Reigning champion and the first Slovenian to win China Construction Bank Europe Top 16 Cup Darko JORGIC will be on duty this year in Montreux as well (on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February 2023). For no. 2 seed it will be fourth appearance at the most exclusive Europe tournament. Beside the title he won in 2022 JORGIC played in the final in 2020 too.
Slovenia’s player was on duty this week at WTT tournament in Amman where he reached the Round of 16; previously he was runner up in singles and doubles at the 2022 Contender Slovenia.
“I feel really great. Since the beginning of the year I am raising the level of my shape little by little. Therefore I hope it will be on the right level in Switzerland. My goals are high. For sure I want to defend my title but on the other side I am aware how challenging it is going to be. I cannot take anything lightly with such impressive list of adversaries with same aim like mine ” said JORGIC.
Looking back the 2022 Darko is satisfied.
“I think 2022 was a very good year for me. The most important achievements are definitely 1st place at Europe Top 16 Cup 16 and 2nd place in the European Championship. I also played well in WTT tournaments but this is definitely something special that I would single out. I think I have improved my game very much. Somehow I became a stable player on both sides. I also improved my mental stability during a game a lot; you could saw that last year in the final against Truls. I was 1:3 down and in the end I recovered to win the match 4:3. This year it is definitely important that I keep calm and play my best table tennis. It will certainly be more difficult to defend the title than it was to win it but I think if I am ready in my head and if I mange to be in the same shape as last year I could go far.”
The list of players is impressive as always: top seed is Truls MOREGARD of Sweden followed by Darko and Dang QIU and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden Liam PITCHFORD of England Andrej GACINA of Croatia Simon GAUZY of France Marcos FREITAS of Portugal WANG Yang of Slovakia Robert GARDOS of Austria Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia Jonathan GROTH of Denmark Joao GERALDO of Portugal Elias HARDMEIER of Switzerland and Emmanuel LEBESSON of France.
“Truls is the first seed I am second but that certainly does not mean anything. I think that it will be a difficult road to the final for both of us. In addition I think that we have the quality to make another spectacle and a good match like last year. Certainly if it comes to that duel I think it will be a good match and a great fight for both me and him. All players in the top 16 deserved to be there. I do not think I have a favorite who I would like to play the first round with. Somehow any player who comes will be prepared the same and the pressure will be the same for all. I certainly think that the big favorites are still the Germans. They can be very dangerous for all the players and for me as well.”
CCB Europe Top 16 Cup has its special atmosphere.
“In my opinion it is the best tournament that exist. I feel very good there and it shows with my results in Montreux. The atmosphere is really phenomenal and the fans also contribute a lot for creating a very good environment for all the players. I think we all play much better than usual is it really something special to play in front of a full venue.”
Season is very young. What are the goals for 2023 beside good result at the forthcoming CCB Europe Top 16 Cup?
“The focus this year is on the World Championship and the European Games. Those are the two most important tournaments for me. I will give a lot of effort to try to make a big result there. Certainly the focus is still on the top 16 it is my goal and great desire to defend the title from last year ” stated Darko JORGIC.
The competition is played on a knockout basis. All matches will be played best of 7 games.
