Timo Boll and Petrissa Solja claim European table tennis titles in all-German finals
40-year-old Boll wins his eighth singles crown at the 2020 European Championships delayed to 2021 in Poland, beating Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4-1 in the men's final
Germany's Timo Boll and Petrissa Solja have been crowned European singles champions after each winning all-German finals at the 2020 European Table Tennis Championships in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday (27 June 2021).
For Boll, it was his eighth career European gold medal in singles, five more than any other man has achieved, while it was Solja's maiden triumph.
Both athletes beat German compatriots in the final, with Boll defeating Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Solja seeing off Shan Xiaona.
For 40-year-old Boll, it was another reminder that despite his age, he remains at the top of his game and the best in Europe on his day.
Boll – who overcame world championships silver medallist Mattias Falck in the semi-finals – dropped the first game to Ovtcharov, 9–11.
But the world number 11, ranked two places below Ovtcharov, rebounded to take the next four games consecutively, 11–6, 11–9, 11–8, 11–8 and seal victory.
Solja also won 4–1, with the world number 20 beating Shan 11–7, 11–3, 11–9, 4–11, 11–2.
Earlier, Solja and Shan had paired up to win the women's doubles against another German team, Nina Mittelham and Sabine Winter, 3–2.
The men's doubles was won by Russian pair Lev Katsman / Maxim Grebnev, who beat Jakub Dyjas and Cédric Nuytinck of Poland and Belgium 3–1.
Germany's Mittelham and Qiu Dang beat Slovakia's Barbora Balazova / Lubomir Pistej 3–0 in the mixed doubles final.
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