Record Breaker Seeking to Set the Records Straight and End Dismal Run

October 31, 2012

Courtesy of ITTF

Winner of the Men’s Singles title at the European Championships on Sunday October 21, 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 October 31st.

Timo Boll, now 31 years old, won his first Tour Men’s Singles title at the Brazil Open in São Paulo in 2001; overall he has no less than 18 such crowns in his collection and one more can arguably be added to the list. In 2004, he won the Men’s Singles title at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in the Chinese city of Fuzhou.

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.

Not Happy Reading
The results do not make happy reading for the German star; in fact they might even cause his supporters nightmares.

To date, he has appeared twice on the GAC GROUP 2012 World Tour, on both occasions he has been beaten in the second round.

Second Round Exits
In June in Kobe, he was quite sensationally beaten by Korea’s Jung Youngsik; on that occasion whatever the young Korean attempted turned to gold and, when it came to a deciding seventh game, he won time and time again. It is a tournament he will never forget.

Defeat in Kobe, two months later at the GAC GROUP 2012 Harmony China Open he stumbled at the same hurdle, being ousted by the host nation’s Hao Shuai.

Another Player in Form
Again Timo Boll ran into a player in form; Hao Shuai progressed to win the tournament beating three further notable names.

He accounted for Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus in the quarterfinals before overcoming colleagues Xu Xin and Wang Liqin to arrest the title.

A Good Omen
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.

Challengers
The major challenge to Timo Boll in the Men’s Singles event may well come from his German National Team compatriot, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, bronze medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games in both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Team event. He is the second seed in the Men’s Singles event.

Following the success gained in London’s ExCeL Arena, Dimitrij Ovtcharov suffered a reaction after the strenuous efforts; he was not at his best at the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup in Liverpool in late September and did not achieve his goals at the European Championships.

However, with wins over Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi and Korea’s Ryu Seungmin at the recently concluded Asia versus Europe All Stars Series, Dimitrij Ovtcharov is clearly back to form.

Sensational Win
Not in form in Liverpool but if there was one player who hit form at the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup, it was Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, the player Dimitrij Ovtcharov beat to win his Olympic Games Men’s Singles bronze medal, in the first phase of proceedings, he beat the eventual winner, China’s Ma Long.

Chuang Chih-Yuan is seeded no.3 ahead of Singapore’s Gao Ning; 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.

Better News in Japan
The GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour Japan Open proved not to be a happy hunting ground for Timo Boll; for Spain’s Shen Yanfei it was quite the reverse. She won the Women’s Singles event beating Korea’s Kim Kyungah in the final.

In Bremen, she is the no.1 seed and will be seeking to rediscover the form that saw her clinch the bronze medal at the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup in Huangshi one month ago; at the recently concluded European Championships, she did not live up to her billing.

Seeded no.1, she was beaten by Germany’s Kristin Silbereisen in the third round of the Women’s Singles event.

Regained Title
The host nation’s Wu Jiaduo is the no.2 seed in the Women’s Singles event 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.

Top Seeds
Meanwhile, top seeds in the Men’s Doubles event are Korea’s Kim Minseok and Seo Hyudeok; while 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.

Prize Fund
The total prize fund is $120,400 with the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles each collecting $14,000.

Schedule
Play starts on Wednesday October 31st with the qualification stages of the Men’s and Women’s Singles event.

The main draw commences on Friday November 2, 2012.