Mixed day of events for Greek athletes; drama from Daniilidou
It was a mixed day yesterday for Greek competitors. While some advanced closer to a possible medal, others were eliminated or tasted defeat. Tennis player Eleni Daniilidou provided the night’s highest drama, overcoming a slow start and a late left thigh injury to defeat Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to the round of 16. Daniilidou slumped twice in pain, the first while leading 4-2 in the third set and the second after her first match point. In archery, Evangelia Psarra made it to the round of 16 by defeating, with some difficulty, Turkey’s Zekiye Keskin-Satir 163-161. Psarra trailed for most of the contest but came on strong at the end. By contrast, Elpida Romantzi fell to no 2 seed Sung Jin-Li 166-146 and was eliminated. The men of the 4×200 freestyle relay team qualified for the final, for the first time ever, with the seventh best time, ahead of France. They finished last in the final, however, in 7 minutes 23.02 seconds, 2.59 seconds behind seventh-place France and 15.69 seconds behind winners Australia. Having given gold-medal favorites Cuba a scare on Monday, Greece’s baseball team slumped to a 7-1 defeat yesterday against Chinese Taipei and were eliminated. The men’s volleyball team kept alive their chances of advancing by defeating Poland 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20) in one hour and 39 minutes. Slovak-born Andrei Kravarik was Greece’s best player, scoring a total of 25 points. The women’s handball team lost 33-20 to Hungary, while the soccer team lost to Brazil 7-0 and was eliminated, as were the men, who lost 3-2 to Mexico.
