In Brief
Panellinios lands weightlifting title Panellinios became the new men’s champion in weightlifting after the completion of the national competition at Litochoro in Pieria, northern Greece, on Saturday. The club from Kypseli topped the table with 474 points, ahead of Aridaia with 452 and Kydon Chania with 443. Traditional force Atlas Kallitheas could do no better than fifth with 428 points, but was happy to win the youth championship with 456 points. The trophy of the champions, awarded to the weightlifter who got the closest to the world record across all categories, went to Antonis Martasidis. Spartakos of Ioannina won the women’s championship. Volleyball league lockout to persist The lockout in the top flight of men’s volleyball is set to continue this week as the league of professional volleyball clubs insists on a 100,000-euro grant per team for all 12 sides of the A1. The Culture Ministry seems reluctant to negotiate. The A2 division clubs, meanwhile, are also considering similar action, setting a December 31 deadline to receive funding. Trouble-ridden Panathinaikos at least was given some breathing room after receiving 200,000 euros from the son of Pavlos Giannakopoulos, the owner of the club’s basketball division. Women’s handball The Greek women’s national handball team failed to qualify to the playoffs of the 2011 World Championship after losing to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 27-21 on Friday, to Switzerland 31-20 on Saturday and to Azerbaijan 27-19 yesterday at Drama, northern Greece. Gekas on top Former Greece soccer striker Fanis Gekas keeps leading the scorers’ chart in Germany after scoring again on Saturday, from the penalty spot, to gift his side, Eintracht Frankfurt, a 2-1 win over second-placed Mainz at home. Gekas has now taken his tally to 13 goals this season at the Bundesliga.
