Cyprus is leading the medal table after the second day of the 20th Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) in Andorra.
Cyprus is first with 56 medals, followed by Luxembourg with 45 and Iceland with 36, with Cypriot athletes having so far won 17 gold medals, 16 silver and 23 bronze.
3×3 Basketball
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The Cyprus men’s team won first place in 3×3 Basketball, adding another gold medal to the country’s tally at the GSSE.
According to the Cyprus Sports Writers’ Association correspondent Andreas Apostratos, the Cypriot team, consisting of Kyprianos Maragkos, Panagiotis Markou, Viktor Ieronymides, and Marios Georgiou, prevailed in the final against host Andorra 21-13
The women’s team secured fourth place, confirming the high level of the sport on the island. In the third-place match, Cypriot athletes Panagiota Kyriakou, Dimitra Papalla, Panayiota Themistocleous and Eleni Mavroudi were defeated by Monaco 19-14.
Karate
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Cyprus achieved significant distinctions in karate on the second day of the Games of the Small States of Europe, with Cypriot athletes winning a total of three medals, one silver and two bronze, for a total of eight medals.
As reported, in the men’s -75 kg category, Alex Michael reached the final but was unable to prevail against the athlete from Montenegro, thus winning the silver medal.
In the women’s -61 kg category, Anthia Stylianou climbed to the third step of the podium, securing the bronze medal, while in the men’s -84 kg category, Dimitris Dimitriadis also brought a bronze medal to Cyprus.
Rugby
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The Cyprus men’s rugby team completed its participation in the Games of the Small States of Europe, held in Andorra, with one win and two losses, finishing third in its group.
Specifically, the Cypriot team lost to Monaco and Luxembourg 40-12 and 42-7 respectively, while defeating Liechtenstein 45-7.
The Cypriot athletes will compete on Friday for places 5 to 8, aiming to finish the competition with the best possible ranking.
Shooting
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Cypriot athletes Annita Koukouli and Georgia Konstantinidou won the silver and bronze medals in trap shooting.
In the final set that decided the gold medal, Koukouli faced Alessandra Perilli, world champion and Olympic bronze medallist from San Marino, scoring 36 targets against Perilli’s 38. Georgia Konstantinidou won the bronze medal with 30 targets.
In the air pistol (10m), Constantina Pratsi won the silver medal with a score of 225.9 and Christiana Georgiou took the bronze with a score of 206.5.
Nikolas Kyriakou stood out for his sportsmanship in the shooting final. The Cypriot champion hit 40 targets against 41 for his opponent from San Marino, however, while the victory and the gold medal were being decided, the athlete protested a shot by Gianmarco Berti, who had hit the target but was disallowed by the judges.
Kyriakou raised his hand and protested for his opponent’s shot to be counted. The judges accepted it and the gold medal went to the athlete from San Marino.
After the end of the competition, Prince Albert of Monaco rushed to congratulate Kyriakou and the entire Cypriot delegation for their sportsmanship. In the same final, Nihat Akterzi took 5th place, scoring 25 points.
Beach Volleyball
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Beach volleyball men’s duo, Charalambos Zorpis and George Chrysostomou, scored their first victory, 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-10) over Liechtenstein, keeping their hopes alive after their defeat in the opening match against Monaco (0-2).
In the women’s category, Erica Nystrom and Vasiliki Laspou lost 2-0 to Luxembourg.
Gymnastics
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Cyprus won one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in artistic gymnastics on the second day of competition in Andorra.
The gold medal was won by Michalis Haris in the rings event with a score of 12.133. Right next to him on the podium was Neophytos Savva, who took silver in the same event with a score of 11.767.
Kyriakos Markides won the bronze medal in the floor exercise with a total score of 12.332, while Georgios Angonas ended up in 7th place with a score of 11.767.
At the vault event, Michalis Isaias missed out on a podium place by a narrow margin, with his score (10.800) placing him in 4th place. Neophytos Savva also made his own effort, which brought him to 6th place in the rankings with a total score of 10.433.
Eleana Panayiotou came within a hair’s breadth of the bronze medal in the vault event, but lost out on the details. Although she had exactly the same score (12.400) as her opponent from Luxembourg, she did not make it onto the podium due to her lower starting value in the program.
In the uneven bars, Georgia Charalambous was Cyprus’ only participant. Some technical details prevented her from reaching the podium, with her score (10.400) not far from the bronze medallist’s 10.900.
Tennis
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Andrea Georgiou Papakyriakou and Nina Andronikou won 2-0 (6-1, 7-5) against Iceland’s Anna Soffia Gronholm and Emilia Eyva Thygesen and advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Luxembourg.
Andreas Timini qualified for the quarterfinals of the men’s singles, overcoming Stefan Djokovic of Montenegro 2-0 (6-4, 6-1), while Stylianos Christodoulou was eliminated in the round of 16 in the boys’ singles after losing 2-1 (7-6, 5-7, 6-3) to Raphael Calzi of Luxembourg.
Volleyball
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The Cyprus national team secured its second victory in the volleyball tournament, prevailing relatively easily over Malta with a 3-0 set (25-13, 25-23, 25-19).
Athletics
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Adriana Panteli won the gold medal in the women’s pole vault during the first day of the Games, Stefania Serban completed the Cypriot double on the podium, winning the bronze medal.
In the sprint events, Olivia Fotopoulou won the gold medal in women’s 100m, while Mariliza Pittaka finished in 7th place.
Chrystalla Hadjipolydorou won another gold medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, while the 4x400m mixed relay team, consisting of Markos Antoniades, Thecla Alexandrou, Paissios Dimitriades, and Kalliopi Kountouri, won the gold medal.
In the women’s 800m, Stavrini Filippou ran an excellent race, winning the silver medal and proving her potential in middle-distance events, while Alicia Finnis won the bronze medal in the women’s 10,000m.
In the men’s high jump, Loizos Chrysostomou climbed to the third step of the podium with a bronze medal, while in the women’s javelin throw, Irenie Jane Theodorou added another bronze medal to Cyprus’ medal tally.
In the women’s 400m, both Thecla Alexandrou and Kalliopi Kountouri made it through to Thursday’s final, raising hopes for further distinctions. Similarly, in the men’s 400m, Markos Antoniades and Paissios Dimitriades also secured their places in the final.
In the men’s 100m, Stavros Avgoustinou finished in 5th place and Charalambos Zenonos in 7th, in the men’s 800m, Antonis Diamantakis took 8th place and finally, while in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, Giorgos Tofi finished in 5th place.