In Brief
Greek players on target in Europe Fanis Gekas and Sotiris Kyrgiakos, two of the Greek players who have announced their departure from the national soccer team, went on the score sheet last weekend for their clubs in Europe. Striker Gekas scored for the third round of games in succession, netting the first goal in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart yesterday. Gekas is now second on the scorers’ chart in the Bundesliga. Kyrgiakos, a central defender, was on target for Liverpool yesterday in Anfield, but he will not have enjoyed it as much given that the Reds surprisingly went down 2-1 to visiting Blackpool. Handball defeats in continental cups Handball champion PAOK could not keep up with its visitor Bregenz from Austria in the first-leg game of the second round of the European Handball Federation (EHF) Cup, going down 31-23 in Thessaloniki on Saturday. The second leg is scheduled for Saturday, October 9, in Austria. Vrilissia also bowed out of the Challenge Cup, scoring one win and two defeats in its qualifying group over the weekend. On Friday, the northern Athens club defeated British side Great Dane 37-20, then lost to Norway’s Stord HB 28-25 at home on Saturday’s second leg and went down to Turkey’s Maliye Milli 33-30 yesterday. Strataki ends career Greek heptathlon champion Argyro Strataki has decided to call it a career at the age of 35. The country’s record-holder both in the outdoor heptathlon and pentathlon in indoor track and field stated in a letter that she felt grateful for the moments she has experienced throughout her career. Castard arrival French volleyball player Ludovic Castard arrived in Greece on Friday and started training with cup-holder Panathinaikos. The outside hitter said he is not concerned about the club’s financial problems, saying that will not be an obstacle.
