Michael Maze won European bronze in singles in 2007. In 2009, Maze had reached the quarterfinals of 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, held in Yokohama, Japan. He was the only European player to achieve the quarters, beating Greek player Panagiotis Gionis at last 16 Round. On 20 September 2009 he defeated Werner Schlager in the final of the European Championships held in Stuttgart, Germany after defeating the German favorite Timo Boll in the semis.