European Championships | 20 Aug 2022
The day filled with fierce fights, joy and agony in Munich
The penultimate day at the European Championships in Munich was filled with drama, exciting matches, but at the end it concluded with the withdrawal of Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden, due the severe cut on the hand during the semi final match against Darko JORGIC of Slovenia. It was sad conclusion of the day which brought fantastic sport dramas, breathtaking rallies, top class upsets and unforgettable matches of highest quality. Darko progressed to the final where he will meet Germany's Dang QIU.
In the heat of the fierce fight at 2:2 and 5:6, Kristian hit the table and cut his hand deeply. He could not finish the match and left the field in tears. Before he left he gave it another try after the medical break, but he could not play.
"It's tough. It's really, really tough. I don't know what to say. I play aggressively and sometimes you get punished for that. I cut myself and I see something like a piece of bone coming out. After that I can't grip the racket at all. I saw how it looks. When the blood dried, something pops up that I'd never seen before. We will have to look it up. But it isn't good."
On trying to see if it could work before giving up:
"You use your thumb to support the racket and the thumb is the finger that is injured, so I couldn't play. I thought I'd test but I felt that it was over."
On his emotions as he had to withdraw:
"It was tough. I was perhaps in the shape of my life and then not to be able to play, no matter whether you win or lose. I feel like I didn't get the chance and that hurts."
At the European championships Munich 2022 he already won a doubles gold medal and a singles bronze:
"It's too soon to think about that. But I'm obviously proud of my efforts."
The close duel was halted in the heat of the fight. JORGIC had mixed emotions after the semi final.
"I feel sad. Nobody wants to finish a match like this. Especially not in front of thousands of people cheering for you and for Kristian, in such an important stage as it is a semifinal in the Europeans.I really feel sorry for him. Of course I am happy to reach this final but nobody wanted it like this. The match was going really nice, the fans were enjoying it and I think this match would've ended in seven games for sure."
Asked what he told KARLSSON as they hugged on the court, JORGIC responded:
"I said 'I feel really sorry for you'. In these last six months he gave up two times in semifinals because of medical reasons. We are really good friends. If anybody else would be on the other side, maybe I would somehow be a little bit happy but with this I felt really sorry from the beginning. I could not be happy that I reached the gold medal final. But tomorrow is a new way, I have to come in a positive way for tomorrow and try to fight from the beginning."
On playing Dang QIU in the gold medal match:
"It will be a hard match. Dang has showed an amazing performance. The crowd is giving him energy for every point. He is an amazing player, he is really good off the table, on the table. I just hope that I will enjoy it, that I will show an amazing performance and that I can win this gold medal here in Germany."
On whether it was a surprise final:
"I don't know. It was 20 favorites here on the tournament. It was open just until the end who will reach this final. At the end it was me and Dang, we were the strongest from he beginning. I'm just happy that it is like this and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
No. one seed at the Singles Event at the European Championships in Munich 2022, Truls MOREGARDH of Sweden and defending champion Timo BOLL of Germany are both halted in the quarterfinal. Dang QIU and Mattias FALCK of Sweden accounted on favorites to proceed to the penultimate stage.
Later, in the semi final Dang QIU overcame Mattias FALCK (11:6, 11:8, 11:8, 4:11, 11:9).
"I'm very happy. I think no words can describe this feeling. But at the same time, tomorrow the next match is coming up, the final, so I can't have too much time to be happy. I must focus again and after tomorrow I can see what I can do."
Dang eliminated eight-time European champion TimoBOLL and 2019 vice World champion Mattias FALCK in the same day:
"When I woke up, if someone would've told me that I would win against these two players I would've been totally happy and signed it directly but I know it was also very tough. Now that I've done it it feels amazing. A perfect Saturday for me."
QIU spoke about his victory over FALCK.
"It's always uncomfortable playing against him, he's got forehand pimples (on his racket) and not a lot of players on the tour have that kind of material anymore. He's also a really intelligent player, he can play wide angles and he has a very high maximum like he played in the fourth set – it was very tough for me to get any point. I was very careful about that, my tactics were to be more safe and more aggressive, I moved well today and I think that gave me the edge over him a little bit.
In the quarterfinal Dang QIU overcame Timo BOLL in straight games (11:7, 11:8, 11:6, 11:2).
"Playing against Timo Boll is one of the hardest things in European table tennis. That I've finally managed to defeat him is a dream. Every set is important against Timo. He dominated in the beginning, but then I got better into the match and won the set. After that I was in the match. You don't want to play against Germans at the European championships at home but you have to approach it professionally. It is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage for any of us. If you play a German there are no secrets because we know each other so well, and the preparations are perhaps not that intensive but of course you have to prepare yourself as for every match."
On upsetting the eight-time champion, who won the tournament last year:
"Nobody was expecting anything like that but of course I accept it. It feels amazing, however I can't really celebrate it fully because in just a few hours I have to play the semifinal and then of course I want to play my best table tennis another time. Otherwise it would've been a pity if I would've knocked Timo out of the tournament and then gotten kicked out of the semifinal, so that is not my aim.At least I won't have to play a German anymore so I can get a full support from the fans in the arena."
On what made him win:
"In general, my passive game was very good, however we know each other so well that it is not a secret for Timo. That is why I wanted to start aggressively in the beginning. Because if Timo starts to get the upper hand in the rally it is hard to stop him."
Timo BOLL spoke on his defeat: "I'm still fine. If you lose that easily then you don't mind it so much. Of course I argue a little bit with myself that I couldn't find solutions but it was also up to Dang because he played fantastically in all parts of the game; service receive-wise and also in the open rallies. He was safe and powerful. I had to admit that I had no chance and I have to live with that. We practice against each other very often. Often in the practice sessions I could force him a little bit more if I also play at a higher level, but this level I couldn't reach somehow. Because of him, because of me, why I couldn't play better I have to think about but overall I was not safe enough, I did not have that quality in my strokes to force him a little bit and to make easier mistakes. I have to say it was a deserved victory for him."
On how he will continue his career:
"I am a sports warrior and this is also a normal process, that you get older and lose more often, and you have to adjust to that and still try to keep going and keep your motivation. That's a task now.
"But I don't have the feeling that it's the problem for me. I have a clear mind and I know that if the younger guys play at a high level it will be hard for me. I still believe I can beat them, on a perfect day, but today wasn't the perfect day for me. Maybe more for him."
On trying to turn the match around, having come back from a 3-0 deficit in the round of 64:
"I have just one joker per tournament and I played it in the first round. You cannot come back all the time. I tried but he was too good today."
Mattias FALCK accounted for Truls MOREGARDH (11:13, 4;11, 11:8, 11:7, 11:9, 11:5). FALCK being down 2-1, 9-2 in the fourth game but turning the match around to a 4-2 win.
"I think that I played better and better in the match and in the third and fourth game I played really well. Then I came out to the fifth game where Truls was extremely aggressive; very tough on the half-long balls and hit some really nice balls. All of a sudden it just ran away, but I felt that I just go ball by ball. He had a big lead and then he could miss some easy balls. All of a sudden it was 9-5 and then you have caught up, then there is not that much separating you so you take one ball at the time,” explained FALCK.
Asked on what goes through his mind when he finds the flow, FALCK replied:
"Not much is happening at all. That's what the flow is about; you are here and now. It is all about the next ball and you don't think about the score or anything else. You're just focused on what you have to do."
MOREGARDH came as no. one seed and big favorite.
"I'm super disappointed, obviously. It's a really tough defeat. I've got a grip of the match but after 2-0, 3-0 he improves his play a huge amount. He serves better and receives better. When I get a little stressed I don't have as good of a variation in my serves. It was tough. At he point when I was leading I still think I made good decisions. He gave me very good balls up to 9-7. Perhaps I should've taken a time out but I still think I made the completely right decision in most balls. I did it OK but it was good of him to turn it around.”
Kristian KARLSSON overcame Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany in the quarter final (11:9, 4:11, 11:9, 8:11, 11;5, 11:4).
"He's incredibly good at getting the game the way he wants and I think I manage it good enough to get to play my own balls too. That was important. We train so much together that it's hard to come with something completely new. We know each other so well."
On whether he can feel that he is in a flow:
"It's hard to say that I don't have it. I feel that I've been in good shape for a long time now. I beat Wang Chuqin, one of China's most promising players, quite recently and I think that I've played well for about a year. It happened for me at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games basically."
On what the doubles gold medal with Mattias FALCK means for his confidence:
"Of course it means a bit, I think Mattias also feels that. It is some kind of burden that has been lifted from our shoulders, at least in the first rounds of singles. Now it's super fun to play semifinals and finals and quarterfinals, they're great fun. But in the first rounds that you, in quotation marks 'should win', you still felt a little bit less pressure on our shoulders."
On having found a high level to play at:
"It was at a high level today too. He also hits really well, we are two sluggers. It is hard to defend against. I think I and him defended really well so we got some good rallies in there."
OVTCHAROV pointed that he could not relied on his main strength.
"KARLSSON played very consistently today, he was very strong from the first to the last point and deservedly won. The consistency, which I usually have in my game, was actually not really present today. I was up in the first game, up in the third , but definitely did not play my best table tennis in those important moments. I was coming back from the fourth set, making 2-2, I was a bit in the lead in the beginning of the fifth and I started to miss some easy balls and then you won't win such matches."
OVTCHAROV noticed that the winning record against KARLSSON works in his favor, but his shape is not at the best level now.
"We practise a lot together, I think most of our encounters I've managed to win. I'm coming back from a very long injury and maybe those kinds of mistakes I've made today is a part of the progress of coming back."
In the last match of the Round, JORGIC secured the first individual medal at the European Championships in his career. He beat Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal (8:11, 12:10, 11:5, 8:11, 6:11, 11:8, 12:10).
“I feel amazing. This is the first semifinal in my career. I knew from the beginning that it was going to be a tough match. Tiago is an amazing player, a strong player from the both sides, he really has improved his backhand a lot. We know each other quite well. We were practising and preparing for these European championships together. I had to be aggressive from the beginning. I knew that Tiago wants to win this match, he wants to be on the podium and me too. I knew in my head that I have to be aggressive, I want to win a medal here and I'm really happy with my performance.
On what gave him the energy to come back after he was down 3-2:
"This is a quarterfinal, this is something special. Everybody wants to win a medal. I said in my head that 'maybe there's only one chance in my career for me to play this semifinal', so I had to calm down, to think about the next point, to think about what I would serve and what I will receive.
"I just said in my head, 'be aggressive, play your game and win your match, it doesn't matter how', even if it's first-time luck, like now."
On whether he could have imagined himself finishing on the podium before the competition:
"Of course not. I knew that in this tournament there's maybe 20-30 players who can reach the final and I knew that it would be a tough tournament for everybody. Everybody wants to win a medal; it's the Europeans, it's something special, it's every second year and I'm really happy that I reached this."
APOLONIA added: “It was a very, very close game. In the rounds before I also had close games and managed to win. Today the opponent was a little bit stronger in the last two points, that's table tennis. I said the same yesterday; it is the small details that decide the winner and the loser. Yesterday I managed, today I didn't. Right now I'm very disappointed of course, but the overall picture is very good. I beat three players before this round and two of them are much higher ranked than me so my overall performance is good but I'm disappointed that I didn't manage to win today too. JORGIC is very strong, very strong mentally, very high quality in his strokes, both backhand and forehand. All his strokes are with the highest quality in the world, I would say. Lots of spin, lots of power and everything – he is a very compact player. Only in a good day I can beat such a player. Today I had a good day but it was not enough."
