In the singles decisive match Samsonov, ranked 12th in the world rankings, confidently beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany (seeded sixth) — 4:1. The leader of the Belarusian national squad did well during the whole tournament, alternatively defeating Singaporean Li Hu — 4:0, German Bastian Steger — 4:1, Portuguese João Monteiro — 4:1 and Chinese Chih-Yuan Chuang — 4:0.
In men’s doubles Vladimir Samsonov, partnered by Slovenian tennis player Bojan Tokič, won over the Austrian duo of Robert Gardos and Daniel Habesohn — 3:2 in the 1/8 finals — yet lost in the 1/4 finals to Brazilians Hugo Calderano and Gustavo Tsuboi — 2:3.
The current victory of 38 year old Vladimir Samsonov in the Qatar capital is 25th at the World Tour series competitions. Moreover, over long years of his professional career, Samsonov many times became champion and prize winner at World and European championships in singles, doubles and team standings. He took part in five Olympic Games in a row (1996-2012) and was ranked among top ten during fifteen years (1996-2011).
By Yegor Glebov
