Day Two of the Olympics were filled with qualifiers for Greece’s athletes as many progressed well in their respective events.
The day for Greece started with the rowing as pairs Bourbou-Anastasiadou and Fitsiou-Kontou, who both qualified for the semi-finals in the women’s double skulls and lightweight women’s double sculls respectively.
In tennis, Maria Sakkari comfortably beat Danka Kovinic to progress to the second round with Stefanos Tsitsipas joining her after downing Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in a three-set battle.
Tsitsipas also linked up with his brother Petros in the men’s doubles as they bowed out following a third set tie-break loss to Portuguese duo of Borges and Cabral.
Swimmer Apostolos Christou achieved an historic moment as he qualified for the final of the 100m backstroke, his first Olympics final in his career. Christou finished second in the second semi-final heat with a time of 52.77 seconds and will feature in the medal battle race on Day Three.
Panagiotis Gionis advanced in men’s table tennis after beating Canadian Edward Ly (number 22 of the tournament with a 4-0 victory.
The day ended with the men’s national water polo team, whom defeated Romania 14-7 in their Group A opening game.
It is also worth noting that the men’s IQFoil windsailing event, in which Petros Kokkalanis is participating, was postponed due to the absence of wind in Marseille.
The Greek report of Day Two (28/7) in detail:
Rowing
Christina Bourbou and Evangelia Anastasiadou secured their place in the semi-final after finishing in second in the third qualifying heat, covering the two kilometre course in 7:20.49. The semi-final will be held on Wednesday 31 July at noon local time.
Zoe Fitsiou and Melina Kondou sealed their spot after finishing second in their qualifying heat with a time of 7:08.51. The pair will compete to qualify for the final on Wednesday 31 July at 12.34 pm.
Antonis Papakonstantinou and Petros Gaidatzis ranked third in their qualifying race, finishing with a time of 6:46.90, missing out on the two tickets directly to the semi-finals. They will have a second chance on Day Three when they compete in the repechage for a second chance at progressing to the next round.
Swimming
Apostolos Papastamos ultimately failed to qualify for the 400m individual medley final despite a strong first 200m, ultimately finishing eighth with a time of 4:15.32 and 15th overall.
Apostolos Christou and Vangelis Makrigiannis both qualified for the semi-final of the 100m backstroke with times of 52.95 and 53.24 respectively, finishing third and eighth in the 100m heats.
A few hours later, Christou qualified for the final (his first at an Olympic Games) after finishing second in the second semi-final heat with a time of 52.77. It is only the second time that a Greek swimmer has qualified for an Olympic final (outside of the 2004 Athens edition), with the other time being when Kristian Golomeev finished fifth in the 50m freestyle in Tokyo.
Vangelis Makrigiannis recorded a time of 52.97 to finish sixth in the first semi-final heat and finish in ninth place overall. He missed out on the final by just two hundredths of a second, with Spaniard Hugo Gonzalez recording a time of 52.95.
Tennis
Maria Sakkari opened the day’s schedule at Corut Suzanne Lenglen by facing Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic. The Greek star soundly beat her opponent 6-0, 6-1 in 58 minutes.
Stefanos Tsitsipas had a much more difficult match by comparison, though he too progressed to the next round after earning a 2-1 set win over Zizou Bergs.
The Tsitsipas brothers fell just short in their doubles match with Portugal’s Borges and Cabral, losing 10-12 in the third set tiebreak after a 6-3, 3-6 result in the first two sets.
In a rare bit of singles action, Petros Tsitsipas played Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor after British player Cameron Norrie pulled out. Petros was beaten 2-6, 3-6 after just over one hour of play.
Table Tennis
44-year-old Panagiotis Gionis utilised his experience to overcome Edward Ly, with the Greek champion (who is at his sixth Olympic Games) downing the Canadian 4-0. Gionis will next play American Kanak Jha on Day Three.
Men’s Water Polo
The men’s national water polo side comfortably beat Romania in their opening game of Group A, with the Tokyo silver medallists now preparing to face Montenegro on Wednesday morning (AEST).
