The 2015 World Cup: Seven Europeans in the Round of 16

October 16, 2015
10:30 pm
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Tiago APOLONIA is unique representative of Old Continent who didn’t manage to pass the group stage in Halmstad

After first day of LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF Men`s World Cup in Halmstad five out of six European players passed successfully a group stage to join Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Marcos FREITAS in the Round of 16. Portuguese Tiago APOLONIA is unique representative of the Old Continent who didn’t manage to secure one of two first places in the four qualifying groups.

Host nation must be fully satisfied having both Kristian KARLSSON and Anton KALLBERG in the next stage. KARLSSON beat both his opponents in Group 1 and one of them was Singaporean GAO Ning (4:1).

Each encounter in Group 2 took seven games as all three players finished with 1-1 score. But counting all points Gustavo TSUBOI and Omar ASSAR were better than Tiago APOLONIA.

Both Europeans in Group 3 progressed among the best 16 players: Greek Panagiotis GIONIS (2-0 score) and Frenchman Simon GAUZY (1-1).

Austrian Robert GARDOS who led his national team to the gold medal at the recent 2015 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships confirmed good form beating both his opponents in straight games in Group 4. Young Anton KALLBERG continues thanks to victory against Indian Sharat-Kamal ACHANTA.

In the Round of 16 one all-European clash will be seen between Marcos FREITAS and Panagiotis GIONIS. Actual European champion Dima OVTCHAROV will play against GAO Ning.

LIEBHERR 2015 Men´s World Cup Halmstad Sweden

Day 1 (October 16^th)

Qualifying groups

GROUP 1: Kristian KARLLSON – GAO Ning 4:1 (11:4 5:11 11:6 13:11 11:7) GAO Ning – William HENZELL 4:0 (11:5 11:9 11:3 11:7) Kristian KARLSSON – William HENZELL 4:1 (11:8 11:5 9:11 11:3 11:8).

GROUP 2: Tiago APOLONIA – Omar ASSAR 4:3 (6:11 11:6 11:5 11:8 7:11 4:11 11:8) Tiago APOLONIA – Gustavo TSUBOI 3:4 (11:8 11:5 9:11 11:8 7:11 4:11 8:11) Gustavo TSUBOI – Omar ASSAR 3:4 (11:13 11:9 11:8 7:11 6:11 11:8 11:6).

GROUP 3: Panagiotis GIONIS – Simon GAUZY 4:1 (11:6 11:9 11:9 9:11 11:8) Panagiotis GIONIS – Jimmy BUTLER 4:0 (11:4 11:9 11:3 11:9) Simon GAUZY – Jimmy BUTLER 4:0 (12:10 11:8 11:7 11:8).

GROUP 4: Robert GARDOS – Sharat-Kamal ACHANTA 4:0 (11:7 11:9 11:7 11:5) Robert GARDOS – Anton KALLBERG 4:0 (11:8 12:10 11:8 11:9) Anton KALLBERG – Sharat-Kamal ACHANTA 4:0 (11:5 11:6 11:1 11:8).

Day 2 (October 17^th)

Round of 16: MA Long (1^stseed CHN) – Omar ASSAR (14 EGY) 11:00 CET Panagiotis GIONIS (11 GRE) – Marcos FREITAS (5 POR) 11:00 Koki NIWA (7 JPN) – Robert GARDOS (12 AUT) 11:45 GAO Ning (9 SIN) – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (3 GER) 11:45 Jun MIZUTANI (4 JPN) – Anton KALLBERG (18 SWE) 12:30 Gustavo TSUBOI (17 BRA) – TANG Peng (8 HKG) 12:30 CHUANG Chih-Yuan (6 TPE) – Kristian KARLSSON (16 SWE) 13:15 Simon GAUZY (13 FRA) – FAN Zhendong (2 CHN) 13:15.

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