Last week Ukraine’s Margaryta PESOTSKA played at the WTT Championships in Budapest and reached the Round of 16 of the Women’s Singles Event. She beat Brazil’s Bruna TAKAHASHI before lost to CHEN Meng of China. “I felt very exiting to play wtt champions.It was nice experience for me. In addition it was a good opportunity to keep my level because from February it was only my second International competition ” explained PESOTSKA. PESOTSKA will play at the forthcoming European Championships Munich 2022 (to be played from 13th to 21st August). Margaryta already has silver medals from the European Championships in Stuttgart 2009 and from Alicante 2018. In singles she also clinched two bronze medals in Gdansk Sopot and Warsaw in 2011 and 2020 whilst in Yekaterinburg in 2015 she was third with the team. “Now I back from Budapest for two weeks in Ukraine to see my family after we have training camp in Poland and then I will travel to Munich ” reported PESOTSKA. You said you had only two tournaments after February. Did you have a chance to train? “Russia destroyed our table tennis hall in most of cities in Ukraine. In Kiev the hall is still working but many players left their homes and now live abroad.” PESOTSKA is no. 11 seed. At the top of the list are HAN Ying and Nina MITTELHAM of Germany Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria SHAN Xiona of Germany Hana MATELOVA of Czech Republic YUAn Jia Nan of France… “I think all favourites are in good shape so it will be a big battle for the medal at the European Championship. I do not think about my result. I am going to travel with my son so it will be first experience to be together during competition. I hope for a good game and nice matches ” said PESOTSKA.
FRANZISKA reached the new level before the Munich 2022
After the triumph over Olympic champion MA Long (China) at the $500 000 WTT Championships in Budapest against whom he had never won a game before Patrick FRANZISKA of Germany put a new milestone in his career. No.6 seed in the Men’s Singles Event at the forthcoming European Championships Munich 2022 (to be played from 13th to 21st August) busted his confidence before Continental gathering as well with additional wins over Darko JORGIC of Slovenia no. two seed and Robert GARDOS of Austria no 14. “To arrive perhaps with the biggest victory of my career to the European Championships is – of course great. It certainly gives me even more self-confidence and shows me that I am on right track and doing thing in the right way at my training sessions. But the European Championships are a completely different tournament again where everything is reset to zero ” said FRANZISKA. The competition will be fierce. Three places above Patrick at the seedings are booked for Dimitrij OVTCHAROV DANG Qui and Timo BOLL – his teammates. No. One seed is Swede Truls MOREGARDH. “There are a lot of very strong players from the German national team and competitors from other European countries who all want to and can win the title. But it is nice to be among the contenders before this special European Championship in our own country. But I am keeping it the same at the European Championships in Germany as I do at all tournaments because that’s what I do well. I only look how to go further from game to game and from match to match. And in Munich of course I hope for the support of our great spectators.” Had Coach Joerg ROSSKOPF gave further explanation. “Budapest was a very important assessment for us on the way to the European Championships on home soil in Munich which are very precious for us. We got good feedback at the three tournaments which we now have to work on at our two training courses next week and the week after. Some of our players performed very well at the Mini World Championships in Hungary.” Coach ROSSKOPF commented the results of Men’s team of Germany. “Of course Patrick FRANZISKA’S victory over MA Long was outstanding but DANG Qiu also showed a very strong performance against LIN Gaoyuan. Patrick clearly defeated Liam PITCHFORD one of the best Europeans and showed that he is always a force to be reckoned with especially against European opponents. He will improve even more until the European Championships start. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV is working hard to get back to his old strength after his long injury and is on the right track. It won’t happen overnight he will improve week by week. A tournament like the European Championships where he can play his way into the match comes in handy. Benedikt DUDA is also in good form unfortunately his draw in Budapest were not the best. To sum up: We throw five hot irons into the fire and want to try to play for the title in all competitions at the home European Championships in Munich with the support of the public. It will be an exciting European Championships where we are the hunters and not the hunted for the first time in a long time because the top seeds this time are the World Championship runner-up MÖREGARDH and the Europe Top 16 winner JORGIC. But we also feel comfortable in the role of the chasers.”
Jakub FOLWARSKI and Ece HARAC clinched gold in Lodz 2022
Jakub FOLWARSKI and Ece HARAC clinched gold at the Singles table tennis events at the European Universities Games Lodz 2022. In the final of the Men’s Singles Event Jakub FOLWARSKI of Poland overcame Ibrahim GUNDUZ of Turkiye 3:2. Bronze medal winners are Adam DOSZ of Poland and Mateusz UFNAL also from Poland. Nisantasi University representatives Abdullah Talha YIGENLER and Ibrahim GUNDUZ overcame University of Pecs players David MOLNAR and Sebestyen KOVACS in the final of the Men’s Doubles Event. The gold medal winner in the Women’s Singles Event is Ece HARAC of Turkiye. She beat Anna WEGRZYN of Poland in the final. Earlier Ece overcame Anna’s sister Katarzyna WEGRZYN in the semis. Anna beat Katarina STRAZAR of Slovenia. Nisantasi University’s Simay KULAKCEKEN and Ece HARAC overcame University of Ostrava’s Zdena BLASKOVA and Gabriela STEPANOVA in the final of the Women’s Doubles Event. Zamojski Academy beat Nisantasi University after full five matches in the Men’s Teams Event final. Jakub FOLWARSKI beat Abdullah Talha Yigenler and Ibrahim GUNDUZ. GUNDUZ scored against Konrad KULPA. Another point for Turkey’s team added Tugay Sirzat YILMAZ who overcame Lukasz JAROCKI. In the decisive match KULPA beat YILMAZ. In the semifinal Technical University of Ostrava and University of Pecs suffered by the hands of Poland’s and Turkiye’s teams. In the Women’s Teams final University Ostrava beat Paris Dauphine University in straight matches. Marketa SEVCIKOVA Zdena BLASKOVA and Gabriela STEPANOVA overcame Judith LIU Marion BERTHAUD and Amelie PAULY. In the semifinal French side overcame Wroclaw University of Economic whilst Czech team beat University of Ljubljana.
Patrick FRANZISKA lost 3:4 in the semi-final against Harimoto
Patrick FRANZISKA missed entering the final of the $500 000 WTT Championships in Budapest after losing to Tomokazu HARIMOTO by narow margin. H elost in seventh game in a semi-final thriller to the favored Japanese who is now playing for the title against the Chinese LIN Gaoyuan. After the Round of 16 triumph over Olympic champion MA Long (China) against whom he had never won a game before Patrick FRANZISKA had also hoped for the end of the negative series against Tomokazu HARIMOTO. The man from Saarbrücken and the Japanese had faced each other five times before most recently in the Olympic team semifinals in Tokyo. Although the sixth duel between number 14 and number eight in the world ended in favor of the Asian FRANZISKA was at 3:11 11:6 8:11 11:6 5:11 11:8 and 6:11 only a step away from success. FRANZISKA played against the now 19-year-old Harimoto once apostrophized as a child prodigy of table tennis same world-class game at the highest level as against the three-time world champion MA Long and Slovenia’s seventh in the world rankings Darko JORGIC . Alone the Japanese pushing himself with his loud self-cheers which are more like screams (FRANZISKA: “That’s annoying a bit”) had luck on his side in addition to fantastic skills in the decisive phase of the dramatic exchange of blows. When FRANZISKA slowly but surely seemed to set the course for a place in the final with the equalizer to 5:5 in the seventh and decisive set HARIMOTO twice helped the edge of the net to break out of the beginning embrace of Europe with the points to 6:5 and 8:5 – Top 16 winners of 2021 to solve again. Patrick FRANZISKA was annoyed afterwards: “The two net rollers were really very bitter. At that point it was my turn and I had the feeling that I had it now.” The fair sportsman Franziska added: “Unfortunately that’s how it is sometimes. I could have lost against MA Long for that then I wouldn’t have been in the semifinals today. In the end it always balances out at some point. But it was bitter at the moment of course.” In between after the end of the third round which was unfortunately lost 8:11 FRANZISKA had a moment of shock to survive. He had to undergo medical treatment on his neck. The physiotherapist from the Hessen Olympic base Peter HECKERT who always accompanies the DTTB team explained after the match: “Patrick had contracted a blockage in the neck area during a movement in the third set which we were fortunately able to treat and solve during the breaks in the set so that he was able to play well.” Franziska gave the all-clear: “Sometimes I get that something in my neck tightens it’s not a big deal. But it only hampered me a bit with one or two balls. After treatment by Peter I was then able to continue playing normally.”
Patrick FRANZISKA reached semis in WTT Champions European Summer Series
Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA will play in the semi final of the WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022 (ESS 2022). After his historic victory over MA Long on Wednesday Patrick extends his stay in the Men’s Singles draw by completing a 3-0 win over Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC (14-12 11-6 12-10). JORGIC had two game points in game three but FRANZISKA recovered. Earlier the Slovenian held a commanding 5-10 advantage in game one but fails to convert and hasn’t look the same since. Patrick will meet the winner of the duel between Korea’s LIM Jonghoon and Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO. In lower half of the draw in the semifinal China’s LIN Gaoyuan will play against Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan. “Last night after beating Ma Long I turned off my phone early focusing on today’s match. Of course it was nice to get some attention from players and family from friends and also people I have never met before so to be honest I was thinking about my last match. I tried to turn that into a positive thing to have confidence in myself. I think I did that quite good. Maybe in today’s match I was unfocused in the first game but then I was focused and played with a lot of fun. That is important. If you beat Ma Long you get more self-confidence. He is maybe the best player of all time. In that tight match against him I tried to take this flow with me now. I am trying to go on. It does not really matter who is standing on the other side. I will try to play aggressive confident and focused.”
Patrick FRANZISKA beat “The Dragon” MA Long
On the third day of play at the WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022 (ESS 2022) Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA take a giant step in his career. He beat table tennis G.O.A.T. double Olympic champion MA Long of China (11-7 7-11 11-6 4-11 12-10). In earth-shattering upset Patrick knock top seed to reach the quarterfinal of the Men’s Singles Event. Never before FRANZISKA managed to take a game from MA but today he beat him completely. The German adds Ma Long to his impressive list of scalps against Chinese opposition with FAN Zhendong XU Xin and LIN Gaoyuan “It’s definitely the biggest win of my career. Ma Long is probably the best player to ever play the sport and my whole body is shaking after beating him today. I can’t believe it!” said FRANZISKA.”I commenced the match by believing in myself. After I won the first game I felt that he was struggling a bit he didn’t seem to happy with his game. Against these amazing player you have to take every small chance you get. I just played with a lot of confidence risking a lot and playing with variation and in the end it worked.” In the Round of 16 Kazakhstan’s Kirill GERASSIMENKO’s outstanding run was halted by the hands of 7th seed Darko JORGIC in the closing match of the morning session (11-5 9-11 11-9 11-2). Darko will meet FRANZISKA in next round. “Darko JORGIC is my teammate and I was joking with him asking if he would rather play me or MA Long! We know each other very well it will be a very awkward game so I will try to prepare as much as possible.” For the other Europeans it was less successful day; China’s WANG Chuqin recorded a 3-0 win over Swede Kristian KARLSSON (12-10 11-6 11-6). Taipe’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan beat Alexis LEBRUN of France 3-2 (6-11 11-7 10-12 11-9 11-9) to reach the quarterfinals. Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO beat Germany’s DANG Qiu 3-0 (11-8 11-4 11-4). Another Japan’s representative Yukiya UDA defeats Marcos FREITAS 3-1 (7-11 11-6 13-11 12-10) and moves on to the Men’s Singles quarterfinals. In the afternoon program LIN Gaoyuan brought the power and overcame Timo BOLL to claim his spot in the Quarterfinals (11-8 11-6 11-3). China’s CHEN Meng moves through to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Singles by defeating Margaryta PESOTSKA 3-1 (16-14 11-9 7-11 11-3). PESOTSKA put some pressure on the World No.2 and had multiple chances to take the advantage but the match ended in Chinese stars favor. Japan’s Mima ITO was dominated against Germany’s SHAN Xiaona and secured her place in the next round 3-0 (11-8 11-7 11-2). World champion Chinese fans as WANG beat Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA (11-6 11-4 9-11 11-7). POLCANOVA refuses to go down without a fight saving three match points in game four but it’s ultimately not enough. Japan’s Miyuu KIHARA overcame Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS in a tight match in the Women’s Singles round of 16 (11-6 4-11 11-8 11-9).
Kristian KARLSSON beat WANG Chuqin in Budapest
The first round of WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022 (ESS 2022) gave table tennis fans much to cheer for with upsets class action and the next generation challenging the old guard. Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden claimed the upset of the WTT Champions ESS 2022 so far with a massive 3-2 win over WANG Chuqin of China who had just won the WTT Star Contender ESS 2022 title last week. KARLSSON said “It feels very good to defeat the WTT Star Contender champion. I’ve had a few close encounters with him and he has always won. It felt like if there was a match to beat him it was this one. He came from a tough tournament played many matches and eventually won it. It’s difficult to recharge and prepare and I took advantage of that.” Another Swede Truls MOREGARDH the other finalist of WTT Star Contender ESS 2022 was also defeated 3-2 in the first round despite having three match points against Marcos FREITAS of Portugal. Top seeds Sun Yingsha (CHN) Wang Manyu (CHN) Wang Yidi (CHN) Mima Ito (JPN) and Hina Hayata (JPN) all qualified for the round of 16. However World No.7 Ying Han (GER) lost to Miyuu Kihara (JPN) who recorded her career-best win. The youngsters are also making their presence felt in Budapest. France’s 18-year-old Alexis LEBRUN continues his incredible rise as he knocked out former World No.1 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) 3-2. The teenager didn’t back down as he pulled out an astonishing variety of serves that at times wholly bewildered the German. “It is like a dream; Dima is one of my idols ” LEBRUN said after the match.
Secure the best seats for European Championships Munich 2022
European Championships Munich 2022 are the biggest multi-sport event in Germany since the 1972 Olympic Games and it will bring life back into the stadiums and arenas. World-class competition nail-biting suspense and a unique atmosphere are awaiting you. Go ahead and secure the best seats. We cannot wait to welcome you in August 2022 – also to our free events and our festival “The Roofs”. Site for tickets
First-Ever WTT Champions Commenced Today in Budapest
World Table Tennis is launching its newest marquee event today as part of its WTT European Summer Series in Budapest. Taking place from 18 to 23 July at the BOK Hall and with USD$500 000 prize money on offer and 1000 ranking points for winners the WTT Champions event will see WTT deliver its premium tier of events for the first time within the WTT Series the official professional Table Tennis series of events. WTT Champions provide world-class competition for the Top 30 men and women stars from the ITTF World Table Tennis rankings and two wildcards with a maximum of four players per member association. They compete directly in a Main Draw knockout on just one table. Undoubtedly the headline name in the Men’s Singles draw China’s Ma Long tops the seeding list and is a man on a mission as he bids to lift a WTT trophy for the first time after being defeated in the semifinal of the WTT Star Contender ESS 2022 last week. He will again face an incredibly strong field of opponents with Wang Chuqin Hugo Calderano Truls Moregard Lin Yun-Ju Tomokazu Arimoto and Quadri Aruna all in the running for a shot at the inaugural WTT Champions title. In Women’s Singles it is hard to pick a favourite between Chen Meng Sun Yingsha Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi as the quatuor has been sensational over the past year. Along with them the entries in the Women’s Singles include an impressive list of stars including Mima Ito Ying Han Doo Hoi Kem Adriana Diaz Jeon Jihee and Bruna Takahashi who all impressed in recent WTT Series events. The complete player list and the draw are available here. The men’s and women’s competitions are held as combined WTT events during the European Summer Series offering fans double the excitement. Ma Long and Chen Meng the current world number one’s open the action. After first being introduced at Singapore Smash the Infinity Arena is making its return for the WTT Champions ESS 2022. An aerial view of the Arena shows the octagonal shape of the court abstractly recalling that of an infinity symbol (∞) with the intersection of the lines in the centre marking the location of the playing table. The revolutionary Arena signifies the limitless possibilities that await the sport of table tennis captivating the audience and elevating the game.
Annett KAUFMANN won the title in the Under 19 Girl’s Singles
After dominance last year in Under 15 Annett KAUFMANN this year continued to shine in Under 19 event. Germany’s player clinched the title at the Under 19 Girl’s Singles Event at the 2022 European Youth Championships in Belgrade. In the final she overcame Charlotte LUTZ of France (8:11 11:7 11:9 11:8 5:11 11:7). “I am so overwhelm with everything. It was so close. I could not lost a focus in any second. We fought hard for each point ” said Annett. Elena ZAHARIA of Romania and Wiktoria WROBEL of Poland reached the bronze medal. Top seed Elena ZAHARIA failed to progress to the final. In the semis Charlotte LUTZ halted her progress in five games (8:11 15:13 12:10 11:7 12:10). “I am for a first time in the final. Last year I lost in semis and I am happy I managed to go further this time. It did not start well for me. In two opening games I was constantly down but I managed to stay calm. It was similar to the quarterfinal match when I beat WIELGOS 11:9 in the seventh game. I proved I can stand the pressure ” said LUTZ. Wiktoria WROBEL suffered by the hands of Annett KAUFMANN (8:11 11:7 11:9 11:8 5:11 11:7). “I am so exhausted and excited. It has been a long week with lot of ups and downs. It was good that I managed to win the game after 1:1 because that set the course of my victory. It gave self confidence. This was my hardest match in the single since I am not very comfortable with her style of the play ” said KAUFMANN.
