The favorites were tested as the second part of the opening day at the China Construction Bank Europe Top 16 Cup progressed but the greatest upset came with the last match of the quarterfinal. After seven games Liam PITCHFORD booked his place in the penultimate stage by beating top seed Truls MOREGARDH (8:11 11:4 3:11 3:11 11:7 11:4 11:9) .
‘When you play against Truls you never know what you are going to get. He have no rhythm sometimes he is early on the ball and then you have no chance. And that is what happened to me in the third and fourth game. I got no chance. I told myself to stay to stick in and to spin on the ball. I know that he does not like my spins and I spun heavy. I turned the match around and so he got little be nervous. At the end I was brave on the last flick ” said PITCHFORD.
Sofia POLCANOVA (Austria) – YU Fu (Portugal) 4:3 (11:8 7:11 15:13 13:15 11:8 9:11 11;8)
After thrilling seven games no. two seed Sofia POLCANOVA justified her status in the duel against no. 5 seed FU Yu.
“Somehow I always ends up in some kind of drama ” said POLCANOVA laughing and releived after the victory.”SO far I had very negative record in the matches against FU but most of them we played in Champions League. This is maybe second time that we met each other in such event. It is always hard. She has very strong service and powerful first stroke that allows her to control the match. She forces adversaries to be in passive role just to keep their ball on the table. So many times she just made me angry but in this match I did not let my temper mess with my play. I got angry on myself maybe on two or three balls but in the rest of the match I was seeking for my chance.”
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Germany) – Andrej GACINA (Croatia) 4:1 (11:6 12:10 8:11 12:10 11:6)
Despite what the results predicts Dimitrij OVTCHAROV faced severe pressure in the duel against Andrej GACINA.
“I think that he has played one of the best matches against me so far.Andrej improved his game and he forced me to play really good table tennis. I won two very close games and that was the key of the match. I am happy with the outcome but more than that I am happy with my game right now ” said OVTCHAROV.
NI Xia Lian (Luxembourg) – SHAO Jieni (Portugal) (7:11 13:11 7:11 7:11 11:6 4:11)
After SHAO Jieni created a big upset by beating no. four seed YUAN Jia Nan in the Round of 16 Portugal’s player continued with good games. Next in line was NI Xia Lian.
“I knew it would be hard to play against YUAN but I was very calm. That helped me to build my game and to control the match ” said SHAO.”I played so many matches against NI and by now I manage to read her game well. I know how to deal with the players who use rubbers.”
Simon GAUZY (France) – Darko JORGIC (Slovenia) 2:4 (11:5 4:11 9:11 11:8 6:11 8:11)
Reigning champion Darko JORGIC faced very strong challenge from Simon GAUZY. He needed to work very hard to put the match under control.
“We played so many matches against each other in Bundesliga. In previous three occasions I beat him much easily but here Simon is playing on higher level. He put a lot of variations into his service game and he denied all my efforts to attack him with the strong balls. I was forced to change my service and eventually I prevailed. I am happy we did not get to the seventh game ” said JORGIC.
Nina MITTELHAM (Germany) – Hana MATELOVA (Czechia) (10:12 11:9 7:11 11:3 11:5 11:9)
Hana MATELOVA had a better start but Nina MITTELHAM found the way to prevent any upset and to book the place in the penultimate stage.
“At the begining I was not in the match at all. My focus was everywhere else but not at the table. Slowly I started to play better; i started to feel the game and to move better. In the third game I made few mistakes but I was already on the good track. At the end I played very well. Eventually I am very happy with my shape and how I play now ” said Nina.
HAN Ying (Germany) – Bernadette SZOCS (Romania) 4:0 (11:8 11:9 11:9 11:6)
After powerful performance against Bernadette SZOCS reigning champion HAN Ying secured her place in the semifinal.
“I have very good record against SZOCS but it creates some pressure too. Everyone expects I will win again. In addition Bernadette played very clever today and she made a game little bit difficult ” said HAN.
QIU Dang (Germany) – Kristian KARLSSON (Sweden) (11:6 11:13 11:9 11:9 10:12 11:5)
The duel between the fifth and third seed went in favor of higher ranked player. In the first quarterfinal today QIU Dang won the opening game easily but from the second game Kristian forced him to dig deep.
“It was real rollercoaster. After the opening game we went back and forward; he put me under tremendous pressure. Nothing came for certain he overcame few match balls…The most important thing for me was to stay calm and not to lose my focus ” said QIU.
