The Pressure Mounts, Jens Lundqvist Responds to Secure Olympic Place

Created on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 16:21

At the recent LIEBHERR World Team Championship in Dortmund, when the pressure mounted, Jens Lundqvist responded. He ignited Sweden and set the Nordic country on the road to a very creditable sixth place, when at one stage of proceedings a top twelve finish appeared a forlorn hope.

In Luxembourg, at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament, when the pressure mounted and one defeat, as in Dortmund, could spell doom, the powerful Swede rose the occasion; he gave a series of fine performances in the Men’s event to book his place in the London Olympic Games.

Qualifiers
Jens Lundqvist alongside Russia’s Kirill Skachkov and Hungary’s Adam Pattantyus secured the final three places on offer in the men’s event in Luxembourg.

Road to Success
The Swede, having defeated Great Britain’s Liam Pitchford in the preliminary round (11-4, 16-14, 11-8, 11-4) continued his good form to overcome Romania’s Constantin Cioti (11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6), Poland’s Wang Zeng Yi (11-1, 3-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7) and Turkey’s Bora Vang (11-8, 12-14, 8-11, 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7) to book his passage to London.

Victory for Jens Lundqvist means that the Swedish Men’s Team for the London Olympic Games is now complete. Jörgen Persson and Pär Gerell both received direct entries.

Testing Route
A hard fought journey and it was a similar testing route for Kirill Skachkov.

Likewise, he was required to play in the preliminary round. He accounted for Italy’s Mihai Bobocica (11-7, 13-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9) to book his place in the main draw where in order to reserve his Olympic place, he defeated Evgueni Chtchetinine of Belarus (14-16, 13-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9), Emmanuel Lebesson of France (3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3, 3-11, 11-9) and Hungary’s Adam Pattantyus (11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5).

Final Place for Hungary
Defeat for Adam Pattantyus but there was more than consolation.

In the contest for the eleventh and final place, he beat Bora Vang in six games (11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7) to conclude what was eventually a successful five days in Luxembourg.

Qualifiers
Therefore, after five days of competition and subject to National Olympic Committee approval, the eleven men who succeed to book Olympic places at the European Qualification Tournament are as follows:

Marcos Freitas (Portugal), Robert Gardos (Austria), João Monteiro (Portugal), Bastian Steger (Germany), Daniel Zwickl (Hungary), Aleksandar Karakasevic (Serbia), Marko Jevtovic (Serbia), He Zhiwen (Spain), Jens Lundqvist (Sweden), Kirill Skachkov (Russia) and Adam Pattantyus (Hungary).

Source: http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=27548&Competition_ID=2143&

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