National Championships Ukraine will organise the National Championships immediately after the lockdown. The National Championships is scheduled for the end of the month. Katherine SOLODKA from Ukrainian Table Tennis Federation updated us with the current situation. “The situation with COVID-19 in Ukraine is similar to the rest of Europe. From 8th to 24th January the government introduced a lockdown. And from that time there were no sporting events. From today it is possible to hold competitions taking into account the requirements of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on compliance with quarantine restrictions. On January 29th – February 2nd the Ukrainian championship will be held” said SOLODKA. Last year winner in Women’s  Championships was Solomiya Brateyko whilst Yaroslav Zhmudenko clinched the title in in Men’s  Championships.  Upon National Championships completion on February 4-5 2021 the International tournament “League of the Best” is planned in the city of Chernihiv in which players from Ukraine Belarus and Germany will take part. “All the events will be held without spectators and in compliance with the quarantine measures approved by the Ministry of Health and Sports. Ukrainian Table Tennis Federation tries to adapt to the current situation with COVID -19 and to do the best to support table tennis and at the same time to secure the health of the athletes!”

After three years the Italian Singles Championships will return to the PalaTennistavolo “Aldo De Santis” in Terni. The Events are scheduled for Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st January behind closed doors in compliance with the rules set out in the detailed Protocol in force for the resumption of table tennis activities for health protection and the prevention of contagion from COVID-19. The event will be organized by the Italian Table Tennis Federation with the patronage of the Municipality of Terni and the Umbria Region. The partner is Cassa di Risparmio di Terni and Narni Foundation and the sponsors are Stag Gewiss Iset Marketing and Human Tecar. In the last edition in 2019 which took place in Bolzano the winners were Leonardo MUTTI and Giorgia PICCOLIN. All the top ranked players will be on duty in the men’s singles: Mihai BOBOCICA (Aeronautica Militare) Jordy PICCOLIN (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Marco RECH DALDOSSO and LEONARDO MUTTI (Aeronautica Militare) Niagol STOYANOV (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Matteo MUTTI (Milano Sport Table Tennis) John Michael OYEBODE (Il Circolo Prato 2010) Daniele PINTO (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Antonino AMATO (Marcozzi Cagliari) Alessandro BACIOCCHI (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Carlo ROSSI (Marcozzi Cagliari) Andrea PUPPO (Tennistavolo A4 Verzuolo) Maurizio MASSARELLI (Antoniana Tennistavolo Pescara) Luca BRESSAN (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Romualdo MANNA (Frandent Group Cus Torino) Marco Antonio CAPPUCCIO (Sant’Espedito Napoli) Gabriele PICIULIN (Tennistavolo Torino) Luigi ROCCA and Tommaso Maria GIOVANNETTI (Cral Comune di Roma) Matteo GUALDI (Tennistavolo Genova) Lorenzo RAGNI (CIATT Prato) Stefano TOMASI (Milano Sport Tennistavolo) Marco SINIGAGLIA (Tennistavolo Sassari) Alessandro DI MARINO (Tennistavolo Stella del Sud) and Alessandro SORACI (Apuania Carrara). BOBOCICA has six titles (2007-2009-2011-2012-2013-2017) and among the previous winners are also TOMASI (2010) STOYANOV (2014 and 2018) Leonardo MUTTI (2015 and 2019) and RECH DALDOSSO (2016) have already won. In the women’s event Gaia MONFARDINI and Nicole ARLIA (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Debora VIVARELLI (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Le Thi Hong LOAN (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Giorgia PICCOLIN (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Chiara COLANTONI (Tennistavolo Norbello) Veronica MOSCONI (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Arianna BARANI and Valentina RONCALLO (Anspi Tennistavolo Cortemaggiore) Jamila LAURENTI (Gruppi Sportivi della Polizia di Stato – Fiamme Oro) Elisa ARMANINI (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Krisztina NAGY (Tennistavolo Norbello) Irene FAVARETTO (Sportni Krozek Kras) Tan WENLING (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Evelyn VIVARELLI (Eppan Tischtennis Raiffeisen) Ileana IRRERA (Tennistavolo A4 Verzuolo) Caterina ANGELI (Alfieri di Romagna TT Edera) Chiara RENSI Edera (TT ACSI Pisa) and Miriam Benedetta CARNOVALE (Tennistavolo Torino) are ready to fight. Of the athletes who are present in Terni Giorgia PICCOLIN has already won the golden medal in 2018 and 2019 Veronica MOSCONI in 2015 and Tan WENLING in 2008. “After having managed to start the national team leagues explains the president of Italian Table Tennis Federation Renato DI NAPOLI “We are happy to begin the individual activity as well with the most prestigious Italian championship which returns after the cancellation of last year’s edition due to the health emergency. Thanks to the very large participation we will have the opportunity to see all the best players of our sport at work eager to return to play after such a long period of inactivity. In order to face the difficult situation we are experiencing and to guarantee the health and safety of all the persons who are involved in the event the anti-COVID-19 behavior protocols will be followed with the utmost care. Unfortunately the event will take place behind closed doors and our fans will not be able to access the venue to follow the matches. However we have prepared a capillary coverage through live streaming on four tables which will be broadcast on the FITeT Web TV on the YouTube channel and on the Facebook page. Together with the live scoring it will allow all those who wish to connect from their homes and remain constantly informed on the development of the proceedings”. The program will begin on Saturday 30th at 9.30 am with the women’s singles rounds followed by the men at 2 pm. The women’s knockout draw will kick off at 5.30 pm and the men’s draw at 6 pm. The women’s quarter-finals will be played on Sunday 31st at 9 am and the men’s quarter-finals at 9.45 am. The semifinals will be at 10.30 (women) and 11.15 (men) and the finals at 12 (women) and 12.45 (men). On Friday 29th in the same venue a Qualification Tournament dedicated to second category athletes will be held which will guarantee the assignment of the last places in the seeding list of the Championships.

National Championships Due to the present devastating Pandemic most of the European National Associations are unable to organise the National Championships on this weekend (January 30th and 31st) as it was planned in calendar. Hungary also postponed the Championships and the date is still unknown. The Championships in Russia is also posponed to April. On the other side France already set the date. “Our National Championships will take place 28/ 30 May 2021 in Cesson Sévigné Bretagne ” said Claude BERGERET from Fédération Française de Tennis de Table. The good news is that the competition Pro A and Pro B Men and Women is on. “Concerning our leagues only ProA and ProB men and women are going. They are on with a lot of problems dates changing etc… but is going on…” said BERGERET.” Concerning our players the FFTT has nominated the 2 women players to compete at the World Olympic Qualification in Doha mid of March Prithika PAVADE and Jianan YUAN. Our men are already qualified.” President of the Table Tennis Federation of Latvia Ina JOZEPSONE informed us about the current situation in the Association. ‘Unfortunately it is not possible to organize the Latvian Individuals Championships at the end of January. We hope to organize it in June. Now we have the possibility to organize a training process only for national players in different age groups. This is more than nothing but not enough. We are planning to participate with some players at the WOSQ in Doha and EOSQ in Portugal.” In Greece the sport remains in lockdown. It is already three months pass without any activity and in the best case scenario the Leagues will start again in March. At the moment the Greek federation can not make any plans and they are waiting for the return of trainings first. Only the athletes of the national teams continue the practice many of them are competing in clubs top national category Championships on Europe (Bundesliga Poland Super Liga A1 of Italy) and the first and big goal of the year is the Olympic Qualifications in April in Lisbon. In Moldova the new date is still unknown. “Under the quarantine measures we are unable to organise the Championships. It is always very big event and in this situation it is impossible to have so many players under same roof for long period. We are looking for some later date ” explained Vladimir SEMIPEADNII from Moldova’s Federation. Fédération Royale Belge de Tennis de Table President Jean-Michel MUREAU stated that the Event is rescheduled for spring. “In January it was impossible to organise the national championships but for the “A” players it will be planned in April. For the rest until today everything has stopped ” said President MUREAU. Israel Table Tennis Association CEO Pavel LISOVTSEV informed us that Israel is planning to host the national championships from March 30th to April 2nd. “National leagues have been stopped by a lockdown after 3 rounds ” added LISOVTSEV. Slovenia planned to have the National Championship at the beginning of the March but since the many changes in the calendar it is impossible now “Due the changes in the ITTF calendar we are forced to change the date. We do not want to have the competition during the Qatar – Doha WTT Contender and WTT Star Contender Events. Our best players will play there and our intention is to have them present on national events for better promotion of the sport. It will be difficult to set the new date since they are engage in national leagues in Italy Germany and Austria. So far before the end of March is very difficult ” said Danijel ŠARLAH from Slovenia’s Table Tennis Association. In Czech Republic National Federation is also faced with the procrastination. “The Czech Republic Championship will not take place at the end of January. It has been postponed and the scheduled date is in second quarter of the year. It will be played at the National Training Centre in Havířov ” stated Association’s spokeman Jaroslav ODSTRCILIK.” The top men’s competition is currently underway; the women’s competition is scheduled to restart on 5 February. All other amateur competitions cannot be played due to COVID-19 restrictions.” The management of the Association approved the nomination for the Olympic qualification: Pavel ŠIRUČEK Tomáš POLANSKÝ (European qualification) Lubomír JANČAŘÍK (World qualification) Hana MATELOVÁ and Karin ADÁMKOVÁ. “Men have trainings in their clubs in Poland and Germany women work together at the National Training Centre in Havířov. This week an international women’s camp is taking place with Neven CEGNAR as one of the coaches.” Norges Bordtennisforbund’s CEO Ghassan CHAER said: “We do not have the opportunity to arrange the National Championship which was to be held in March as planned in the calendar. New date is set for June 12-13 in Bergen. Our national league and national selections are postponed until the month of May.” Finnish TTA Secretary General Mika RÄSÄNEN stated: “Finland cannot organize National Championships at the end of January. New dates are not decided yet. We also cannot organize any other competitions or League matches at moment.” In Netherlands the National Championships is posponed to 12th and 13th June. In Turkey the events are also posponed and the competition will commence with League matches in March.  

Dedicated to the promotion of Para table tennis both in his native Czech Republic and further afield on the international stage the recent passing of Jiri DANEK is announced. He died on Thursday 14th January; DANEK was 83 years old. Already at the end of the 1980s Jiri DANEK gradually began playing table tennis for the disabled. First in the town of Havířov itself later he became the coach of the national team – until 2000. The table tennis players of the Czech Republic started for the first time at the Paralympics in 1996 in Atlanta USA where DANEK was elected to the International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee (IPTTC). Jiri gradually became the head of international tournament management technical delegate and representative of Europe in the Paralympic Committee. He ended up in these positions in 2009 when younger candidates were given the opportunity in the elections in Nagoya Japan. However DANEK still devoted all his time in the role of chairman of the organizing committee to the preparation of the Czech Para Open tournament in Ostrava. First held in 1995 Jiri was the founder and chair of the Czech Para Open a now well established event on the international calendar; his goal not only to ensure that the competition was organised in an efficient and professional manner but also that players officials and all visitors fulfilling whatever role felt at home. Undoubtedly the aim was realized the numbers speak for themselves. Memorably in September 2019 Jiri was present in Ostrava for the opening ceremony for the 14th edition a tournament in which the entry exceeded all previous; a record number of 310 players from 34 countries competed. The fact there was such a large response pays tribute to the contribution made by Jiri DANEK; until the time of his passing the tournament was always in his soul always seeking ways in which the event could move forward reach new heights. It was his pride and joy he never missed one hundred per cent attendance it is now his legacy. Unquestionably his experience proved helpful beyond all bounds in the success of the tournament; moreover his knowledge proved invaluable in the wider arena. Para table tennis in his heart Jiri DANEK is sadly missed.

Sarkis SARKHOJAN a mainstay of Soviet Union table tennis success passes away An international career spanning almost two decades representing the Soviet Union enjoying success at both World and European Championships Sarkis Sarkhojan passed away on Sunday 24 January. He was 73 years old. Born on Wednesday 26 November 1947 in Batumi a port city in Georgia located on the Black Sea near the Turkish border Sarkis SARKHOJAN was a left handed attacking top spin player who first came to international attention at the 1965 European Youth Championships in Prague. He won the junior boys’ team title lining up alongside Aleta FROG Stanislav GOMOZKOV and Gegam VARDANJAN before later in the tournament losing to Vardanjan in the junior boys’ singles final. Following success at youth level for the next decade and more he enjoyed success at the senior level. At the 1966 European Championships in London alongside Anatoli AMELIN Stanislav GOMOZKOV Gennadi AVERIN and Gennadi STRENLIKOV he secured men’s team silver. He repeated the feat two years later in Lyon when Uldis EGLITIS and Gegam VARDANJAN replaced AVERIN and STRENLIKOV. He won bronze at the European Championships in 1970 in Moscow making it three successful Championships in a row. Alas there was no such success in 1972 in Rotterdam but for the next three editions of the prestigious tournament podium places were reserved. On duty in 1974 in Novi Sad he partnered Stanislav GOMOZKOV to win men’s doubles bronze. In 1976 in Prague lining up alongside Stanislav GOMOZKOV Bagrat BURNAZIAN and Anatoli STROKATOV he won the same colour medal in the men’s team competition. The run of success continued in 1978 in Duisburg when arguably he enjoyed the most successful European Championships of his career. Two bronze medals were secured in the men’s team with Anatoli STROKATOV and Valery SCHEVCHENKO and in the mixed doubles in partnership with Anita ZAKHARIAN. Meanwhile commencing in 1974 he competed in four consecutive Europe Top 12 tournaments his best finish being fifth place in Lübeck in 1976. On the wider scene he was in action at five World Championships his first being 1967 in Stockholm his swansong 1977 in Birmingham his finest moment undoubtedly in 1975 in Calcutta when the was the mixed doubles runner up partnering Elmira Antonian. In an all Soviet Union final the duo experienced defeat at the hands of Stanislav GOMOZKOV and Tatiana FERDMAN. Domestically between 1963 and 1983 he participated in the national championships each year on a total of 21 occasions. He won a total of 26 titles five men’s singles 12 men’s doubles nine mixed doubles. Most notably he ascended to the no.7 spot on the December 1973 world rankings. A record of remarkable consistency Sarkis SARKHOJAN rest in peace.

Belarus National Championships The National Table Tennis Championship of the Republic of Belarus will take place in Minsk from 28th to 31st January. Its format has been changed this year: it is open for all players. However to get to the main draw athletes with a low rating (or even without it) will have to pass a qualification phase. In total about 150 entries were submitted (more than 80 men and 60 women). The top 16 players according to national rankings issued on January 1st this year will go directly to main draw. They will await the 16 best players from the qualification stage. Due to the difficult epidemiological situation the tournament will be held without spectators. The website of the Belarus Table Tennis Federation (www.bttf.by) will broadcast the matches from two tables. Daria TRIGOLOS and Pavel PLATONOV clinched the titles in 2020 National Championship. This year Pavel PLATONOV will not take part in the competition: he is recovering from the injury.  

On the 16th of January the Table Tennis Club from Prishtina “Priping” in collaboration with Rotary Club Prishtina Newborn (RCPNB) organized a charity tournament with the purpose of collecting funds for Croatia who only a few days ago was struck by a disastrous earthquake. The tournament was held at the Palace of Youth and Sports in Prishtina in Kosovo. The participation fee for this tournament was 5 Euro however there were many who contributed more than that price seeing as the entirety of the collected amount will be donated to those suffering from the aftermath of the earthquake in Croatia. The president of Priping club Kastriot ORANA thanked all those present for their participation and goodwill stressing once more the importance of the event. “This event is being held in order to help the state of Croatia through Table Tennis after the earthquake. Through this organization we are trying to support Croatia and empathize with all those suffering” said ORANA during his speech at the opening. This event would not have been made possible without the support of Rotary Club Prishtina Newborn (RCPNB) the President of which Arijeta PAJAZITI regarded this charitable event very highly. She stressed that it was our way of helping those in need no matter the manner in which we did. “Rotary Club Prishtina Newborn (RCPNB) will always be more than ready to support such events because we are not only providing financial aid but a moral one as well with our clear expression of support towards those in need” expressed PAJAZITI. Before the tournament officially began a direct line from Zagreb was held through ZOOM with Marijan BULAT Adviser to the President of Rotary International. He expressed his sincere joy of seeing such an event be held. “This organization is highly important because you are not only helping the state of Croatia financially through this difficult time but you are also granting them your moral support. It is truly an action of high value and this act alone marks an important day.” said BULAT. The Table Tennis Club “Priping” and Rotary Club Prishtina Newborn (RCPNB) sincerely express their gratitude to all the participants of this tournament where each and every single one of them through their contribution and goodwill helped fulfill the purpose of this event. We believe that soon there will be far more similar organizations and events whether they be for humanitarian reasons or other. We also hope that our collective contribution will be at least somewhat effective in helping those affected by the earthquake.