On the second day of play at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships in Belgrade morning session in the Under 19 Boy’s Teams Event did not bring any major upsets. Romania Poland Belgium and France justified their status by recording all three victories. Romania’s Darius MOVILEANU Eduard IONESCU and Iulian CHIRITA added win over Sweden o their list and booked the top position in the Group A. Germany is second with only one win. Sweden and Switzerland also had one. Sweden beat Germany but they lost to Switzerland. In Group B everything was clear no additional mathematics was required. Poland’s Maciej KUBIK Milosz REDZIMSKI and Szymon KOLASA secured wins over Italy and Spain whilst Mateusz ZALEWSKI and Patryk LEWANDOWSKI had their moments against Portugal. Italy is second. Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE Louis LAFFINEUR and Tom CLOSSET were on duty on the opening day whilst today Alessi MASSART got the chance to play instead of RASSENFOSSE in the match against Norway. Croatia is second behind Belgium. In Group D Alexis KOURAICHI Thibault PORET Adrien COTON and Hugo DESCHAMPS beat Czech Republic Slovakia and Ukraine. Despite the defeat in the thrilling duel against Czech Republic Slovakia is second. In Under 15 Boy’s Teams Event in Group A France and Romania secured the points after their duels against Spain and Belgium. In Group B Spain and Germany also recorded opening round wins against Israel and Turkiye. In Group C Hungary beat Switzerland whilst Czech Republic accounted for Portugal.The winners of the Balkan Championships Bulgaria created the upset by beating top seeds in Group D – Poland. Sweden overcame Croatia.
Amazing run for Romania France and Poland in Under 19 Girls Event
At the Under 19 Girl’s Teams Event at the 2022 Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships three out of for top seeds concluded group stage without losing match nor individual duel. Romania France and Poland have 9:0 score whilst Germany won all three matches but had to go full distance in one. Romania in Group A overcame Sweden Ukraine and Moldova. With only one defeat Sweden is second. In all three matches Ioana SINGEORZAN Elena ZAHARIA and Luciana MITROFAN were on duty for Romania. In the same Group Ukraine beat Moldova.In Group B France represented by Clea de STOPPELEIRE Agathe Anne AVEZOU Charlotte LUTZ and Lucie MOBAREK beat all Spain Czech Republic and Turkiye in straight matches. Czech Republic over-jump Spain and finished second. Spain beat Turkiye. Group C was the only one where the favorite stumbled. Top seeded Italy is only third at the standings. Poland with three 3:0 wins is at the top. Poland’s Zuzanna WIELGOS Anna BRZYSKA Ilona SZTWIERTINA and Wiktoria WROBEL showed no mercy. Slovakia is second and Italy only third. In Group D Germany was stretched to full distance against Croatia. Naomi PRANJKOVIC Sophia KLEE Annett KAUFMANN and Mia GRIESEL beat Lithuania and Hungary in straight matches in remaining two duels. Lithuania is second with one win same as Croatia and Hungary. In Under 15 Girls’s Teams Event Romanian team is equally impressive in younger as it is in older categories. Bianca MEI ROSU and Alesia Sofia SFERLEA book the top position in Group A. They accounted for Hungary Slovakia and Slovenia. Poland’s Natalia BOGDANOWICZ Zofia SLIWKA and Karolina HOLDA also progressed to the next phase unbeaten. Czech Republic is second. In Group C Portugal’s Mariana SANTA COMBA Julia LEAL and Beatriz PINTO upset the favorites and secured top position. They overcame Germany to took their spot. France had almost trouble free path. Elise PUJOL Nina GUO ZHENG and Gaetane BLED beat Spain and Croatia in straight matches but were forced to go full distance against Turkiye. Turkiye is second.
Favorites in Under 19 Boys Event justified the rankings
The top four seeds at the Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championship Under 19 Boy’s Event showed good shape at the opening stage of the Event. Romania Poland Belgium and France all recored victories in first match of the Group phase. Romania’s Darius MOVILEANU Eduard IONESCU and Iulian CHIRITA overcame Switzerland in straight matches. However Sweden’s David BJORKRYD Max HEDBOM and Charlie WIDING needed one more to create an upset and to overcame Germany. In Group B Poland’s Maciej KUBIK Milosz REDZIMSKI and Szymon KOLASA overcame Spain and Italy’s Tommaso GIOVANNETI Andrea PUPPO and Miguel PANTOJA joined them at the top of the standings with the victory over Portugal. Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE Louis LAFFINEUR and Tom CLOSSET accounted for Hungary in straight matches whilst Croatia faced much harder challenge. They were stretched to full distance in the match against Norway. Ivor BAN was the backbone of the team’s success with two wins over Sebastian FLAATTEN and Alexander FRANSSON. France beat Slovakia 3:0 in the duel where only Alexis KOURAICHI was under severe pressure. Thibault PORET and Hugo DESCHAMPS faced less problems. Ukraine beat the odds and overcame Slovakia Andrii GREBENIUK Nazar TRETIAK and Mykyta ZAVADA succeeded in four matches. In Under 15 Boy’s Teams Event in Group A France and Romania secured the points after their duels against Spain and Belgium. In Group B Spain and Germany also recorded opening round wins against Israel and Turkiye. In Group C Hungary beat Switzerland whilst Czech Republic accounted for Portugal. The winners of the Balkan Championships Bulgaria created the upset by beating top seeds in Group D – Poland. Sweden overcame Croatia.
Chiara COLANTONI is the acting chair woman of the ETTU Athletes Commission
Elected member of the ETTU Athletes Commission Chiara COLANTONI has become acting Commission chair. Representing European athletes COLANTONI will also participate with the right to vote in the meetings of the ETTU Executive Board. The other members of the Commission are England’s Paul DRINKHALL Sweden’s Jon PERSSON and Spain’s Jose RUIZ REYES. “I got the news from Galia DVORAK who was in the past a chair of the Athletes Commission and is now the ETTU project manager and she asked for my availability taking into account that the other three members had agreed. I replied that I would be honored to fill this position of responsibility. I intend to take part in some tournaments and to begin to get in touch directly with the athletes. I will be in mid-July in Belgrade at the European Youth Championships and in early August in Munich at the European Championships. The problem that worries athletes most at the moment is the considerable cost of participating in World Table Tennis events and the difficulty that mid-level athletes and young people in particular have in qualifying to these tournaments. We will discuss this one and other critical issues ” said COLANTONI. For the first time Italy is at the helm of the Athletes Commission and COLANTONI joins Alessandro ARCIGLI who is the chair of the ETTU Para Commission. The president of FITeT Renato DI NAPOLI welcomed the news with great satisfaction: “I am really proud that one of our representatives occupies a position of such a responsibility in the context of the continental table tennis. Chiara is a member of our Federal Council and is a very capable young woman. Being a high-level athlete she can perfectly convey the needs of her colleagues to give a significant contribution to the growth process of our sport. Having her and Alessandro Arcigli at the helm of two important ETTU Commissions confirms Italy as a reference country and a bearer of professionalism which can contribute to the progress of table tennis. I wish Chiara my most affectionate good luck for her work certain that she will be able to embody her role with enthusiasm and proactiveness and will be engine of novelty”.
Slovakia upset the favorites in Under 19 Girls event
Dunav Osiguranje European Youth Championships commenced today in Belgrade. The Group stage in all four events were on the program. In Under 19 Girl’s Teams Romania’s Ioana SINGEORZAN Elena ZAHARIA and Luciana MITROFAN justified their status by beating Ukraine in straight matches. Sweden’s Matilda HANSSON Rebecca MUSCANTOR and Leah TVEIT MUSCANTOR followed their path and overcame Moldova without due alarm. In Group B French team consist of Agathe Anne AVEZOU Charlotte LUTZ and Lucie MOBAREK secured opening round win against Czech Republic 3:0. Spain also recorded victory. Eugenia SASTRE Ainhoa CRISTOBAL and Elvira RAD overcame Turkyie 3:0.The only favorite who failed to score in the opening round was Italy. The leading team in Group C lost to Slovakia after full five matches duel. Celeste LEOGRANDE gave Italy dream start with the victory over Dominika WILTSCHKOVA. Dominika also lost to Nicole ARLIA but Adriana ILLADSOVA recored two wins and Ema CINCUROVA added third point to the scoreboard.Poland’s Zuzanna WIELGOS Anna BRZYSKA and Wiktoria WROBEL overcome tam of Norway. In Group D maters went according to seedings. Germany’s Sophia KLEE Annett KAUFMANN and Mia GRIESEL overcame Hungary. Croatia’s Zrinka REBIC Hana ARAPOVIC and Bruna BOREVEC prevailed against team of Lithuania. In Under 15 Girls’s Event Romania and Hungary topping the Group A after victories over Slovakia and Slovenia. Poland and Czech Republic overcame Belgium and Bulgaria; Germany and Portugal succeeded against Ukraine and Austria whilst Whilst France and Turkiye beat Croatia and Spain.
Sweden and Lithuania ready for the Belgrade after North European Table Tennis Youth Championships
Teams from 8 North European countries fought for medals at North European Table Tennis Youth Championships 2002 in Estonia Haapsalu on June 24-26. This was last check before 2022 DUNAV OSIGURANJE European Youth Championships. Sweden won the title in the both Junior and Cadet Boys Team Event whilst Lithuania succeeded in the both Junior and Cadet Girls Team’s Event. In the Junior Boys Singles Daniels KOGANS of Latvia clinched gold. In the final he overcame Jakob TÖRNER of Sweden in four games. Alexander Klerck FRANSSON Norway won a bronze medal. Lithuania’s Kornelija RILISKYTE won gold at Junior Girls Singles. On the pedestal were also Martine TOFTAKER from Norway (silver) and Laura ABARAVICIUTE (bronze). Dominykas SAMUOLIS of Denmark overcame Bharath MADHU CHANDRA of Sweden in Cadet Boys Singles. The bronze medal won championship host of Estonia Pert Marten LEHTLAAN. Cadet Girl singles won Lukrecija JUCHNAITE her father Gintautas JUHNA won two gold medals at the category MS45 at the European Veterans Championships 2022 in RIMINI. The second place was won by her teammate Gabija ABARAVICIUTE the third place winner was Aleksandra JERSOVA from Latvia. The link to all Competition Results and more information is here: https://uus.lauatennis.ee/north-european-table-tennis-youth-championsips-2022-estonia-haapsalu-24-26-june/ Teams Events award winning places: Junior Boy’s Teams 1st place – Sweden 2nd place – Denmark 3rd place – Estonia I Junior Girl’s Teams 1st place – Lithuania 2nd place – Norway 3rd place – Estonia Cadet Boy’s Teams 1st place – Sweden 2nd place – Denmark 3rd place – Lithuania Cadet Girl’s Teams 1st place – Lithuania 2nd place – Estonia I 3rd place – Sweden
Belgrade’s STARK Arena welcomes European Youth
2022 DUNAV OSIGURANJE European Youth Championships commences tomorrow in Belgrade’s STARK Arena. Arena was built for purpose of hosting the World Table Tennis Championships originally scheduled for 1995. It never happened but yet in 2007. the European championships took place successfully. This year at the 2022 DUNAV OSIGURANJE European Youth Championships there are 43 nations listed and 140 teams will compete in Serbia’s capitol. In Arena will play 525 players and 158 coaches are on duty. Last year’s winners in Team’s event Boys Under 19 team of Poland and Boys Under 19 team of Romania will try to defend their title. In Under 15 title holders are boys from France and girls from Germany. Last year’s winner in Under 15 Singles event Annett KAUFMANN of Germany will play for the Under 18 team. Mixed doubles winners in Under 15 Poland’s Milosz REDZIMSKI and Weronika WROBEL also moved to older age category.
European Para Youth Games in Lahti successfuly concluded
Young (under 23 years old) European para athletes gathered at the turn of June-July for the sixth European Para Youth Games in history at Pajulahti Sports Institute. The competition center near Lahti is located about 120 km from Helsinki. Table tennis was one of the eight sports of the multi competition. About 70 table tennis players from 19 countries made up a significant part of the competition’s total of about 450 athletes. The competition consisted of singles and a team competition in which it was also possible to participate in mixed teams. Perhaps the happiest thing was that almost twenty new para table tennis players were classified before the competition. So European table tennis is getting new young para players! The singles of the tournament started on Friday and ended on Saturday morning. It was followed with team competition from Saturday afternoon ending on Sunday afternoon. The players and the competition organization worked round 12-hour work days but the battles played on six competition tables stayed pretty well on schedule. The Finns especially rejoiced at the performances of only 17-year-old Aaro Mäkelä. The young Finn took bronze in the M6 category and led the pair to the semi-finals with Icelander Bjorgving Olafsson (M7) in the team competition as well. Almost the entire Finnish table tennis crowd followed Aaron’s fight via stream. Pajulahti proved once again that it is a great place for organizing big events. Pajulahti is the Olympic training center for para sports in Finland so accessibility is also at an excellent level. Pajulahti will also host the autumn ITTF Fa20 Finland Para Open 2022 competition on 9-11. September. Results of EPYG 2022SinglesW1 -31) Carlotta Ragazzini ITA 2) Flora Vautier FRA 3) Maëva Olivier FRA W6 -101) Ioana Tepelea ROM 2) Elena Elli ITA 3) Barbara Jablonka POL & Nora Korneliussen NORM1 – 51) Sebastian Vegsund NOR 2) Hugo Nou FRA 3) Nino Basa CRO & Iker Gonzalez Cabrerizo ESPM 61) Piotr Manturz POL 2) Krizander Magnussen NOR 3) Aaro Mäkelä FIN & Marco Bove ITAM 71) Maksym Chudzicki POL 2) Sam Gustafsson SWE 3) Roberto Martinelli ITA & Bjorkvin Ingi Olafsson ISLM 81) Borna Zohil CRO 2) Pablo Jacobsen NOR 3) Ryan Henry GBR & Axel Jensen Wallin SWEM 91) Marcin Zielinski POL 2) Joseph Crouse GBR 3) Mirko Bruschi ITA & Dominik Bartosik POLM 101) Erik Linander SWE 2) Lorenzo Cordua ITA 3) Lorenzo Magarelli ITA & Mataro Cardenal ESPTeamsW1- 501) Flora Vautier/Maeva Olivier FRA 2) Carlotta Ragazzini ITA/Evanthia Bournia GREW6- 101) Ioana Tepelea ROM/Elena Elli ITA 2) Magdalena Pawlacek/Barbara Jablonka POL 3) Grace Williams GBR/Freja Juhl Larsen DENM1- 51) Sebastian Vegsund NOR/Iker Gonzalez Cabrerizo ESP 2) Joseph Harent/Hugo Nou FRA 3) Edoardo Casati/Diego Coren ITAM 141) Maksym Chudzicki/Piotr Manturz POL 2) Pablo Jacobsen/Krizander Magnussen NOR 3) Aaro Mäkelä FIN/Bjorkvin Ingi Olafsson ISL & Styrbjörn Ekengren/Sam Gustafsson SWE M 161 Borna Zohil CRO/Alejandro Diaz Tirado ESP 2) Ryan Henry/Theo Bishop GBR 3) Johannes Rise DEN/Hamza Taleb BEL & Alen Becirevic SVN/Stefano Butti ITAM 201) Lorenzo Magarelli/Lorenzo Cordua ITA 2) Marlon Lopez Perez/Edgar Mataro Cardenal ESP 3) Erik Linander/Axel Jensen Wallin SWE & Hugo Mauffre/Julien Cigolotti FRA
Happy and emotional moments at the end of the EVC in Rimini
The STAG European Veterans Championships concluded at Rimini Fair after five days of fierce matches and after six days of unforgettable tournament.In her first ever participation Finland’s Marina DONNER won the singles Over 40 thanks to a fantastic PERFORMANCE. In the final she beat Janne JENSEN 3-1 (11-2 11-2 9-11 11-6).“I’m really happy. This is the first time I played this kind of competition. I knew I had a chance to win and I am happy for playing my best. I like to attack and not wait for others to make mistakes. I take the initiative and attack at the first chance. I feel mentally strong. I will play with the Finnish national team in the next competition and as a veteran I will compete in the World Championships in Oman “said DONNER. Belgium’s Cédric MERCHEZ in the Over 40 singles doubled the title from 2019 in Budapest. In the finals he defeated in straight games (11-6 11-4 11-5) Poland’s Artur DANIEL.“It was an incredible week I didn’t expect to win for the second time. The level was very high and all the points were difficult. I think I played my best I gave everything. I feel in great shape and I feel like when I beat Samsonov in 2002. It’s unbelievable. I love the Italian people and I love being here”.Sweden’s Mats KALLBERG triumphed in the singles Over 50 by accounting for Latvia’s Sandijs VASILJEVS in a beautiful match which ended in four games (11-7 11-6 14-16 11-9).“It was very difficult. I lost to VASILJEVS last time in the semifinals and this time I am happy because I was able to beat him. I was number two in the seeding so I thought I could go far but this win is incredible. Here it was a beautiful competition beautiful place beautiful weather. My father was in Rimini in 1986 for the World Veterans Championships so am excited to have the opportunity to play in the same place. Next year I will be no doubt in Norway”.Ukraine’s Halyna TELNA was the protagonist of a super victory against Hungary’s Krisztina SPENGLER 3-1 (11-6 10-12 11-6 11-7) in Over 45 singles.“This is my premiere at the European Championships and I had to fight hard to win because it was not easy. I had to take away some of the tension I had otherwise I am happy with my game.”Her dedication pushed her to the limits and in the emotional moment at the end the victory brought her to the tears: “The dedication goes to the Ukrainian people and this is the victory of our country because our country cannot be beaten” stated TELNA.
EB decision
The ETTU Executive Board has decided that Russian and Belarusian clubs will not be invited to participate in any European Club competitions for the 2022-2023 season. The decision has been taken in line with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and in accordance with the ETTU’s previous decisions on this matter. The ETTU Executive Board believes that the decision is necessary in order to protect the safety of all participants and safeguard the integrity of the European Club competitions. This was reinforced by a recent survey of all European clubs participating in the 2021-2022 Champions League and Europe Cup competitions which found that a large majority of clubs would be unwilling to compete in Russia or Belarus and a large number would not even participate if clubs from these two countries are also participating in next season’s competitions.
