Action begun today at the BISFed European Championships in Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal ©Euro Boccia 2017

Slovakia triumphed in all three of their BC4 pairs matches on the opening day of the Boccia International Federation (BISFed) European Championships in Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal.

Competing in Pool A at the Municipal Pavilion, the Slovakians beat Spain 10-0, Slovenia 5-4 and Hungary 3-1.

Russia won two of their three games, defeating Hungary 3-2 and Spain 4-2.

It followed a 5-3 loss to Slovenia.

There were also wins for Spain, 7-3 against Slovenia, and Hungary, 3-2 against Spain.

In Pool B, Croatia begun the day with a 3-2 loss to Great Britain before overcoming Germany 8-2 and Greece 8-0.

They then lost 5-4 to Portugal, who also defeated Greece 10-1 and Germany 9-0.

Britain’s two other games saw them beat Greece 15-0 and Germany 5-2.

Pairs and team events took centre stage on the first day of competition ©BISFed
Pairs and team events took centre stage on the first day of competition ©BISFed

In the BC3 pairs event, Belgium won both of their matches in Pool A after beating Germany 4-2 and Russia 5-3.

Greece defeated Germany 3-2 before drawing 3-3 with Sweden.

There were also wins for Russia, 4-3 against Sweden, and Sweden, 6-1 against Germany.

Pool B saw Spain beat France 5-2 and Denmark 8-1 either side of a 5-4 loss to Portugal.

In other results, Denmark defeated Portugal 7-5 and France overcame Britain 4-1.

Greece were the dominant force in Pool A of the BC1/BC2 team event, beating Spain and Portugal by the same scoreline of 6-4 and Poland 13-0.

The Netherlands triumphed in their two outings, defeating Poland 7-4 and Spain 8-2.

Portugal overcame Poland 7-1 in the first match of the day.  

In Pool B, Britain are undefeated so far after beating Italy 6-4 and Israel 9-3.

Israel were victorious in their two other encounters, defeating Slovakia 5-3 and Italy 10-2.

Russia overcame Italy 15-0 before losing 7-2 to Slovakia.