Li Jiao of the Netherlands is the defending champion in the Women’s Singles event at the Slovenian Open in Velenje and of course the ITTF Pro Tour is high on her 2009 calendar.
However, one tournament that will be boldly circled on that calendar is the Liebherr European Championships to be staged in Stuttgart in September. She will be seeking to regain the Women’s Singles crown that she won in Belgrade in 2007 and she will have her eyes on more gold.
She will be seeking to regain the Women’s Singles crown that she won in Belgrade in 2007 and she will have her eyes on more gold.
Notably that will be in the Women’s Team event where the Netherlands are the defending champions and in the Women’s Doubles where the Nederlandse Tafeltennisbond has announced she will partner Croatia’s Tamara Boros.
Olympic Request
"Li Jiao asked Boros to join forces during the Olympic Games in Beijing last year", said Dutch head coach Pieke Franssen. "However, for the Liebherr 2008 European Championships Boros had already an appointment with Zhenqi Barthel from Germany but this year the cooperation will start; our intentions are clear, we will aim for the highest."
Further Gold
Certainly it would appear to be a wise choice as Boros has an outstanding record in the Women’s Doubles event at European Championships.
Partnering Romania’s Mihaela Steff she won in 2002 in Zagreb, in 2003 in Courmayeur and in 2005 in Aarhus.
Good Omen
Also, there is a good omen for the new partnership. Li Jiao like Mihaela Steff is left handed, the perfect foil for the right handed Tamara Boros.
In preparation for the Liebherr European Championships n 2009, Li Jiao will partner Tamara Boros at the Qatar Open in February.
Source: www.ittf.com
