Twenty-one year old Zolt Pete clinched gold the Stag Belarus Open in
Minsk on Sunday 31st May 2009 and in so doing became the first Serbian
to win a Men’s Singles crown in the 13 year old history of the ITTF Pro
Tour.
Seeded no.21, Zolt Pete was not considered a major
challenger for honours when matters commenced on Wednesday 27th May, he
was not even considered the main Serbian challenger for honours; that
mantle rested on the shoulders of Aleksandar Karakasevic, the no.1 seed.
Rose to Challenge
However,
Karakasevic departed in round three and compatriot Marko Jevtovic bid
farewell one round later, leaving the Pete with the task of promoting
the Serbian cause.
Pete rose to the challenge winning a series
of tense duels, the final being no exception; the contest again
eleventh seed, Bartosz Such was a nerve tingling affair with Pete
emerging victorious in a contest that kept the crowd spellbound.
Zolt Pete won 7-11, 11-7, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7.
Seven Games
"It
was a lucky tournament for me", said Pete. "I won many matches in seven
games; in some of them I was down and won; it’s a great victory for me
and it’s the first time I’ve played Such."
Certainly, Zolt Pete
won the hard way; he won four of his six matches in seven games; that
must be some sort of ITTF Pro Tour record?
Route to Gold
In
round one he overcame Russia’s Artem Utochkin in seven games and did
the same in round three against Denmark’s Martin Monrad; likewise in
the semi-final in opposition to the Czech Republic’s Tomas Konecny he
went the full distance as he did in the final against Bartosz Such.
No
match was won in straight games; in his two other encounters he
defeated Slovakia’s Thomas Keinath in six games in round two and
Emmanuel Lebesson of France in five games in the quarter-finals.
Best Performance
The
win of Zolt Pete in Minsk is by some distance his best performance on
the ITTF Pro Tour, the previous Men’s Singles best being a second round
place in St Petersburg at the Eurosib Russian Open in November 2006.
In
Minsk, Pete, currently ranked no.183 on the ITTF Men’s World Rankings
having enjoyed a career high of no.170 in December 2008, upset the
odds; he started as rank outsider, he finished as the champion, the
2009 Stag Belarus Open Men’s Singles champion.
Source: www.ittf.com
