Jun Mizutani Wins 2016 Polish Open

Defeat in Halmstad and Lisbon but in Warsaw Jun Mizutani Gains the Verdict
Courtesy of ITTF

Two previous appearances on this year’s ITTF World Tour, on duty in Kuwait and Qatar where on both occasions China’s Xu Xin had ended exploits at the quarter-final stage; it was better news for Japan’s Jun Mizutani on Sunday April 24th at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Polish Open in Warsaw.

The second seed, he beat Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the top seed, in the Men’s Singles final to reserve the top step of the medal podium.

In a hard fought duel Jun Mizutani emerged successful in six games (7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6).

Yet Another Meeting
Overall it was the 17th time that the two had met in an international tournament, their first meeting being in 2005 in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the ITTF World Tour Croatian Open when Dimitrij Ovtcharov had prevailed.

Now, following the success in Warsaw, the balance favors Jun Mizutani he has won 11 times; most notably reversing the decision of the two most recent meeting in major events.

At the Liebherr 2015 Men’s World Cup in Halmstad, Dimitrij Ovtcharov emerged successful in the third place contest, before at the end of the year the German repeated the success in the first round of the Men’s Singles event at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Lisbon.

Met in Finals
However, every match is a new match; in addition to the contests on the international scene, Jun Mizutani and Dimitrij Ovtcharov have faced each other time and time again in club matches. Both play in the Russian League.

A plethora of confrontations, of those meetings it was the third time they had met in an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles final; the balance is now in favor of Jun Mizutani.

Last year Jun Mizutani won when they met in Austria; in 2014 Dimitrij Ovtcharov had succeeded on home soil in Magdeburg. Furthermore, you can add one more to the equation; Jun Mizutani beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the Men’s Singles final at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok.

Record in Finals
Defeat for Dimitrij Ovtcharov means that he has now finished in runners up spot in six of the eleven ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles finals in which he has appeared.

Meanwhile, Jun Mizutani has now won six times in ten title deciding appearances and is by some distance the most successful Japanese player of all time on the ITTF World Tour.

No other Japanese player has won more than twice; Kan Yo has two wins to his credit, it is the same as Masato Shiono, Kaii Yoshida and Maharu Yoshimura.

Japanese Success
In Warsaw it was the 27th time that an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title has finished in Japanese hands.

RESULTS

• Men’s Singles Final
  JUN Mizutani (JPN) def. OVTCHAROV Dimitrij (GER) 4-2 (7-11,11-9,11-5,11-4,9-11,11-6)
• Women’s Singles Final
  HIRANO Miu (JPN) def. YU Mengyu (SIN) 4-0 (12-10,11-9,12-10,11-7)
• Men’s Doubles Final
  MORIZONO Masataka (JPN) / OSHIMA Yuya(JPN) def. NIWA Koki(JPN) / YOSHIMURA Mahar(JPN) 3-0 (16-14,11-8,11-8)
• Women’s Doubles Final
  JEON Jihee (KOR) / YANG Haeun (KOR) def. LI Jie (NED) / LI Qian (POL) 3-0 (11-4,12-10,11-7)
• U21 Men’s Final
  WANG Zhixu (DEN) def. AKKUZU Can (FRA) 3-2 (7-11,7-11,11-8,11-5,11-6)
• U21 Women’s Final
  KATO Miyu (JPN) def. ZENG Jian (SIN) 3-0 (11-8,11-6,11-5)

Visit the official 2016 ITTF World Tour Polish Open competition page for complete coverage.