An injury sustained in the table tennis events at the 12th Ramadan
Games in Abu Dabi has forced Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro to withdraw from
the Liebherr Men’s World Cup, to be staged in the Belgian city of
Liège, from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th September 2008.
He is replaced by Denmark’s 27 year old Michael Maze.
It is an immense disappointment for the Brazilian.
Outstanding Form
The
young man, who hails from Fortelza in the north of Brazil, was in
outstanding form at the Latin American Championships earlier in the
year in the Dominican Republic winning the Men’s Singles title beating
the host nation’s Lin Jun in the final.
Furthermore, he
impressed at the recent Beijing Olympic Games and he has competed in
the Men’s World Cup on one previous occasion; that was in 2004 in
Hangzhou when he beat Korea’s Ryu Seung Min, a player he also beat one
month ago at the Beijing Olympics!
Similar Situation
Michael Maze is in a similar situation, he has played in the Men’s World Cup on one previous occasion.
Ironically, that was also in Liège; the one and only previous occasion that the Belgian city has hosted the event in 2005.
Quarter-Finalist
On that occasion, the Dane reached the quarter-final stage eventually losing to Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.
In the group stage he lost to China’s Wang Liqin in his opening match but then overcame Lin Ju and Korea’s Oh Sang Eun.
Source: www.ittf.com
