Schwechat – Austria, Oct 14, 2013: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) and Fen LI (SWE) are the respective men’s and women’s champions at the LIEBHERR 2013 European Championships which concluded today in Schwechat, Austria.
The London 2012 bronze medalist OVTCHAROV showed nerves of steel in the final, as he powered past three-time champion Vladimir SAMSONOV (BEL) 4-0 (11-4, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8) to clinch his first ever European crown.
With this victory, the 26 year-old and world number six finally outshone his teammate and six-time European Champion Timo BOLL, who had to withdraw from the event due to injury.
“I was ready for SAMSONOV since he always played very well against me,” said OVTCHAROV. “However, I think today he was little bit tired after the semi final. It has been long tournament for both of us. I played much more aggressive and it proved as good tactics.”
“I had good preparations in China this summer,” he added. “Playing in their Chinese Super League gave me more self-confidence.”
After suffering a gold drought, traditional powerhouse Sweden now has another champion to cheer for, as Fen LI beat Xiaona SHAN (GER) 4-2 (9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6) in an absorbing encounter to clinch her maiden European title.
“It was good to play in front of “my” supporters,” said LI who also plays for Austrian team SVS Strock. “It gave me extra power. I never believed I could win the Championships. It is first time that I am at European Championships and this is like dream come true.”
Ruiwu TAN (CRO) and Zeng Yi WANG (POL) broke the large crowd’s hearts by beating local Austrian pair Robert GARDOS & Daniel HABESOHN in the Men’s Doubles final 4-1 (11-6, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8).
The Women’s Double final was an all German affair between Petrissa SOLJA/Sabine WINTER and Zhenqi BARTHEL/Xiaona SHAN. Despite starting on the wrong foot 0-2, the experienced pair of SOLJA/WINTER prevailed to win the prestigious title 4-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6).
“We know each other very well,” commented SOLJA. “It was a hard match, but even after they had an advantage I was not scared as it had happened before. At the German national Championships they had even bigger advantage, but we eventually won the title. Sabine told me to fight and I listened.”
The two German gold medals on the final day at the Werner Schlager Academy pushes their tally to four, after claiming both team golds earlier in the week. With such stellar achievements, the world will be anticipating the German Team’s performance at the 2014 ITTF World Team Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
The next major stop on the international table tennis circuit is the LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men’s World Cup on 25-27 October in Verviers, Belgium. —- ITTF/ Photo by: Alex Lomaev
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