by Simon Daish
Entering the Men’s Singles event as the seventh seeded player, Simon Gauzy is hoping to go far in Astana and following what has been a successful year for the French star there is little reason to doubt him.
Simon Gauzy made a positive start to the year, securing a bronze medal finish at 2017 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup competition held in February.
Success in Antibes ensured Gauzy’s presence at the Liebherr 2017 ITTF-Men’s World Cup in Liège, where victories over Jeong Sangeun and Jun Mizutani led to a personal best fourth position finish at the tournament for the Frenchman.
Another milestone was achieved on the Gold Coast as Gauzy reached his first ever Men’s Singles final on the ITTF World Tour, coming away from the proceedings with a silver medal to his name.
Gauzy also enjoyed strong outings at the ITTF World Tour events in Austria and Germany where he finished at the semi-finals and quarter-finals stages of the Men’s Singles tournaments.
On two occasions the Men’s Singles gold medal has been awarded to European contestants with Belarus’ Vladimir Samsonov and Germany’s Timo Boll emerging successful at the events held in 1997 and 2005 respectively.
However, no Frenchman has ever won the Men’s Singles title at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, will Simon Gauzy be the first or will the wait go on?
