Tournaments

03 Feb 2019

Winners one year ago, on Saturday 2nd February at the CCB 2019 Europe Top 16 Cup both Germany’s Timo Boll and Romania’s Bernadette Szocs kept their hopes alive of a repeat success but there were surprises.

Austria’s Daniel Habesohn and Poland’s Natalia Partyka proved a revelation.

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

2019 Europe Top 16 Cup Natalia Partyka Daniel Habesohn
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Day 2 - China Construction Bank 2019 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup