The prestigious Ciutat de Barcelona Table Tennis Trophy is held this Saturday with a female presence for the first time in 34 editions.
Gàlia Dvorak, the Spanish champion who plays for CN Mataró, will face the legend Timo Boll, European champion and former world number one.
Has disputed four olympic games and accumulates seven individual titles in the Spanish championships, including the last one held in Antequera. It is undoubtedly the great reference of Spanish table tennis in the XXI century and this Saturday will star in a historic event. For the first time in 34 editions, City of Barcelona Trophy has the women and nobody better than Gàlia Dvorak to release that novelty with an exciting duel against the German Timo Boll, former world number one, current European champion and silver in the past Tokyo Games. The Messi del ping-pong.
EL PERIÓDICO chatted with the two great protagonists of this tournament that will be held from 5:00 p.m. this Saturday at the La Salle Bonanova sports center. “It is a phenomenal initiative. I think it is very good that they have set up a competition mixed. Since we were little we train with boys, there should be more tournaments like this. If then they beat us, that’s what there is, “reflects Gàlia, who remembers an experience lived last year in Madrid.” In principle, boys and girls were going to go separately, but there were covid cases, they were isolated and mixed by the participants. It was a success”.
“Impossible to win”
In countries like Denmark and Switzerland there are leagues in which the best players compete with men. “It is true that they have a physical advantage, but it is a non-contact sport, in which quality counts a lot. “This Saturday Timo Boll awaits you. The legend admired by all paddlers.
At 40, Boll has in his impressive record with 4 Olympic medals, 8 in world championships and 28 in Europeans
“Makes me a lot of illusion play against him. It is great. Objectively it is impossible to beat him. If I make a few points, I’ll be happy. It was a slump when they told us that Ovtcharov he was out due to injury, but Timo is the same or better. “In addition to Gàlia, another woman will also participate in the Barcelona tournament (Maria Xiao, from UCAM Cartagena, number 71 in the world), along with stars such as the Nigerian Quadri Aruna, best player in Africa, and the swedish Kristian Karlsson.
Boll picks up the glove thrown by Gàlia, happy for her I return to Barcelona 14 years later from his last visit to a World Cup held in the Vall d’Hebron pavilion. “Time passes very quickly, I have great memories of that competition. It will be a very fun party against Gàlia. Let him know that I take it very seriously. His style of play is very rare in men’s table tennis, “says the German star.
The veteran paddler proclaimed himself European champion for the eighth time last June in Warsaw. To their 40 years, He also accumulates 40 medals in the big events (4 in the Games, 8 in world championships and 28 in Europeans). “At my age I no longer need to invest so much time to maintain my level. I survive with my experience and stability in the movements, “he says.
In the blood
That number of successes does not surprise Gàlia, who knows her rival perfectly. Born in Kiev 33 years ago, he came to Catalonia with only 2 and lives in Mataró. Take the ping-pong in the blood, since their parents, Volodymyr y Flora, they were professionals of this sport. Dvorak won the Junior European Championship in 2004 and collects titles in various tournaments. Since 2001, at just 13 years old, he has led the majority of calls for the absolute Spanish team.
Related news
“Of all my experiences I would perhaps stay with the most recent, it was fantastic to play the Tokyo Olympics after what we suffered with pandemic. It was my fourth Games and it was very nice, “says the Spanish champion, who had a great time with Pau Gasol in a leisure time in the Olympic village. The basketball myth showed his good hand with the shovel, but it ended succumbing to the star of Mataró.BollMeanwhile, he says goodbye with a tip for the youngest who start in this sport, which deserves more media recognition in Europe. “I would tell them enjoy, that they give everything and love the ‘torture’ of suffering, only then can success be achieved “, concludes the former world number one.
.
