Wielgos and Brzyska win European silver in women's table tennis doubles

Polish table tennis players Zuzanna Wielgos and Anna Brzyska won silver in the doubles at the European Championships. The tournament took place in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is their first medal in a senior event of this rank.

From the same region

Wielgos comes from the Rzeszów area and plays for PGE Fibrain AZS Politechnika Rzeszów. Brzyska is from Jarosław and plays for Ulmer AZS UMCS Lublin. Both were born in 2005, so they are 21. As the Sportowe Fakty website notes, they might never have met had they not come from the same region. They have played together for years.

Brzyska recalls joking with coach Marcin Kusiński that after gold at the European Under-21 Championships, it was time for a medal in a senior tournament. Wielgos says, however, that nobody predicted a medal for them before the trip, and they did not expect one themselves.

The road to the final

In Slovenia the Poles beat four pairs. Wielgos says the turning point was a very good match against Wales's Anna Hursey and England's Tin Tin Ho. After it, they believed they could beat their opponents from France.

In the quarter-final they faced Charlotte Lutz and Prithika Pavade. They had played them before at a junior World Table Tennis event and lost 3-2. In Ljubljana, Brzyska says, they were convinced that a good match could take them into the last four.

In the semi-final they met Germany's Annett Kaufmann and Nina Mittelham. Brzyska admitted this was the duo they feared most, because they usually lost to Kaufmann in doubles, for example in the semi-final of the Under-19 World Championships. Coach Kusiński praised their fifth set in this match, and the players themselves called it very good.

The final

In the final the Poles played Natalia Bajor and Tatiana Kukulkova. They lost without winning a set, although according to Wielgos each one was close. Both players point to the first set as the key: Brzyska says they lost it on advantage, having had two set points.

What this means for you

This is a sports story and has no direct consequences for people living in the UK. In the tournament the Poles faced, among others, players representing Wales and England.