Last week, the Latvian coastal city of Liepaja hosted the 3^rd edition of the International Showdown Championship “Amber of Liepaja”, awarded with the maximum number of ranking points, attracting most of the leading players.

In showdown, the ranking points awarded at the tournament are determined by the number of TOP20 ranked players who participate in the event. For the second time, “Amber of Liepaja” was held as a level 4 tournament, where the winner (both men and women) received 400 ranking points.

Three full playing days resulted in an absolute triumph for Hanna Vilmi, who was unbeaten in this tournament. In the final, Hanna won against Antye Samoray, from Germany, in 3 sets (11-6, 12-4, 11-5).

#Accessibility – Podium of the women’s competition showing medals and winner trophy

In the meantime, the game for third place was played between Monika Szwalek, from Poland, and the Latvian player Liene Ciemiņa, who returned after a four-year break from the tournaments. Szwalek defeated Ciemiņa in four sets (11-0, 4-11, 12-9, 11-9).

In the men’s competition, the final was played by Krystian Kisiel from Poland and Alisher Hoshanijazov from Estonia. The first two sets were very competitive, leading to a 1-1 draw. Surprisingly, the third set ended with no points for the Estonian (0-11). Hoshanijazov came back in the fourth set (11-4). However, the fifth set did not provide a widely expected battle and ended with the win of the former ranking leader Kissiel (7-12, 11-6, 11-0, 4-11, 11-3).

#Accessibility – Polish player Krystian Kisiel with Hoshanijazov and Ovsjannikovs on his side showing their medals

In the match for 3rd place, the home player, Deniss Ovsjannikovs, was able to turn the game around and win the bronze medal. Ovsjaņņikovs played a five-set game with Christoff Eilers, from Belgium.

Ovsjaņņikovs was two sets behind (0-2) but managed to come back. Then, in the fifth set, Eilers was leading by 10-5, but Ovsjaņņikovs still managed to win the game (8-12, 8-12, 13-11, 12-8, 12-10). Because of a poor result from the former champion and this year’s ranking leader, Adrian Sloninka (Poland), who took 17th place, the new men’s ranking leader is Deniss Ovsjaņņikovs. Sloninka has fallen to second place in the ranking, only 20 points behind Ovsjaņņikovs.

The games can be seen here.

Next year, “Amber of Liepaja 2023” will be held from July 12th to July 15th.