by Simon Daish
The Men’s Singles competition began well for Darko Jorgic as the Slovenian contestant registered a five games victory over Tom Jarvis in the Round of 64 (11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6), but that result came just a few hours after the home player lost out to another English representative Luke Savill in the Under 21 Men’s Singles competition (11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11).
Reflecting on the mixed start to the categories Jorgic spoke about the impact of the home crowd, and stated that his opponent in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event deservedly emerged successful from the tie.
“It’s hard to play on home soil as everyone expects you to win, but on the other hand it’s nice to play in front of a friendly audience. Losing the Under 21 Men’s Singles was difficult to digest but he deserved to win as he was better than me”, Darko Jorgic.
Darko Jorgic has been training hard preparing for the event in Otocec, and even at the venue he is practising rigorously in the training hall and the players’ lounge ahead of each encounter.
Last year Jorgic picked up silverware in Otocec, lifting the Junior Boys’ Singles trophy at the 2016 Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open and he believes that his transition over to senior events is progressing well.
“Now everything is different than back in the junior competitions, seniors are stronger and mentally much better prepared. The playing level is higher as well as is the intensity of each match. I am training mainly in Slovenia but also many times in Saarbrücken, and next season I will be playing in the German League. I feel I have become stronger but I still need a lot of improvement especially mental. My wish is to get into the top 100 in the world by the end of 2017 and manage to reach the top 50 in next few years”, Darko Jorgic.
While Jorgic is determined to keep improving his game, the Slovenian also believes that it is important to establish a good balance between table tennis and life outside of the sport.
“Although I love to practise, sometimes it’s nice to spend time with people that are not directly involved where I can do and speak about other things”, Darko Jorgic.
Darko Jorgic takes on top seed Bastian Steger in the Men’s Singles Round of 32 on Friday 28th April (19:55 CEST).
