Paul Drinkhall is set to meet number 1 seed Timo Boll for the first time in international competition after the draw was made for the 2012 Joola European Championships in Herning, Denmark.
The English number 1 will meet Boll in the second round if both men are victorious in their opening round fixture against a qualifier from the group stages. The pair were both on duty last month in Liverpool for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup, although they experienced very contrasting fortunes. While Drinkhall was eliminated at the group stages, Boll reached the final before defeat to Ma Long (CHN) denied him his third Men’s World Cup title.
The remaining English players will all compete in the qualifying stages with Andrew Baggaley, Liam Pitchford, Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley all top seeds while Darius Knight, Daniel Reed and Tin-Tin Ho will have to upset the odds to progress.
While Reed has technically been given the toughest group with Germany’s Patrick Franziska in his group, it is Pitchford’s tie with Frenchman Quentin Robinot that catches the eye after their meeting at the quarter-final stage of the Volkswagen World Junior Championships in Bahrain.
The Frenchman won that tie 4-1 before he lost to eventual Champion Koki Niwa (JPN) in Manama last year. Pitchford will be hoping to erase the memory of that defeat with a victory in the European Championships in Scandinavia.
In the Women’s Singles both Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley will be confident of progressing through their groups with the group winner and runner-up progressing from Sibley’s group while the runner-up in Parker’s will still get a chance to reach the main draw via a pre-qualification round.
Tin-Tin Ho, third seed in her group, also has the chance to finish in the top two to progress, although this does involve beating the two lower seeded players in her group and one of either Katerina Penkavova (CZE, 176) or Camelia Postoaca (ROU, 199). She has only met Penkavova once before at the English Open where the Czech girl was triumphant 4-2.
There will also be four English doubles pairs in action with Drinkhall/Pitchford, Knight/Reed, Parker/Sibley and Baggaley/Andre Silva (POR) attempting to qualify from their three-player groups into the main draw.
There will be live streaming available on Laola1.tv – the streaming service used by the European Table Tennis Union, but tables have yet to be allocated for matches so the schedule is unknown.
2012 Joola European Championships Draw (selected English matches)
Match times in BST
Men’s Singles:
Group 1:
Patrick Franziska (GER) Thurs 12:00
Daniel Reed
Thomas Tregler (CZE) Wed 14:00
Linor Citaku (KOS) Thurs 09:00
Group 4:
Par Gerell (SWE) Thurs 09:00
Kasper Sternberg (DEN) Wed 14:45
Darius Knight
Magnus Magnusson (ISL) Thurs 12:00
Group 24:
Andrew Baggaley
Li Ahmet (TUR) Thurs 15:00
Konrad Kulpa (POL) Thurs 11:15
Julien Inderneberg (BEL) Wed 19:15
Group 25:
Liam Pitchford
Quentin Robinot (FRA) Thurs 15:00
Vailot Vainula (EST) Thurs 11:15
Jakub Dyjas (POL) Wed 19:15
Women’s Singles:
Group 3:
Joanna Parker
Nicole Trosman (ISR) Thurs 09:45
Alex Galic (SLO) Wed 17:45
Amare Janjeva (KOS) Wed 14:45
Group 18:
Katerina Penkavova (CZE) Wed 17:00
Camelia Postoaca (ROU) Thurs 15:00
Tin-Tin Ho
Jennifer Jonsson (SWE) Wed 14:00
Ivanka Angelova (BUL) Thurs 09:00
Group 19:
Kelly Sibley
Magdalena Szczerkowska (POL) Thurs 12:00
Maryia Kuchuk (BLR) Wed 17:00
Natali Ruvman (ISR) Thurs 15:00
Cristina Hirici (ROU) Wed 14:00
Men’s Doubles:
Group 5:
Paul Drinkhall/Liam Pitchford
Samuel Novota/Peter Sereda (SVK) Wed 11:40
Roope Kantola/Benedek Olah (FIN) Wed 09:00
Group 10:
Constantin Cioti (ROU)/Fedor Kuzmin (RUS) Wed 12:20
Darius Knight/Daniel Reed
Kiryl Barabanov/Gleb Shamruk (BLR) Wed 11:00
Group 16:
Oleksandr Didukh/Ivan Katkov (UKR) Wed 12:20
Andre Silva (POR)/Andrew Baggaley
Mattia Berardi/Marco Vanucci (SMR) Wed 09:40
Women’s Doubles:
Joanna Parker/Kelly Sibley
Nicole Trosman/Natali Ruvman (ISR) Wed 11:40
Ipek Karahan/Sanem Ezgi Sahin (TUR) Wed 09:00