EURO TOP 16 Recap: Boll On Top
(by Steve Hopkins/Photo by ITTF)
When the dust settled in Montreaux, Switzerland, it was Timo Boll on top at the CCB 2020 Europe Top 16 Cup. The Euro Top 16 matches up the best players in Europe (maximum of 2 players per country). This year, the top seeds were Mattias Falck, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Timo Boll, and Simon Gauzy.
Top seeded Mattias Falck had a solid showing against France’s Emmanuel Lebesson, but then fell to Robert Gardos in the Quarterfinals. Gardos had begun the day by upsetting Jonathan Groth and finished Saturday with an upset of the tournament’s top seed, however he fell to Timo Boll in the Semifinal.
The tournament’s second seed, Dimitrij Ovtcharov did not play. News was released that indicated he had a temperature and was forced to recover. He is also still recovering from injury and his deep run to the Semifinals a week ago at the German Open may not have left much recovery time. The beneficiary of the Walk Over was Tomislav Pucar. Pucar made the most of his opportunity by upsetting Marcos Freitas in the Quarterfinals but he run ended with a 4-1 loss to Darko Jorgic in the Semis.
Darko Jorgic’s run to the Final included a win over Vladimir Samsonov in the first round, a dominant showing against Wang Yang in the Quarterfinals, and the 4-1 win over Pucar in the Semifinals.
Boll’s tournament turned out to be one of his easiest. He opened with a 4-1 win over Kristian Karlsson and then logged a 4-0 win over Liam Pitchford. Poll then won 4-1 over Gardos in the Semis and after losing the first game of the Final, won four in a row to claim the title 4-1 over Darko Jorgic. Timo Boll is the Euro Top 16 Cup Champion.
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