French number 1 Adrien Mattenet will replace Singapore’s Gao Ning at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup in Liverpool after the Singaporean had to withdraw through injury.
Mattenet, 24 from Eubonne, France, will take his place at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup for the second year running after his excellent performances last year in Paris.
Nicknamed ‘Harry Potter’, the graduate of UPMC, Paris (studying Computer Science and Mathematics) last year caused a sensation in his home nation with group victories over both Vladimir Samsonov and Chuang Chih-Yuan as he reached the quarter-finals.
He beat Samsonov 4-3 (11-2, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5) and Chuang 4-2 (11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 15-13) before finally losing to eventual Champion Zhang Jike in their quarter-final encounter.
The world number 29 (highest of 19 in December 2011), pulled out of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund last March after he suffered a rib injury at the European Top 12 tournament in Villeurbonne, France.
He hasn’t played much this season, returning only for the Olympic Games where he was beaten 4-0 by Chen Weixing in the last 32. Weixing himself had been the first reserve for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup but he too has had to pull out through injury in the late stages.
With Hong Kong’s Tang Peng also unable to get to England in time, Mattenet steps in hoping to re-kindle the form that inspired him last time out.
Tickets are still on sale for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup at the Echo Arena so don’t miss out with the action starting this Friday 28th September.