Austria will have two representatives at the forthcoming 2022 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux next weekend. Competing alongside compatriot Robert GARDOS will be number 14 seed Daniel HABESOHN. It will be HABESOHN’s fourth appearance at the tournament. His best result came in 2019 when he finished fourth. “I hope to reach the semi final as I did on my first appearance in Switzerland ” said HABESOHN speaking about his goals. “For me it is a hard time because I am out of usual shape since I had corona recently and I have only two weeks to practice and three League matches in between. I have to see how my health conditions will be. It is a tough time for me now.” “In 2019 I beat Marcos FREITAS 4:3 then in the quarterfinal I overcame Simon GAUZY 4:2 and then in the semis I played against Vladimir SAMSONOV 2:4. In the match for the bronze I met Timo BOLL 3:4 but I was leading 3:2 8:6. I lost but it is a great memory.” Speaking about this year’s participants HABESOHN pointed out how hard it is to predict how ready they are. “I am always surprised by some results but I guess the upsets are logical since the difference in quality is little. I hope I could be one of those players who can create the upset and to celebrate the success. In addition a lot of players are in quarantine or have been sick so it is hard to predict anything.” HABESOHN has been focused on his League matches. “Since I had a very turbulent time I did not have much International tournaments and I was not focused on rankings. However it is nice to be among top players invited to the Europe Top 16 Cup. For me it was nice surprise and now I am highly motivated ” said HABESOHN.
ALCL TT Grand Quevilly in the final
Without losing the match ALCL TT Grand Quevilly cruised through two legs of the TAMANNEFTEGAS Europe Cup Women semifinal. They overcame ASD Quattro Mori. Same duels we watch this week only the order of the matches was different. In the second leg Pauline CHASSELIN overcame Tania Maria PLAIAN at the beginning of the match and the clash between Anais SALPIN and Andreea DRAGOMAN followed with same outcome. Li SAMSON proved too strong once again for Rossana Antonella FERCIUG. Second leg ALCL TT Grand Quevilly – ASD Quattro Mori 3:0 Pauline CHASSELIN – Tania Maria PLAIAN 3:1 (26:28 11:6 11:8 12:10) Anais SALPIN – Andreea DRAGOMAN 3:1 (11:9 10:12 11:9 11:8) Li SAMSON – Rossana Antonella FERCIUG 3:1 (11:3 9:11 11:5 11:5) Opening leg ASD Quattro Mori – ALCL TT Grand Quevilly 0:3 Andreea DRAGOMAN – Anais SALPIN 2:3 (11:7 7:11 11:7 6:11 3:6) Tania Maria PLAIAN – Pauline CHASSELIN 1:3 (17:15 9:11 8:11 10:12) Rossana Antonella FERCIUG – Li SAMSON 0:3 (5:11 1:11 4:11)
Boll Mittelham and Kaufmann are Germany’s “Players of the Year” in 2021
Germany’s table tennis fans have voted Timo BOLL “Player of the Year” for the 17th time in total. The World Singles Championships bronze medallist from Houston Olympic Team silver medallist and European Singles Champion relagating Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Valentin BAUS to second and third place. In the women’s category Nina MITTELHAM is once again at the top of the fans’ favourites. The young talent award for the best performance in 2021 again goes to 15-year-old Annett KAUFMANN who receives this honour for the third time in a row. The election of the “Player of the Year” is a campaign of the German Table Tennis Association JOOLA and the website myTischtennis.de. “2021 was one of the most successful years of my career ” says 40-year-old Timo BOLL. “With Borussia Düsseldorf we have collected all possible titles the Olympic medal shines especially beautifully.” Boll won the poll with 37 per cent of the votes outshining even Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (23.4 %) despite his individual Olympic medal and Paralympic winner Valentin BAUS (21.5 %). “Of course I am happy and grateful for the great fan support. Dima and Valentin certainly deserved to win as well because of their successes.” Full of excitement the world number eight is now looking forward to the coming months. “I’m excited to see what 2022 brings I’m working hard and I’m sure that if health and fitness play along I can continue to achieve a lot.” The European mixed and team champion Europe Top 16 winner and German singles champion Nina MITTELHAM did not necessarily expect the award again after her status as a replacement player in Tokyo. “So of course it’s all the nicer. It makes me happy when my achievements are noticed ” says the 25-year-old expressing her gratitude.This year MITTELHAM wants to reach the top 20 in the world rankings; she is currently five places short of that. The result was clearest in the “newcomer” category. Over 70 per cent of the fans voted for the shooting star Annett KAUFMANN. That is almost four times as many votes as those cast for Kay STUMPER (17.3 %) and Mia GRIESEL (12 %). KAUFMANN who also won the “Newcomer of the Year” award in December in the national Sportspeople of the Year election across all sports thus won the table tennis poll for the third time in a row. “To achieve the hattrick is something very special for me. I am very grateful for the support of so many people ” the 15-year-old outstanding talent is happy to say. In addition to the gold coup at the U21 European Championships in Belgium KAUFMANN celebrated the European team title with the German women’s national team in Romania as well as three gold medals at the European Youth Championships in cadets and was runner-up in the doubles event at the World Junior Championships.
Bernadette SZOCS: A medal is the minimum
Bernadette SZOCS the Top 16 champion from 2018 will return this year to the place of her success as the third seed for the forthcoming 2022 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup on 26th and 27th February in Montreux. It is SZOCS’ 8th appearance in the Top 16 a competition she also finished second in in 2019. Last year in Thessaloniki Bernadette finsihed third. Asked how she prepares for the event SZOCS was clear: “I am practicing very hard to reach my goals.” And the goal is: “My dream and goal is to be a champion again. The medal is the – minimum!” On the way to the medal rostrum there are many challengers with similar ambitions. The list of participants includes: Sofia POLCANOVA (Austria) HAN Ying (Germany) Britt EERLAND (Netherlands) Margaryta PESOTSKA (Ukraine) Elizabeta SAMARA (Romania) NI Xia Lian (Luxembourg) Hana MATELOV (Czech Republic) YU Fu (Portugal) Polina MIKHAILOVA (Russia) Barbora BALAZOVA (Slovakia) Georgina POTA (Hungary) Rachel MORET (Switzerland) Nina MITTELHAM (Germany) Yana NOSKOVA (Russia) SHAO Jieni (Portugal). “I am not afraid of anyone. All of them are good players but I am ready for the challenge and a fierce fight. I have confidence in my play and in my shape ” concluded SZOCS.
Very happy birthday to President Igor LEVITIN
President LEVITIN born on 21 February 1952 who has dedicated much of his life to the promotion of table tennis is for a second year head of ETTU. LEVITIN’s tireless work on European growth since he become the President helped us overcame enormous challenge during the Pandemic and we awaits the suspension of most of the measures even stronger than before. On behalf of the ETTU we wish President LEVITIN a very Happy 70th Birthday.
Rachel MORET starts her preparation for the Top 16 in Montreux
Rachel MORET will play for the fourth time at the 2022 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux. She is counting on the experience of the Olympic Games to succeed in playing completely freely and producing her best table tennis. “Top 16 and the European Championships in August 2022 are my priority goals. As the WTT calendar is not yet very clear it is difficult to project on other competitions for the moment ” said MORET about her goals for the season. In the long-term after being the part of the Swiss team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 MORET is looking forward to the next edition of the Games. “The Olympic Games are already coming up very quickly my goal would be to qualify for a second time. The fact that the Olympics are taking place in Paris France is an incredible opportunity. I hope that my family will be able to come and support me this time!” What is your goal for the 2022 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup? “To be able to play completely freely and to be able to produce my best table tennis! Then we will see what the draw is like hopefully I won’t be playing POLCANOVA again ” said MORET laughing. How important is the Top 16 in your season? “It is one of the most important competitions in my season. It is particularly important to me as it is in Switzerland.” How do you feel about this special period with the pandemic? “I am lucky to be able to train normally in France. But it’s not easy the COVID cases are exploding around us and we have to be particularly careful. We can’t postpone matches and we don’t have any substitutes in the team.” You managed to reach the third round at the Olympics. Can you tell us about this crazy Olympic experience? “It was an incredible experience! I have wonderful memories of it. Of course I am very happy that I could play my best at the Olympic Games and also that table tennis could be so well covered by the media in Switzerland.” How will this Olympic experience help you in the future? “My results have not always been what I expected in the last years especially in important competitions where I had high expectations. The Olympics proved to me that I am capable of doing well in the important moments.”
Champions showed no weak spots
In the re-run of last year’s final of the Champions League Men but this time one round earlier reigning champions from Dusseldorf overcame 1. FC Saarbrucken TT. As a guests Borussia Dusseldorf recorded straight matches victory in the opening leg of the semifinal of the Champions Legue Men. Patrick FRANZISKA lost to Dang QIU in five games. QIU had two games to null advantage before Patrick recovered to level but younger player withstood FRANCISKA’s spirited come back. Anton KALLBERG won another close encounter but this time he needed only four games against Darko JORGIC. Timo BOLL spent less possible time in the arena. He overcame Tomas POLANSKY in straight games. 1.FC Saarbrucken TT – Borussia Dusseldorf 0:3 Patrick FRANZISKA – Dang QIU 2:3 (7:11 5:11 11:9 13:11 3:6) Darko JORGIC – Anton KALLBERG 1:3 (10:12 11:8 8:11 13:15) Tomas POLANSKY- Timo BOLL 0:3 (6:11 7:11 9:11)
Special guests at the match in Novi Sad
Special guests at the semifinal match of the TAMANNEFTEGAS European Cup between TTC Novi Sad and UCAM Cartagena T.M were 30 children without parental care from the Children’s Village. “The children were given table tennis equipment. STK Novi Sad and ETTU continue to nurture socially responsible activities and promote table tennis in all segments of society’ said President of the Executive Board TTC Novi Sad Dan FRACILE.
Danny Heister: I expect a hard fight and the decision probably will be found in the Golden Match
In the semifinal of the European Champions Legue Men in the opening leg FC Saarbrücken TT will meet Borussia Düsseldorf in Saarbrücken on Sunday and the return leg is scheduled for 3rd March in Düsseldorf. „We are looking forward to a special TTCLM semifinal against 1. FC Saarbrücken. It´s the final of last season and also the final of German Cup 2022 and German Championships 2021. So we played several times important matches against Saarbrücken in the past months both teams know each other very well. And both teams are on the same level so I expect a hard fight and the decision probably will be found in the Golden Match. The current shape of my team is quite well but I hope that we can rise up the level anyway for these duel. Timo needs a few more matches to be on top level again after his injury from Houston. We won so far all matches in TTCLM this season so we will play against Saarbrücken with self-confidence and of course we want to reach the final ” explained coach Danny HEISTER. Anton KALLBERG is playing in superb shape this season. „We are happy to be in the semis again. But our big aim is to defend the title. So we will do everything to win the duel against Saarbrücken which will be a very hard clash. I think I played very well in my last matches and I feel confident for the upcoming semifinal. My teammates are also in a good shape so we will be prepared for the duel. Important will be that all of us stay healthy. The clubs know each other very well which means the team will win with the better feeling that days ” said Swede Anton Källberg.
1 FC Saarbrücken TT and Borussia Düsseldorf faces each other in quest for final
The action in the European Champions League Men semi final continues on Sunday with the clash between to big rivals in Germany -1 FC Saarbrücken TT and Borussia Düsseldorf; firstly in Saarbrücken and then in Düsseldorf on 3rd March. Tomorrow’s match hosts has no illusions how difficult encounter they can expect. “We all know what it means to play against Borussia Dusseldorf club which is so strong and with such fantastic record. They are here to defend last year’s title after all. On the other side no one can underestimated our quality and our willing to win. We want our revenge for last year’s final ” said Darko JORGIC. There is no hidden aces or some some big secrets for neither of clubs. “They have superb players on all four positions – we know each other very well.” So far it was a very good 2022 for 1 FC Saarbrücken TT. “We commenced this year in superb style from a very first day of January. We clinched the title in German Cup so I think that the pressure is now on our adversaries. Borussia Düsseldorf is the favorite and for them it is must win situation. Of course our ambitions are nothing less. We want to beat them again and to reach the final of the Champions League ” stated JORGIC. All the players are ready. “We prepared well for this duel and if we keep this level we can beat them twice ” added Darko JORGIC.
