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.
Tomorrow the European Veterans singles titles will be awarded
Tomorrow will be the final day of the STAG European Veterans Championships. The singles Women’s semifinals of all the age categories wil be played at 11 30 am and the Men’s semifinals at 12 am. Here is the list of the matches WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 40 11:30 AM DONNER Marina (Fin)-KRUMINA Laura (Nor) CADIOU Marielle (Fra)-JENSEN Janne (Den) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 45 11:30 AM GRAUHOLM Trine (Den)-SPENGLER Krisztina (Hun) NELDNER Sabine (Ger)-TELNA Halyna (Ukr) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 50 11:30 AM NEMES Olga (Ger)-SEMENZA Cristina (Ita) BORKOWSKA Dorota (Pol)-WANG Xuelan (Ita) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 55 11:30 AM YANG-XU Yan Hua (Ger)-DAUBNEROVA Marta (Svk) YENENKO Galyna (Ukr)-TOELHØJ Pia (Den) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 60 11:30 AM PALUCH Dorota (Pol)-IVÁSKÓ Gabriella (Hun) POPOVA Valentina (Svk)-BIENSTEDT Cornelia (Ger) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 65 11:30 AM ANTONYAN BRUNNER Elmira (Sui)-GUILLOTEAU Françoise (Fra) BRUZER Zoya (Isr)-THORNBECH Kai (Est) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 70 11:30 AM MAMLINA Nelia (Isr)-GEORGI Hildegard (Ger) DEVANEY Teresa (Irl)-POGOSOVA Rita (Ita) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 75 11:30 AM ZACHER Gizella (Hun)-LE CORVEC Colette (Fra) MARŠÍKOVÁ Jitka (Cze)-WELSMAN Margaret (Eng) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 80 11:30 AM BAX Sally (Eng)-SCHNEIDER Ruth (Ger) DE SANTA BARBARA Michele (Fra)-WUNNER Heidi (Ger) WOMEN’S SINGLES OVER 85 11:30 AM BIRD Betty (Eng)-POTŮČKOVÁ Anděla (Cze) ROBINSON Audrey (Eng)-BLASBERG Marianne (Ger) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 40 12:00 AM MERCHEZ Cédric (Bel)-FALCUCCI Giovanni-Maria (Ita) LAANE Lauri (Est)-DANIEL Artur (Pol) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 45 12:00 AM DOHNÁL Gábor András (Hun)-JUCHNA Gintautas (Ltu) SORBALO Vladislav (Ita)-TEBECIO Wojciech (Pol) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 50 12:00 AM VITSEK Iván (Hun)-VASILJEVS Sandijs (Lat) GOEDAER Grégory (Fra)-KÄLLBERG Mats (Swe) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 55 12:00 AM KUTIS Anton (Svk)-FEJER-KONNERT Andras (Rou) KRAUS-GÜNTNER Franz (Aut)-MILLER Thierry (Sui) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 60 12:00 AM HAUTH Lars (Den)-BÖHM Zsolt-Georg (Ger) CECAVA Miroslav (Cze)-ADEYEMO Fatal Akambi (Ita) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 65 12:00 AM NIESWAND Manfred (Ger)-ZAKARYAN Eduard (Arm) NOHA Miroslav (Cze)-GUTTORMSEN Paal Edmund (Nor) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 70 12:00 AM WERNER Gerd (Ger)-SUNDQVIST Roger (Swe) PEDERSEN Claus (Den)-JÜRGENS Dieter (Ger) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 75 12:00 AM RAMBERG Niels (Den)-GRETER Wendelin (Sui) VERSANG Jacques (Fra)-NIELSEN Erling Børge (Den) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 80 12:00 AM LEMKE Siegfried (Ger)-SCHMIDT Wolfgang (Ger) WITTHAUS Bernd Dr (Ger)-MADURELL RODRIGUEZ Josep (Esp) MEN’S SINGLES OVER 85 12:00 AM HEDRICH Horst (Ger)-FRITZINGER Rudi (Ger) YAHIEL Henri (Fra)-STOLZENBURG Peter Dr (Ger)
Great enthusiasm for Table Tennis Xt at the STAG EVC
In the afternoon of the rest day at STAG European Veteran Championships in Rimini a tournament of Table Tennis X a new discipline which was launched by the International Table Tennis Federation and is greatly supported by Italian Table Tennis Federation took place. More than 90 players battled using only wooden blades without rubbers or sponges and with balls bigger and heavier than the ones used in table tennis. Among the players there were some well-kown persons as the president of ITTF Petra SÖRLING the acting president of European Table Tennis Union Pedro MOURA the representative of the ITTF Foundation Stefano BOSI the co-president of STAG International Vivek KOHLI the director of STAG Global Private Limited Arjun KOHLI the member of the Executive Board of ETTU Miguel VICENS the president of the Paralympic Committee in the Balkan Tennis Table Union Aleksandar MATKOVIC the champion Pia TOELHØJ and the councilor of FITeT Davide SCAZZIERI. With the matches at best of 3 games and all the games lasting 2 minutes all the players faced each other in a preliminary group phase and after in the main draw. In the end the tournament was won by Belgium’s Alexandre ROSMARIN who prevailed 2-1 over Israel’s Dmitry ASKOTSKYY. Norway’s Magnus VIKSTROM classified third. The prizes were delivered by the director of the event Giuseppe MARINO.
Impressive start for Petra Sörling and Pia Toelhøj in Rimini
Gold at the 2018 World Veteran Championships in Las Vegas for Petra Sörling partnering her long-time friend Denmark’s Pia Toelhøj; on Tuesday 28th June at the Stag 2022 European Veteran Championships in Rimini the duo made the perfect start in the quest for further honours. Competing in group two in the women’s doubles 50-54 years category the pair emulated the form of some four years earlier. They beat Turkey’s Ozlem Ozer and Saadet Tekeş (11-6 11-6 11-6) and Germany’s Angela Matiske and Inga Pulver-Schuback (11-4 11-5 11-5) prior to overcoming Italy’s Dana-Mihaela Iliescu and Germany’s Janina Schwitalla (11-4 11-4 11-3). “We are a very good doubles team because we have known each other since we were very young at a training camp. Then we had an 18 years’ long break during which we did not play table tennis we came back in 2016. We did not do well so we practised a lot and in 2018 we won at the World Veteran Championships. I think we win because we are friends and enjoy playing together.” For Petra Sörling table tennis is a family passion. “The sport entered my life through my father he was a player and also through my bigger sister nine years older who played too. I could not follow because I was too young finally I went with them I could not catch the ball. When I was eight I came back and it things went well. My best ranking was no.3 junior in Sweden. Now ITTF President in Rimini she is the focus of attention. “A lot of people want to make interviews and to take photos and I need much more mental practice. I enjoy challenging myself to stay in my bubble. I like to stay among the other players and this opinion is not only mine. Let me say that here as player we have super important persons such as the President of Norway and Denmark Table Tennis Federations the General Secretary of Denmark and also another member of the Board of Norway. They prefer to stay on the front line instead of hiding in the corner. I love to be a player. Actually I only play doubles so I can also deal with my work of President.” Petra Sörling is delighted to be in Rimini. “It’s really great to be here and everything is working well. The atmosphere is fantastic it’s wonderful to meet again after three years of pandemic and to challenge.” Moreover the goal is clear. “Pia and myself are here to win the title. It will not be easy because there are a lot of strong pairs if we do our best we are happy and if we enjoy what we do everything goes that much better.”
In the paralympic events At the STAG EVC HEAPS and BECK clinched titles
The first two events ended at the STAG European Veterans Championships in Rimini and the medals of the Paralympic tournaments were awarded for the first time in the history of the event. In the men’s singles in Over 40 paraclass 1-5 (wheelchair) England’s Simon HEAPS in the finals accounted for Italy’s Davide SCAZZIERI 3-1 (11-7 10-12 11-6 11-7). The bronze medals went to Italy thanks to Francesco BAGGIO who in the semifinals lost 3-1 (11-9 6-11 4-11 5-11) to HEAPS and Andrea GALLI who was defeated 3-0 (9-11 5-11 2-11) by SCAZZIERI. In the singles Over 40 paraclass 6-10 (standing) the final match was really exciting. Germany’s Jens BECK was leading 2-0 (11-9 13-11) and Spain’s David ALONSO LOPEZ made a great comeback winning the third and fourth games (11-9 11-9) and rounding the table in the fifth game at 5-2. BECK kept on fighting and recovered prevailing in the last emotional points (11-9). Italy’s Andrea FURLAN who was beaten in the semifinals 3-0 (10-12 6-11 7-11) by BECK and Manfredi Paolo BARONCELLI who lost 3-2 (6-11 12-10 11-7 3-11 5-11) to ALONSO classified third. The medals were presented respectively by the vicepresident of the European Table Tennis Union Ina JOZEPSONE and by the deputy president of the Italian Table Tennis Federation Carlo BORELLA.
Premiere for QIU and WINTER as German Individual Champions
One week after his jump into the top 10 of the world ranking list Dang QIU also won the German championships in singles for the first time. The 25-year-old from Borussia Düsseldorf won 4-1 games against his doubles partner Benedikt DUDA in the final in Saarbrücken. The two together had defended their doubles championship title just a few hours earlier. With their fifth title in a row the duo replaced the previous record series winners Jörg ROSSKOPF/Steffen FETZNER at position one in the German statistics. “I am very proud because the championship title is very difficult to win in Germany ” said QIU after his success. The new German champion in women’s singles is Sabine WINTER who won her final against the world number seven HAN Ying with 4-2 games. With the victory over the best defensive player in the world winning the German Championships a dream came true for Sabine WINTER: “I really wanted to become the German Champion in singles after I had already done it six times in doubles. My first defeat in the final was exactly ten years ago. They always say that you need a bit of stamina until it finally works out. I had that and now I am super happy to finally be German champion. I’m already looking forward to the next national championships because I always enjoy playing at the German nationals.” In women’s doubles YUAN Wan/Chantal MANTZ won the title beating Annett KAUFMANN/Franziska SCHREINER in the final 3-0. In Mixed doubles it was again WAN side by side with Cedric MEISSNER with a 3-0 over Chantal MANTZ/FAN Bo Meng. “Dang Qiu is the man of the moment ” commented DTTB Sports Director Richard PRAUSE. “That he would take such a development within two years was not foreseeable. He has used the momentum for himself but also earned the title deservedly.“ A week ago QIU won his first WTT event in Lima advanced to the top ten in the world. QIU defeated Olympic bronze medallist Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the Lima final. The former world number one Ovtcharov returned from the Peruvian capital with a severe cold and therefore had to retire from the German Championships already on Saturday after his first round victory due to illness. The 41-year-old record-holder Timo Boll does no longer participate in German championships since winning his 13th title in 2019.
