Darko Jorgic wins Europe Top 16
Darko Jorgic, a player from the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), won the Europe Top 16. Three TTBL professionals made it to at least the semifinals.
Darko Jorgic faced a high hurdle in the final of the Europe Top 16, but took it on Sunday afternoon in Montreux. Against Truls Moregardh, the 23-year-old Slovenian was initially trailing 0:2 and 1:3 sets, but finally celebrated a 4:3 (8:11, 5:11, 11:9, 10:12, 11:1, 12:10, 12:10) triumph against the vice world champion and thus won the prestigious tournament for the first time. At the same time, Jorgic broke the German dominance: In the past years, the victory had gone to players from Germany eight times in a row, last year to Patrick Franziska.
Franziska made it to the semifinals this time, but lost to Jorgic, with whom he plays TTBL for 1. FC Saarbrücken TT. "It's incredibly difficult to play against someone you know so well," Jorgic said after his 4-1 (13:11, 11:9, 11:13, 11:6, 11:9) victory. "At the beginning I was too passive, I waited too often for his mistakes. Then, when I took the initiative, I got more access to the match."
In the semifinals again: Boll loses to Moregardh
In the other semifinal it came to a rematch of the World Championship semifinal between Timo Boll (Borussia Düsseldorf) and Moregardh - with 4:1 (11:7, 11:8, 14:12, 7:11, 11:6) again with the better end for the Swede. "Truls played very well and deserved to win. He is well on his way to establishing himself among the world's top players, where I hope to stay for a few more years," said Boll. "I still lack a bit of confidence in some shots after my longer break. But to win against him, I have to be in absolute top form. But I hope I can play for the title again in the next few years."
Two more professionals from the TTBL reached the quarterfinals: Daniel Habesohn (Post SV Mühlhausen) lost 2:4 against Jorgic, Kristian Karlsson (Borussia Düsseldorf) 3:4 against Moregardh. In the round of 16 Simon Gauzy (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen) was eliminated with 0:4 against Habesohn.