Member Associations | 14 Jul 2020

Duesseldorf Masters: ASSAR hoping for revenge

At the seventh event of the Duesseldorf Masters from Friday to Sunday, five top 100 players will be at the starting line. The first and second positions in the seeding list are occupied once more by Omar ASSAR and Benedikt DUDA, the two finalists of the previous week. All matches will be broadcast live on Sportdeutschland.TV, Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de.

 

Egypt's Omar ASSAR, who was in front 3-0 in the final against Benedikt DUDA from Bergneustadt in Sunday's match and runs ahead 7-3 in the fifth game, is hoping for revenge for his defeat in finals. For ASSAR, who is under contract for Borussia Duesseldorf, it was his second defeat in the finale after losing to Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in June.

ASSAR, who is number 38 in the world, is also set to take first place in the seeding of this  week ahead of Benedikt DUDA, the number 39. Portugal Open Winner DANG Qiu (Grünwettersbach) and Sweden's Anton KALLBERG are starting also with high hopes for their first masters victory. Fifth top 100 player of the tournament is Albert MINO from Ecuador, who currently holds 77th place in the ITTF ranking.

 

Kilian ORT may also be counted among the extended circle of tournament favourites. Germany’s national team player from Bad Köngishofen, who is competing in the Masters for his first time, is currently number 198 in the world rankings. For the runner-up of German National Championships 2018 it is a re-entry into the competition. In autumn 2019, the 24-year-old, who in his young career has often been set back by injuries, had to take a forced break. Shortly after his return to the table at the end of January at the German Open, ORT had once again folded and had to give up the tournament.

 

Men's national coach Joerg ROSSKOPF: "For KILIAN, who is also participating in our training course this week, it will be the first competition. After the German Open he had a period of problems with his ankle and calf".

 

The interim balance of the national coach for the Duesseldorf Masters is very good after five men's tournaments so far. Joerg ROSSKOPF: "Overall, I am very satisfied with how things have gone so far. Even if some players are missing from time to time due to injury or other plans, it is a very important tournament for our national squad. The combination of training during the week and competition at the weekend fits very well, because the Masters simulates the tournament situations we are currently missing. At the moment we are preparing for the European Championships in mid-September, which, according to the current state of affairs, are to be held in Warsaw on the scheduled date.”

 

A full field of 16 players will start on Friday afternoon (from 4 p.m.) as well as on Saturday and Sunday (from 10 a.m.) at the seventh Duesseldorf Masters. The six favourites will be challenged by a total of ten national junior players from the DTTB U23 support squad and the German Table Tennis Boarding School.

 

ROSSKOPF added: "The Masters is also important for our young players, who fill up our fields and therefore meet the best in competitive situations. These are very valuable experiences".

 

 

Duesseldorf Masters, 7th tournament (17-19 July)

 

Round of 16, 18 July (6 matches in chronological order)

Benedict Duda GER (2) - To Duy Dang GER, 4 p.m.

Dang Qiu GER (3) - Felix Koehler GER, directly after, but not before 4.40 pm

Omar Assar GER (1) - Tobias Saeltzer GER, immediately following, but not before 17.20

Alberto Mino ECU (5 ) - Kirill Fadeev GER, immediately following but not before 18.00

Anton Kaellberg SWE (3) - André Bertelsmeier GER, immediately following, but not before 6.40 p.m.

Kilian Ort GER (6) - Gerrit Engemann GER, directly after, but not before 19.20

 

Round of 16, 18 July (2 matches in chronological order)

Tobias Hippler GER (7) - Dennis Klein GER, 10 a.m

Fanbo Meng GER (8) - Cedric Meissner GER, directly after, but not before 10.40 a.m.

Quarter-finals, 18 July (in chronological order)

Omar Assar GER or Tobias Saeltzer GER - Kilian Ort GER or Gerrit Engemann GER, 11.20 am

Anton Kaellberg SWE or André Bertelsmeier GER - Tobias Hippler GER or Dennis Klein GER, directly after, but not before 12.05

Dang Qiu GER or Felix Koehler GER - Fanbo Meng GER or Cedric Meissner GER, directly after, but not before 12.50

Benedikt Duda GER or An Duy Dang GER - Alberto Mino ECU or Kirill Fadeev GER, immediately following but not before 13.35

 

Semifinal, July 19

Winner 1st quarter final - Winner 2nd quarter final, 10am

Winner 3rd quarter final - Winner 4th quarter final, immediately following but not before 10.45 a.m.

Final, July 19th

1 p.m.