On the second day of the play at the STAG European Veterans Championships the remaining two age categories in singles entered the field- Over 40 and Over 45 started playing followed by all the doubles. In Group 1 in Over 40 Event Belgium’s Cedric MERCHEZ beat 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-1) Sweden’s Anders LINDSTROM 3-0 (11-3 11-3 11-5) Germany’s Thorsten JONS-ERICHSEN and 3-0 (13-11 11-6 11-3) Italy’s Marco RIGO and emerged at the top of the standings. “I feel very well and I am in a very good shape. I practiced a lot and my body is in excellent shape for the moment. I will try to play at my best level in this tournament. I am the defending champion but in table tennis you can never tell I will play match by match. Three years ago in Budapest it was amazing Greece’s Ioannis VLOTINOS was leading 2-1 and 6-2 in the fourth game. I took timeout and then I won 11-7 11-7 the last two games. It was unbelievable and the title was a surprise for me because I was a challenger. Here in Rimini there are many strong players starting form Italy’s Valentino PIACENTINI. It will be tough but I am optimistic. I came here to play well and to win ” said MERCHEZ PIACENTINI won Group 3 defeating by walkover Ukraine’s Oleksii KAULIK and 3-0 (11-8 11-5 11-4) Finland’s Elmo RÄSÄNEN. “Last September I started playing again after ten years of inactivity and it’s very difficult to get back in shape. I came here to Rimini above all to have fun meet friends and be in company. I enjoy to play but I do not have a competitive goal even if I do not like to lose and when I play I do all the possible to win. At these European Veterans Championships I see many athletes who are well trained and in great shape. According to me MERCHEZ is the favorite for the title. This is a very beautiful event and the atmosphere is great. It’s fantastic that there are so many persons who have a real passion for table tennis. I like to share these moments with athletes I played against during my career”. In Group 1 of Over 45 Ukraine’s Viktor VASYLEVSKYI prevailed 3-0 (11-6 11-4 11-8) over France’s Nicolas VITEL and 3-0 (11-2 11-4 11-4) over Italy’s Valentino MAURO. “I dedicate these victories to my family that is in Germany because they had to flee the war. My goal for this Championships is only to play and enjoy. I am really happy to be here and to represent my country”. Finland’s Marina DONNER was first in Group 1 of Over 40 accounting for Denmark’s Janne Jensen 3-0 (11-9 11-9 11-8) and Germany’s Zeng Le 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-5). “I am satisfied with my game. I played very well because I knew that my first opponent is a very good player so I had to play at the top of my game and I did it. I am taking part in European Veterans Championships for the first time. So far 2022 was very positive for me since I won three gold medals at Finnish Championships. My goals for this tournament? Of course to win. There are several good players I just have to focus on my game in every match”. In Group 4 of Over 45 Germany’s Sabine NELDNER gave no chance to Finland’s Katrin LOOKE (11-4 11-6 11-9) France’s Corinne CAVICCHI (11-7 11-2 11-1) and Wales’ Muralitharan BHANUREKA (11-8 11-5 17-15). “I am very happy to be here and to play against so many champions from all over Europe. My objectives in these Championships is to have fun and to find many champions to compare myself with. Right now I am very satisfied with my game I feel very fit”.
Cédric Nuytinck has won his 5th title in a row in Belgium
The Belgian Championships took place in Libramont on 25th and 26th June. In Men’s Singles Cédric Nuytinck has won his 5th title in a row beating in the Final Florent Lambiet 4/1 ( 3 8 -9 6 4). Previously he has to battle in the Semi Final against Robin Devos 4/3. Florent Lambiet accounted for Martin Allegro 4/1 Quarter Final: Cédric Nuytinck vs Adrien Rassenfosse 4/0 Robin Devos vs Louis Laffineur 4/0 Martin Allegro vs Tom Closset 4/0 Florent Lambiet vs Laurens Devos 4/2 Semi Final: Cédric Nuytinck vs Robin Devos 4/3 Florent Lambiet vs Martin Allegro 4/1 Final: Cédric Nuytinck vs Florent Lambiet 4/1 ( 3 8 -9 6 4) In Women’s Singles Nathalie Marchetti clinched her 4th title after 2013 2014 and 2015. She beats in Final the young Julie Van Hauwaert who created a surprise beating Margo Degraef in the Quarter Final Quarter Final: Nathalie Marchetti vs Sara Devos 4/2 Daria Mityukova vs Natacha Koszulap 4/2 Florence Van Acker vs Lauranne Hackemack 4/3 Julie Van Hauwaert vs Margo Degraef 4/2 Semi Final: Nathalie Marchetti vs Daria Mityukova 4/3 Julie Van Hauwaert vs Florence Van Acker 4/1 Final: Nathalie Marchetti vs Julie Van Hauwaert 4/2 ( -7 6 5 -10 5 8) In Men’s Doubles first title for the U19 Players Adrien Rassenfosse and Louis Laffineur beating the experimented Martin Allegro and Florent Lambiet 3/2. In Women’s Doubles first title also for Margo Degraef and Nathalie Marchetti against Natacha Koszulap and Eloïse Duvivier 3/0 In Mixed Doubles title for Alessi Massart and Cécile Ozer against Louis Laffineur and Lauranne Hackemack 3/0 There was also a Masters for Wheelchairs and Stands with wins for Bart Brandts and Ben Despineux.
Slovenia and Egypt clinched gold in Teams Event in Oran
Men’s team of Slovenia and women’s team of Egypt are the crowned champions of the Team’s Event at the Oran 2022 Mediterranean Games. In both Event’s Portugal won silver and bronze. Greek men are bronze medal winners and Italy won silver in Women’s event. In men’s Event Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC and Dani KOZUL beat Portugal’s Joao PEDRO Joao ANDRADE SELGAS and Diogo CHEN in the final. In the match for the bronze Grece overcame Spain. Greece was represented by Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS and Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS. In Women’s Team Event Egypt’s Dina MESHREF and Hana GODA overcame Italy’s Nikoleta STEFANOVA and Giorgia PICCOLIN. Bronze medalists are Portugal’s SHAO Jieni Matilde PINTO and Inês RODRIGUES DE MATOS.
Fierce fights from the beginning of the European Veterans Championships
The first day of competition of the STAG European Veterans Championships was very intense. The Singles Event qualifying rounds of almost all age categories were played. Only the Over 40 and Over 45 men and women will take the field today together with the doubles and for the first time the paralympic singles. In Group 2 of the Over 75 Germany’s Jutta BARON beat 3-0 (11-4 11-3 11-0) her compatriot Sonja CHEVALLIER 3-1 (11-8 9-11 11-4 11-4) England’s Jacqueline CHANNEL and 3-0 (11-5 11-8 11-2) Croatia’s Vera MENLA ALI. “The most difficult match of the group was that against CHANNEL. She played very well and I had to be focused in all the points. Here in Rimini I am the no. two seed and n. 1 is Hungary’s Gizella ZACHER she is a strong adversary. I am the defending champion and I hope to win again. I am satisfied of my game. Three years ago in Budapest I prevailed 3-0 in the finals over my compatriot Edda Christa WASSERMEYER-DELEKAT. It was the last of many medals I won ” said BARON. In Over 60 Denmark’s Lars HAUTH classified first in Group 1 defeating 3-0 (11-5 11-6 11-3) Italy’s Gabriele VIVIANI 3-1 (11-7 11-5 9-11 11-1) Germany’s Ulrich REINELT and 3-0 (11-2 11-4 11-3) Germany’s Klaus HINZ. “It was difficult to play at table 1 because of the wind. I had to slowdown the ball and not to play so fast to avoid making too many mistakes. I am not happy of my game. I have not enough rhythm and I will have to practice myself during the afternoon to get my game a little better. I am in Group 1 but I do not know whether I am top seed. I do not feel to be the favorite. There are other strong player as Germany’s Zsolt-Georg BÖHM Czech Republic’s Miroslav CECAVA or Italy’s Giovanni BISI. I am among the favorites. So far I took part in two European Championships and two World Championship. In 2016 in Alicante I reached the finals and lost to Spain’s He Cheng Zhiwen. I hope to win one more medal here”. In Group 1 in Over 85 England’s Betty BIRD who won the title in Budapest in 2019 accounted for Czech Republic’s Eliska KREJCOVA 3-0 (11-4 11-4 11-1) England’s Audrey ROBINSON 3-0 (11-5 11-9 11-3) and Germany’s Christl RUPPRECHT 3-1 (11-5 9-11 11-4 11-5). “I came to Rimini with the hope to participate in this great competition. I would love to be able to reach the finals even though I do not feel myself in the best conditions. My flight from England was very long because of a delay and I arrived here very tired. Before coming to Italy I competed in the British Summer League which is going to end in autumn. My participation is something I really care about very much”. In Group 3 of Over 65 Estonia’s Rein LINDMÄE won all the matches 3-0 (11-4 11-1 11-2) over Germany’s Rainer GÜNTHER 3-0 (12-10 11-3 11-1) over Austria’s Hubert MICHELUZZI and 3-0 (11-3 11-9 11-5) over Spain’s Pere PORTA. “I was silver medalist in Helsingborg in 2017 and Budapest in 2019 and I would like to get on the podium another time. I always play for the medals hopefully a gold one this time. I will try hard but the task is very difficult. I stopped playing for two years because of Coronavirus which means no competitions and no trainings but I dream of the podium anyway. Here in Rimini there are many great players worth playing against”.
Romania continued to dominate in Singles at the Balkan Championships
The ultimate test before the start of the European Youth Championships – Balkan Youth Championships showed that Romania will come to Belgrade ready. After all 4 titles in Team’s Event they clinched three out of four in singles event. In the Junior Boys Singles Event Hakan ISIK of Turkiye clinched gold. In the final he overcame Andrei TOMICA of Romania. Matei DUMITRESCU Romania and Alexandros MADESIS of Greece lost in semifinal. Elena ZAHARIA of Romania won another gold in her successful youth career. At the ultimate stage she beat her compatriot Camelia MITROFAN. Those two players halted progress of Moldova’s Alexandra CHIRIACOVA and Bulgaria’s Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA. In Cadet Boys Singles Event Robert PODAR of Romania overcame Luca OPREA of Romania. Stefan DIMITROV and Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria lost in semis. The dominance of Romania’s team continued in Cadet Girls Singles. Bianca MEI ROSU overcame Alesia SFERLEA also from Romania. In semifinal they halted the progress of Busra DEMIR of Turkiye and her compatriot Banu SIMSEK AYBUKE.
The STAG Veterans European Championships officially began in Rimini
The STAG European Veterans Championships officially began with the Opening Ceremony which took place in the Main Hall of the Rimini Fair. There are more than 3000 players in Rimini. The director of the event Giuseppe MARINO welcomed the players and all the participants in the event: “The Italian Table Tennis Federation and all of us of the Organizing Committee are particularly excited after a year of intense work to welcome you to our beautiful Italy to the biggest table tennis tournament of 2022. We have done everything possible to try to make your participation in the STAG European Veterans Championships unforgettable hoping it will find a place of honor in your best memories book. Remember the championship slogan “Enjoy your play enjoy your stay” . The parade of flags of the 42 participating countries was held on the notes of the Inno alla Gioia and the acting president of the European Table Tennis Union Pedro MOURA spoke: “Dear friends it is a pleasure for me to see you at this ceremony of the European Veterans Championships. This event and these fantastic athletes are the best example of table tennis in Europe. You are all proof of how we can continue to love our sport at all ages. After three years of great difficulties the three thousand players who are present here in Rimini are an incredible number. And we warmly welcome our first ever para competition at the Veterans Championships. I wish the championships the success they deserve and I declare them officially open”. The President of the International Table Tennis Federation Petra Sörling expressed her greetings: “Friends of table tennis how are you? We are a big family and I am really happy to see you so many here in Rimini despite the difficulties of the moment we are living to experience all together the emotions that only our sport can offer. I thank the Organizing Committee the referees the volunteers and all those who made all this possible in a wonderful city like Rimini which will certainly make this event even more special”. The two longest-lived European athletes and the two Italians were awarded. The plaques were received by 94-year-old Belgian Jozef JANSENS from ETTU acting president Pedro MOURA 94-year-old Czech Eliska KREJCOVA from ITTF president Petra SÖRLING 89-year-old Italo Bolther from ITTF Foundation member Stefano BOSI and 73-year-old Rita POGOSOVA from president of the Veterans Commission of the ETTU Zdenko KRIZ. The Italian National Anthem was performed by the “Appassionante” recognized as the first female opera-pop musical group in the world with a long career at an international level. Giorgia Mara and Stefania who form the trio were back on the stage alternating their vocal virtuosity with dance shows with music from Romagna and performances by the Rhythmic section of the Italian Gymnastics Federation. All in the name of Italianisms and territoriality. Today is the time to compete and everyone will play to win but also to have fun.
Four gold medals for Romania at the Balkan Youth Championships
At the end of the Team’s Events Romania clinched all four gold medals at the Balkan Youth Championships in Bulgaria’s Albena. It is the last test for the tams in Balkan Region before the start of the European Youth Championships in Belgrade in less than two weeks. In Junior Boys Team’s event in the final Romania’s Andrei TOMICA Matei DUMITRESCU Paul SZILAGYI and Horia URSUT overcame Turkey’s Ugurcan DURSUN Hakan ISIK Mehmet Ali KARABOGA and Furkan SİMSEK YIGIT. Greece clinched bronze with the team composed of Efraim MANOLOPOULOS EUSTRATIOS Alexandros MADESIS Vissarion GIANNOUTSOS SOKRATIS and Iakovos AIVATIDIS. In Junior Girls Team’s Event in wining Romania’s team have played Elena ZAHARIA Camelia MITROFAN Evelyn UNGVARI and Andrea TEGLAS. In the final Romania beat Serbia. Team of Serbia was represented by Sara RADAK Reka BEZEG Katarina GVOZDENOVIC and Dusica TODOROVIC. Moldova’s Valeria VIERU Alexandra CHIRIACOVA and Camelia MERENCO. In cadet Boys Event Romania’s Rares CUESDEAN Luca OPREA and Robert PODAR are the winners. Uros NINKOVIC and Borislav RAJIC led Serbia to the silver. Bulgaria is third with Yoan VELICHKOV Stefan DIMITROV Mirolsav SCHMIDT and Lyudmil DIMITROV . Cadet Girls Event concluded with the win of the Romania’s team composed by Bianca MEI ROSU Cristina SINGEORZAN and Alesia SFERLEA. They overcame Turkey with Busra DEMİR and Aybuke Banu and Asude Tuba SİMSEK. Moldova’s Victoria MIHAILOV and Ecaterina SIREAC are third.
Sonja MILIC and Aldo DONDA from Italian to European Championships
At the Rimini Fair everything is ready for the start of the STAG European Veterans Championships. The Opening Ceremony will be tomorrow. The Italian Veterans Championships have just ended and many players who have won the titles will also be involved in the Continental event. Two of them are Sonja MILIC and Aldo DONDA who won the 65-70 and Over 80 competitions respectively. “So far I took part in three editions of the European Championships in 1995 in Vienna in 1997 in Prague and in 2009 in Porec. My greatest satisfaction was the bronze medal won in Prague in the Over 40 singles. It was a surprise. My daughter Vanja who was 14 years old at the time followed me on the bench as a coach. I remembered that she was not satisfied with my game. I lost in the semifinals and I was very happy anyway. In that tournament everything went right and on my way I had the adversaries against whom my game worked well. Here in Rimini it is difficult to make predictions. When I play I always do it to win and so I will try to get the best possible result this time too. I have trained to play against long pimples and if I find athletes who use them I think I will be comfortable ” explained MILIC. Donda is used to play great events in Italy. “For me – he states – it is the third time after the 1986 World Championships right here in Rimini and the 2003 European Championships in Courmayeur. In 1986 it was my first experience and I was not prepared. In total this is my 10th European Championship and I have also played in six World Championships. At the World Championships of 1992 in Dublin I won the consolation tournament and at the 2009 European Championships in Porec I won the silver medal in the Over 70 doubles with Ferdinando CARÙ. Last time in 2019 in Budapest I reached the round of 16 in singles. Here in Rimini to do well you will also need to have a little luck. I will be 83 years old on July 2 the day of the finals. Who knows dreaming costs nothing”.
Registration for EVC2023 in Sandefjord is open
One year before the gates open at Oslofjord Convention Center in Norway you may now secure your place in the event. EVC2023 has already attracted some attention with the “One Village. One Venue”-concept with playing halls hotels restaurants beach and social events in one resort. With 4000 players staying in the same place many of them bringing their families this will for sure be a unique experience. On www.evc2023.com you may now register for the competition book accomodation at the resort and even add a tour to other parts of Norway. You will also find the information you need including a preliminary schedule and useful information on how to get to Norway from all parts of Europe. The limit of participants is set to 4000 entries and the early bird offer will be on until the end of October 2022.
Rimini is ready to host STAG European Veterans Championships
It will be a great show at the Rimini Fair from 25th June to 2nd July with the Stag European Veterans Championships which will involve about 3 000 athletes over the age of 40 from all over the continent. Italy will host the event for the second time after the edition of Courmayeur in 2003. Rimini was already the site of the Veteran World Championships in 1986. The countries represented will be 42 and those with the largest delegations are Germany with 843 players Italy with 503 and France with 242. “We are thrilled ” said Giuseppe Marino operative director of the event ” to be able to host such an important event which will allow thousands of players to follow their passion for table tennis and at the same time to spend days that we hope will be unforgettable with their families. Italian hospitality is world famous and we are sure everyone will be fine in Rimini and on the Romagna coast. We cannot wait to welcome everyone”. Preparations are progressing in the best way. “We have been here for a week ” Technical Director Roman PLESE explained.” And we are working hard. Everything is ready for the European Veterans Championships. In these days we organized here a lot of national tournaments and the Mediterranean Table Tennis Under 15 Championships which were a sort of test event of EVC. The Italian Veterans Championships have just started and will end on Friday. We set up 110 tables for the competitions and 28 for the warm-up. We look forward to the arrival of the delegations”.
