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Portugal’s Marcos Freitas ranked number 87 and Tiago Apolónia ranked number 97, guided by the national coach Ricardo Faria, lost with 4-0 to the defending European doubles champions and number one seed, Timo Boll World’s number seven and Christian Süß World’s number forty two, from Germany, in the European Championships in the Russian city of S. Petersburg. They lost 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 and 12-10. After the World’s vice-champions title in 2003 and the European title one year later in 2004, in juniors, this Portuguese double, twenty year old Marcos Freitas and twenty two year old Tiago Apolónia, achieved an unprecedented feat since they won the first Seniors’ medal in the Portuguese Table Tennis history.

Marcos Freitas lost today in the Round of 16 at the Men’s Singles Competition in the European Championships in S. Petersburg, Russia. Portugal’s Marcos Freitas World’s number 87 lost against German first seed Timo Boll current number seven in the ITTF World Ranking list and his team colleague’s at Borussia Düsseldorf, with 4-0. He lost 6-11, 7-11, 5-11, 6-11. The Portuguese lefthanded had a good performance but with this defeat he gets a worst place than in the Euros 2007 in Belgrade, where he got the eighteenth place.

Marcos Freitas who plays at Borussia Düsseldorf and Tiago Apolónia player from TTF Ochsenhausen, achieved today an unprecedented feat after they beaten in five games Austria’s pairing, Chen Weixing World’s number 26 and Robert Gardos World’s number 38 at the Men's Doubles event in the European Championships in S. Petersburg. They won 7-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-3 and 14-12 to book their place at Semi-Final. With this spectacular victory the young Portuguese players already guaranteed the first medal in the Portuguese Table Tennis history. Tomorrow Saturday 11 October at 1.00pm (local time), Portugal's pair will face Europe’s number one, and Marcos’ team colleagues in the German team of Borussia Düsseldorf, the two reigning European men’s doubles champions, Germany's Timo Boll World’s no. 7 and Christian Süß World’s no. 42 .

Marcos Freitas (no. 87) and Tiago Apolónia (no. 97) had today a good performance in the Men's Doubles competition at the European Championships. Marcos Freitas / Tiago Apolónia beat Hungary’s pair, Ferenc Pazsy (no. 106) and Janos Jakab (no. 89) in three straight games, to book their place at quarters. They succeeded 11-3, 11-3, 11-5. With this important victory Freitas and Apolónia will fight tomorrow Friday 10 October, at 3.00pm (local time) against the difficult pairing from Austria, Chen Weixing ranked no. 26 and Robert Gardos ranked no. 38.