A platinum debut for Moldova's table tennis masters
From 28 January to 2 February the “2020 ITTF WORLD TOUR PLATINUM, GERMAN OPEN” was held in Magdeburg (Germany). The GERMAN OPEN 2020, of the pro-tour platinum series, is notable for being, in effect, the richest tournament in the world. In the doubles, for instance, only the world's top players are admitted. Fortunately, every registered player was admitted to the singles. For the first time in its history Moldova sent four players to this tournament — Andrei Puțuntica, Ni Igor, Cozmolici Felix and Grigore Șarcanean. It is worth noting that even table tennis powers as strong as Russia and Ukraine had one or two representatives at this prestigious event, while Moldova, as noted above, had four in the men's draw.
The winner of this tournament qualifies automatically for the Olympic Games. That is precisely why the strongest players from all over the world were to be found here, among them more than ten of China's best. Getting through a single round at this tournament is extremely hard, given that the first match usually brings a player from the world's top hundred. At the previous GERMAN OPEN, held in Bremen, for example, the champion of Ukraine and the champion of Russia met in the first round.
As for the Moldovan players this time, the champion of Moldova Andrei Puțuntica began in the second round, since he held a fairly high world ranking (294). In Magdeburg Andrei met Ľubomír Pištej of Slovakia (67). Unfortunately Puțuntica could not take a single game and lost 0:4, although the contest was tense enough and every game was played out on the balance, that is, on deuce. Cozmolici Felix also lost, going down 1:4 to Serbia's first racket Aleksandar Karakašević (119). Ni Igor, whose world ranking currently stands at 886, met the Belgian Laurens Devos (232) and lost a hard-fought match 2:4, playing well.
And the youngest Moldovan athlete closed out the tournament — Ni Igor's own current pupil, Grigore Șarcanean. Șarcanean played the Belgian Martin Allegro in Germany, losing 0:4. Our lads acquitted themselves well, showing courage and managing to make a contest of every game at such a high level. These competitions exist precisely so that players can grow in the company of the world's best, who set the tone in this sport. It is a great pity that none of them managed a single win at this demanding tournament. One would like to believe that in future there will be a chance to take part in competitions of this level more often, and so break through, step by step, into the best of the best.
Ni Igor . Master of Sport, champion of Moldova 2010