On Saturday March 6 a meeting of the ETTU Executive Board was held under the leadership of President Igor Levitin. Deputy President Pedro Moura informed the Board that the new Continental Agreement WTT and World Ranking will be among the topics to be discussed at the upcoming meeting with ITTF representatives in Doha. The Executive Board approved ETTU’s rebranding program as well as agreed on a new logo design. Vice President Vladimir Samsonov announced the recent joint meeting of the Champions League (men’s and women’s) board at which possible structures for the 2021-2022 Champions League were presented. All participating clubs will be invited to leave their comments. It was noted that the final rounds of the European Cup will be held on May 6-9 (women) and May 12-15 (men). Vice President Heike Alert provided further details and requirements for the upcoming European tour. The Executive Committee agreed to continue participating in the 3rd European Games in 2023 and to request an increase in the quota for athletes in favour of team competition. Vice President Ina Jozepsone said that Table Tennis Wales had decided that they would not be able to host the European Veteran’s Championship in the summer of 2022 due to the uncertainty surrounding the Covid pandemic. The Executive Board and the Organising Committee agreed that it would be difficult to conduct the event in Cardiff in 2022 successfully and safely. Table Tennis Wales has always placed competitor welfare above all other considerations and felt that for clarity and to avoid disappointment nearer the event an early decision was imperative. Table Tennis Wales will bid for the rights for the Championships in 2025 and a tender procedure will be opened to find a new organiser for the 2022 event. Due to the Covid situation in both Portugal and Croatia requests to change the venue for the qualifying competitions of the European Olympic Games Singles and the European Youth Championship have been accepted. The first event will be held in Guimaraes and the youth championship in Varaždin; in recent years both cities have hosted ETTU events. Following the appointment of Beatrice Romanescu as ETTU Marketing Manager and her resignation from the Gender Equality Committee it was decided to appoint Ines Louro (Portugal) as the new Committee Chair and Johanna Grech (Malta) as Vice Chair. President Levitin congratulated all the women of the ETTU family on International Women’s Day on Monday 8 March and thanked the members of the Executive Board for their contribution to the meeting and cooperation.
Renato Di Napoli is re-elected president of Italian Table Tennis Federation
Renato Di NAPOLI has been re-elected for a second term as President of the Italian Table Tennis Federation for the four-year period 2021-2024. “I am grateful to the managers the coaches and the athletes who have rewarded the work we have done in these four years and wanted to support the continuity of our project which has always been aimed at the interest of all the table tennis clubs and not only of a few ” Di NAPOLI said. “I am also happy that almost all the members of my team who were candidates for federal councillors have received the approval of the clubs and I am sure that we satisfied all the conditions for carrying out very positive work in the Federal Council.” With regards to the councillors Carlo BORELLA Chiara COLANTONI Domenico GIORDANI Elena MAZZANTINI Giuseppe PETRALIA Paolo Pietro PUGLISI Giorgio QUARTUCCIO Silvia RACCA Davide SCAZZIERI and Antonio TASSO were elected.
A smashing hit for WTT Contender Doha
The World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Doha 2021 came to an exciting climax after a week of world-class table tennis action at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha Qatar.Six out of 10 final spots were represented by different nationalities from Japan Chinese Taipei Korea Republic Argentina Germany and France with upsets and drama providing another compelling narrative for the global table tennis fans. Japan’s Mima Ito underlined her growing stature in the sport when she clinched the women’s singles title whilst Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov ended a three-year title drought when he secured the men’s singles title at the inaugural WTT official event.Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching also created history by becoming the first WTT mixed doubles champions while Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano as well as the Korean duo of Cho Daeseong and Lee Sangsu shot to glory with their women’s doubles and men’s doubles. victories respectively. Despite seeing her run at the WTT Contender Doha end at the semi-final stage with her defeat to Ito Singapore’s Yu Mengyu was thankful to the event organisers for their efforts in staging a successful event.“I’m grateful to WTT for giving us the opportunity to compete in such a wonderful atmosphere. I like the brand-new WTT identity and I’m looking forward to more WTT events ” said Yu.Top seed Tomokazu Harimoto fell to Ovtcharov in their semi-final encounter where the German had earlier been cautioned for wiping his sweat on the table and blowing the balls in contravention of stringent COVID-19 protocols during his quarter-final clash with Sweden’s Mattias Falck.Robust COVID-19 measures were implemented to ensure the public health and safety of everyone involved in the WTT Middle East Hub. Zero COVID-19 cases have been reported so far marking a significant step for the sport to get back on its feet amid the ongoing pandemic.The WTT Middle East Hub continues on Monday 8th March with the WTT Star Contender boosted by a lucrative prize purse of US$400 000. It is set to chart another momentous occasion entertaining a global table tennis audience like never before again.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV clinched first ever WTT title in Doha
Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV is the first ever winner of the WTT title in the Men’s Singles. Today in Doha he beat Taiwan’s LIN Yun-Ju to clinch gold at the $ 200 000 WTT Contender. European champion from 2013 and 2015 repeated his brilliant performance already seen in the matches against World number five Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan) and World Championships runner-up Mattias FALCK (Sweden); OVTCHAROV overcame LIN in five games (11-7 14-12 12-10 6-11 11-6). “I am very satisfied with my performance at this tournament and in the final today. I am very happy that I was able to beat such strong players as LIN HARIMOTO and FALCK on my way to the title. That makes the triumph all the more valuable. ” National coach Jörg ROSSKOPF praised: “Dima played really well at this tournament and underlined his good form with very valuable successes over HARIMOTO and FALCK and now in the final against LIN. Dima had very good body language today and played tactically smart. He had Lin Yun-Ju under control and had an even better answer to all of the Taiwanese’s good balls. He deserves to be the first WTT winner. Now we continue with the Star Contender. I hope Dima can build on the performances of the last few days. ”
OVTCHAROV in quest for gold in Doha
Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV will play in the final of the $ 200 000 WTT Contender Series in Doha. OVTCHAROV reached the ultimate stage of the Men’s Singles Event after six games duel against Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO (8 6 -9 -4 -3 -7 ). In the match for gold he will meet LIN Yun-Ju of Taipei. LIN overcame French player Simon GAUZY on his way to the final (7 -8 3 8 9). Impressive OVTCHAROV withstands HARIMOTO’S pressure. “That was an excellent performance mentally and in terms of play. It was very remarkable how Dima came back after a 2-0 deficit ” commented national coach Jörg ROSSKOPF the top-class semi-final duel in which the European champion from 2013 and 2015 did not start well. ROSSKOPF was impressed: “After winning the third set 11: 9 Dima was definitely in the game and not only that he withstood the enormous pressure from HARIMOTO in the following three sets but also clearly dominated the game.” OVTCHAROV was also very satisfied with his performance today: “I played a very good game against FALCK and could have won more clearly. Against HARIMOTO I found difficult to get into the game at the beginning and had problems reading his serves. But after the third game I broke the knot. After that I anticipated almost every one of his hits and played three gigantic games. I am very happy that things are going so well for me at the beginning of the Olympic year. ” Earlier today OVTCHAROV who is currently ranked at the position no. 12 in the World beat Matias FALCK of Sweden.
International Women’s Day: online conference open to all
Table Tennis will be at the forefront on International Women’s Day with an online conference to be held on Monday 8th March 2021. Experts will discuss the current status of gender equality and how to use the sport as a tool for female empowerment. The online conference is open to all and includes an open question and answer session. Gender equality has been on the ITTF agenda since 2003 when the first Women’s Forum took place but now is the time to exchange ideas with wide-ranging experts in the field and open the discussion to all. Within the world of sport gender equality is still far from being achieved and table tennis is not the exception to the rule. Nevertheless progress has been made in recent years. The establishment of equal prize money for women’s and men’s players at ITTF and WTT hosted events a female CEO between 2011 – 2017 a gender module within an online administration course and several actions taken by the High Performance and Development Department are proof of this. Ms Hajera Kajee in her position of the ITTF Gender Commissioner since 2013 will open the conference. UN International Gender Champion and IOC Women in Sports Commission member Mr. Ingmar De Vos will deliver the key speech and open the discussion with his colleague from the International Paralympic Committee Ms Rita van Driel IPC Women in Sport Committee Chair and Agitos Foundation President. Ms Petra Sörling the only female ITTF EC Vice President and ITTF Foundation’s Board of Trustees Chair will contribute with insights from the ITTF while two Olympians make the round complete. Nigerian Funke Oshonaike six-times Olympian is committed to promote gender equality through table tennis and helps those in need in her home country through her Foundation. Also Peruvian Mónica Liyau established her own Foundation using table tennis as a tool to reduce inequality for children in extreme poverty. The countdown to the next World Table Tennis Day on 6th April has begun. This year’s edition puts girls and women in the spotlight. The so-called motto of #FEMpowerment invites table tennis lovers to celebrate and strengthen female participation in table tennis. Take part in the journey in this series of online conferences: 3 March 14:00 CET: Online seminar “Table Tennis At Your Fingertips” #FEMpowering the Table Tennis family” – register here: primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/vzqrxvtz8 March 12:00 CET: Global workshop “Girls & Women in Sport for All” (in co-operation with TAFISA) – register here: tafisa.org/news/GenderEquityOnlineWorkshop8 March 15:00 CET: Online Conference “Gender equality and female empowerment in table tennis” – register here: primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/pukvzyap8 March 16:00 CET: Weekly Training Lesson “Masters of Skill” – special episode for International Women’s Day 2021
FALCK will meet OVTCHAROV in the quarters of 2021 WTT Contender
The quarterfinal of the 2021 WTT Contender tournament in Doha will bring the clash of top two European players tomorrow. Swede Mattias FALCK will meet Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. In The round of 16 FALCK overcame his teammate Kristian KARLSSON in straight games (6 7 9) whilst OVTCHAROV needed one game more to beat Emmanuel LEBESSON of France (9 -9 -13 -4). However there is consolation for France since Simon GAUZY found his way to the best of eight after victory over Tomislav PUCAR. SHAN Xiaona of Germany reached quarters after she beat Ukraine’s Margaryta PESOTSKA. For the place in the semis she will meet Hina HAYATA of Japan.
New webinar: the importance of being prepared for the Practice and for the Match
ETTU Webinar After the two well organised online Development Webinars in 2021 ETTU is pleased to invite you on the third one – which will be held on Monday 22nd March at 1400 CET with the topic: ‘The Road to Table Tennis success – the importance of being prepared for the Practice and for the Match’. The lecture will be presented by Peter ENGEL who has worked together as a player and a coach with more than ten players ranked in the top ten in the World. Webinar will be open to all ETTU National Team coaches and National team level players as well. Please send your fulfilled entry form to ETTU Development Manager Neven CEGNAR (ncegnar@gmail.com) with copy to ETTU Administration Officer Ana IVOŠEVIĆ (ana.antic.ettu@gmail.com) within Friday 19th March 2021 1200 CET noon latest. Presentation Entry form and Timetable are here.
Bernadette SZOCS reached second round in Doha
Best ranked European player in the Men’s singles event at the 2021 WTT Contender tournament in Doha Swede Mattias FALCK progressed to the Round of 16 to play against his teammate Kristian KARLSSON. It was a good day from Sweden’s player but the one who caught most of the attention was Andreas LEVENKO. Austria’s player beat England’s Liam PITCHFORD to reach Round of 16. FALCK overcame Mihai BOBOCICA of Italy (11-8 4-11 11-9 11-8) whilst KARLSSON beat Darko JORGIC of Slovenia (9-11 6-11 12-10 6-11). LEVENKO succeeded against PITCHFORD in four games (11-4 11-8 5-11 11-7). Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany accounted for Noshad ALMIYAN of Islamic Republic of Iran (11-7 11-5 8-11 13-11). He will meet Emmanuel LEBESSON of France tomorrow. French player beat Marcos FREITAS of Portugal (9-11 13-11 14-12 12-10). Today WTT issued a statement: “Slovakia’s Yang Wang will not participate in this week’s World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender men’s singles event due to a breach of WTT’s Middle East Hub COVID-19 protocols. These protocols have been established by WTT International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) and the Qatar Ministry of Public Health. As a result of the breach Wang will not participate in his opening match against Portugal’s Joao Geraldo and the match will be deemed as a walkover with Geraldo automatically progressing to the second round. Wang remains eligible for the WTT Star Contender but his participation is subjected to his compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.” To the Round of 16 progressed one Romania’s and two players from Germany and two from Ukraine. Bernadette SZOCS beat CHENG I Ching (12-10 7-11 11-8 11-3). Nina MITTELHAM joined her after the victory over YUAN Jiu Nan of France (11-5 9-11 13-15 11-4 6-11) whilst SHAN Xiaona overcame ZHANG Mo of Canada (6-11 11-9 11-6 11-6). SHAN will meet Margaryta PESOTSKA who overcame Adriana DIAZ of Puerto Rico (5-11 11-9 7-11 11-7 7-11). Ganna GAPONOVA proved too strong for Bruna TKAHASHI of Brazil (11-5 11-9 11-6).
Andreas LEVENKO in perfect run at the 2021 WTT Contender Doha
The Men’s and Women’s singles event at the 2021 WTT Contender tournament in Doha reached the second phase. Preliminary rounds are finished and all the participants of the Round of 32 are known. The main draw starts tomorrow. Andreas LEVENKO of Austria halted Vladimir SIDORENKO’s great run. After big success and elimination of the leading name in preliminary phase Omar ASSAR of Egypt Russia’s SIDORENKO failed to repeat the performance against LEVENKO. (11-4 11-7 11-3). However he had one win today. In the earlier match he beat Cedric NUYTINCK of Belgium in five games. LEVENKO needed one game less against Benedek OLAH of Finland on his way to the Round 4 of the qualification. LEVENKO will meet Liam PITCHFORD of England in the opening round of the main draw. Pavel SIRUCEK of Czech Republic overcame Alexander SHIBAEV of Russia in fourth round (11-9 11-5 11-7) but he was also stretched to full distance in the previous round against Alvaro ROBLES of Spain. SIRUCEK will play against Sharath Kamal ACHANTA. Daniel HABESOHN of Austria was forced to go full five games against Swede Anton KALLBERG (9-11 7-11 11-3 11-7 10-12). Joao GERALDO of Portugal created another upset and overcame his compatriot Tiago APOLONIA in four games (11-9 7-11 3-11 7-11). Tomorrow top European at the seedings Swede Mattias FALCK no. four at the list will meet Mihai BOBOCICA of Italy; whilst placed one position at the seedings below Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV will play against Noshad ALAMIYAN of Islamic Republic of Iran. In Women’s Singles Event YUAN Jia Nan of France overcame LIU Yuan of Austria in the fourth round of the qualifications to reach the main draw (7-11 9-11 12-10 11-5 11-7). Russia’s Mariia TAILAKOVA joined her after another long distance thriller against India’s Sreeja AKULA (9-11 11-5 11-6 6-11 5-11). Ganna GAPONOVA of Ukraine overcame Manika BATRA of India (5-11 6-11 14-12 5-11). In the main draw Bernadette SZOCS of Romania will play against CHENG I Ching of Chinese Taipei Britt EERLAND of Netherland will meet Mima ITO of Japan Ukraine’s Margaryta PESOTSKA faces Adriana DIAZ of Puerto Rico and Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania has to beat Hina HAYATA of Japan on her way to second round.
