Boll bounces back to be crowned king of Europe
Germany’s Timo Boll came from a set down to beat Belarussian Vladimir
Samsonov 4-2 and be crowned European table tennis champion on Sunday.
Samsonov won the first set 14-12, but Boll took three sets in a row
for a 3-1 lead. The Belarussian took the fifth set to reduce the arrears
but Boll won the deciding point 11-5 to take the title. There was a
shock upset in the women’s event after Lithuania’s Ruta Paskauskiene -
ranked 90th in the world - saw off a late fightback from Austria’s Jia
Liu to clinch the title.
Meanwhile, Hungarian duo Krisztina Toth and Georgina Pota won the
women’s doubles title, beating 4-2 Italy’s pair Wenling Tan Monfardini
and Nikoleta Stefanova (ITA) (6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 12-10). A
pair from Germany Timo Boll and Christian Suss defeated Austria’s Werner
Schlager and Dutchman Trinko Keen 4-3 (9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8,
11-6) to claim the European title in the men’s doubles.
Results from the European table tennis championships here on Sunday:
Men’s singles
Final: Timo Boll (GER) bt Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 4-2 (12-14, 12-10,
11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5).
Semi-finals: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) bt Robert Gardos (AUT) 4-0
(11-5, 11-6, 12-10, 11-4).
Timo Boll (GER) bt Werner Schlager (AUT) 4-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5)
Quarter-finals: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) bt Weixing Chen (AUT) 4-0
(11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5).
Robert Gardos (AUT) bt Joao Monteiro (POR) 4-0 (12-10, 12-10, 13-11,
11-7).
Werner Schlager (AUT) bt Jens Lundqvist (SWE) 4-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-7,
11-7).
Timo Boll (GER) bt Michael Maze (DEN) 4-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8,
11-8, 11-5).
2nd rd
Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) bt Bastian Steger (GER) 4-3 (9-11, 11-4,
11-5, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9).
Weixing Chen (AUT) bt Thomas Keinath (SVK) 4-3 (13-11, 7-11, 11-8,
5-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6).
Robert Gardos (AUT) bt Jean-Michel Saive (BEL) 4-1 (8-11, 13-11,
11-5, 11-0, 11-0).
Joao Monteiro (POR) bt Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 4-2 (7-11, 16-14,
12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9).
Werner Schlager (AUT) bt Fedor Kuzmin (RUS) 4-1 (11-6, 11-8, 8-11,
11-6, 11-4).
Jens Lundqvist (SWE) bt Zhi Wen He (ESP) 4-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-1,
11-6).
Michael Maze (DEN) bt Alexei Smirnov (RUS) 4-1 (13-11, 11-7, 8-11,
11-8, 11-6).
Timo Boll (GER) bt Bojan Tokic (SLO) 4-0 (11-6, 11-1, 11-8, 11-1).
SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia, Monday (AFP)
|
