Me and my two friends were in Warsaw at Polish Open. The men's final was over and we left the sports hall. We've stopped at red light and I saw a man with a bag and donic(?) training suit. After like 3 seconds I recognized it was Dima Ovtcharov trying to catch a taxi in the middle of the road. He even managed to talk to one taxi driver but he left him behind. Green light appeared and I already knew I am gonna drive to Dima
So I did. He was kinda suprised that someone just stopped the car across the road blocking everybody around and tells him "get in!!'
I've asked him "where is he going?" and he told me that "he's trying to reach Marriot hotel". I don't have to say that I told him that I can drive him there and he agreed.
I can tell you guys that we were a little bit dissapointed after the Polish Open because Dima was injured and we really wanted to watch his match against Zhang Jike and my camera was ready for that. So when we left the sports hall we were not in great mood. We just didn't know it's gonna change to euphoria in next three minutes.
So basically when Dima got into my car my friends were shocked. First of all they didn't believe I am gonna stop in the middle of the road and talk to Dima and when he was already in our car they forget the language. One of them don't speak english at all and the other one(the one that sits next to me) is Ovtcharov huge fan and even told me before this happening that he only wanted to make a picture with him. I am gonna be harsh on him but my friend was shaking all the time. He was only able to say something like "I a.. you. hu..fan" so I barely understood him
I was clear headed enoug to tell them to start recording this conversation because I knew nobody would even believe us(and some people didn't when we called them afterwards) that we had this opportunity.
So firstly we've talked(I mean me and Dima) when he is gonna leave Poland and where he is heading next. He told us that he's gonna come back to Germany but he had a league match in Russia in a few days.
So finally I started to ask him about his injury. He told us that the floor was very bad. He slipped when he was playing against Kaii Yoshida I believe but managed to win this match. But he twisted his ankle there and was not able to face Zhang Jike(played like two points and gave up). Before he had injury he told us that the table he was gonna play at(in earlier round) was not straight. There was something wrong with one of the table legs(didn't stand on the ground) and after like 20-25 minutes of discussion with the umpire the table was changed. Also he didn't like the training hall. It was too small for him and some of the top players had to play in the hallway. I can confirm that because I was standing like 3 feets away from Liu Shiwen and Zhu Youling when they were practicing before the match. The lightning was also quite poor and he's mentioned that also in our conversation.
I think Dima was so upset because he was in great shape and he coudln't play 100%. What a shame that was. I Really believed he's gonna beat Zhang Jike(he was poor in earlier rounds). I can tell you guys that I totally agree with what Dima said to me. The condition for spectators was also really bad. There was really hot and many people had to sit on the floor on Saturday and Sunday.
I remember that we had short conversation about my channel and his channel. The great thing was that he knew my channel and told me a lot good things about it. So that was for me the highlight of the night. I imagine that there are many other players who watch tt on youtube for sure.
Neverheless Dima told us that he's gonna play in Poland on April once again but honestly(sorry Dima
) I din't believe him. Of course I hope he's gonna be there.
I only regret that I didn't ask him more questions. I really wanted to know how he he is training,what are the differences between europe and china etc. But when you are driving and world class player sits behind you it's hard to find the questions that are most important for you
When we arrived to the hotel Dima left my car and showed middle finger to some chinese players and coaches(but it was friendly middle finger
) who were standing in front of the hotel. I assume they've left him in front of the hall that's why he was catching a taxi.
We took a picture with him and left shortly afterwards. After he left we were laughing, shouting, crying just everything because we were so excited haha(I hope you read that Dima
). Next time I'll try to catch Zhang Jike with his personal translator so we can talk a bit
Dan you if it ever happens and you manage to get Dima to your podcast remind him about this situation
If any of you have questions post it here and I'll try to answer.