(by Steve Hopkins)
The top sixteen men and top sixteen women are competing this weekend in Montreux, Switzerland. Thus far, the top seeds are dominating with Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska still potentially on a collision course for the Men’s Finals.
On the men’s side, Timo Boll entered the tournament as the top seed. He is through to the Quarters with a 4-0 win over Moullet (SUI), and a 4-2 win over Slovakia’s Yang Wang. Boll will next face Truls Moregardh in the Semifinal. Moregardh, the fourth seed, needed all seven games to knock out Kristian Karlsson in the Quarters. In the other half of the draw, Darko Jorgic will face Patrick Franziska. Both the Semis and Finals will be played on Sunday afternoon.
On the women’s side, three of the top four seeds have advanced to the Semifinals. Sofia Polcanova, Bernadette Szocs, and Han Ying (GER) are all through as expected. The only upset thus far is Polina Mikhailova of Russia who has landed a pair of upsets (of Matelova of the Czech Republic and Nina Mittelham of Germany) to find herself in the Semifinals.
Apparently the distraction of armed conflict in Europe has not slowed the event. And, in fact, the Russian participants arrived and are competing as planned (and Gazprom, a prominent Russian gas company, is the largest sponsor of the event).
Six matches are planned for Sunday, including the Finals.
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