Timo Boll

Thanks to Internet I can follow international pro tours. In these contests players from all over the world try to do their best to win. You probably know that the best players of the world are Chinese players. But there are a few European players who can beat these players sometimes. Just two of them do that often : Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov, a famous Belarussian player. Now I'll speak a little about Timo Boll's biography. He was born on March 8, 1981, in Erbach. He started playing table tennis when he was four with his father in his garage. On the internet you can find videos of him playing at 4, and more recent videos of his growth. The first thing you think when you see him playing at four is that the way he plays is amazing! But it's also funny to see the man when he was young, playing in pyjamas and cheering himself when he wins a point. Today he is 26. He became number one in the world in 2003, he won two World Cups, and many pro tours. In 2005, on the way to his second World Cup in Liège, he beat the three best Chinese players of the world : Wang Liqin, number one, Ma Lin, number two, and Wang Hao, number four. He was number three. His current ranking is number four, behind the three chinese players. Timo Boll is my hero and I hope he will be the Olympic World Champion one day.

My preference goes to Timo Boll because I really like the way he plays, he's a very aggressive attacking player, always focused on his goal. I also like his mentality because in every situation, he is always fighting. He can have seven match points, he will stay focused. He fights the same way if his opponent is leading and has seven match points. He trains really hard to be the best, but always keeps his play fair. I can give an example of his fair play. In 2005 he played a match that went the seven sets full distance versus a Chinese player, Liu Guozheng. It was the end of the match, he led by one point. If he won the point that was the end for the Chinese player and Boll could continue the competition, trying to be world champion. The point was played and the ball hit by the Chinese player seemed to fall without touching the table. The referees seemed ready to give the match point to Timo Boll. The audience was cheering the German hero. Unfortunately the ball had touched the table and without any hesitation, Boll pointed his finger on the table, to show to the referee that the ball had touched. The point was given to the Chinese star. Finally Boll lost the match but won a fair play prize.