The pair of CHEN Chien-An and CHUANG Chih-Yuan were too good for the Chinese duo of HAO Shuai and MA Lin, winning 9-11,12-10,11-6,13-11,9-11,11-8, to secure Chinese Taipei’s first ever World Table Tennis Championship Title in the 87-year history of the event. Whilst holding the Iran Cup, which is awarded to the best Men’s Doubles pair in the world since 1947, CHUANG Chih-Yuan stated: “It’s the first time for Chinese Taipei, I can’t find the words. Standing on the podium, listening to the anthem was so special. This is a fantastic boost for table tennis in our country.”

“I was very nervous at the start of the match”, confessed CHEN Chien-An. “Later I settled down and I was able to play my style.”

The loss for the Chinese pair was not only the end of an era for the Chinese dominance in the event, but it was also the last time that triple Olympic gold medalist MA Lin will put on the Chinese colors, as he announced his international retirement. The 33 year-old stated: “At my age I need to start reassessing my life. I am very proud of what I have achieved and I have no regrets. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.”

In the Women’s Singles final, Olympic Champion LI Xiaoxia (CHN) is now also the World Table Tennis Champion, after beating teammate LIU Shiwen in a gripping final at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Despite admitting not eating or sleeping last night due to nerves, the 25 year-old prevailed in a tightly contested encounter 11-8,4-11,11-7,12-10,6-11,13-11 to earn herself a place in table tennis folklore.

After collecting the 82-year-old Geist Prize Trophy, LI stated: “I want to thank all my team members for helping make my dream come true. Today I won because of my fighting spirits. This allows me to calm down and control myself in the tough situations. I learnt this from my victory at the London Olympic Games.”

LIU Shiwen was positive after her defeat in her first World Table Tennis Championships final, stating: “I played well, congratulations to LI Xiaoxia for winning, she just played that bit better today. This match has given me a lot of confidence. I believe I will start winning these major events if I can keep on making finals.”

There will be more gold for China tomorrow, as Olympic and defending World Champion ZHANG Jike faces Chinese compatriot WANG Hao in the same in the Men’s Singles final as 2011 at 15:30 local time. Women’s Singles champion LI Xiaoxia partners GUO Yue, who won gold in 2011 against team mates DING Ning and LIU Shiwen in the quest for Women’s Doubles gold.

Last European representatives Germans Timo BOLL and Patrick BAUM lost their quarterfinal matches earlier this morning. MA Long beat Timo BOLL, whilst ZHANG Jike prevailed against BAUM.

BOLL could not repeat the success from the Rotterdam 2011, wher he won the bronze medal at the World Championships. “Today I was really close. We both played at the high level. Two first games were important. Unfortunately I lost the opening set quickly and then in next I had a lead 6:2 before one unlucky boll hit the net. At the end I was playing at Ma’s level. MA also produced great fun for the spectators, we presented great game, therefore I am not sad very much”, said BOLL.

BOLL admitted:” I had to get used to his level, because it was long time since I played against Chinese players . It is hard to accept that I managed to produce game at such high level and still could not won.”

Key points are:

- The mixed doubles event will include 16 pairs
- The pairs will be made up of players already qualified from the teams and individual events. This means the 86 men and 86 women quota will stay the same
- National OC will be able to enter 4 out of 5 events. For example, if France qualifies in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s team, women’s team and mixed doubles, they would have to choose which 4 events that would like to play in.

So far at the nation team trainings OVTCHAROV was the player who was winning most of the matches, but at the LIEBHERR World Championships the 25-year-old prevailed. “He is certainly most complete player we have in Europe,” says Jorg ROSSKOPF. But he needed a time to mature. “Generally, it takes a bit longer to Patrick,” says ROSSKOPF.

BAUM is only a year older than OVTCHAROV. They know each other since school times, work together a lot and they are also good friends privately. “Dimitrij is one of players in our national team, against whom I have probably done the most training games,” said BAUM.
Neither them – nor BAUM nor OVTCHAROV has played in the quarters of the World Championships before. Yesterday in 4:1 win first four games finished on narrow margins, with two points difference.

Only few would have put their money on that result. OVTCHAROV won the bronze in London at the Olympic Games in Singles Event, won Europe Top 12. He is also invited by Chinese to play in their Super League this summer together with Boll. On the other side BAUM was two times runner up at the European Championships in 2010 and 2011.

BAUM took the decision to become a professional rather late – only after 11th grade at school. “I just was afraid that I can not make it,” he said in an interview for the magazine “Table Tennis” in December 2010 about his biggest concern at that time.

Same as Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, Patrick BAUM comes from a table tennis family. Mother Gabi used to play in the 3rd German league, father Arthur was ambitious second division player and regional coach in the county of Rheinhessen where the family lives, Patrick’s five years older brother Bjorn was in 1996 German cadets Champion and even with less effort still plays in the second division with TTC Weinheim. “My parents are very important to me. They have always helped me, and my brother, too.”

The parents are also in Paris, staying in the same hotel as the German team, but keep in the background. Father Arthur is like Mikhail OVTCHAROV today engaged as a private coach of his son. Two days a week Patrick usually works at home in Florsheim-Dalsheim. The rest of the time he is at the German Table Tennis Centre in Dusseldorf led by Borussia Düsseldorf head coach Danny HEISTER and federal assistant coach ZHU Xiaoyong, if Men’s head coach Jörg Rosskopf is not available.

BAUM last year had to digest two major setbacks, one of which he took very personally. At the Olympic Games in London, he was only number four in the team competition behind Timo BOLL, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Bastian STEGER. He was the substitute who completed the entire preparation, arises as a training partner supporting the team, but in the end he was not in competition and on the podium. Among other things, this also for the German team coach very difficult decision had tactical reasons. The team competition at the Olympic Games contains a double. Some time before the tournament it appeared very probable that rather Timo BOLL would compete in a double as Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. A left-handed duo like BAUM / BOLL would be a combination with less chance of success in world-class table tennis. However, this explanation was no consolation for the BAUM.

At the European Championships in Denmark BAUM had played in the shape of a European Champion, but he was disqualified after the victory against Romanian Adrian CRISAN because of a non-compliant racket. BAUM had not measured the thickness after gluing the day before, because before his material has always met the standard before.

The time needed to heal these two wounds. “Patti has matured,” Jorg ROSSKOPF has been observed in recent weeks. “He is better at dealing with critical situations. “

Unfortunately in the same round Portugal’s Marcos FREITAS suffered against XU Xin by same margin.

The highlight of the day was the all-German duel between Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patrick BAUM. Ratings are not the most important issue when two well known adversaries meet each other. BAUM placed at the position 29 at the rankings proved that once again by beating OVTCHAROV current no. 7. Two times runner-up at the European Championships overcame player who won the bronze in singles at the London Olympics last year. He did it in five games. Four were extremely close, whilst the last one finished 11:2.

One service mistake will haunt Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus certainly for some time. Against Kenta MATSUDAIRA of Japan Belarus star lost seven games encounter, after in decisive game he was back on right tracks in decisive game. SAMSONOV was down 4:6 in seventh game, but he turned the course of the match and took fully control. He took a lead and then made an error during service. Ball finished on his side of the net and down it went his focus.

“I wish I could normally, not that way. It was very good match with open opportunities for both. At the beginning I have struggle a little with his serve, but as the game progressed everything settled. Also, Kenta read my game, so ever set was very open,” said SAMSONOV.

Yesterday SAMSONOV beat Andrej GACINA of Croatia and pointed at that duel as very difficult as well. “I lost one game, but fifth set concluded at 9 points.” On his way to the Round of 16 Vladimir also beat GIONIS of Greece and AL HASAN of Kuwait. “It is wonderful to be here and to play in Paris. It is really great opportunity. I enjoyed the tournament.”

In the Men’s Doubles Event the medals winners are already determined. Now we have to wait for tomorrow only to see who will get gold or silver. So far, Seya KISHIKAWA and Jun MIZUTANI of Japan booked their place at the medal rostrum, but could not halted the progress of Chinese players HAO Shuai and Ma Lin to the ultimate stage.

In other penultimate stage duel CHEN Chien An and CHUANG Chih Yuan of Taipei beat big favorites, second seeds WANG Liqin and ZHOU Yu of China.

Robert GARDOS of Austria has not left the field without the fight, but YHANG Jike prevented any upsets and concluded the match in five games.

It is third occasion that North Korea won the gold. PARK Yung Sun did it twice in 1975 and 1977 in women’s singles.

“It was great experience for me. I am so happy that I could produce great joy for my people and our leader,” said KIM Hyouk Bong.

After the match KIM Jong burst into the tears. She hardly could stop crying even on the press conference. “So many people escorted us with best wishes on our way to Paris. I am so grateful that I was able to meet their expectations,” said KIM Jong.

In the match for the medal against second seed LIU Shiwen of China Hu won opening game, but failed to produce same determination in the later stages of the match.
“In fourth game she had great chance to return into the match. She had 5:2, but missed two or three easy balls, and just stopped. I do not say she could win, but we surely will have close game and chances for some turns and surprise. With 2:2 in games, instated of 3:1 there are few possibilities more,” explained coach.
Day earlier HU eliminated best European player at the World Rankings SHEN Yanfei of Spain in fantastic match.
“She was two sets in reverse, when she turned the course of the match. After that SHEN could not win a game against HU.”
In Women’s Doubles Event top seeds GUO Yue and LI Xiaoxia secured at least bronze medal after they overcame PARK Youngsook and YANG Haeun of Korea in the quarter final. They succeeded in straight games. FENG Tianwei and YU Mengyu are the next challengers on their way to the gold. Singapore’s pairings overcame Ai FUKUHARA and Sayaka HIRANO of Japan in today’s duel. In the lower half of the draw seeded no. two DING Ning and LIU Shiwen of Chine are also on their way to the ultimate stage. They overcame JIANG Huajun and LEE Ho Ching of Hong Kong in quarters. Now they will meet their compatriots CHEN Meng and ZHU Yuling. Hirko FUJII and Misako WAKAJAMA of Japan were they latest casualties.

e great efforts she could not produce another one today. FENG Tianwei prevailed.

The leading name at the Old Continent Timo BOLL, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patrick BAUM, all booked their places for the next round.
Germany already secured quarterfinalist since one of the duels will be between Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patrick BAUM. OVTCHAROV was first in line of duty today and he beat TAG Peng of Hong Kong. He showed great game, leaving no chances to his adversary. However he was not fully satisfied with his game.

“I was playing very well, but at some points in crucial moments in first and third game I was nervous. I made few mistakes. I didn’t play aggressive nor clever. If this happens against players in the next rounds it’s over. Therefore, it was probably good that I didn’t win 4-0. I’ll pay much better attention on that now. When you were 1-2 behind and took yourself out of this situation this will help you during the next rounds. I’ve learnt from this,” explained OVTCHAROV.

Patrick BAUM eliminated the last French representative in Men’s Singles – Emmanuel LEBESSON. “It was very tough match,” said BAUM who reached his best career result at Worlds, but stayed calm. ”Whether it is the Round of 32 or last 16 it makes no diffence to me. The special feelings begin only with the medal.”

About the sudden stop of the electronic score board in the fifth game in the middle of the set, he said: “It was actually 6:6, but when I was ready to serve, I’ve seen in the corner of my eye on the score board it was still 5:5. I wanted to have that correct and actually thought that I would keep calm in this situation. After all it did disturb my concentration, I lost the complete game. Otherwise I might have won 4-1. All in all it was a very tough, hard match.”

In the late match BOLL beat Jens LUNDQVIST of Sweden. Jens proved as worthy opponent. “I have played pretty much at the highest level and still it was 2:2. It is hard when you see that you are playing well, but still not winning ,” said BOLL.

But European champion kept on playing, remained focused and eventually won. “For many it was probably an unexpectedly close victory. LUNDQVIST was very, very good. For both of us, it was good game. I’ve played pretty much at my limit, but still it was 2-2. Then it went better and better. I have taken difficult balls, and moved well. It is difficult, if you play well, but still never take a real lead. I didn’t become desperate though, and always continued fighting. That was very good.”

Now he will play against his former teammates from Dusseldorf Seiya KISHIKAWA who beat Alexey SMIRNOV of Russia. “Kishi and I know each other well. I’ve already lost against him. He is a very safe player and always tries and get into an open rally. Our matches are always exhausting for me. “

Marcos FREITAS of Portugal beat Kazuhiro CHAN of Japan in five games , but tomorrow he will play against XU Xin of Chine, who already beat Tiago APOLONIA today. Vladimir SAMSONOV accounted at Andrej GACINA of Croatia and Robert GARDOS beat Omar ASSAR of Egypt.

“Being able to reach the position among top eight players in the World is my best ever result and I will try to give my best to repeat the good game in the next match,” said HU Melek.

HU Reached Round of 32 in Rotterdam two years ago and clinched the bronze medal in Ostrava in 2010 at the European Championships.

LIU Jia of Austria repeated the result from Zagreb 2007, but RIU Myong Sun of Korea halted her further progress. “Simply, RI left no space for LIU. Her defensive style is very difficult for LIU. We knew that, because Korean player beat LIU year earlier at the World’s Teams Championships in Dortmund, but could not do much,” explained coach LIU Yan Jun.

Tetyana BILENKO of Ukraine created great upset by booking her place in Round of 16, but despite great efforts she could not produce another one today. FENG Tianwei prevailed.

The agreement was signed on the final day of the ETTU 2013 Annual Conference by Dorte KRONSELL, Vice President of ETTU and Mariusz DAMENTKO, Sports Director at Special Olympics Europe Eurasia and takes place against the backdrop of the World Table Tennis Championship also taking place in Paris this week (May 13th – 20th).

“With the global table tennis community gathered together in Paris, we are delighted to take this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to promoting more inclusion in table tennis across Europe while growing its popularity within the Special Olympics movement itself” says Dorte KRONSELL, VP of ETTU. “Now is our opportunity to help more children and adults with intellectual disabilities to transforms their lives through the joy and power of table tennis.”

Table Tennis is one of the five most popular sports at Special Olympics in Europe with currently 41,352 registered table tennis players in the region. Table Tennis will be one of the eleven competition sports at the 2014 Special Olympics European

For more information on 2014 Special Olympics European Games visit here
For more information on Special Olympics Europe Eurasia visit here

The main force behind this project is her former coach Neven CEGNAR who heads the production. Jura OZMEC, well known name in the world of sport TV production is guaranty that the movie will be successful, as well as director Ante ROZIC already famous by his documentaries about Cibona, Drazen PETROVIC… “This is not the movie about Tamara’s sports success and about her 23 medals from the biggest tournaments. This is the story about her dedication, her approach to trainings sessions, her professional attitude. I was her coach 20 years. I met her when she was 15 years old, and I know her journey from the unknown player to the player who were among 10 in the World for seven years and reached the position no. two at the rankings,” said Neven CEGNAR.

No one spotted her as a great talent at the beginning, but with the enormous efforts she reached playing heights. “Her dedication is fantastic. It is great motivation for the young players and we wanted to show them, that the hard work always pays off. “ The Asian producers are also interested. “More than Europeans, Asian people recognized her value. She was more famous there then here. We are in negotiations since our commercial construction is not fully closed.”

Speaking of dedication, we can not forget to mention Sandra PAOVIC. “She is playing again. Sandra won three gold in the row at the para table tennis championships and that is great satisfaction to all the people that helped her – to see her able to travel and play again.”