by Simon Daish
Qualifying for the event as a host nation competitor, Lionel Weber can’t wait to mix it with Europe’s biggest table tennis stars and believes he is capable of toppling whoever he meets in round one.
“I’m really looking forward to getting the chance to play again. It’s for sure one of the highlights of my year. My goal is to play a good match and to make an upset in the first round.” Lionel Weber
Making his Europe Top 16 debut last year Weber was handed one of the toughest opening round fixtures possible, meeting the top seed from Germany, Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Despite putting up a brave fight, the Swiss star fell at the first hurdle.
Seeded 16th for the second year running Weber is once again destined to face a big test from one of Europe’s elite but the Swiss star is ready for the challenge, no matter who stands in his way.
“I don’t have any particular opponents which I want to play. I already played against Dima [Ovtcharov] and Timo [Boll] in 2018 so I guess it can’t get any harder!” Lionel Weber
With just a few days to go before the continent’s finest players take to the tables in Montreux, Weber is excited to represent the host nation in front of the local fans again and is crossing his fingers for a stronger outing this time around.
“Last year was an amazing experience to play in front of this crowd. They gave me a lot of motivation and confidence. In the beginning I was a little bit nervous and didn’t have a very good start into the match. I hope I can manage to improve that in this year’s tournament.” Lionel Weber
The ITTF would like to pass along its thanks to Lionel Weber for the quick interview.
