(by Steve Hopkins)
Montreax, Switzerland is host to the 2019 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup. This invitational brings the top 16 men and women in Europe together for a two-day tournament. Timo Boll, Mattias Falck, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and Liam Pitchford are the top four seeds for the men. Sofia Polcanova, Bernadetter Szocs, Elizabeta Samara and Jie Li are the top four seeds for the women. Two rounds will be played on Saturday and the final four players will battle in the semifinal and final matches on Sunday.
There are no easy matches amongst Europe’s elite. In the men’s event, Timo Boll starts off against Tiago Apolonia and then will play the winner of France’s Lebesson and Sweden’s Karlsson. Boll has had trouble with Apolonia and Lebesson in the past. If Boll wins both matches, he could face Ovtcharov on Sunday in the semifinal. The bottom half of the draw includes Falck and Pitchford as well as Marcos Freitas, Vladimir Samsonov, and Ovidiu Ionescu.
The women’s event has Sofia Polcanova and Elizabeta Samara in the top half of the draw along with both German players (Nina Mittelham and Petrissa Solja). The bottom half of the draw has 2018 champion Bernadette Szocs and Li Jie as the top seeds as well as Georgina Pota.
Check in throughout the event at ButterflyOnline for the latest news.