Table Tennis: Waldner's record triumph

(First Edition)

OLYMPIC champion Jan-Ove Waldner won the Europe Top 12 title a record fifth time yesterday, writes James Leigh in Copenhagen. . The Swede won the final

21-19 21-14 21-18 against his compatriot Peter Karlsson; the closest Waldner had come to defeat was against England's Carl Prean.

That was the only bright moment for England. There were nine defeats, some of them unexpected, and both the No 1 players, Lisa Lomas and Chen Xinhua, failed to finish because of thigh injuries. Lomas hopes to play again in two weeks, in time to try to regain the national title, but Chen may have longer lasting problems. A ruling on the regluing of bats is likely to made within a month according to Ichiro Ogimura, president of the International Table Tennis Federation.