Post Description

Voor de 2e keer op rij werden "onze" dames Europees kampioen, wat een knappe prestatie is.
Hieronder het verslag (in het Engels) zoals weergegeven op de ITTF.com site
  
The Netherlands retained their European Women’s Team title by overcoming Romania on Wednesday 15th September 2010.

At the final hurdle of the Liebherr European Championships in the Czech city of Ostrava they defeated Romania by three matches to one. Li Jiao retained their unbeaten record in the event; she beat Daniela Dodean and Elizabeta Samara with the one further success for the victors coming from Li Jie against Dodean.

The one Romanian win was secured by Iulia Necula, she defeated Linda Creemers.

So Near for Daniela Dodean
A fine performance by the Netherlands but on another day it could have been so different and it was not Daniela Dodean’s day; she lost both her matches in five games.

It is the fourth time in the history of the competition that the Netherlands have clinched the Women’s Team title and the fourth in succession.

They won in 2008 in St Petersburg before succeeding in 2009 in both the Serbian city of Subotica and in the German city of Stuttgart.

Team Change
One the three occasions prior to the success in Ostrava, the team of Li Jiao, Li Jie and Elena Timina had remained unchanged; in Ostrava, Linda Creemers was on the majority of occasions preferred to the more experienced Timina.

Alas for Linda Creemers, she was the one player in the final to experience defeat for the eventual champions; however, she has time on her side. She is 25 years old as opposed to Elena Timina who is now 41 years of age. 

Admiration
One has to admire the splendid Elena Timina. 

She departed the international scene to raise a family and then returned to compete as fiercely as ever; her appetite for the sport remains undiminished but no-one goes on for ever and perhaps in Ostrava, coach Chen Zhibin had one eye focused on the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Perhaps he sees Linda Creemers as a key player alongside Li Jiao and Li Jie.

Impressive on ITTF Pro Tour
Furthermore, on the ITTF Pro Tour this year, Linda Creemers has made progress, notably at the Egypt Open in July when she reached the semi-final stage of the Women’s Singles event.

Eventually, she beaten by Turkey’s Hu Melek but her wins over Japan’s top seeded Sayaka Hirano and the vastly experienced Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg were notable achievements.

In Ostrava she proved to be a most valued team member and the gold medal secured will be greatly valued.


N.B. ik moet nog Rarren en Parren maar de DVD9 komt er aan, geduld is een schone zaak :)