Freitas, Gardos, Monteiro & Steger will be in London

The 2012 European Olympic Qualifier had its third day of competition with two Portuguese Marcos Freitas and Joao Monteiro, Robert Gardos from Austria and the German Bastian Steger as the first successful players who earned their slot in the London Olympics. At the same time, Germany will have the same lineup in London as in Dortmund with Bastian Steger in the team. 

In the first stage of the competition proper, Marcos Freitas was off to a powerful start against Thomas Keinath. Freitas surpassed the hurdle with a sweep victory. After which, he won against Liam Pitchford of England in six sets, leading him to the finals against the Fremch Emmanuel Lebesson. 

The Groups's final match between Lebesson and Freitas was a close battle in each set. However, after five sets, Marcos Freitas successfully earned his slot in the Olympics with 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 12-10. 

The Austrian Robert Gardos was in authority over his opponents in the first stage of the competition proper. Before reaching the finals. Gardos consecutively swept Peter Sereda of Slovakia and Pau Drinkhall. This is opposite to the journey of the other finalist Daniel Zwickl of Hungary who was tested greatly by Bora Vang and Wang Zengyi in a full stretch match. 

In the finals, Zwickl lost his momentum as Robert Gardos sealed his place in London in just five sets (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9). 

After Marcos Freitas, another Portuguese also posted success in the first stage of the competition proper and he was Joao Monteiro. Against the top seed in their group, Kiril Skachkov of Russia, Monteiro nailed a wonderful sweep victory with 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, and 11-5. He then won against Andrej Gacina, leading him to the finals where he met Evgueni Chtchetinine of Belarus.      

In their encounter, Joan Monteiro was in control with his moves and finished the stage with a successful win of 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 and 11-8.

Lastly, Bastian Steger also made it into the list of the Olympic players from Germany. He defeated some notable names in his group like Jens Lundqvist of Sweden in the opening round and Adam Pattantyus from Hungary in the finals. Indeed, Bastian Steger also completes the German lineup for the Team events after posting 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, and 11-3. 

After the stage, Marcos Freitas, Robert Gardos, Joao Monteiro and Bastian Steger are the first four Olympic qualifiers for London.