Lausanne – Oct 30, 2012: Dismal, Winner of the Men’s Singles title at the European Championships on Sunday 21st October 2012, securing the title for an unprecedented sixth time, Germany’s Timo BOLL is the top seed in the Men’s Singles event at the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour German Open. Proceedings start in Bremen on Wednesday 31st October.
Timo BOLL, now 31 years old, won his first Tour Men’s Singles title at the Brazil Open in So Paulo in 2001; overhaul he has no less than 18 such crowns in his collection.
A host of titles and records to his credit but if there is one record he needs to put straight; it is his record on the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour. To date, he has appeared twice and twice he has suffered defeat in the second round.
In June in Kobe, he was quite sensationally defeated by Korea’s JUNG Youngsik; two months later at the 2012 Harmony China Open he stumbled at the same hurdle, being beaten by the host nation’s HAO Shuai, the champion elect.
Disappointment for Timo BOLL on the GAC GROUP 2012 World Tour but there is a good omen for the German hero. In 2009 the German Open was staged in Bremen; Timo BOLL won the Men’s Singles title.
The major challenge to Timo BOLL in the Men’s Singles event may well come from his German National Team compatriot, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games in both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Team event. He is the no.2 seed at the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour German Open.
Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan, the player Dimitrij OVTCHAROV beat in London to win his Men’s Singles bronze medal, is the no.3 seed. Singapore’s GAO Ning, Hong Kong’s JIANG Tianyi, Korea’s LEE Jungwoo plus the Japanese duo of Koki NIWA and Seiya KISHIKAWA complete the top eight names in the Men’s Singles event.
Top seed in the Women’s Singles event is Spain’s SHEN Yanfei, the winner earlier in the year in Japan. The host nation’s WU Jiaduo is the no.2 seed followed by Korea’s DANG Yeseo, with Viktoria PAVLOVICH of Belarus, the player in form, being the no.4 seed.
The Belarus defender remained safe and secure at the recent European Championships to stave off all pretenders and thus regained the crown won two years earlier in the Czech city of Ostrava.
Hong Kong’s JIANG Huajun, Korea’s SEOK Hajung, Japan’s Sayaka HIRANO and Austria’s LIU Jia complete the top eight names.
Meanwhile, top seeds in the Men’s Doubles event are Korea’s KIM Minseok and SEO Hyudeok; whilst in the Women’s Doubles competition, the names at the top of the list are CHENG I-Ching and HUANG Yi-Hua.
Leading the way in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event is Chinese Taipei’s CHEN Chien-An; in the counterpart Under 21 Women’s Singles competition it is Korea’s JEON Jihee.
The total prize fund is $120,400 with the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles each collecting $14,000.
Play starts on Wednesday 31st October with the qualification stages of the Men’s and Women’s Singles event. The main draw commences on Friday 2nd November 2012. —- ITTF/Photo by Steve Parkin..
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