Viktoria Pavlovich

Courtesy of ITTF It was a perfect ending to proceedings for the host nation at the Belarus Open in Minsk on Sunday May 25, 2008; their leading male and female players struck gold. Vladimir Samsonov, the number one seed, won the Men’s Singles title; while Viktoria Pavlovich, seeded two, captured the Women’s Singles crown.

At the final hurdle Vladimir Samsonov overcame China’s Xu Xin, the player against whom he had suffered defeat in the final of the team event; earlier he had ousted Turkey’s Zeng Cem in the quarters and Belarus compatriot Evgueni Chtchetinine in the semis.

It was the eighteenth Men’s Singles title of his career on the ITTF Pro Tour making an overall total of nineteen; in 1997 he won the Men’s Singles crown at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals.

Meanwhile, for Viktoria Pavlovich it was her first ever Women’s Singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour. She beat Linda Creemers of the Netherlands in the quarters, twin sister Veronika Pavlovich in the semis and Poland’s Yan Xiaoshan in the final.

It was Yan Xiaoshan who caused the major upset of the day beating Poland’s Li Qian, the number one seed, in the semi-finals; a player against who she lost in the semi-finals of the Women’s Team event.

However, Yan Xiaoshan almost failed to reach the semi-final stage; in the quarters she saved two match points in the vital seventh game against Russia’s seventeen year old Ekaterina Kolodyazhnaya before securing victory.

MEN'S SINGLES
FINAL
Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) vs. Xu Xin (CHN) 4-1
(11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8)

SEMI-FINALS
Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) vs. Evgueni Chtchetinine (BLR) 4-1
(11-4, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8)
Mikhail Paykov (RUS) vs. Xu Xin (CHN) 0-4
(6-11, 8-11, 7-11, 5-11)

WOMEN'S SINGLES
FINAL
Yan Xiaoshan (POL) vs. Viktoria Pavlovich (BLR) 0-4
(8-11, 5-11, 8-11, 5-11)

SEMI-FINALS
Li Qian (POL) vs. Yan Xiaoshan (POL) 0-4
(5-11, 11-13, 2-11, 7-11)
Veronika Pavlovich (BLR) vs. Viktoria Pavlovich (BLR) 1-4
(8-11,9-11,11-8,9-11,9-11)