Other Events | 11 May 2013

SHEN and PAVLOVICH lead European women

Whilst we all underlines the last European success in the Men’s Singles Event at the World Championships, a decade long pause is nothing comparing the period in which Europe awaits the title in Women’s Singles. It is almost 60 years since a non-Asian play

Whilst we all underlines the last European success in the Men’s Singles Event at the World Championships, a decade long pause is nothing comparing the period in which Europe awaits the title in Women’s Singles. It is almost 60 years since a non-Asian player has raised big trophy. The last to succeed was the late Angelica ROZEANU of Romania; when she won in Utrecht in 1955, it was her fifth consecutive Women’s Singles title at a World Championships. No player can match that record and it may never be equalled.

No difference to previous years Chinese players are hot favorites at the LIEBHERR World Championships to be held in Paris from Monday 13th May to Monday 20th May 2013. World’s no. one, two and three are on the duty in France with reigning World Singles Champion DING Ning leading the pack.

The best ranked European on World’s that list is SHEN Yanfei of Spain. Her career reached new high from 2010, after she gave birth to her first child. Despite the fact that she has passed the milestone of her 30th birthday, she played in superb shape in past two seasons.
Beside SHEN, placed at position no. seven, among top 10 players at the rankings there are no more European representatives. Next on list is Viktoria PAVLOVICH of Belarus, World’s no. 15. European champion from Ostrava and Denmark will be playing in no less than her 17th World Championships.

Speaking about great shape, no one European shines like Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA in past few months. In September 2012 she reached the final of the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup, eventually losing to China’s LIU Shiwen. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, SAMARA entered proceedings in the second round of the Women’s Singles event; she beat Egypt’s Dina Meshref before upsetting the pecking order by overcoming Hong Kong’s Tie Yana to book her place in round four, where LI Jiao of the Netherlands ended progress.

LI Jiao will also play in Paris and among Europeans are also Iveta VACENOVSKA of Czech Republic, LIU Jia of Austria, WU Jiaduo of Germany, Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden…