Portugal’s top male table tennis players, including three Olympians, advanced in singles and doubles categories at the WTT Feeder Vila Nova de Gaia tournament on Friday.
Tiago Apolónia, João Geraldo, and Marcos Freitas all secured places in the round of 16 for men’s singles. This success was echoed in men’s doubles, where the pair of Apolónia and Freitas progressed to the quarter-finals.
World number 93 Tiago Apolónia delivered a dominant 3-0 victory over Malaysia’s Wong Qi Shen, ranked 164th. The set scores were 11-8, 11-8, 12-10.
João Geraldo, 101st in the world, similarly swept Croatia’s Frane Kojic, ranked 384th, with scores of 11-8, 11-8, and 12-10.
Marcos Freitas, world number 99, faced a tougher challenge but ultimately defeated Japan’s Hiromu Kobayashi, ranked 275th, in a five-set thriller. Freitas won 3-2, with set scores of 8-11, 11-5, 19-17, 6-11, 11-5.
In men’s doubles, Apolónia and Freitas showcased strong teamwork to beat Argentinians Martin Bentancor and Santiago Lorenzo 3-0. The scores were 11-7, 12-10, 11-8.
Other Portuguese hopefuls faced eliminations across different categories. Tiago Abiodun and Clement Laine lost their men’s doubles match 3-1 to South Koreans Daeseong and Minhyeok.
The mixed doubles pair of João Geraldo and Mariana Santa Comba exited in the quarter-finals. They were defeated 3-0 by Malaysia’s Qi Shen and Ai Xin.
In women’s doubles, Mariana Santa Comba and Júlia Leal fell in the round of 16. Croatian opponents Jeger and Rakovac won a tight five-set contest 3-2.
Additional Portuguese players eliminated from singles competitions included Tiago Abiodun, Rafael Kong, and Carlos Gonçalves in the men’s draw. Matilde Pinto and Mariana Santa Comba were knocked out of the women’s singles event.