TTSTAR - ENJOY TABLE TENNIS

Düsseldorf. “I have to work a lot tomorrow”, said Elke Schall with a sigh right after the draw of the 2010 LIEBHERR Europe Top 12. “I will have to play many topspins to survive this group.” The reigning German national Champion was drawn into group B together with the two defensive players, Viktoria Pavlovich (Belarus) and Li Qian from Poland. “I didn’t play for half a year because of a foot injury”, Schall explained. “I’m back for three months now, practiced a lot, also in China at the beginning of January. I feel quite comfortable but I’m still lacking the experience of big tournaments like this one.”

“There are no easy opponents at the Top 12”, said top-seed Wu Jiaduo. She will face her club mate in German Bundesleague Krisztina Toth from Hungary and Daniela Dodean at the preliminary group. “Kriszti and I know each other very well. There won’t be any surprise strokes in our match. Against Daniela Dodean it will be an interesting match, too.” The reigning European Champion is looking forward to her ‘home match’. “The atmosphere is always very good here in Germany. I hope there will be a cheering crowd tomorrow as well. I hope that I’m still in the race on Sunday with the support of the spectators.”

Persson: 16 participations so far, 1 victory "only"

Europe’s number one, Timo Boll, assumed that it is “not an easy task for me. But I practiced hard during the last weeks. I’ll try my best.” He will face national team mate Bastian Steger and Austrian's defender Chen Weixing. Sweden’s Jörgen Persson in group D with Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) and Christian Süß (Germany) is the most experienced player in Düsseldorf. This is going to be his 17th participation at the continental ranking tournament. “Actually I didn’t count”, he had to admit. “It was a couple of times, I know. And I know that I only won once. Actually this is quite bad as I participated so often. So I’ll try to win again.”

For ETTU President Stefano Bosi it “is always a pleasure for me to open this very special event. The 2009 LIEBHERR European Championships in Stuttgart are still in our memories. It was a great tournament and we hope that this is going to be another great tournament in Germany.” Thomas Weikert, President of the German Table Tennis Association, commended the “perfect conditions at the venue”, Burg-Wächer Castello, “and the great support from the city of Düsseldorf and the county of North-Rhine Westfalia”. He added that it was a pity that the reigning European Champion could not play. Michael Maze from Denmark still has not completely recovered from his leg injury. “Bad luck for Michael was good luck for Bastian Steger." Steger came in as the first substitute. With him there are altogether five German players in the men's competition.

Preliminary groups

Men

Group A
Timo Boll GER
Chen Weixing AUT
Bastian Steger GER
11.00 a.m.: Timo Boll - Bastian Steger
12.40 a.m.: Winner - Chen Weixing
02.20 p.m.: Loser - Chen

Group B
Werner Schlager AUT
Zoran Primorac HRV
Patrick Baum GER
11.00 a.m.: Patrick Baum - Werner Schlager
12.40 a.m.: Winner - Zoran Primorac
02.20 p.m.: Loser - Primorac

Group C
Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER
Kalinikos Kreanga GRE
Robert Gardos AUT
11.00 a.m.: Dimitrij Ovtcharov - Robert Gardos
12.40 a.m.: Winner - Kalinikos Kreanga
02.20 p.m.: Loser - Kreanga

Group D
Vladimir Samsonov BLR
Jörgen Persson SWE
Christian Süß GER
11.00 a.m.: Christian Süß - Vladimir Samsonov
12.40 a.m.: Winner - Jörgen Persson
02.20 p.m.: Loser - Persson

Women

Group A
Wu Jiaduo GER
Krisztina Toth HUN
Daniela Dodean ROU
11.50 a.m.: Wu Jiaduo - Daniela Dodean
01.30 p.m.: Winner - Krisztina Toth
03.10 p.m.: Loser - Toth

Group B
Viktoria Pavlovich BLR
Li Qian POL
Elke Schall GER
11.50 a.m.: Elke Schall - Viktoria Pavlovich
01.30 p.m.: Winner - Li Qian
03.10 p.m.: Loser - Li

Group C
Li Jiao NED
Tamara Boros HRV
Elizabeta Samara ROU
11.50 a.m.: Li Jiao - Elizabeta Samara
01.30 p.m.: Winner - Tamara Boros
03.10 p.m.: Loser - Boros

Group D
Liu Jia AUT
Li Jie NED
Ruta Paskauskiene LTU
11.50 a.m.: Liu Jia - Ruta Paskauskiene
01.30 p.m.: Winner - Li Jie
03.10 p.m.: Loser - Li

(www.europe-top-12.de)