Another edition of the China Construction Bank Europe Top 16 Cup is getting closer. In Montreux on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA will enter the arena for a 13th time; in last 14 years she missed the competition only once. In Montreux in 2018 SAMARA finished third in 2019 she reached the sixth position and in 2020 she was fifth. In addition in 2016 in Gondomar SAMARA finished fourth. The first time she played in Dusseldorf in 2009 she finished fifth. Last year SAMARA was fifth and looking back on 2022 Elizabeta said it was difficult year. “In the first part I was injured and I was forced to go under surgery. It was a back injury and I had herniated discus surgery ” explained SAMARA.” Surgery went well and since August I am in quite good shape and healthier.” Elizabeta started the season with the WTT Contender in Amman where she reached the Round of 16. “Already 2023 starts with so many matches national league Champions League First stage of the European Championships WTT competitions…My shape is quite well even I lost to SHAO Jeni after having four match balls in Amman.” In Women’s Event will play: HAN Ying of Germany Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria Nina MITTELHAM of Germany YUAN Jia Nan of France YU Fu of Portugal Bernadette SZOCS of Romania Hana MATELOVA of Czechia NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia Linda BERGSTROM of Sweden SHAO Jieni of Portugal Georgina POTA of Hungary Rachel MORET of Switzerland Christina KALLBERG of Sweden Natalia BAJOR of Poland. “Everybody has chances in Montreux I will not underestimate any player. I just cannot wait to be back in such a beautiful city Montreux!”
22nd Raiffeisen Youth Championships Linz – Austria 2023 & Youth Upper-Austria Challenge Trophy
The Raiffeisen Youth Championships Linz – Austria 2023 and the Youth Upper-Austria Challenge Trophy will be held in Tips Arena from 6th to 10th April 2023. The Youth Championships are designed for young players aged 11 to 19. The playing system of the Youth Championships ensures a maximum of individual games at their performance level for all players including inexperienced and youngest players in categories from U11 to U19. All teams consist of 2 players (additional player can be nominated). All team events are played in the corbillon cup system. All matches are played best of 5. If you are interested organisers invites you to fill out the registration form (download at https://www.froschberg.at/linz-austria- youth-championships/) and send email to: youth.championships@froschberg.at.
K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo better in all-Polish clash
In all-Poland’s clash in the opening leg of the semifinal of the Europe Cup K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo beat KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki in straight matches. Previously KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki won both quarterfinal legs against another Poland’s representative Polski Cukier Gwiazda Bydgoszcz whilst Dekorglass Dzialdowo overcame Austria’s Solex-Consult Wiener Neustadt. Today Jakub DYJAS overcame Marek BADOWSKI in full five games match (7:11 7:11 11:8 11:6 6:4). In next duel Jonathan GROTH proved too strong for Panagiotis GIONIS (14:12 11:4 11:6) and Kaii KONISHI sealed the duel with the victory over Milosz REDZIMSKI (11:8 11:5 11:8). K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo is playing in the Europe Cup semifinal for a third time. In 2018 they won the Cup and a year latter they were third.
Liam PITCHFORD is enjoying being back after injury
Liam PITCHFORD is enjoying being back on the table after injury and is ready to take on the best in Europe at the China Construction Bank Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux (to be played on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February). The England No 1 has had an arm injury and during his absence from the table has also been looking after his mental health. He returned at the WTT Contender Amman last week and says he has rediscovered his enjoyment of the sport and his drive to compete. In Amman he came from 2-0 and a match point down to defeat China’s YAN Sheng in the first round before exiting in a close match against Yan’s compatriot LIN Shidong in the last 16. Pitchford said: “I’m in a much more positive mindset than I was at the end of last year. It’s been good for me to be away from the table for a while and assess things and it’s given me a new drive. “Last year I put too much pressure on myself and wasn’t enjoying it. In Amman I felt a lot better than at the end of last year. “I wasn’t expecting much because I’ve not really been able to practise and I haven’t played matches for a while. To come back from 2-0 and a match point down and win that match shows I’ve still got the fight in me.” PITCHFORD will be aiming to improve on his previous best Top 16 performances when he reached the quarter-finals in both 2020 and 2021. “I didn’t play the Top 16 last year through injury so it’s a good chance to go back and have a shot at these guys. They are the big names and I’m in that company. I want to be out there and I want to win. I’ve got a chance to do some hard work in the next 10 days or so before going there and that puts me in a good place and there’s more of a chance now I’m in a better mindset. The first match is the most important to get into the tournament and start on the front foot and take it from there “explained PITCHFORD. In Men’s event top seed is Truls MOREGARD followed by Darko JORGIC of Slovenia Dang QIU and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden Liam PITCHFORD of England Andrej GACINA of Croatia Simon GAUZY of France Marcos FREITAS of Portugal WANG Yang of Slovakia Robert GARDOS of Austria Jonathan GROTH of Denmark Joao GERALDO of Portugal Elias HARDMEIER of Switzerland and Emmanuel LEBESSON of France.
Linz AG Froschberg beat Metz TT in the opening leg
Austria’s Linz AG Froschberg overcame French Metz TT to secure the valuable points in opening leg of the Champions League Women semifinal. In away match they went full distance. Sofia POLCANOVA led the club to the success with two wins. She beat Mariia TAILAKOVA (11:7 11:5 10:12 8:11 6:4) and Adina DIACONU (11:5 11:5 11:6). “It was very difficult today. Ying was leading 2:0 and then she lost but I told myself that I have to focused on my game. Our opponents are very strong and it is not the end. We have to concentrate for Sunday “said Sofia who recently played well in Amman (Jordan) and made it to the semi-finals of the WTT tournament. Suthasini SAWETTABUT lost her opening duel against DIACONU (11:9 11:7 8:11 5:11 4:6) but beat TALAKOVA in the decisive match (11:4 9:11 11:3 11:8). Pauline CHASSELIN overcame Yulia PROKHOROVA (15:13 11:8 11:7). “It is narrow gap and every point will count in next match but there is no easy matches in Champions League. On this level only small things decide who win “explained POLCANOVA.
TTC Neu-Ulm won the opening leg thriller against Borussia Düsseldorf
TTC Neu-Ulm won the opening leg of the Champions League semifinal against Borussia Düsseldorf. Unlike the German Cup Final Four on January 8 when they won first ever club’s title by beating Borussia Düsseldorf in straight matches this time was much harder. In Pfaffenhofen the clash that gathered five players from the top 15 in the World went full distance. Borussia Düsseldorf won their last Bundesliga duel against TTC Neu-Ulm 3-0 in Pfaffenhofen on November 13. Fourth in the world rankings Tomokazu HARIMOTO arrived in Germany on Sunday evening to replace LIN Yun-Ju and tonight he gave his team dream start with the victory over World’s no. 10 Dang QIU (11:8 7:11 11:1 11;8). In fourth match the 19-year-old Japanese lost to Anton KÄLLBERG who performed superbly tonight (11:7 8:11 8:11 11:8 4:6). “I am very happy for my wins and I am sure that we have a great chance on Sunday after today’s 2:3. We are all looking forward second leg. We will learn from today’s match what we can improve and to we will make sure that we do everything to beat them in next match ” said KALLBERG. World’s number 11 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV who celebrated his 500th victory in an individual competition at the WTT Contender in Amman (Jordan) last week and scored valuable points for the ranking list as a finalist recorded one win tonight. He also lost to Anton KÄLLBERG who is currently ranked at the position no. 19 in the World (5:11 10:12 9:11) but in the decisive match he overcame Dang QIU (11:6 11:13 11:8 11:8). “Anton played amazingly tonight and he gave us two great victories. Unfortunately me and Timo could not deliver another point for the team but our chances are still there in the second leg. I hope it will be better in front of home crowd and that we will come out victorious ” said QIU. World’s no. 6 Truls MÖREGARDH overcame World’s no. 15 Timo BOLL after he recovered from 1:2 in reverse (11:8 7:11 7:11 11:5 6:0). “My match was very tough one. Timo and I had a lot of ups and downs. Also KALLBERG played very good today. He beat two players in Top 10 and now we hope we will break him next time ” said MÖREGARDH.”Now we put Borussia under pressure before the Sunday’s match but we are aware how difficult is going to be. It will be very close but our goal is to move forward and to win the title in Champions League.” Timo BOLL said: “We feel that we missed some chances but overall it was a quite good game for both teams. And most important thing is that we have new chance on our home soil to reach the final. However it is still a long way.”
French GV Hennebont TT in the final
The winners of the Europe Cup in 2019 French GV Hennebont TT secured another final. In the second leg they recorded another victory over AS Pontoise Cergy TT. After they overcame their adversary 3:1 in opening leg tonight they needed one match less. Kristian KARLSSON opened the duel with the victory over Thomas LAROCHE (11:6 11:6 11:6). “We are very happy that we reached the final of the Europe Cup. Today we won quite easy but I think main job we did in Pontoise two days ago. It was very good performance of whole team and now we are already looking forward next match ” said KARLSSON. Like in the previous leg Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS beat Esteban DORR (11:9 11:8 11:8). “Everyone in the club is happy that we came one more step closer to the title. Pontoise did not come with their strongest team in the second semifinal but we are still happy to be in final and we will try our best to win the title ” explained SGOUROPOULOS. In the last match Anders LIND overcame Rafaêl CABRERA (11:6 11:5 11:4).
Third victory for Denmark in Portugal
In Group A2 in the Stage one of the European Championships Denmark beat Portugal in Viana de Castelo after long five matches. It is third victory for Denmark in the Group A2. They suffered only one defeat and it was against Portugal at home. Comparing previous matches both teams were with different line ups. Jonathan GROTH and Anders LIND were missing in Danish side whilst Portugal was without Marcos FREITAS Joao GERALDO and Tiago APOLONIA. Tobias RASMUSSEN was the back-bone of Denmark’s success. He beat Goncalo GOMES (11:7 11:5 9:11 11:2) and Diogo CHEN (11:5 6:11 11:6 11:8). In the decisive fifth match Thor CHRISTENSEN beat Goncalo GOMES (11:13 11:2 11:4 12:10). On Portugal’s side Diogo CHEN overcame CHRISTENSEN (11:6 11:5 12:10) and Diogo SILVA beat Martin ANDERSEN (11:8 11:9 11:7). Portugal has two wins and one defeat and they are yet to play the last match in the Group against Poland.
1.FC Saarbrücken TT beat SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. in fantastic atmosphere
In the opening leg of the Champions Legue Men semifinal 1.FC Saarbrücken TT overcame Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. in four matches. Patrick FRANZISKA secured two points for the guests. He beat Daniel HABESOHN (11:5 11:7 11:9) and in fourth match prevailed against Ovidiu IONESCU (9:11 11:8 12:10 11:3). In the opening match Darko JORGIC also overcame IONESCU after five very close games (11:13 11:6 12:10 8:11 6:4). The only point for the hosts was scored by Steffen MENGEL who beat Cedric NUYTINCK (11:4 9:11 11:6 11:5). “We are delighted to win this away-match because it was very difficult task. The spectators here are amazing; the atmosphere is amazing; really powerful ” pointed Patrick FRANZISKA. Despite the challenge 1.FC Saarbrücken TT was up to the task. “We played very good. I am happy with my win over Ionescu. He had two game balls to make it to 2:1 but at the end it finished in my favor. Now we will have one day to rest and then with full power we will get ready for the Sunday’s return leg ” announced Patrick. JORGIc also underlined the frantic atmosphere in Mühlhausen. “It is always so difficult to play in Mühlhausen. The venue is small but always packed with fans. The team always perform at the top level when they play at home and today was not the exception. They played superb match and it could easily went the other side. Luckily it did not. We managed to keep the match under control and to win ” said JORGIC. By giving the good start to the clubmates JORGIC opened the doors to success. “We all have that on our mind. I wanted to give initial push because it is always easier when you have 1:0 in the pocket. I am very pleased with my performance. Both Ovidiu and I played great table tennis. We went full distance and this match pulled the best of both of us. Again it could go either way. I won 6:4 in the decisive game only by managing to stay calm after I lost two games very close ” said JORGIC. Darko praised FRANZISKA’s game. “ He played outstandingly. He was so focused against HABESOHN and did not give Daniel much chances. Even when he was losing in the third game 3:7 he managed to recover and once again proved as a true leader of the team. He justified his status by showing no weak spots in close duels. In next match it was MENGEL who showed superb performance. NUYTINCK made too many mistakes on first balls so Steffen deservingly won this encounter.” The last match was real jewel. “Ovidiu already proved that he knows how to play against both of us FRANZISKA and me. He played so good tonight but Patrick managed to stay with cold head after IONESCU took the opening game. He stayed focused even when Ovidiu had 1:1 and 10:8 in third game. Now we have to beat Mühlhausen again and no one think it is going to be easy. There will be no calculations we will go for a win ” said JORGIC.
SH-ITB Budaörsi Sport Club secured opening leg advantage
In Czech Republic Hungarian SH-ITB Budaörsi Sport Club record win over Moravsky Krumlov in the opening leg semifinal of the Europe Cup Women. Georgina POTA was the key player tonight. Valeriia SHCHERBATYKH gave hosts perfect start with the victory over Adel Helga DARI (11:9 11:7 4:11 11:5). However hopes for hosts did not last long. Georgina POTA overcame Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA in straight games (11:8 11:8 11:5) before Maria FAZEKAS gave SH-ITB Budaörsi Sport Club further push by beating Lenka HARABASZOVA (11:2 10:12 11:1 11:7). In the closest duel in the match Valeriia SHCHERBATYKH forced POTA to go full distance. Eventually POTA won by sudden death point (10:12 11:4 16:14 8:11 6:5). “It’s great that we won 3-1 because this result gives us a great chance to advance to the final. It would be a great success for our club and we have taken an important first step. But we have to keep our focus and to keep fighting. I am glad I helped with two points. I did not play my best table tennis today but in the second singles I tried to play my best at the end with good receive and the first ball in the game ” explained POTA. TT Moravský Krumlov coach Jindřich BÍLA said: “We could have won the match because I think our player would have been the favorite in the fifth singles match. But Georgina POTA was against it. She won the match after she faced three match points in a row and proved that she is a great player. She played excellent balls and decided the whole match. We have no choice but to fight for a 3-0 or 3-1 win in Hungary and force the golden game.”
