EURO TOP 12

Played 9 & 10 February 2002

German Timo Boll wins European Top 12 competition
Netherlands - Rotterdam

20 year old speedy lefthander, Timo Boll (Germany), who has just broken into the World top 10 after winning the Austrian Pro Tour a fortnight ago, was the surprise winner of the prestigious European Top 12 competition in Rotterdam, defeating the 25 year old defending champion and European No1 Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) 4-3 in the final, after being 1-3 down.

The European No1 woman, Tamara Boros (Croatia), 24, overcame former European champion Nicole Struse (Germany) 4-0 in the women’s final. Struse had won a tough semi-final battle, 4-3, with the former Chinese Ni Xia Lian (Luxembourg), who was the Top 12 champion in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and is seeded No1 at the Southern Open Butterfly Grand Prix at Bournemouth next weekend.

Results

Men’s Singles

Semi-finals:
Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) bt Patrick Chila (France) 
11-3, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-2

Timo Boll (Germany) bt Damian Eloi (France) 
12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7

Final
Boll bt Samsonov 
12-14, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-7

Semi-finals:
Nicole Struse (Germany) bt Ni Xia Lian (Luxembourg) 
15-13, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8

Tamara Boros (Croatia) bt Viktoria Pavlovich (Belarus) 
16-14, 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-3

Final
Boros bt Struse 11-8, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8.

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