s singles, in addition to Habesohn (36) and Gardos (45), Andreas Levenko (26), Maciej Kolodziejczyk (23) and the two teenagers Liu Zhenlong (19) and Julian Rzihauschek (15) are also nominated. In doubles, Habesohn/Gardos, the European champions from 2012 and 2018 and silver medalists from Munich, are aiming for precious metal again.