England moved smoothly into the men’s team semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games with a victory over Cyprus. Cyprus had earned their place in the last eight as runners-up in the group won by Nigeria having beaten Ghana and South Africa. Afterwards PITCHFORD said: “I knew Marios YIANGOU could play. I knew I had to be ready and I was I played one of the best matches I’ve played for a long time. I was focused I was playing well and I didn’t give him a chance as I knew he would take it if I did. England will face Singapore who was 3-0 winners over Canada. “It is probably another step up so we need to be ready again. They are all good players and have a strong doubles pair. We need to get the first point on the board and put them under pressure. They are a bit more inexperienced than us so if we can capitalise on that and put them under pressure from the start we stand a good chance.” In Women’s semi final Wales lost to Malaysia 2:3. England – Cyprus 3-0 Tom JARVIS Paul DRINKHALL – Christos SAVVA Sharpel ELIA 3-0 (12-10 11-3 11-2) Liam PITCHFORD – Marios YIANGOU 3-0 (11-5 11-3 11-6) Paul DRINKHALL – Sharpel ELIA 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-4) Wales – Malaysia 2-3 Chloe Anna THOMAS WU ZHANG Anna HURSEY – Ying HO Karen LYNEMAS 0:3 (7-11 5-11 5-11) Charlotte CAREY – Li Sian Alice CHANG 3-2 (7-11 11-8 11-7 7-11 11-7) Anna HURSEY – Karen LYNEMAS 3-1 (11-6 m 11-9 11-13 11-9) Chloe Anna THOMAS WU ZHANG – Li Sian Alice CHANG 0-3 (3-11 11-13 5-11) Charlotte CAREY – Ying HO 2-3 (11-7 9-11 12-10 7-11 8-11)
Wales beat England to reach semis at Commonwealth Games
Wales reached the semifinal of the Women’s Teams Event at the Commonwealth Games by beating England in straight matches. In the penultimate stage they will meet Malaysia. In the opening duel Chloe Thomas Wu ZHANG and Anna HURSEY overcame Maria TSAPTSINOS and Charlotte BARDSLEY 3-1 (11-3 5-11 11-9 11-9). After both sides won their games easily the third was tight but appeared to have turned on the 12th point when some brilliant defensive work by the English duo forced a mistake from Hursey. That made it 6-6 and England won the next three points – only for Wales to hit back and win the next five to move back in front. The match between the two countries’ respective No 1s Tin-Tin HO and Charlotte CAREY promised much and certainly lived up to its billing. CAREY won it 3-1 (14-12 6-11 11-5 11-6). At the end Maria TSAPTSINOS could not change the course of the match. Anna HURSEY won that one 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-4). In other semifinal Singapore will meet Australia. In Men’s quarterfinal England will meet Cyprus Singapore will play against Canada India vs. Bangladesh and Malaysia vs. Nigeria.
POLCANOVA: Bernie and I understand each other well
Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA bronze medalists in singles and silver medalists in doubles in European Championships in Alicante 2018 will be on duty again in Munich in less than 3 weeks (August 13th to 21st). POLCANOVA is no 3 seed in Women’s Singles Event. Recently Sofia had played at the WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022 in Budapest and reached the Round of 16. Before she lost to Cina’s WANG Manyu she beat Georgina POTA of Hungary. “Generally I am satisfied with my results in Budapest. I lost in last 16 1:3 against WANG Manyu but overall the performance was good ” said POLCANOVA. What is the next step before Munich. “Before Europeans I will go for preparation to Sweden with the national team and just before the Championships I will spend short time in Romania. In Doubles in Munich I will play with Bernadette SZOCS so I will use few days before the start of Championships to practice with Berni.” POLCANOVA won silver in Alicante with Yana NOSKOVA of Russia but this one partnership looks equally successful. “We teamed up in 2019. From the beginning we played very well together and made good results at the tournaments. We also understand each other well outside of table tennis and I think that is an advantage. Our style of play is convenient for each other also because Bernie is right and I am left handed.” Top two seeds above Sofia in Singles are HAN Ying and Nina MITTELHAM of Germany and one place below is SHAN Xiaona also of Germany. Hana MATELOVA of Czech Republic YUAN Jia Nan of France YU Fu of Portugal Bernadette SZOCS and Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania and Margaryta PESOTSKA of Ukraine are in top 10. “I think everyone will try to be in the best shape because European Championships is the main goal for everyone. I cannot tell who is the main favorite for gold. It depends on many factors. The top nations’ players are always in good shape “stated POLCANOVA.
Kristian KARLSSON: I want to polish my medals to a higher shine in Munich
Only few weeks away from the European Championships in Munich (August 13th to 21st) No.8 seed Sweden’s Kristian KARLSSON recorded fantastic win over China’s WANG Chuqin in the Round of 32 at the WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022 in Budapest. Celebrating his first international singles only two days back WANG Chuqin was left in a state of shock on his WTT Champions debut after losing out at the first hurdle of the Men’s Singles draw. “It was great win. Probably the best matches in my career. I will bring that to Munich. It boosted my self-confidence ” said KARLSSON. World champion in Doubles in Huston last year with Mattias FALCK and also silver medalist with FALCK at the European Championships in Herning 2012 and Alicante 2018 KARLSSON had a bronze medal from Spain in Singles and two bronze more ion Doubles in Budapest 2016 and Yekaterinburg year earlier. “I will move now to Tunis where both FALCK and I will play in doubles. We have two silvers from the Europeans and we hope to take home gold this time. Our goal in Doubles is to win the title. Speaking of singles I already have bronze and now I want to “polish” it into something more shiny – silver or gold medal.” The competition is very strong. Best European players will be on duty in Munich. “The European players are very close speaking of quality. More or less everyone can beat everyone. It will come down to who is best prepared at the moment of the play ” explained KARLSSON. Top 16 seeds are Truls MOREGARD of Sweden Darko JORGIC of Slovenia Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany followed by his teammates QIU Dang Timo BOLL and Patrick FRANZISKA. The list goes on with Swedes Anton KALLBERG and KARLSSON Liam Pitchford of England Andrej GACINA of Croatia Simon GAUZY of France Benedikt DUDA of Germany Marcos FREITAS of Portugal Robert GARDOS of Austria Mattias FALCK and Jon PERSSON of Sweden. “Looking by the list I am sure that all the top seeds has a chance to win the title in Munich. At least there are 16 names who can win in Singles. It will be interesting to see who will do it at the end. However I think that Truls has the biggest chances in the Swedish team.” Part of the team Sweden will have preparation camp whilst KARLSSON FALCK and PERSSON will move to Tunis to prepare by playing at the WTT Contender Tunis 2022. “There are not too much tournaments right now and I think the more you play the better. “ Asked about best moment at the European’s so far Kristian could not pick only one he listed all his medals at the Europeans in singles and in Doubles.
Petrissa SOLJA forced the withdrew from the European Championship du the injury
Reigning champion in Singles and Doubles from Warsaw 2020 Petrisa SOLJA was forced to withdrew from the European Championships in Munich (August 13th to 21st) due the injury. SOLJA is suffering from back problems and WAN Yuan will take her place in team Germany. It is bad news for the DTTB team a few weeks before the start of the European Table Tennis Championships as part of the European Championships: The six-time European Champion Petrissa SOLJA (TSV Langstadt) will not be going to the tables in Munich. An injury to the intervertebral disc from last year has broken out again and after consultation with the trainer and medical team SOLJA will take a few weeks off. “Of course it’s a pity that Petrissa can’t play the European Championships. But health always comes first and we wish her a speedy and good recovery ” says DTTB sports director Richard PRAUSE. This also makes it clear that new European champions will be crowned in singles and doubles in Munich. The girl from the Palatinate won her first European Championship singles title in Warsaw last year – in the final against SHAN Xiaona and in doubles with her. WAN Yuan (TTC Weinheim) will replace Solja in Singles. Sabine WINTER (TTC Schwabhausen) and Benedikt DUDA (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt) are expected to be registered in mixed in doubles Annett KAUFMANN (SV Böblingen) and Franziska SCHREINER (TSV Langstadt). Men’s team Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (TTC Neu-Ulm WR: 9) Patrick FRANZISKA (1. FC Saarbrücken TT WR: 11) Dang QIU (Borussia Düsseldorf WR: 13) Timo BOLL (Borussia Düsseldorf WR: 14) Benedikt DUDA (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt WR: 33) Women’s team HAN Ying (KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg/ WR: 8) Nina MITTELHAM (ttc berlin eastside WR: 12) SHAN Xiaona (ttc berlin eastside WR: 17) Sabine WINTER (TSV Schwabhausen WR: 45) WAN Yuan (TTC Weinheim WR: 106) Annett KAUFMANN (SV Böblingen WR: 122) Franziska SCHREINER (TSV Langstadt WR: 207) Doubles: BOLL/FRANZISKA DUDA/QIU MITTELHAM/WINTER KAUFMANN/SCHREINER MIXED: QIU/MITTELHAM WINTER/DUDA
Margaryta PESOTSKA will have her son by her side in Munich
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.”
