(by Steve Hopkins)

The various ITTF Continental Cup action continues across many regions with the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup Draw being posted this afternoon.

The Men’s Singles draw includes a list of well-known players with Felix Lebrun facing Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska facing Dimitrij Ovtcharov in one quarter.  The winner of that tough group of four will face the winner of the next quarter where Alexis Lebrun will face Daniel Habesohn and Dang Qiu will face Anton Kallberg.  That half of the draw has all three German players, including the first round matchup between Franziska and Ovtcharov (and Qiu as a potential foe in the Semifinals).  That side of the draw also has both Lebrun brothers (the only two Frenchmen), and at least the possibility of a brotherly battle in a Semifinal matchup.  And Kallberg and Qiu’s first round match-up pits two German League teammates (both on the Dusseldorf squad) against each other.

The other half of the draw will see Darko Jorgic face Eduard Ionescu and Johnathan Groth face Anders Lind.  Jorgic is a big shot maker who has won this event before, and Anders Lind is one of the most unique and creative players on the tour – that could make an exciting matchup if each wins.  The flipside of those results is that both Eduard Ionescu and Johnathan Groth are often consistent and careful – and both have logged big upsets in tour events.

The fourth quarter of the draw is Truls Moregard versus Alvaro Robles and Marcos Freitas versus Andrej Gacina.  At least by rating, Moregard has the easiest path to the Semifinals with most of the players in his section of the draw among the lowest ranked among this Top 16.

Action will start Friday and continue through the weekend.

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