Greece deliver stunning KO for England at Euros

October 14, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

England’s men were left stunned by veteran Panagiotis Gionis as Greeceâ€s 3-1 victory knocked them out of the European Championships.

After yesterdayâ€s 3-2 victory over fourth seeds Portugal, England had high hopes of going through as group winners.

Instead, their hopes were left in tatters as Greece progressed alongside Portugal, following a three-way countback.

With Greece having lost 3-1 to Portugal in their first match, they knew a 3-0 or 3-1 win would send them through, and it was 45-year-old defender Gionis who was the main architect of Englandâ€s downfall as he defeated both Paul Drinkhall and Tom Jarvis.

England actually took the lead as Jarvis staved off a developing crisis when he trailed Ioannis Sgouropoulos by two games.

A timeout at 7-8 down in the third – Jarvis had led 7-5 – was the catalyst. Whatever John Murphy and the players on the bench said, it spurred Jarvis to reel off four points to get back into the match.

His opponent, ranked 359 but who has been inside the top 150, had up to that point shown commendable coolness and no little skill up close to the table, turning Jarvis†attacks back on him as he took the first game 11-4 and the second 12-10 having saved a game point.

But the fourth and fifth saw the Englishman increasingly having the measure of Sgouropoulos, conceding only nine points across the games, and only three in the decider, which he led 8-0 and 10-1.

Drinkhall was on fire in defeating Joao Monteiro as England beat Portugal yesterday, but today it did not quite happen for him against one-time world No 18 Panagiotis Gionis.

Only in the third did Drinkhall show his best form, winning that game 11-8 to reduce the arrears. Other than that, 45-year-old Gionis was in control and did not concede more than seven points in any of the three games he won to put Greece back on level terms.

With Gionis due back on court in Match 4, the third tie between Sam Walker and Giorgios Stamatouros was pivotal. Walker is ranked almost 300 places above his opponent (182 v 472) but the gulf did not show in a tight encounter.

Walker led 5-3 in the first and 6-2 in the second but on both occasions was unable to convert and his frustration showed as he collected a yellow card in the third as Stamatouros completed a 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8) victory.

With Jarvis needing to win, he did not get off to the best of starts as Gionis won four of the first five points. Jarvis worked his way back to 4-4 and then 7-7, only for the Greek maestro to reel off four successive points.

Jarvis led the second 4-1 but took his timeout at 4-5 and only got his next point at 4-7. He fought back to 6-7 but it was another 11-7 score in Gionis†favour and Greece were just one game away.

Again, there was an England lead in the third, but 6-4 became 6-9 and it was almost all over. Jarvis took two points to force a Gionis timeout, and then levelled the score at 9-9.

But Greece were not to be denied and Gionis took his second match point to prompt big celebrations in the blue corner and a time for reflection in the red.

Results

Men’s Group D
Greece 3 England 1
Tom Jarvis bt Ioannis Sgouropoulos 3-2 (4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3)
Panagiotis Gionis bt Paul Drinkhall 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5)
Giorgios Stamatouros bt Sam Walker 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8)
Gionis bt Jarvis 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 12-10)

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