Injury forces Samsonov out ITTF Belarus Open

         Belarusian table tennis player Vladimir Samsonov will not be able to take part in the Belarus Open tournament of the 2013 ITTF World Tour due to an injury. The leader of the Belarusian national table tennis team, world No.12, was going to take part in the tournament in Minsk’s Place of Tennis but the injury has ruled him out of the competition. Leader of the women’s national team Victoria Pavlovich (12) has had a very tight season and will not partake in the competition either. In August 2013 she won the Czech Open of the ITTF World Tour. In 2008 Victoria Pavlovich triumphed at the Belarus Open. Nevertheless the competition in Belarus will bring together some major table tennis players. Among the 24 participating countries three sportsmen are among top 100 of the ranking. They are Japan’s Kaii Yoshida (69), Russia’s Grigory Vlasov (92) and Italy’s Mihai Bobocica (97). The best table tennis players representing Belarus will be Yevgeny Shchetinin (103) and Pavel Platonov (169). In 2012 the Belarus Open was won by Vasily Lakeyev of Russia who will defend the title this time.
        On the women’s side, Russia’s Polina Mikhailova (110) will try to repeat her 2012 success. Belarus’ Alexandra Privalova (137) is among top eight seeds of the tournament.