Last February on his debut at the 2020 Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux Darko JORGIC finished in the runners up spot. At that time his success raised a few eyebrows but this year at the 2021 POMEGRANATE Europe Top 16 Cup in Thessaloniki he will be competing as a favorite. On 18 and 19 September he will fight for silverware in the sunny Greek city. JORGIC will arrive in Thessaloniki after his fantastic success at Tokyo 2020. Darko JORGIC became the first Slovenian ever to reach the quarter-finals of a singles table tennis event at an Olympic Games. Safely through the fourth round having beaten Great Britain’s Liam PITCHFORD the no.11 seed; the 23 year old caused an upset in the Japanese host nation as he beat Tomokazu HARIMOTO the no.3 seed. “Honestly it is just now that I start to understand what I have achieved. At the first moment I could not believe it. It took me a few weeks to realise. If someone had told me that I will be among the top 8 players at the Olympic Games I would not have believed them and I would consider that as a good joke. But it happened. The last point in the match against HARIMOTO I will remember forever. It was one of my best matches in my career ” explained JORGIC. At the start of 2020 in January JORGIC had remained unbeaten as he guided Slovenia to a place in the men’s team event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games following success at the ITTF World Team qualification Tournament in Gondomar. After Tokyo JORGIC took few days off to recharge his batteries in Ibiza Spain. “I took a two week break and now I am full of energy again and ready for the challenges. I started to work two weks ago. Saarbrücken had a Bundesliga match on Monday. I will be ready for the Top 16 ” said JORGIC. It seems that Top 16 was the break-out moment for JORGIC. His progress accelerated after Montreux. “For me the Top 16 is one of the most beautiful tournaments. The feeling from the thought that you are among the top European players is fantastic. I can agree that last year’s event was the turning point in my career; it made me believe I can beat anyone at the other side of the net. There are no untouchables ” explained JORGIC. Last year in the first round Darko beat Vladimir SAMSONOV (Belarus) in the quarter-final he succeeded against WANG Yang (Slovakia) in the semis he overcame Tomislav PUCAR (Croatia) before he lost to Timo BOLL (Germany) in the final. “Nothing changed Timo BOLL and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV are the biggest favorites this year as well. The only thing that makes the difference comparing other events is that we are playing only two days. In such occasions anything can happen. A lot depends on momentary inspiration. My goal is to be in the semis at least” concluded JORGIC.
11 places to Cluj on offer at Gazprom 2021 European Teams Championships Qualification Stage 1- B groups.
Belgrade will host Gazprom 2021 European Teams Championships Qualification Stage 1- B groups this week from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th August 2021. So far 20 teams in men and 19 teams in women events are qualified. In Romania will play 24 women’s teams and 26 men’s teams. The remaining teams for the 2021 GAZPROM European Table Tennis Championships (28th September – 3rd October 2021) in Cluj will qualify in Serbia’s city of Belgrade. There are five places in women’s event and six in men’s. The five women’s teams will come from 14 teams: Croatia England Turkey Slovenia Finland Bulgaria Lithuania Norway Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina Estonia Faroe Islands Ireland Wales. The 6 men’s teams will come from 17 teams: Switzerland Netherlands Lithuania Hungary Italy Luxembourg San Marino Finland Turkey Israel Ireland Estonia Montenegro Norway Bosnia and Herzegovina Faroe Islands Wales. Already qualified for the final stage of the GAZPROM European Table Tennis Championships Men’s Event are: Germany Romania Sweden England France Austria Slovenia Portugal Belgium Slovakia Croatia Denmark Russia Belarus Ukraine Spain Poland Greece Serbia Czech Republic. Women: Romania Austria Russia Hungary Netherlands Ukraine Germany Portugal Czech Republic Sweden Poland Luxembourg France Spain Italy Serbia Slovakia Belgium Belarus. All the teams in A-groups (18 in men 18 in women) are directly qualified for the Final Stage in Cluj. Also the reigning champion and the home team are directly qualified. For men this is Germany and Romania for women Romania.
The election for the ETTU Athletes Commission at European Team Championships and Para Regional Championships
The election for the ETTU Athletes Commission will take place during the GAZPROM 2021 European Team Championships (Cluj Napoca ROU 28th September to 3rd October 2021) and the 2022 European Para TT Regional Championships. It is planned for the election to be conducted via online voting. The Commission is composed of 5 members elected for a 4 years’ renewable term (2021-2025). 4 athletes from 4 member Associations are elected during the European Championships and 1 athlete who may be from any member Association is elected during the European Para TT Regional Championships. National Associations are invited to nominate 1 or 2 candidates aged 16 years or more at the time of voting in September 2021 who have participated in European Championships or European Para TT Championships during the past 4 years (2017-2021) and have not been sanctioned for a doping offence or illegal betting. Nominees must be nominated by their National Association. The eligibility of each candidate is decided and confirmed by the ETTU Executive Board. Each nomination shall include a candidature form duly signed by the candidate and the President of the National Association a candidate’s biography and a recent passport photograph. Nominations are to be sent as email attachment to the ETTU Secretariat: registration@ettu.org not later than Wednesday 15th September 2021. The list of candidates will be published not later than Monday 20th September 2021 together with details of the voting procedure. All athletes participating in the LIEBHERR 2020 European Championships (Warsaw POL) the GAZPROM 2021 European Team Championships and the European Para TT Regional Championships have the right to vote. One male and one female athlete who obtain the highest number of votes are elected to the Commission; thereafter 2 more athletes who obtain the highest number of votes are elected to the Commission; the Para TT athlete who obtains the highest number of votes is elected to the Commission at the European Para TT Regional Championships. The Athletes Commission chair shall be proposed by the Commission to the Executive Board. The Athletes Commission chair is a co-opted member of the Executive Board.
The Future is looking bright for NETU
During the 16-22 August the NETU SUPERWEEK took place in Halmstad – the host city for the 2018 World Team Championships. The Superweek started out as an initiative by the member countries in the North European Table Tennis Union (NETU) comprising Denmark Finland Norway Estonia Latvia Lithuania Iceland Faroe Islands Greenland and Sweden with support from the European Table Tennis Union. The week was a very busy one with events conference and training camp built into one concept fully designed to address gender equality and how to grow the number of female athletes and coaches in table tennis. The NETU Superweek commenced with the invitational tournament Pro Series – six players only – where Danish star Mie SKOV ended up as the winner. On Wednesday the official training camp was on the schedule. 32 players from 9 countries participated in the categories top female players and U 15 (cadets). The responsible coaches from Sweden well known profiles Anders THUNSTRÖM and Mikael ANDERSSON with an impressive coaching track record together with Maria CHRISTOFORAKI and Tobias BERGMAN working together with coaches from Norway Finland Denmark Greenland and Latvia. On Friday NETU also held their bi-annual Congress. A number of questions and ideas were raised regarding future cooperation and championships. A new NETU president was also elected. The President-in-office Peter SUNDBÆK was resigning after one term in office and replaced by Betina KOEFOED also from Denmark. She was very satisfied with the starting point of her presidency. “I felt that since Peter decided to stop down I think Denmark needs to take responsibility in this group. I have been encouraged to put my name forward by several persons that I have great confidence in and I hope to bring structure and increase the level of cooperation and discussions in the NETU group also in between our meetings. This week has been a great step in the right direction and I feel very inspired” said the newly elected President Betina KOEFOED. Host nation and initiator the Swedish Table Tennis Association worked hard with the preparations and was equally happy with the outcome. “I am very happy and grateful for everyone who participated with such enthusiasm and passion. This event has by far exceeded our expectations. In my opinion we have created a great platform to develop our cooperation even further through teamwork. The questions that were raised during the weekend are also ones that I carry close to my heart of. With this cooperation I am convinced that we now have the tools to succeed in the quest to grow the number of females in our sport ” said Swedish Table Tennis Association President Petra SÖRLING. The weekend was also the kickstart for the conference. Petra SÖRLING Swedish President and ITTF President Candidate opened with a keynote speech about her vision and experience of modern leadership that she has developed in her business life as well as a leader within table tennis career. The floor was then given to Sofia B KARLSSON from the Swedish Sports Confederation who addressed gender equality and inclusion in Swedish sports. On Saturday the tournament NETU Top 16 started with the group stage. 18 players in the women’s event and 16 in the U 15 were lined up to compete about the unofficial titles as NETU Top 16 champions. The prize money was also distributed: for the winner 1000 Euros for the runner-up 500 for third place 250 and for fourth place 250. The conference rolled on and Coopted ETTU EB member and ETTU athletes commission chair Galia Dvorak created a lot of thoughts with her inspirational keynote speech about gender equality in our sport and also showed some real world examples. Maria CHRISTOFORAKI a former Greek national team player now living in Sweden told the audience about her journey from Greece to Sweden and how challenges and setbacks formed her career. Maria CHRISTOFORAKI is currently appointed as an assistant coach for the Swedish Junior National Team. Saturday´s last session was all about education. Professor Urban JOHNSON from the University of Halmstad talked about their tailor made educational program PIKA which is aimed towards elite athletes who wants to combine sports with an academic career. The University cooperates with the local table tennis club in Halmstad which is one of the most successful top table tennis environments in Sweden as well as the Swedish Table Tennis Association. The PIKA program is open for international students. Last day of the NETU Top 16 was an exciting one. In the women´s event Erika FRONTH managed to wrestle herself out of several tricky situations and could finally claim the gold medal. She defeated her national team colleague Jennifer JONSSON in the finals. The youngest players showed some serious overall skills. Norwegian talent Christine KALVATN kept her game together and managed to beat Swede Josephina FRED in the finals. The conference was ended with an inspirational session by former national team player Michaela KARLSSON. With a bachelor in sport science and master in sport psychology she addressed talent development through the scientific lens. Support from the ETTU has been present since the idea was hatched even though the target group was the north European countries. Present at the NETU Superweek was also ETTU board member and Vice President Ina JOZEPSONE also president Latvia TTA. She gave her thoughts about the event. “The situation with gender equality in NETU is very promising. Among 10 NETU countries 4 leads by women. Now we have a lady also as a President of NETU. I want to say thank you to Swedish Table Tennis Association for the initiative and in this difficult time we are proud that we are together and have a real union in the north of Europe ” says Ina Jozepsone. Cooperation and teamwork is the path towards the future that is what all the participants agreed upon. Perhaps the conclusion was best made by Petra SÖRLING President Swedish Table Tennis Association. “From being an idea we have now given it wings. Now
Tomislav PUCAR hopes for re-run of Montreux 2020 at upcoming Europe Top 16
The Pandemic caused many delays and cancellations to events but since last November table tennis action in Europe has returned in full swing. Circumstances prevented the Europe Top 16 from taking place in Montreux in February 2021 however we are now less than a month away from the start of the rearranged 2021 POMEGRANATE Europe Top 16 Cup in Thessaloniki. The second biggest city in Greece will welcome the best European players on 18 and 19 September. The invitations to players to compete in the elite event were based on World Ranking Week #30 2021 and have been sent and confirmations are still coming. Among the players who have already confirmed their participation are Croatia’s Tomislav PUCAR. “Before Europe Top 16 we will play National championships in Croatia and that will be a very good warm up and test for what is coming. I need to feel the real matches and to prepare well. I will work with the national team in Zagreb. We all know how big this event is and what it means to be invited to play against best European players ” said PUCAR. The Croat had his debut last year in Montreux and on his first appearance he reached the semifinal. “I even surprised myself. No one expected such a great result. I reached the semifinal. Of course it happened with a little slice of luck since OVTCHAROV was forced to withdraw in the opening match but then I beat Marcos FREITAS. It was really big success. For this year I hope I can do something similar to keep the level ” said PUCAR. This year the names of top favorites have not changed compared to previous editions of the competition. “As always Timo BOLL and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV are top favorites for the title. By winning the medal in Tokyo OVTCHAROV proved he is in perfect shape. A lot of people says that BOLL’s timing is off but I think that is far from true. He is still very dangerous.” PUCAR is one Olympic Games “older” after his last appearance in Montreux; this year he had his Olympic debut in Tokyo. “I am not very happy with the results from Tokyo. I gave my best but it was not enough. In singles I lost against Bojan TOKIC of Slovenia. His style proved too uncomfortable for me as few times before. It was 4:0 but not that easy for Slovenia’s player as the result predicted. All games concluded by a narrow margin. In the team’s event we played against Chinese Taipei and they were clear favorites; we did not get many chances to prove differently ” concluded PUCAR.
MOREGARD Lifts First Men’s Singles Trophy at WTT Contender Budapest
Sweden’s Truls MOREGARD and Monaco’s YANG Xiaoxin have taken home the respective Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles titles at WTT Contender Budapest 2021 as the first WTT Contender event on European soil concluded on the afternoon of Friday 20th August. MOREGARD caused a stir earlier in the Men’s Singles draw with victory over Nigerian number two seed Quadri ARUNA in the quarter-finals. His opponent in the title decider was German qualifying hero Kilian ORT who stunned England’s Liam PITCHFORD the top seed at the same hurdle. The final proved a topsy-turvy affair with momentum switching back and forth between the players but after seven electrifying games it was Moregard who celebrated a historic victory (9-11 11-9 12-10 9-11 11-7 9-11 11-9). Aged 19 MOREGARD becomes the second-youngest player to collect Men’s Singles gold at a WTT Series event behind Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO. Moregard is also the first Swede to win a singles title at an open international tournament since Anton Källberg at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Croatia Open. “I should only play long matches as this could be my main virtue! This victory shows that I am in a strong mental condition so I can be proud of myself. I saw Kilian on YouTube; I tried to learn how he plays but he surprised me with his tactics and I was nervous at the beginning. That was a very difficult match and tournament in general but now I am happy with this first place ” said Truls MOREGARD. YANG Xiaoxin was crowned Women’s Singles champion in Budapest following a devastating display against Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia. 18-year-old ABRAAMIAN had caught the eye in the Hungarian capital with her incredible run from the qualifying rounds to the final. However the teenager missed out on a dream finish as top seed YANG stormed to victory by a crushing 4-0 scoreline (11-9 12-10 11-6 11-1). Claiming her first WTT Series trophy YANG has won three open international tournament titles in her career following previous successes at the 2014 ITTF World Tour Croatia Open and 2016 ITTF World Tour Czech Open. “I could not perform my best in the first two games because I did not know my opponent. I needed a few hits to get used to her style as I had no idea how she would react to my balls. But later I was able to control the game. Of course I am very happy but it was a long tournament and I played a lot of matches so I am quite tired too ” said YANG Xiaoxin Three additional finals were contested earlier in the day as the doubles events drew to an exciting conclusion. India’s Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN and Manika BATRA were presented with the Mixed Doubles trophy following their 3-1 victory over Hungarian opponents Nandor ECSEKI and Dora MADARASZ (11-9 9-11 12-10 11-6). Making their international debut as a pair in Budapest GANANSEKARAN and BATRA’S success sees India claim its first-ever WTT title. The Men’s Doubles title was won by Germany’s Tobias HIPPLER and Kilian ORT. Unseeded for the event HIPPLER and ORT pulled off a significant upset in the final as they accounted for Russian number two seeds Kirill SKACHKOV and Vladimir SIDORENKO 3-1 (11-3 11-7 6-11 11-7). “At the beginning we struggled but the second game was a little better. We have played against our opponents many times before so we knew them and their skills. We are an effective duo and that was the key to our success. We are really proud of ourselves and I think we improved match by match. We are very happy with this victory ” said Tobias HIPPLER There were also celebrations on a local level as Hungary’s very own Dora MADARASZ and Szandra PERGEL secured Women’s Doubles glory. Falling short in the Mixed Doubles final MADARASZ learnt the lessons of that experience and turned it to her advantage as she and PERGEL seeded second cruised past Russian top seeds Olga VOROBEVA and Yana NOSKOVA 3-0 (11-7 11-6 11-6). “I think we dominated them during the final. In the third game I thought that we must win this encounter as we were the better duo today. I had the advantage from playing in the mixed doubles as I got used to the harder hits. Due to this I felt more comfortable at the table against our Russian opponents ” said Dora MADARASZ.
ETTU Annual Coaching Conference 2021 in Cluj Napoca in October
The European Table Tennis Union in cooperation with the Romanian Table Tennis Association (FRTM) invites all European coaches to the ETTU Annual Coaching Conference which will be held in Cluj Napoca Romania October 4th – 6th 2021. The venue of the meeting is Grand Hotel Napoca and the lecuturers are: Alina Paula APOSTU (Romania) CHEN Zhibin (China) and LIU Yanjun (Austria) ETTU Annual Coaching Conference is part of Development Program and it is primarily intended for all European coaches but all coaches from other continents (ITTF) are very welcome too. Alina Paula APOSTU (ROU) will talk on subject „The Role of Social Media on Sponsorship Activation“. CHEN Zhibin (CHN) will have theoretical lecture about „Comaprison Of The Asian And European Approaches To Technical Training And Playing Styles” whit practilal part on subject „Comparison Of The Asian And European Approaches to Technical Training And Playing Styles“. On a final day LIU Yanjun (AUT) will have theoretical and practical lectures on subject “Service and Service Return inTable Tennis“ / How to Improve Footwork in Table Tennis Using Body Power“. Entries and wishes for accommodation shall be sent not later than: Sunday 19th of September 2021 to: Aura Bordei – international RTTF: aurabordei@yahoo.com and Radu Voinea: office@business-trip.ro Copy to ETTU – Ana Ivosevic – ETTU Administration Officer – (ana.antic.ettu@gmail.com) More details here
Psychology – the way to optimise young players enjoyment participation and positive outcomes
On August 12-13 2021 in Liepaja Olympic Center in cooperation with the Latvian Sports Federations Council and the European Table Tennis Union a seminar for coaches was held led by a sports psychologist from Croatia Prof. Ivana SADAIĆ (University of Rijeka). From 2016 the lecturer works daily with children of different ages and representatives of both individual and team sports. During the two days she shared her experience and provided theoretical knowledge on issues that sports specialists need to know about coaching children and how to optimise children’s enjoyment participation and positive outcomes. “The seminar was well organized and was attended by coaches from Latvia and Lithuania including representatives of Paralympic sports. Participants had the opportunity to expand their knowledge and ask questions about sports psychology as well as participate in workshops.” said Secretary General of Latvian Table Tennis Federation Baiba BOGDANOVA.
Evaluation Results of the Eurotalents Pre-Selection Camp II in Kiskunfelegyhaza
After 6 days of trainings and playing at the Eurotalents Pre-Selection Camp II in Kiskunfelegyhaza in Hungary the evaluation process is finished. Evaluation results are based on the 6 evaluation criteria of young players born 2009 and younger. For the final Eurotalents Selection Camp in Slovenia’s Otocec in October 10th -17th 2021 17 players (12 boys and 5 girls) are nominated The selection of more young players for the final Eurotalents Selection Camp in Otocec will be done at ETTU Hopes Selection Camp in Havirov (CZE September 11th -18th 2021). Please note that last day for the entries is August 28th 2021. GIRLS: Diana KOLIENNIKOVA (UKR) 143 points (max.180 points) Lana BENKO (CRO) 141 points Sofiia CHUMARNA (UKR) 140 points Sienna JETHA (ENG) 137 points Vasiliki BOULA (GRE) 135 points BOYS: Mihai NAGY (ROU) 156 points (max. 180 points) Kacper PIWOWAR (ENG) 153 points Onur GULUZADE (AZE) 147 points Carlos GONCALVES (POR) 146 points Adrian KASTL (AUT) 145 points Lenard SZABO (HUN) 141 points David TORO (ROU) 138 points Matei EPARU (ROU) 136 points Konstantinos FAKAROS (GRE) 135 points Deni VALE (CRO) 134 points Matt CLOSSET (BEL) 133 points Martin FRIZEL (LTU) 132 points Evaluation Team: Attila HALMAI Provas MONDAL Renata STRBIKOVA and Neven CEGNAR
Executive Board meeting 10th August 2021
On Tuesday 10th August a meeting of the ETTU Executive Board was held virtually under the leadership of President Igor Levitin. President Levitin welcomed the Executive Board members and congratulated the European table tennis athletes for their performances at the Tokyo Olympic Games and especially the German men’s and women’s teams for their successes. Mr Levitin stressed the importance of the Olympic table tennis competition. Deputy President Pedro Moura reported on his attendance at Tokyo as an ITTF Jury member. The President welcomed the Hellenic Table Tennis Federation President Konstantinos Papageorgiou and his staff to the meeting. The Executive Board received a detailed report on preparations for the 2021 Pomegranate Europe Top 16 Cup at Thessaloniki on 18thand 19th September 2021 and looked forward to a successful event in Greece. The Executive Board discussed and agreed the 2022 budget which will be sent to all member Associations and presented to the Congress on 2nd October 2021. Prize money was agreed for the Gazprom European Team Championships men’s team and women’s team semi-finalists together with a sponsor contribution for all Associations competing at the final stage. It was agreed to set up a number of new awards. President Levitin thanked members for their contribution invited the Executive Board to meet on Friday 1st October at Cluj and closed the meeting.
