by Simon Daish

Seeded first for the Men’s Singles competition, Dimitrij Ovtcharov won three matches on his way to the gold medal contest before facing fellow countryman Timo Boll for the trophy.

While Ovtcharov missed out on winning a fourth consecutive title at the Europe Top 16 Cup, the 29-year-old had nothing but praise for Boll and is determined to come back stronger in 2018.

“It was very nice to be in Switzerland again. The hotel, the organization of the tournament and the hospitality of the people were again outstanding. We felt very comfortable there. Second place is sometimes very good. Timo played fantastic! I will try to win the title next year.” Dimitrij Ovtcharov

In the Round of 16 the host nation’s very own Lionel Weber provided the opposition for Ovtcharov –  a player who,  the German admits, surprised him and believes can develop into a Swiss Great if he continues to work hard at his game.

“I was a little surprised, Lionel played a lot of risk… So I had to stretch myself fully to win the match. He surprised me with some quick moves. His service game was strong, he used the forehand very well. If he continues to work hard and reduce the error rate a little, then he will develop well. That was not an easy game for me.” Dimitrij Ovtcharov

Ovtcharov enjoyed one of his strongest years on the international circuit in 2017 with four Men’s Singles titles on the ITTF World Tour, a first position finish at the Liebherr 2017 ITTF-Men’s World Cup and a silver medal at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

Proud of his achievements over the past year, Ovtcharov is hoping for more reasons to cheer in the year ahead.

“I think I’ve improved my game over the past year, I’ve worked a lot on my speed and on reducing the error rate. This has led to great success and I would like to stay tuned in training to be able to celebrate further success.” Dimitrij Ovtcharov

Source: Swiss Table Tennis