Romanians Daniela Dodean and Elizabeta Samara have won the women’s doubles title at the European Table Tennis Championships, held in Herning, Denmark, October 17 – 21. In one of the best matches of the tournament, the Romanians came within a hair’s breadth of losing, going down three sets to zero, before coming back to take the match by four sets to three. “When we were 3:0 down, I told Daniela we had to chance something and we did,” said Elizabeta after the match on Saturday. In the end the Romanians triumphed over Georgina Pota and Krisztina Toth of Hungary 4:3 (7:11, 8:11, 9:11, 11:7, 11:7, 21:19, 11:5).

Daniela Dodean and Elizabeta Samara are no strangers to success at the European Championships. They won in 2009, finished as runners-up last year and reached the semi-final in 2010. The pair also had a tough game in semi-finals, again winning 4:3. After the semi-final match, Daniela Dodean was unstinting in her praise of her partner, Elizabeta, “She was magnificent,” said Dodean.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: European Table Tennis Union