Darko Jorgić at 17.50 for the quarterfinals with the French qualifier

Darko Jorgić will face French qualifier Leo De Nordest in the quarterfinals of the European table tennis championships in Ljubljana at 17:50 local time. This match marks the last remaining Slovenian competitor in the men's singles competition. The match will be broadcast starting at 16:05 on TV SLO 2 and MMC. Jorgić, seeded fourth, defeated Spain’s Diego Lillo (ranked 106th in Europe) and Poland’s Milosz Redzinski (ranked 22nd) in his opening two matches with scores of 4:3 each. De Nordest, ranked 74th in Europe, won all three qualifying matches before defeating Belgium’s Adrian Rassenfosse (4:1) and Slovakia’s Yang Wang (4:3) in the round of 16. Jorgić has yet to meet De Nordest in previous encounters. The winner of this quarterfinal will face the better-ranked player from the match between fifth seed Benedict Duda (Germany) and Finnish surprise Benedito Olah. The first medals for the mixed doubles competition will be awarded today in Stožice. In the gold medal race, France’s Alexis Lebrun and Charlotte Lutz will face Germany’s Benedict Bud and Nina Mittelhammer. That match is scheduled to start at 20:15 and will also be broadcast on TV SLO 2 and MMC. The quarterfinal match schedule for men’s singles on Friday at 17:50 includes: JORGIC (SLO/4), DE NORDEST (FRA) Jorgić, who secured silver at the 2022 European Championships, faced Poland’s Redzinski in the round of 16. The Polish player started the first set strongly with a 7:1 lead, but Jorgić managed to reduce the deficit to 8:10 before ultimately losing the set 8:11. He struggled again in the second set, falling behind 1:7 and even 1:8 before eventually losing it 11:2. In the third set, Jorgić initially found himself trailing 1:3 but managed to take the lead 6:4 before being overtaken again by Redzinski, who led 7:6. After taking a minute break, Jorgić regained control, reaching 10:9 and reducing the deficit in sets to 1:2. The fourth set began evenly, with both players showing some attractive exchanges. Jorgić slightly took the initiative, raising the tempo and scoring the first point at 10:7 to level the score at 2:2 in sets. In the fifth set, both players were close, with Jorgić having a chance at 10:9 but failing to capitalize. Redzinski recovered to win the set 12:10. Redzinski started the sixth set well, leading 3:0, forcing Jorgić to chase him down again. He caught up at 4:4 and took the lead at 7:6. With a partial score of 6:0, he reached the deciding point at 10:6 but only managed to secure the point at 11:9 in the decisive seventh set. Jorgić was able to establish a commanding lead early in the seventh set, moving ahead 9:1, which proved sufficient for his eventual victory, winning the set 11:4. "I had four planned matches, but someone always dropped out, so this was our first encounter. It was clear we didn’t exactly know what to expect from each other. At the beginning especially, I wasn't finding the right rhythm in the first two sets. I'm just glad I made that turnaround. I knew the match would be tough from the very first point. In the end, I’m happy I pulled through," said Damir Jorgić. Patrick Franziska, seeded eighth in Europe, quickly defeated Deni Kožul with a score of 4:0 in their match. The Slovenian player, ranked 30th in Europe, lost the first set 11:6. The second set started more evenly, with Kožul leading 5:3 but eventually losing it 11:9. The third set was completely in Franziska’s favor, with the German player winning it 11:4. In the fourth set, Kožul showed his knowledge, reaching 10:6 for the first deciding point but Franziska closed in to 9:10 before equalizing and securing the point for 12:10 and the overall victory. Kožul, who had previously defeated British player Liam Pitchford 4:0 in the preliminary rounds, was unable to overcome Franziska in this match. The winner of this quarterfinal will face the better-ranked player from the match between Croatian Tomislav Pucar (ranked 13th) and Portuguese João Geraldo (ranked 18th).