by Simon Daish
Joining the club in March of this year, the Men’s Singles runner-up at the Qoros 2015 World Championships Fang Bo partnered up with Andrej Gacina, Alexander Shibaev and Grigory Vlasov for the third and fourth tournaments of the Russian Premier League.
Fang Bo and his UMMC teammates enjoyed a strong end to the campaign by securing the Russian Championship title on Saturday 10th June, and the 25-year-old has joined legendary Chinese player Ma Lin on the tournament’s list of winners.
“Yes, for me it’s my first Russian title, but I know that I am not the first Chinese table tennis player who has won the club championship in your country. Ma Lin achieved that before I did”, Fang Bo.
Now that the season has concluded Fang Bo leaves Russia with the knowledge that he won’t be appearing in the league next year due to Chinese Super League commitments.
However, the World no.11 stated that he has enjoyed his time in Russia and hasn’t completely ruled out the prospect of returning to the league sometime in the future.
“Next season I will play in the Chinese Super League, and according to the rules you cannot serve two championships simultaneously. Therefore, next year is not exactly possible. What will happen, we’ll see… I was very well received at UMMC, it was a really friendly atmosphere. I liked it and the club, and I like it here in Sochi. In general, I am very glad that I came to the country”, Fang Bo.
Source: Russian Table Tennis Federation