Dimitrij Ovtcharov is The 2017 Indian Open Champion!

The ITTF World Tour returned to the city of New Delhi in India this year for an exciting tournament for all the 1.3 million Indian TV spectators and the worldwide table tennis community to see! Some of the world’s best players attended for some big matches and intense battles. The venue for the event was well equipped for the tournament and Indian fans enjoyed seeing their heroes take on the visitors from Japan, Germany and Beyond.

Full results plus videos below.

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Dimitrij Ovtcharov Champion of the India Open

MEN’S SINGLES:

The seeds for the men’s singles category saw usual faces such as Dimitrij Ovtcharov as the #1 seed and Vladimir Samsonov as #2 seed. Japan brought several of their top players such as their 13-year-old weapon Tomokazu Harimoto. Indian players such as Sharath Kamal Achanta were found on home soil taking on the big names.

The 16 seeded players were placed into the draws last 32, leaving 16 spots available for the other players to qualify for in the preliminary matches. The last 32 saw the seeding upset early with the number 2 seed Vladimir Samsonov knocked out by Japanese youngster Asuka Sakai. This opened the draw to the other Japanese player Harimoto, who progressed into the last 16 with a win over Spanish player Alvaro Robles. Straightforward wins for Ovtcharov who progressed into the quarter finals without losing a set. English player and #6 seed Paul Drinkhall had an excellent tournament beating Ruwen Filus of Germany in the last 16.

The quarter finals had some exciting matches with Ovtcharov facing Japanese player Yuya Oshima in an intense 7 set battle. The home favourite Achanta faced Paul Drinkhall in an incredible match which went down to the wire with Achanta pulling through to the delight of the home fans. Tomokazu Harimoto faced the experienced Austrian Robert Gardos and had an amazing 4-2 win showing his incredible level at just 13 years old.

The semi-finals continued to impress spectators with Dimitrij Ovtcharov facing the innovative Japanese player Koki Niwa. Crazy points such as this made it a difficult win for Dima. He pulled through 4-3 to reach the final.

The second semi-final saw Achanta Sharath Kamal facing the Japanese wonderchild Harimoto. The youngster showed his mental stability in front of an away crowd. He beat the Indian 4-2 to reach the final and have a chance of making the history books.

The final saw top seed Ovtcharov add to his Europe Top 16 and Swiss Open titles to reclaim the Indian Open title he gained in 2010. Dimas high level was too much for Harimoto and he pulled through 4-0. Harimoto showed this tournament that he can take on the world’s best and we expect his level to continue to grow, a bright future is ahead of this incredible player! Harimoto recently expressed in an interview that he wants gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Men's Singles Final: Dimitrij Ovtcharov vs Tomokazu Harimoto


WOMENS’S SINGLES:

The women’s singles had the same format to the men’s. Japanese player Sukura Mori won the event, she was the #6 seed. She beat Swedish player and 4th seed Matilda Ekholm in a closely fought final 4-3.

DOUBLES:

The men’s doubles was won by Japanese pairing of Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima. They beat the German players Ricardo Walther and Ruwen Filus.

The women’s doubles was won by Georgina Pota and Matilda Ekholm over Lee Ho Ching and Hoi Kem Doo from Hong Kong.

Watch the full video playlist from the Indian Open in the TableTennisDaily Video Library.

QATAR OPEN!

The Indian Open leads into the next stop of the ITTF World Tour which is the Qatar Open which starts on the 23rd of February. The Qatar Open includes the big boys from China such as Ma Long and Fan Zhendong. Can Ovtcharov repeat success out in Qatar against the very best? Harimoto will be unseeded in Qatar he will be looking to maintain his momentum. Will we see more upsets by the youngster? Stay tuned on TTD for all the updates on the next world tour event, the Qatar Open! To follow all the latest action from Qatar visit here for the line up, draws, seeds and more.

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Photos by: ITTF Flickr
Written by: Tom Lewis
TableTennisDaily
 
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