by Simon Daish
Andrej Gacina had been set to participate at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Japan Open and the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour China Open in June, but the Croatian player has been forced to withdraw from both events.
The 31-year-old is unfortunately well acquainted with injury problems and in 2016 his struggle for match fitness resulted in a disappointing campaign.
Picking up a large adductor rupture, Gacina has been left frustrated with his persistent injury problems but is hoping to return to action soon.
“I have immediately cancelled my appearances at tournaments after I felt pain… Now all my plans have changed. First I plan to rehabilitate the injury as soon as possible. After that, I need to figure out the reason that I’m fighting with these minor injuries all the time that continuously prevent me from training… The European Team Championships are in September, I would like to be completely healthy and ready in Luxembourg.” Andrej Gacina.
Gacina enjoyed a strong outing earlier in the year at the 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Antibes where he finished in sixth position and featured at the recent Liebherr 2017 World Championships in the German city of Düsseldorf.
However, the Croatian competitor is now in a race against time to return to full fitness ahead of the Liebherr 2017 ITTF-European Team Championships, which are set to commence on Wednesday 13th September.