by Simon Daish

Germany’s Sabine Winter took part in her first Europe Top 16 event in Gondomar, Portugal last year where she achieved a sixth place finish in the Women’s Singles category.

With the Europe Top 16 event being a pivotal stepping stone for World Cup qualification much will be at stake for the competitors in Antibes, and Sabine Winter is hoping that she will be able to replicate her performance from the previous year’s tournament come the 2017 competition in early February.

“I’ve played the Europe Top 16 once before last year and I have good memories of it. It’s a tournament I have been looking forward to for a long time and I am trying everything to be in good shape for the start. Last time I managed to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and that’s my big aim again this year”, Sabine Winter.

The last player to win the Women’s Singles title for Germany was Wu Jiaduo who beat Li Jie of the Netherlands at the 2012 Europe Top 12 Cup held in Lyon, while Petrissa Solja is the only German contestant to reach the Women’s Singles final since then when she clinched the runner up spot in 2015 which saw the event expanded from 12 to 16 players for the first time.

However, Sabine Winter will head into the 2017 Europe Top 16 with confidence having enjoyed a positive campaign in 2016 which included a quarter-finals finish at the Seamaster 2016 Women’s World Cup.

“I think 2016 was a good year. Especially at the beginning of the second half I had the feeling that my game improved a lot. I hope it goes on like this. Right now my focus is on the Top 16 and after that it will be on the World Championships in Düsseldorf my home city in Germany”, Sabine Winter.