September 19, 2010
Germany’s 29 year old Timo Boll etched his name indelibly in the record books of table tennis, by completing matters at the Liebherr European Championships in Ostrava on Sunday 19th September 2010, in proud possession of the Men’s Singles title.

At the final hurdle he overcame surprise finalist, compatriot Patrick Baum, in an event dominated by Germany.

In the semi-finals Timo Boll had overcome colleague Christian Süss, whilst Patrick Baum had ended the hopes of Austria’s Werner Schlager.

Timo Boll beat Christian Süss 13-11, 11-5, 2-11, 11-5, 11-9, before overcoming Patrick Baum 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9; at the penultimate stage Patrick Baum accounted for Werner Schlager 13-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-1, 11-4.

Unbeaten
The victory recorded by Timo Boll meant that he completed the whole tournament unbeaten, the only player to achieve this feat, having earlier secured gold in the Men’s Team event and with Christian Süss, the top prize in the Men’s Doubles competition.

Furthermore, the success gained in Ostrava means that he is the most successful player in terms of gold medals in the 52 year history of the European Championships.

Surpassed Feat of Jan-Ove Waldner
He has now won a grand total of 13 gold medals and when he succeeded in partnership with Christian Süss in the Men’s Doubles event, he surpassed the eleven gold medals won at European Championships by Sweden’s Jan-Ove Waldner.

Eleven gold medals gained by Jan-Ove Waldner is an astounding record but somewhat surprisingly, despite winning the Europe Top Twelve on no less than seven occasions; he only won the Men’s Singles crown at the European Championships once, he succeeded in Bratislava in 1996.

No less than seven of his European Championships gold medals came in the Men’s Team event with three being secured in the Men’s Doubles competition. In 1996 he won with Erik Lindh, in 1998 with Mikael Appelgren and in 1996 with Jörgen Persson.

Most Successful of All Time
Conversely, four of Timo Boll’s gold medals have been secured in the Men’s Singles event; a feat that sets him ahead of the field as being the only player with a quartet of Men’s Singles European Championships crowns.

The nearest challengers are Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and Sweden’s Mikael Appelgren; both have won the title three times.

Team and Doubles
Equally, Timo Boll has won gold in the Men’s Team event on four occasions, the most recent four Championships whilst in the Men’s Doubles competition; he has secured the top prize five times.

In similar vein to his Men’s Team success, he has won on the four most recent occasions with Christian Süss and in 2002 with Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth.

A total of thirteen gold medals, the number in many parts of the world is considered unlucky, for Timo Boll in terms of European Championships gold medals, it has no such connotation.

Special Eras
It is a landmark number and when considering both Timo Boll and Jan-Ove Waldner both would acknowledge that such records could not have been established without the support of their colleague.

The major rivals for European Men’s Singles gold came often came from his Swedish colleagues, it was the same scenario for Timo Boll in Ostrava; he had to beat German compatriots in the final two round.

Support
Equally, for both players, they were the mainstays of team gold but without the outstanding support of their compatriots, those medals would have proved elusive.

Jan-Ove Waldner was at his peak in an era of Swedish supremacy; now, Timo Boll lives in a similar era, a special era for him and his country.

It is the era of German table tennis supremacy, an era that judging by the evidence presented in Ostrava, has many more years to run.

Source: www.ittf.com

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