Germany’s in form Timo Boll, Sweden’s rejuvenated Jörgen Persson, Austria’s pensive Werner Schlager and the Belarus maestro, Vladimir Samsonov were the four players to progress safely through the first stage of proceedings at the Liebherr Super Cup in Moscow on Tuesday 11th November 2008.
Shocks were few and far between in the opening exchanges with the pecking order of the current ITTF Men’s World Ranking list prevailing. However, as matters progressed there were results to raise the eyebrows with Jörgen Persson continuing to enjoy his new lease of life.
Good Start for Favourites
In Group A top seed Timo Boll beat Denmark’s Michael Maze in straight games whilst Werner Schlager overcame Zoran Primorac in one game more.Â
Similarly in Group B the favourites prevailed.Â
Vladimir Samsonov gained some consolation for his Olympic defeat at the hands of Jörgen Persson by beating the Swede in five games, whilst the innovative German, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, used his skills to full effect to overcome Igor Rubtsov in straight games.Â
Perfect Twelve
A good start for Timo Boll and the impressive run continued; he beat Michael Maze, without the loss of a single game, and handed out the same punishment to Zoran Primorac by recording a third straight games victory.
Twelve games played, twelve games won, no defeats; that was the superb record of Timo Boll.
Austrian Wins Nail-Biter
Second place in the group went to Werner Schlager with victories over Zoran Primorac and Michael Maze; the duel against the Dane being the crucial contest after both had overcome Zoran Primorac.
Werner Schlager prevailed in what was the closest contest of the day. He won a gruelling seven games duel by the very narrowest of margins.
Igor Rubtsov Once Again
Meanwhile, in Group B, Vladimir Samsonov and Jörgen Persson both beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov but there was a shock in store for the man from Belarus; as at the ITTF Pro Tour tournament in Santiago earlier in the year he was beaten by the power of Igor Rubtsov.
The win was a consolation prize for the Russian with Samsonov and Persson, by virtue of two victories each, gaining the qualification places and Samsonov at the top of the list owing to his win against the Swede.
Semi-Finals
In the semi-finals Timo Boll meets Jörgen Persson whilst Werner Schlager confronts Vladimir Samsonov.
Source: www.ittf.com
