by Ian Marshall, Editor

Play organized on a knock-basis; there were no second chances.

…………..In the men’s singles event, Austria’s Daniel Habesohn was the revelation of the day; his first ever appearance in the tournament, the no.11 seed, he beat Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.7 seed (14-12, 11-6, 9-11, 4-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8), followed by Frenchman, Simon Gauzy, the no.9 seed (11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7) to reserve his semi-final place.

…………..Germany’s Timo Boll, the defending champion, showed no mercy; he beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia, the no.13 seed (11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5) and Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, the no.8 seed (11-3, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-1) to reserve his place in the penultimate round.

…………..Runner up one year ago, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the no.3 seed, accounted for Ukraine’s Kou Lei, the no.15 seed (11-2, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6) and Denmark’s Jonathan Groth, the no.6 seed (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3) to reserve his semi-final place.

…………..Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, the no.5 seed avenged his defeat last year at Liebherr 2018 European Championships when losing to Ovidiu Ionescu; in the opening round, he beat the Romanian, the no.12 seed, in five games (11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5)

…………..Panagiotis Gionis of Greece, the no.14 seed, caused an opening round upset; he beat Sweden’s Mattias Falck, the no.2 seed (11-8, 12-14, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8). However, the euphoria was short lived; in the next round he was beaten by Vladimir Samsonov (11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 11-2, 11-7).

…………..Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, the top seed, booked her women’s singles semi-final place but she almost experienced a first round exit. She was stretched to the limit by the host nation’s Rachel Moret, the no.16 seed (7-11, 4-11, 11-6, 15-13, 11-6, 11-13, 12-10). Later she accounted for Germany’s Nina Mittelham (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 15-13) to secure her semi-final place.

…………..In the women’s event the star of the day was Poland’s Natalia Partyka, the 15 seed. She accounted for Li Jie of the Netherlands, the no.4 seed (7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7), prior to ending the hopes of Hungary’s Georgina Pota, the no.7 seed (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11).

…………..Germany’s Petrissa Solja, the no.5 seed, was a player in form; after beating Poland’s Li Qian, the no.9 seed and reigning European champion (9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8), she reserved her semi-final place by overcoming Hungary’s Georgina Pota, the no.7 seed (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11).

…………..Defending women’s champion, Bernadette Szocs made her intentions clear; the no.2 seed, she beat the Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova, the no.12 seed (11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8) and Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova, the no.14 seed, to keep her hopes of second consecutive success alive.

…………..At the semi-final stage of the men’s event, Timo Boll faces Dimitrij Ovtcharov; Daniel Habeshon opposes Vladimir Samsonov.

…………..In the penultimate round of the women’s event, Sofia Polcanova meets Petrissa Solja; Natalia Partyka opposes Bernadette Szocs.

CCB 2019 Europe Top 16 Cup: Quotes of the day – Saturday 2nd February