Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup HAN Ying was halted in the semi final at her debut at the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup. Germany’s player suffered by the hands of World’s no. one CHEN Meng. Chinese star justified her rankings one round latter and clinched the crown at the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Sport Centre. HAN Ying was one step away from the major upset in the semis (4-11 11-8 11-8 11-9 7-11 9-11 11-4). In the duel that lasted well over an hour and twenty minutes she seized every opportunity occurs and accounted on longer rallies forcing CHEN to finish the points quickly. However her determination was fantastic. Against the world’s best player in the moment she showed no fear. In the sixth game after being in a four point deficit she pushed to decider. With aggressive very early defensive strokes clever placements and successful offensive attacks HAN Ying put the Chinese under enormous pressure again and again. CHEN won and latter Chines player overcame compatriot SUN Yingsha to clinch the crown. In the match for the third position Japan’s Mima ITO who played excellently against the players with defensive style beat HAN in the match for the third position 4-0 (11-2 11-7 11-9 11-4). Han Ying was more than satisfied with her performance in Weihai: “I am very happy that I was finally able to take part in the World Cup for the first time and that I did so well straight away. A lot of what I have been training for a long time I implement here. I hope that I will continue to play at this level. “ From the beginning of the tournament HAN Ying currently listed at position 25 overcame number eight CHEN I-Ching of Taiwan 14 Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria 16 JEON Jihee of South Korea and 30 Britt EERLAND Netherland. National coach Jie SCHÖPP praised her player: “Ying has improved from match to match up to the semifinals. The table tennis she showed at her World Cup premiere takes her to a new level. She earned a lot of self-confidence from this tournament. “ As a reward for her strong performances and the two-week quarantine period that was necessary in the run-up to the tournament HAN Ying takes home prize money of $ 14 000. The three-week trip is worthwhile in view of the event calendar that has been reduced to a minimum due to the corona pandemic especially due to the numerous world ranking points that are now being credited to the 37-year-olds. “That can be very important also with regard to the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year” knows the Düsseldorf-based woman who has been in the service of the Polish Champions League winner Tarnobrzeg for eight years. HAN’s national team colleague Petrissa SOLJA stays in China and competes in two next tournaments ITTF Finals WTT invitation tournament Han Ying w back to her daughter and husband in the North Rhine-Westphalian capital: “After three weeks of traveling for just one tournament I’m happy I’m really excited to see my family again soon. “
HAN won the all-European thriller against POLCANOVA
Germany’s star HAN Ying booked her place in the quarterfinal of the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup in Weihai China. For the place in the penultimate stage she will play against CHENG I Ching of Chinese Taipei. In the all-European affair against Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA – the Continent’s highest-ranked female athlete HAN managed to overcome 2-3 deficit and to secure her place in next round (11-7 9-11 5-11 11-9 8-11 11-5 11-6). HAN was more determined of the two in this one hour two minute epic. This is the first World Cup for Germany’s player. CHEN Meng World no. 1 and top seed showed no mercy against Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS (11-6 11-1 11-3 11-7). In the win achieved in just over 25 minutes she destroyed first hurdle on her way to the gold. “I have not played against her for around 2 years the last time we played it was close so I really focused on the details of my tactic on how to face her. My next adversary Lily is someone whom I have not played against in memory. For opponents that I have not played against I think I really need to prepare even more for it. Holding the world #1 place does not mean anything. I think I shouldn’t dwell on past results and really need to continue to play well starting with this competition in order to maintain my world ranking ” said CHEN. In remaining matches SUN Yingsha will meet Kasumi ISHIKAWA and CHEN Szu Yu will play against Mima ITO.
Pedro Miguel MOURA elected for his third term as President of the Portuguese Federation
ETTU Deputy president Pedro Miguel MOURA was elected for his third term as President of the Portuguese Table Tennis Federation. During his mandate Portugal’s players topped the medal rostrums at many events but most shined trophy has been won at the European Championships and European Games at the Men’s Team’s Events. At European Games FU Yu also won gold; Joao MONTEIRO and Daniela DODEAN MONTEIRO clinched gold at Mixed Doubles Event. Joao was winner of the European championships Doubles Event with Stefan FEGERL of Austria. In past eight years Men’s Team has won two silver medals at the European Championships same as Women’s Team. Men also have bronze at the European games. FU Yu was second and she also has won two bronze medals at the European Championships. In Singles Marcos FREITAS and Tiago APOLONIA both won medals at the European Championships in 2015. FREITAS clinched silver and APOLONIA bronze. Being successful as a leader of the federation in terms of sport now in the moment of his elections President MOURA facing different challenge. “Yesterday I was elected for my third term as president of the Portuguese Table Tennis Association. When I thought that the toughest moments of Portugal’s Table Tennis were outdated and that all of our energies could be put into building the sustainability of the future of our sport and of FPTM here we are unexpectedly faced with a young opponent invisible fast potent creepy and hidden ′′ balls ′′ on service ” stated old-new President. Despite the difficulties he promised great fight: “Thank you all for the support and confidence you have given me as well as the members of all Boards accompany me hoping that together we can overcome this unpredictable match even if it goes to ′′narrow margin in the decisive game. From us you will always count on dedication loyalty and hopefully the good sense that will help us make the best decisions for the future of the Portuguese Table Tennis.” “We are all members of a community deeply passionate for a sport with the mission to maintain low-risk of Covid-19. It is based on that premise that we will continue to think long-term and the legacy we intend to leave fulfilling all points of our manifesto but having as short term priority the protection of all players coaches delegates umpires and all their family members. As we all realize each of us is primarily responsible for protecting the health of our neighbors. Let us safeguard the present thinking about the future. Please keep safe ” stated FPTM President MOURA at the end.
HAN Ying and Bernadette SZOCS in Round of 16 of Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup
The preliminary group phase of the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup concluded today. At the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Sport Centre in China 13 players were fighting for the eight remaining places in the main draw scheduled for tomorrow. The list of Europeans was reduced to two names. In the Round of 16 will play Germany’s HAN Ying and Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS. HAN Ying booked the top position in Group one after two straight games wins. In the opening match he beat JEON Jihee of Korea the highest seeded player in group in superb style. HAN needed only 29 minutes to overcome a player seeded five positions higher than her 4-0 (11-5 11-8 11-4 11-4). In the same Group Britt EERLAND of Netherlands was also close to create an upset and to overcame JEON as well (7-11 13-15 13-11 13-11 7-11 11-9 11-9). In dramatic encounter JEON showed she had better nerves in the finishing stage of the decisive game. In the contest between two European players HAN showed no mercy. After furious start HAN ended the match with clear record (11:3 11:5 11:7 11:6). JEON finished second and progressed to knock out stage. In Group 2 Margaryta PESOTSKA overcame Lily ZHANG of USA (15-13 11-6 11-5 7-11 3-11 12-10) and Zhang MO of Canada (11-2 11-6 11-13 16-14 11-4) but she lost to Adriana DIAZ of Puerto Rico(11-9 10-12 11-9 9-11 12-10 11-8). DIAZ overcame a 4-point deficit in the fifth game before completely controlling the sixth giving her Ukrainian opponent no chance to return into the match. Lily ZHANG and DIAZ moved to Round of 16. In Group three Petrissa SOLJA of Germany failed to justify her leading position in Group. She lost to CHEN Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei (8-11 11-2 11-9 9-11 11-5 11-9) in the thrilling match. SOLJA had an early lead but CHEN was in control after that. Earlier WU Yue of USA created great upset against SOLJA (11-5 11-4 11-7 9-11 8-11 3-11 11-9). North American was three games in reverse before she leveled to win. In the decisive game she was very determined. CHEN and WU booked two leading places in the Group. In Group 4 Bernadette SZOCS sealed the playing day with the 4:3 victory over Dina MESHREF of Egypt (8-11 11-5 11-8 10-12 11-6 10-12 11-5) to book her place among top 16 players. In the highest quality match after over the 50 minutes of play SZOCS nullified MESHREF’s recovery. After being down 2-3 overall and 1-7 against the Romanian superstar African Cup winner upped the ante and took the battle to the next level with a string of forehand winners – propelling her to a 12-10 win and taking the duel to a decider. SUH Hyowon booked top position after two wins. She beat Bernadette SZOCS in six games (8-11 11-3 11-9 13-11 8-11 11-7).
#RESTART – International Table Tennis is BACK
After eight months without international table tennis events the time has finally come to #RESTART! This is the moment that the players fans and entire table tennis community are reunited with the sport they love. On Sunday 8 November 2020 table tennis will become one of the first sports to hold international activity since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The #RESART series will see a long list of world-class players returning to the global stage at three prestigious events taking place over the next two weeks in China: Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup: 8 – 10 November 2020 in Weihai Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup: 13 – 15 November 2020 in Weihai Bank of Communications 2020 ITTF Finals: 19 – 22 November 2020 in Zhengzhou Supported by the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) the ITTF decided on a “bubble” approach to ensure a smooth transition from national to international activity for players and to best protect the health and safety of everyone involved. “This is a landmark moment for table tennis. After many months without international events for our athletes fans and entire community this is the moment that we return to the global stage. The majority of other sports have not managed to do this yet and these events have required considerable work and sacrifices. A big thank you to everyone who has helped to make this happen ” – said LIU Guoliang CTTA President. “It has not been an easy road to get to this point and putting these major events in one bubble has required an enormous team effort. Therefore I say a big thank you to everyone at the ITTF who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes. A huge thanks goes to CTTA led by President Liu Guoliang and also the Local Organising Committee who have provided exceptional support in extremely complicated circumstances. Furthermore thanks to the players who have sacrificed a lot to be here with us. We wish you all the very best at the upcoming events ” added Steve DAINTON ITTF CEO. On Sunday 8 November 2020 at 11:00 (local time) the very first ball will be hit at the #RESTART series when the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup gets under way. The event will see 21 of the world’s best women’s players battle it out for top honours between 8 – 10 November at the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Center. Chen Meng the world’s highest-ranked women’s player is setting her sights on the trophy that she has yet to win in her stellar career to date. Weihai represents familiar territory for the Chinese superstar who hails from Qingdao Shandong province. “I have trained here before and played the Chinese National Championships recently in Weihai too so it’s good to be back. In the last few days I have met many other players again and even just seeing them in person has been exciting. I am getting myself into tournament mode now and I will be going all out to win the Women’s World Cup title ” stated Chen Meng Chen’s greatest competition for the top prize comes in the form of Japan’s Mima Ito (WR 2) and fellow Chinese Sun Yingsha (WR 3). Among the players to have qualified via the continental cups there are Dina Meshref (Egypt) who holds the record of eight Africa Cup titles; Petrissa Solja (Germany) winner of back-to-back Europe Cup titles; Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico) winner of back-to-back Pan America Cup titles; and Lily Zhang (USA) the 2019 ITTF Breakthrough Star and one of the standout players at last year’s Women’s World Cup in which she reached the semi-finals. Conducted on Saturday 7 November the group-stage draw saw 13 players seeded 9th through to 21st find out their opponents for the first day of action. In each group the top two players will qualify for the round of 16 where they will meet the top eight seeds on Monday 9 November. An intense two-day main draw concludes on Tuesday 10 November. Entering as a wild card Bernadette Szocs (Romania) expressed her excitement about returning to the international stage: “After a long wait it is an honour to be competing again at this #RESTART series with so many world-class players on show. In the last two years I have managed to reach the main draw of the Women’s World Cup and my aim is to improve on these results in Weihai.” All matches from the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup will be streamed live on itTV with all the key stories reported on ITTF.com and on the ITTF’s social media channels.
New playing hall in Szombathely
Although the local ping-pong players were already practicing in it in February the official inauguration of the new table tennis hall in Szombathely took place on 4 November. “We have longed for such a hall for a long time. As a club who also deals with youth education we have always struggled with a lack of space previously there were five or six tables that we always had to pack now there are eleven tables here all the time. Our opportunities have become much better we can put our work on a new footing” said Tibor SZARKA the president of SZAK which he founded 26 years ago about the significance of their new home. In addition to table tennis the room can also accommodate other events but the primary goal is beside the everyday use to organize training camps and smaller competitions within its walls. Besides competitive sports there is also space and time for local amateur players who practice at these tables after half past 5pm. “We need to emphasize continuity as this facility is a love child of the previous city administration they dreamed about this hall they created it I just had to hand it over” explained dr. Attila HORVÁTH Deputy Mayor. “But I have a more difficult task as well as I have to make sure it stays in this state and that we can fill it with life. In a few years I would like to see that we have taken care of the building and that there is no free space because it is filled with children and adults families even.” The former industrial hall has been turned into gyms and offices as well as a club room and a lounge. According to Kristóf LAJTAI the people of Szombathely deserved the best to be able to hit the ball in a worthy environment. “If I think back to what kind of team we had in Szombathely to what efforts were made by them in terms of the organization of competitions and professional work then we can say that this sport has now a home in this hall” said the Secretary General of MOATSZ. “The role of the western citadel which this city has already been playing within this sport has been strengthened. We hope that this hall can make a significant contribution to the further improvement of professional work the expansion of the base of young players and the promotion of the sport.” It is no coincidence that the inauguration ceremony took place now as the traditional international youth tournament will start in the city on this Thursday. The fights for the titles formerly took place at 22 tables in the Arena Savaria but this year because of the smaller number of entries it is not necessary. The 8th edition of the competition will thus take place in the new hall on six tables between the Czech and Hungarians players.
Svenn-Erik NORDBY retired as Secretary General of the NBTF
After lifetime long dedication to Norway sport NORDBAY handed over the duty one day before 70th birthday Svenn-Erik NORDBY retired as Secretary General of the NBTF on Saturday 31th October day before he celebrated his 70th birthday. NORDBY has been General Secretary of NBTF for almost a lifetime. He has worked in Norwegian sports for just over 41 years and 38 of these years in NBTF. He was Administrative leader / General Secretary from 1985 and thus NBTF’s face outwards for 35 years. “After my 41 years employment in Norwegian Sport the last 35 years in the Norwegian Table Tennis Association as Administrative leader/Sec.gen I have now retired. I had my last day in office last week and can look back on many fantastic years in national and international table tennis. I wish to thank all of you in ETTU for all help development of table tennis in Europe and friendly meetings at different arenas. I will still be active in the EVC 2023 project ” stated NORDBY. Former President of NBTF and head of ETTU Committee Øivind ERIKSEN spoke about NORDBY: “Svenn-Erik is characterized as creative solution-oriented knowledgeable always well prepared and always in advance and he is characterized as a leader with great calm and with strong ability. He has very few sick leave days through all these years and has always delivered as it lasts of the best quality. Svenn-Erik has always been friendly nice and helpful and he has been a good boss for all employees in NBTF over the years. He has built a strong and good network of contacts with clubs and regions and he has served NBTF’s underlying links in a fantastic way. He has done an incredibly good job for Norwegian table tennis and he has also been an active contributor to the NIF system along with other special federations through the special federation alliance as Secretary General of the North European Table Tennis Union for 14 years and in the ITTF Media Committee for many years.” Svenn-Erik has been employed by NBTF under six presidents: Kjell SVANEVIK (1977 – 1983) Odd GUSTRAVSEN (1983 – 1989) Sigbjørn SKAAR (1989 – 1995) Øivind ERIKSEN (1995 – 2015) Erik LINDHOLM (2015 – 2019) and Christian IBENFELDT (2019 – 2020). ). During the closing speech at Ullevaal on Thursday 29 October 2020 Svenn-Erik emphasized the good cooperation he has had with these Presidents all the boards he has worked with and also with clubs and regions. This collaboration has been mutual in all years. He was also several years at the head of the national team including strong women’s national team in the 1980s. The coaching job has always been important for NORDBY and he has also been the club coach including the B-72 and Fornebu BTK. Svenn-Erik has also done an enormous job for several of our clubs in the establishment of gyms. In addition the outdoor table project which started in 2009 after collaboration with the Sparebankstiftelsen DnB has meant that NBTF is behind the deployment of 4-500 outdoor tables around Norway. Svenn-Erik was also the mastermind behind this project which is still ongoing. Svenn-Erik played for the national team once and in 1970 he played a very historic international match. It happened during the Open in Sweden and the occasion was China’s return to international table tennis after the Cultural Revolution. There was extremely great media interest in China’s first international match after the Cultural Revolution and Svenn-Erik played the first singles match in the international match against China. The Norwegian team received gifts from the Chinese while the Norwegian players had nothing to give in return. Svenn-Erik met his Chinese superiors 30 years later on Chinese soil during a World Cup and he then used the opportunity to give the Chinese gifts in return. NBTF has done a solid job in connection with Para-table tennis. Under Svenn-Erik’s leadership NBTF was one of the first special sports to take integration responsibility. This has resulted in a good recruitment system and also many international medals for Norwegian players both in the European Championships the World Cup and the Paralympics Games. Svenn-Erik got to experience the greatest table tennis feat of all time in 2012 during the Paralympics Games in London. Tommy URHAUG secured gold in class 5 in a final with Norwegian sports media and representatives from Kongehuset ringside and not least in prime time on NRK. Such a long fruitful career is hard to sum-up in one interview but we asked NORDBY to make a highlights of his long being in table tennis. What is the most precious moments you remember from your long time service in NTTA? “I’m sure that must be in London 2012 when our player Tommy URHAUG won his gold medal in the Paralympics. We had guests from the Norwegian Government the Norwegian Princess was there together with members of the NOC watching the final matches which also was broadcasted directly on TV. That was a fantastic moment to remember ” remembered NORDBY.” We have also been able to with external funding to give several hundred tables to primary schools and clubs which give the children the possibility to enjoy table tennis and the club to expand their activities. To know that children can have their happy moments give me also daily precious moments.” What was the greatest challenges? “There is a big challenge not only in Norway I think that we have very few members and small clubs in the Association compared to the number of people actually playing table tennis. Most of the financial support to NTTA is based on the number of members and it is a challenge to get more members from these leisure players. It is of course positive that table tennis is popular but the small member numbers also affect the sponsor possibilities and most of all it affect the number of halls and the daily playing facilities available
Szandra PERGEL is back after her eye surgery
Szandra PERGEL played her first match in mid-October since her eye surgery in July more than that she debuted with a victory in her French team. Szandra PERGEL changed club after 11 years in the summer. She bid farewell to SH-ITB Budaörsi SC in the Final Four of the Hungarian Extraliga and in her own words it ended like a Hollywood movie: they won the championship gold thanks to her victory. She then put all her efforts into the preparation to perform a solid restart after the epidemic as well as her career in her new French team. However something was not perfect. No one even the doctors neither know exactly what caused the trouble. She had been complaining about her eye for a while then she went to the Sports Hospital from where she was immediately redirected to the eye clinic because they saw there was a quite a big problem. The diagnosis was partial retinal detachment but luckily the surgery went well. After that she was not allowed to exercise or even move for quite a long period of time and she had to wait even longer for her return to table tennis. She could only be present at the Hungarian Top16 Championships as a commentator but on October 13th the moment of her return finally came namely in her first foreign club the French Quimper Cornouaille TT. “I came to France on Monday and we already had a match in Paris on Tuesday which we won by 3:2 and it is something that I am very happy about” started Szandra PERGEL to the question of Hungarian National Kossuth Radio. “I won one match and lost one. I still cannot do all the exercises at the gym yet; I must wait for the three months to pass by after the surgery. I do not know if my eyes are a little slower while playing ping pong or it happens because it was a long time ago since I played table tennis but playing in a competitive situation does not feel the same as before but I hope that feeling will come back.” It might be that her eyes have not fully recovered yet but the integration into her new team went quickly. “I feel really good everyone is very kind including our coach and my teammates. I came to a good place; it may be a pity that I did not sign a contract with a foreign team earlier.”
European Champions Leagues hosts confirmed
Germany’s Düsseldorf and Austria’s Linz will host TTCLM and ECLW in a secured bubble format in December European Champions League Men and Women will be played this December. The hosts have been confirmed yesterday during a Video Conference with the presence of the club managers. The Champions League Women will be played from 2nd to 8th of December in Austria’s Linz whilst TTCLM is scheduled for 11th to 18th December and it will be played in Germany’s city of Düsseldorf. Both dates are fixed with the flexibility of 1 or 2 days difference depending on media interest. “It is a very difficult time and I am thankful that Düsseldorf and Linz accepted the challenge to host the events. Despite the numerous obstacles I strongly believe we will manage to organise the Champions Leagues this year ” said ETTU President Igor LEVITIN in his opening speech. For the Bubble format event the playing system was changed into the playing format with 4 groups of 4 teams each in first phase. The quarter finals are reincluded into the Champions League men (same as for the women competition) the group winners and group runners-up will qualify for the knock out stage. The group phase will be played during the first 3 days of the competition on 2 tables where each team competes once against all other teams of their group. Each team will have one match per day. The group winners and runners-up proceed to the knock out stage (quarter-finals). KO stage will be played on one table. The draw for the KO stage will be made after completion of the group stage. ETTU together with the hosts are setting up a secured environment for all persons taking part in the Champions League (players coaches umpires staff etc.). The strict measures are already defined but more specific details will be clarified in coming days concerning future European countries Government’s decisions for safety. After the Champions’ League group stage the 4th ranked teams will relegated to Europe Cup R2 and the 3rd ranked teams will relegated to Europe Cup quarter finals. The majority of the club managers pre confirmed during the conference acceptance of the new conditions (new playing system bubble conditions). The main concern remained with the Covid situation in Europe which will be analysed and monitored regularly.
ETTU COMMERCIAL AND MARKETING MANAGER (F/M)
European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is seeking to appoint a Commercial and Marketing Manager We are searching for someone to develop and drive our commercial and marketing strategic relationships increasing our sponsorship portfolio and handling management of partners sponsors and suppliers to create promote develop and implement ETTU products. The Commercial and Marketing Manager will manage opportunities through the sales process and subsequent project lifecycle maximising the commercial success of projects and managing the ETTU sponsorship portfolio and rights. You will contribute to revenue growth for ETTU through effective business development activities and support revenue opportunities for ETTU partners. Requirements and Conditions Personal Profile Proven 5 years+ track record in business and sponsorship sales environment Proven ability to work with a minimum amount of supervision using own initiative high resistance to stress Knowledge of the organisation and structure of table tennis in Europe Skills Excellent interpersonal communication collaboration and management skills Languages English language proficiency essential knowledge of one or more additional languages will be an advantage Contract period From 1st February 2021 for 4 years initially Closing date for applications Monday 30th November 2020 Applications must be submitted in English including a detailed CV and a recent photo indicating the expected monthly salary (€) to the European Table Tennis Union (email office@ettu.org )
