With a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Greece's Melikidis and Tsamousiadis (by sets: 16-21, 21-13, 21-17) in Men's doubles, our badminton players Luka Ban and Filip Špoljarec entered the medal zone. They will face the Algerians in the Monday morning's semifinals.
Two Croatian wrestlers -- Ivan Lizatović in the Men’s Greco-Roman 60kg category and Antonio Kamenjašević in the Men’s Greco-Roman 77kg category, will compete for the bronze medal on Monday. Lizatović reached the semifinals after the Algeria’s representative Abdeldjbar Djebbari handed him the match, then lost to Turkey's Kerem Kamal (fall). His opponent in the battle for bronze will be Egypt's Haythem Mahmoud. Kamenjašević first defeated Syrian Mohamad Alobeid with fall, but then also lost to Algerian Abd Elkrim Ouakali who defeated him with fall. Vjekoslav Luburić did not manage to proceed in the 87kg category in his first appearance, due to being beaten 6-3 by Turkey's Ali Cengiz.
At the start of the Volleyball Tournament of the Mediterranean Games in Oran, our female volleyball players beat France 3-2 in sets (25-23, 19-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-10) in a very uncertain match. Mika Grbavica with nineteen points and Božana Butigan with eighteen points were the most responsible for this victory. Our male volleyball players were also successful by defeating Spain 3-1 in sets (27-25, 25-23, 22-25, 28-26). The winning team was led by the former great Kaštela duo - Petar Đirlić with twenty-one and Filip Šestan with sixteen points.
Our female gymnasts Tijana Korent in Vault and Ana Đerek in Beam and Floor exercise made it to the finals of the Mediterranean Games. Korent was rated 12,750 (12,650 and 12,850), while Đerek received 12,500 in Beam and 12,950 in Floor exercise. The finals of apparatus events are scheduled for Wednesday (29 June). On Monday, Tin Srbić (Horizontal bar) and Mateo Žugec and Jakov Vlahek (Pommel Horse) will compete in the qualifying competition.
Two Croatian national team players participated in Boxing competition. In the Round-of-16, Noa Ježek was defeated in the 69kg category by the Algerian Jugurth Ait-Bekka, by referees’ decision 3-0. Due to food poisoning (nausea and stomach upset), Petar Krešimir Knežević was forced to hand over the 75kg match in the Round-of-16 to Italy's Salvatore Cavallar. On Monday (27 June), Damir Plantić will perform in the Light Middleweight category (up to 81 kg). In the Round-of-16, he will compete against Egypt's Abdelrahman Abdelgawwad.
Concerning four Croatian representatives in Karate, the only one who achieved victories was Enes Garibović in the 75 kg category, but he was also stopped near the medal. Garibović started with a minimum 1-0 win against Macedonia's Petar Zaborski to defeat France's Maxime Leo in quarterfinals with “senshu” but was beaten 2-0 by the Egyptian Abdalla Abdelaziz in the semifinals. In the battle for bronze, Italy's Luigi Busa was 3-0 ahead of Garibović. Boran Berak lost immediately at the start of the 67kg category (5-6) to Moroccan Said Oubaya, Ana Lenard was defeated in the 1st round of the 61kg category by Spain's Maria Espinosa Lopez (2-1), while Alessandra Hasani had two chances, but in both cases she was defeated - at the start by the Algerian Louiza Abouriche (2-4) and then in repechage with Italy's Veronica Brunori (1-2).
On Monday 27 June, Croatian representatives will go to the venues in eight sports – in seven mentioned above - and in Sailing. It's time for the first Croatian medals in Oran... (NOC of Croatia/VK)
