MARSEILLE - The 35-year-old French champion Michael Hammen took the Euro Grand Prix artistic in Marseille. The title was well deserved: Hammen dominated the field with high scores and defeated the Spaniard Xavier Fonellosa in an exciting final 3-2. The podium was completed by Spaniard Sergio Sanchez and Dutchman René Dericks.
The tournament was closed on the final with a French favourite, two Spaniards and a surprising Dutchman. The Belgian contenders, Walter Bax, Eric Daelman and Erik Vervliet, were eliminated for the overall win in the run-up to the final day. The European number one, Serdar Gümüs, was beaten in a thriller by Sergio Sanchez, who achieved a maximum score in the final set.
The Spanish finalists met each other for a place in the final. Xavier Fonellosa, the veteran, showed himself stronger than the only 29-year-old Sergio Sanchez: 3-1 (73,190/62,406). Michael Hammen was superior again in the match against Rene Dericks with a lot of hits in the third attempt. ,,That's his class, but also with a bit of luck'', concluded the Dutch opponent. The Frenchman won 3-1 (72.142).
In the quarterfinals Michael Hammen had outplayed his compatriot Jean Reverchon 3-0 (74.418 for the winner), Xavier Fonellosa bested Eric Daelman 3-1, Sergio Sanchez was the surprising winner against Serdar Gümüs (3-2) and René Dericks beat the Belgian champion Erik Vervliet, who suffered a flue.
The final was a thrilling fight until the last, decisive set. Xavier Fonollosa started with a win in the first (45-31), in the second Hammen tied the score (52-36), the Spaniard then won the third by one point (50-49). Michael Hammen crowned himself to the winner when he showed his fighting spirit in the last two sets: 48-29 and 65-52 in the decisive set, taking figure 55 before Fonollosa could win the match.