On a final day of the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia two players from Poland clinched silver medals in in the Boys Singles Events. In Under 19 event Samuel KULCZYCKI was halted on the last hurdle in the match against XIANG Peng of China (11:9 11:9 11:1 12:10). In Under 15 Singles Event Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland clinched silver medal. In the final he lost to no. two seed Sora MATSUSHIMA of Japan (5:11 5:11 11:5 5:11 7:11). Top seeded Felix LEBRUN of France clinched bronze medal after he lost in semis against REDZIMSKI. In the semifinal of the Under 19 Boys Singles Event Samuel KULCZYCKI prevailed against ZENG Beixun of China (12:14 11:9 9:11 4:11 6:11). In the same stage of the event for the younger players Milosz REDZIMSKI overcame Felix LEBRUN of France (8:11 11:6 11:5 12:14 9:11 6:11).
First ever ETTU Para camp in Slovenia’s Lasko
The first ever ETTU Under 23 Para Camp is taking place now in Lasko established table tennis destination in Slovenia. The camp is running by Gorazd VECKO Alessandro ARCIGLI Matjaz SERCER and Sasa DRAGAS. “We have 31 players from 10 different countries in the camp from Slovenia Portugal Croatia Slovakia Italy Holland Germany Bosnia and Hercegovina and Great Britain. It is great to see the first time so much good young Para Table tennis players from different countries together in a high performance camp ” said VECKO. This camp is used by the athletes to be the best possible prepared for the next session to try to qualify for the World Championships in Spain in November 2022. “It is great to see how the athletes and the coaches are well connected with each other and sharing table tennis knowledge regardless from which country the athletes and coaches are. I am sure that more camps like this would help massive development of the European Para table tennis. Alessandro and me were talking with the athletes and coaches and the feedback from them is amazing. Everyone would like to come back again if it is possible in the future.” The players look motivated and train hard and the coaches seem very satisfied with this training camp.
Be part of the table tennis world and it strengthens your personality
ETTU Umpires and Referees Committee organised a webinar for all interested female match officials but also women interested in officiating in table tennis in general. 65 participants from 26 countries attended the webinar and even China Singapore and Iran was present. The panelists Ina JOZEPSONE Rebecca BERGFELDT Kerstin DUCHATZ and Elena SEMENOVA who have achieved the highest level of officiating informed about their career their experiences and challenges. Isabelle BEUMIER guided through the webinar and a lot of ideas have been collected. It was highlighted that being a match official in our sport doesn’t only allow us to be part of the international table tennis world but also to enhance the own personality and confidence. “As match official you belong to a team and you will have a lot of international friends all around the world. All these motivating factors are helping to overcome challenges like time management with family and kids or financial burden such as travel costs” stated BEUMIER. Campaigns and role models like the panelists can be a factor for attracting more female match officials. If you are interested in officiating or you have questions you can always contact ETTU Umpires and Referees Committee.
GREBNEV and SIDORENKO are the crowned World champions in Under 19 Doubles
Maksim GREBNEV and Vladimir SIDORENKO are the crowned World champions. In Under 19 Boys Doubles event at the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia in nail biting thriller Russia’s pairings of GREBNEV and SIDORENKO clinched gold tonight. They succeeded after remarkable comeback in the duel against Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia (9:11 6:11 11:9 11:7 11:9). Darius MOVILEANU and Eduard IONESCU of Romania lost to ANDRAS and BAN and they clinched bronze. In Under 15 Boys Doubles Event at the top of the medal rostrum are Sora MATSUSHIMA of Japan and Felix LEBRUN of France. At the final hurdle they succeeded against World Champions in Team’s event Ilia KONIUKHOV and Roman VINOGRADOV of Russia (11:7 8:11 11:4 11:3). Romania’s Iulian CHIRITA and Dragos Alexandru BUJUR clinched bronze. In the Under 15 Girls Doubles Event Germany’s Mia GRIESEL and Annett KAUFMANN clinched silver medal after they lost to and Egypt’s Hana GODA and Japan’s Miwa HARIMORO (11:9 11:5 11:7). Bronze medals are won by Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine who teamed up with Suhana SAINI of India and combination of Wales Anna HURSEY and Portugal’s Matilde PINTO. After the bronze in the Mixed Doubles Event with Prithika PAVADE Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland secured another medal. He will play in the semifinal of the Under 19 Boys Singles Event. In the quarterfinal KULCZYCKI prevailed against Darius MOVILEANU of Romania in five games match (13:11 11:5 4:11 11:7 11:8). For the place in the final he will challenge ZENG Beixun of China. Chinese representative overcame Ivor BAN of Croatia to reach the penultimate stage. Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia was also halted in the quarters after the defeat by the hands of China’s XIANG Peng. In Under 19 Girls Singles Sophia KLEE of Germany Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia all halted in the quarters. In Under 15 Boys Singles event two Europeans recorded victories in the quarterfinal and they will play for the place in the final against each other tomorrow. Felix LEBRUN of France overcame Ugurcan DURSUN of Turkey (11:5 11:3 11:6 11:7); whilst Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland prevailed against Germany’s Lleyton ULLMANN by same margin (12:10 11:8 11:7 11:7). In Under 15 Girls Singles Event Mia GRIESEL and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Sophie EARLEY of Ireland lost in the quarterfinal.
Poland France Romania and Germany at the medal rostrum in Mixed Doubles
Fantastic run in team’s events continued throughout the individual part of the Championships for the Europeans – three more medals are added to the overall record. Tomorrow will be the last day of the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia but already the Mixed Doubles medals were distributed among players from Poland France Romania and Germany. In Under 19 Mixed Doubles Event Samuel KULCZYCKI and Prithika PAVADE clinched bronze they lost their semifinal match against the gold medal winners XIANG Peng and KUAI Man of China . Chinese pairings overcame Hiroto SHINOZUKA and Miyuu KIHARA of Japan in the final. At the final hurdle in the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event Iulian CHIRITA and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania halted by the Japan’s duo of Sora MATSUSHIMA and Miwa HARIMOTO 3:1. In the semifinal Japan’s pairings overcame Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland and Mia GRIESEL of Germany. The best part is that is not all. In Under 19 Boyes Doubles Maksim GREBNEV and Vladimir SIDORENKO will play for gold tonight against Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia. Darius MOVILEANU and Eduard IONESCU of Romania suffered by the hands of Hungarian and Croatian combination and they clinched bronze. In Under 15 Boys Doubles Ilia KONIUKHOV and Roman VINOGRADOV will clash against Sora MATSUSHIMA of Japan and Felix LEBRUN of France in the final. Russia’s duo beat Romania’s Iulian CHIRITA and Dragos Alexandru BUJUR in the semifinal. Final in Under 15 Girls Doubles Event brings the duel between Germany’s Mia GRIESEL and Annett KAUFMANN and Egypt’s Hana GODA and Japan’s Miwa HARIMORO. Bronze medals are won by Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine who teamed up with Suhana SAINI of India and combination of Wales Anna HURSEY and Portugal’s Matilde PINTO. In the Team’s event in two categories of Boys and Girls Europe clinched seven medals. Russia’s Under 15 team clinched gold whilst their compatriots in Under 19 Boys and Under 15 Girls Event added two more silver medals. Portugal and France clinched bronze in Under 15 Boys Event Germany in Under 19 Boys Event and Romania in Under 19 Girls Event.
Europeans showed brave face in Vila Nova De Gaia
European players proved their worth at the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia. In singles tomorrow we will follow matches for medals in each categories. Same as two years ago at the World Championships in Karat Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland progressed to the quarterfinal of the Under 19 Boys Singles Event. He overcame Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV in straight games. KULCZYCKI will meet Darius MOVILEANU of Romania in next round. MOVILEANU beat Andrea PUPPO of Italy 4:2 today. Ivor BAN of Croatia inflicted the pain in the heart of the host nation supporters by overcoming LI Tiago in six games. His next adversary is ZENG Beixun of China. Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia who won silver in Karat in Doubles two years ago will also play against China’s representative in the quarters. In Round of 16 he beat Adrien RASSENFOSSE of Belgium 4:1. In the opening match of the Round of 16 in Under 19 Girls Singles Event Russia’s Elizabet ABRAAMIAN beat Markhabo MAGDIEVA of Uzbekistan in straight games. In quarters European Under 19 champion will meet WU Yangchen of China. Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania also reached quarters where she will meet Miyuu KIHARA of Japan. Previously Romania’s player overcame India’s Diya Parag CHITALE 4:2. Sophia KLEE of Germany will meet another Japan’s representative – Haruna OJIO after she overcame Ece HARAC of Turkey in seven games match. Felix LEBRUN of France justified his status and reached the quarterfinals. He beat Taipei’s CHANG Yu-An 4:1 and in next round he will meet Turkey’s Ugurcan DURSUN. DURSUN beat Stepan BRHEL of Czech Republic in Round of 16 in straight games. Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland overcame Dragos Alexandru BUJOR of Romania in the Round of 16 4:2 whilst his next adversary Lleyton ULLMANN of Germany overcame David SZANTOSI of Hungary in five games. Tom CLOSSET of Belgum halted progress of Roman VINOGRADOV 4:1 and for the medal he will play against Singapore’s QUEK Yong Izac. Spain’s Daniel BERSOZA beat Nigeria’s Usman Ishola OKANLAWON 4:2. In four quarterfinals of the Under 15 Girls Singles Event will play four European representative. After straight games win over Clea DE STOPPELEIRE of France Mia GRIESEL of Germany progressed to the Round of 8. Her compatriot Annett KAUFMANN beat Russia’s Zlata TEREKHOVA in another straight games duel to reach quarterfinals. GRIESEL will meet Hana GODA of Egypt whilst KAUFMANN will play against Singapore’s SER Lin Qian. Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania followed their path. ROSU overcame Dominika WILTCHKOVA of Slovakia in six games and for the medal she will play against Suhana SAINI of India. Sophie EARLEY of Ireland accounted for Anna HURSEY of Wales after close seven games duel. Sophie will play against Japan’s Miwa HARIMOTO in next round.
Enzo ANGLES and MEN Shuohan crowned Finlandia Open champions
During the four days 153 players from 28 different countries took part in the Finlandia Open. Kisakallio Sports Institute located in Lohja offered excellent facilities for an international table tennis tournament. Everything is possible in table tennis – this was once again seen in the men’s singles final match. Portuguese second seeded Joao GERALDO led the decisive seventh game 10-3. French third seeded Enzo ANGLES had already shown good nerve control against Finnish top seeded Benedek OLÁH in the semi-finals. ANGLES grabbed as many as nine points in a row and won the set 12-10 and the match 4-3. Men’s bronze match was a battle between Finnish players OLÁH and young talent Alex NAUMI. Rio 2016 Olympian Oláh showed to the home crowd who is the Master in the house and won the match 3-1. In the women’s final Dutch MEN Shuohan defeated Russia’s Valeria KOTCYUR 4-1. Ukrainian Solomiya BRATEYKO took the bronze by beating top seeded Russian Yana NOSKOVA 3-1. Junior champions in the U21 age group singles were Iranian Amin AHMADIAN and French Leili MOSTAFAVI. Results (men’s and women’s singles) https://eventresults.ittf.com/eventInfo?selectedTab=Results&eventId=2479 Videos on the FTTA Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pingisliitto/
In Vila Nova De Gaia Europeans medal collection getting bigger
Europeans continued with good performance in the individual part of the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia. In the semifinal of the Under 19 Doubles event Maksim GREBNEV and Vladimir SIDORENKO reached the penultimate stage after victory over top seeds Kay STUMPER of Germany and Hiroto SHINOZUKA of Japan 3:1. Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Ivor BAN of Croatia also moved to the semis where they will meet Darius MOVILEANU and Eduardo IONESCU of Romania. In Under 15 Boys event Sora MATSUSHIMA of Japan and Felix LEBRUN of France will meet India’s Preyesh SURESH RAJ and Poland’s Milosz REDZIMSKI. Golden boys from team’s event Ilia KONIUKHOV and Roman VINOGRADOV will clash with Iulian CHIRITA and Alexandru BUJOR of Romania in the match for final. In Under 15 Doubles Egypt’s Han GODA and Japan’s Miwa HARIMOTO will play against India’s Suhana SAINI and Ukraine’s Veronika MATIUNINA whilst Anna HURSEY of Wales and Matilde PINTO of Portugal will meet Mia GRIESEL and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany in the penultimate stage.
Gold medal for Russia’s Under 15 team at the World Youth Championships
Russia’s Under 15 team clinched gold medal whilst their compatriots in Under 19 Boys and Under 15 Girls Event added two more silver medals at the 2021 World Youth Championships in Vila Nova De Gaia. At the end of the team’s event Portugal and France clinched bronze in Under 15 Boys Event Germany in Under 19 Boys Event and Romania in Under 19 Girls Event. In the final of the Under 15 Boys’ Teams Event Russia overcame United States – 3:1. USA had a better start but Russia responded fiercely. Nandan NARESH overcame Aleksei SAMOKHIN before Ilia KONIUKHOV leveled with the victory over Daniel TRAN. Roman VINOGRADOV overcame Jensen FENG to widen the gap and SAMOKHIN sealed the overall victory with the win over TRAN. In the penultimate stage Russia overcame Portugal in straight matches. Aleksei SAMOKHIN Ilia KONIUKHOV and Roman VINOGRADOV succeeded against Bernardo PINTO Tiago ABIODUN and Rafael SILVA. In other match France was halted after five matches thriller against United States. Flavien COTON won both points whilst Antoine Jean Christian NOIRAULT and Nathan LAM could not stop Daniel TRAN Jensen FENG and Nandan NARESH. In the semifinal of the Under 19 Boys’ Teams Russia secured their place in the ultimate stage after straight matches win over Germany. Vladimir SIDORENKO and Maksim GREBNEV are still in perfect swing they did not lose the game against Hannes HOERMANN and Kay STUMPER. Vladislav MAKAROV was under severe pressure against Daniel RINDERER but Russia’s record maintained clean. In the final they faced China and lost 3:0 by the hands of XIANG Peng LIN Shidong and CHEN Yuanyu. To reach the final China beat Japan 3:0. Romania won bronze in the Under 19 Girls event. Ioana SINEGEORZAN Elena ZAHARIA and Luciana MITROFAN suffered by the hands of players of the team USA after five matches close battle. China beat Japan in the semis 3:1. In the final China beat USA 3:0. In youngest category Russia secured another final after 3:2 win over India. Anastasiia IVANOVA Zlata TEREKHOVA and Kristina KURILKINA overcame team composed of Priya VARTIKAR Suhana SAINI and Rajesh Soyali WANI. Japan prevailed against USA 3:1. Against Japan Russia failed to repeat success and lost in straight matches.
Panagiotis GIONIS elected new Secretary General of the Greek Table Tennis Federation
Still very present on the international scene Panagiotis GIONIS has accepted a new additional role in the Greek Table Tennis Federation as one of the world’s best players becomes Secretary General of the HTTF. The Board of Directors of the Federation voted in favor of GIONIS who will succeed Socrates PAPASAVOGLOU as Secretary General. PAPASAVOGLOU resigned from his position after he took increased responsibilities as the new chairman of the Technical Committee of HTTF. Panagiotis GIONIS expressed the wish to take over the position of Secretary General knowing that he will have enough time to deal with the position as he is out of action due to a serious injury to his Achilles tendon. He presented his idea to the chairman of the board Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU who proposed to the administration the name of his long-time teammate from the national team. The Board of Directors enthusiastically welcomed the new perspective and at the meeting the change was officially made. Panagiotis GIONIS stated: “I am very happy that the Board of Directors showed confidence in me to take the position of Secretary General. I have enough time at this time due to my leg injury and I will have time in the future because my obligations will not be so many. It’s a new motivation for me. I always felt that I wanted to help the association I will do that now with whatever I can. I definitely have a lot to learn I am not knowledgeable about management what I have done for so many years is to be an athlete but I am definitely a very good connoisseur of the sport. I have a lot of shows from abroad and maybe I can add a little stone too. I really want our federation and our sport to go as high as possible ” said GIONIS. GIONIS added: “I look forward to doing my homework. This does not mean that I will neglect the sport part. I am suffering from an injury but slowly I want to return to trainings. My goals do not stop. And Paris 2024 is one of the goals. I want to play now for my club and the national team. I’m sure I can combine both duties.”
