Dimitrij OVTCHAROV is the winner of the ninth edition of the Duesseldorf Masters. The world number eleven won the final match of the two top seeded players against his national team colleague Patrick FRANZISKA 11:7 11:8 7:11 11:7 12:14 and 11:6. For Benedikt DUDA and the Swede Anton KÄLLBERG the semi-final was the final stop. The tenth and last Masters before the Grand Final of the eight best (21/23 August) will be held next weekend from Friday to Sunday (14-16 August) at the ARAG CenterCourt.   For Dimitrij OVTCHAROV it was the third Masters victory at the fourth start. Previously the 2017 World Cup winner had won the tournaments two and three in June. As in the previous rounds OVTCHAROV left a strong impression in the final. With his powerful shots from the forehand and backhand side OVTCHAROV won the high class final in six sets. Already in the fifth set of the final the former number 1 of the world had the victory right in front of his eyes but at the score of 11:12 FRANZISKA fended off a match point of OVTCHAROV. FRANZISKA also started the sixth game strongly but his opponent did not let him come close to 3-3.   Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was extremely satisfied with his performance: “I am glad that I came back strong after a somewhat longer break in the Masters. The final was a good match in which I had a very good start. I’m happy that after missing my match point in run five I then turned the important sixth game after trailing 1-4 and won 11-6”. OVTCHAROV continues: “Sometimes I have phases in which I play completely without mistakes but I can’t keep up this level. I have to work on that. Nevertheless I am really happy to have won against Patrick he is a really strong opponent. That’s how it can go on.”   Despite his defeat Masters debutant Patrick Franziska drew a positive conclusion from his first competition appearance in two months: “It was a good final from both of us and I am really happy with my performance. After the short preparation phase we are all in pretty good shape. It’s important to have tournaments like the Masters so that you can identify the remaining weak points and work on them in training. I wasn’t at all satisfied with my backhand today but otherwise the first tournament was definitely a good start in returning to competition shape”.   Due to his success OVTCHAROV moves up to ten points to Dang QIU (Gruenwettersbach) who is still leading the Masters overall standings with 170 points. The two current semi-finalists Benedikt DUDA and Anton KALLBERG are level on third place with 130 points. The five best athletes in the points classification automatically qualify for the final tournament of the Düsseldorf Masters on 21 and 23 August three players will receive a wildcard.   In a German semi-final Dimitrij OVTCHAROV ended the hopes of his national team colleague Benedikt DUDA for the second tournament victory. The 2013 and 2015 European Champion dominated the match against the world’s number 39 and won 4-2 after losing the opening game even though the man from Bergneustadt was down 2-10 in the final round and was able to fend off another six match points from his opponent.   The London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist was satisfied with his performance except of the opening game: “I didn’t play well in the first game and Bene started strongly. But after that I actually got the game under control quite well and quickly took a 3-1 lead. But it goes very fast in table tennis: One or two moments out of focus were enough and then the fifth game was gone. But after that I got back on my feet. Only when the game was already over it got a bit tight again. Overall my victory was well-deserved.” Benedikt DUDA stated fairly: “Dima played very well today and deserved to win. I had some problems with his serves so he made some easy points. The result is ok.”   Patrick FRANZISKA was the first to qualify for the final with a strong performance. The man from Saarbruecken threw the winner of the eighth Masters edition the Swede Anton KÄLLBERG out of the title race. In his six-game win FRANZISKA clearly dominated three of his four won runs and only at 13:11 in the last game it became close again against the world number 57th. Franziska commented: “I played much better in the semi-finals than yesterday in my first match. The match against Anton was on a good level from both of us.”   KALLBERG on the other hand never felt comfortable at the table against FRANZISKA despite the two won games: “I have never beaten him it is very difficult for me to play against him. It was close at the end but actually I didn’t feel that I had any real chance even though I left some good chances behind. But 2:4 is not that bad.”   Duesseldorf Masters 9th tournament (7-9 August) Final Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Patrick Franziska GER 4:2 (7 8 -7 7 -12 6) Semifinals Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Benedikt Duda GER 4:2 (-5 3 8 7 -6 8) Patrick Franziska GER – Anton Källberg SWE 4:2 (3 -5 4 4 -7 13)

At the ninth edition of the Düsseldorf Masters the DTTB stars Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Patrick FRANZISKA and Benedikt DUDA reached the semi-finals as expected. On Sunday FRANZISKA will fight against the Swede Anton KALLBERG (10 am) and afterwards OVTCHAROV against DUDA to reach the final (1 pm). All matches can be watched in live streaming on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de.   Two contested matches and two clear victories for the favourites this is the balance of the quarter-final matches. As expected the world number 11 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and the five places behind him ranked Patrick FRANZISKA did not have any real trouble with the outsiders Gerrit ENGEMANN (Hamm) and Kirill FADEEV (Dortmund). The German U23 hopes however were able to take one game each from the established stars.   Ex-World Cup winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV said after his success against the former U21-EC-Runner-up ENGEMANN: “I am actually satisfied because I clearly won my four games. I moved well and played well. I thought that GERRIT also played well. In the fourth game I lost a bit of concentration after the lead but then I got back into my composure relatively quickly.”   FRANZISKA who made his debut at the Düsseldorf Masters today was satisfied with his first match against left-hander FADEEV: “The first match is always difficult as they say. The ball stops a bit more here at the CenterCourt than over there in the training hall. I had to get used to that a bit. But yes I had seen Kirill’s game yesterday against Tobias HIPPLER and knew that he plays very aggressively. He was also strong today and has improved really well. I think overall my performance was okay for my first competition since two months.”   A German duel on a high level was fought by the world rankings 39th Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) and Steffen MENGEL from Muehlhausen. The Spanish-Open semi-finalist presented himself in good form but in the end his former club colleague was just ahead 4:2. DUDA who will now meet OVTCHAROV in the semi-final tomorrow at 10.45 admitted after the match: “I felt a bit uncomfortable in this match constellation because Steffen and I often train together. We’ve also played side by side in the club for several years and know each other inside and out. It was a difficult match and in some situations we had a bit of luck. I’m glad that I won in the end and now I’m in the semi-finals.”   Also worth seeing was the exchange of shots between the third seeded no. 27 in the World Kanak JHA (USA) and Anton KALLBERG. The Swede who had beaten DUDA in the final of the eighth edition of the Masters kept the American who is 30 places better in the ITTF ranking in check in six games and now challenges Patrick FRANZISKA from Saarbruecken in the fight for the entry into the final on Sunday at 10 am.   KALLBERG said after his victory: “I had lost to him twice before and won once but all matches were close just like today. It’s hard to play against him because he has good serves and brings back a lot of balls. I had a bit more luck today which made all the difference.”   Duesseldorf Masters 9th tournament (7-9 August)   Final August 9 1 p.m. Semifinals August 9 Patrick Franziska GER – Anton Kaellberg SWE 10 o’clock Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Benedikt Duda GER directly after but not before 10.45 a.m. Quarterfinal August 8 Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Gerrit Engemann GER 4:1 (6 6 4 -10 6) Benedikt Duda GER – Steffen Mengel GER 4:2 (6 -7 2 -7 8 9) Kanak Jha USA – Anton Kaellberg SWE 2:4 (6 -10 -10 8 -9 -4) Patrick Franziska GER – Kirill Fadeev GER 4:1 (-9 4 7 4 8)

Duesseldorf Masters   The opening day of the ninth edition of the Düsseldorf Masters ended with one exception with successes for the favourites since the only seeded player Tobias HIPPLER had to congratulate Kirill FADEEV in the duel of the two DTTB talents. In the quarterfinals on Saturday (from 10 am) world number one Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patrick FRANZISKA listed five places behind him will also play their first matches. All matches can be watched in live streaming on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de.   Today Cedric MEISSER pushed the ITTF-ranked no. 27 Kanak JHA who plays for Ochsenhausen in the new season into the seventh game even though the US player was able to win 11-6 in the decisive game.   MEISSNER the man from Mainz 2018 German Youth Champion and participant in the Youth Olympic Games was happy about his good performance but was also annoyed about the missed chance: “In the beginning I found it hard to get into the match. Today he took my serves with which he had some problems in the past much better. I should have been a bit more active and also more variable from time to time because he plays very safe and makes few mistakes. In the end I was a bit insecure and he consistently kept me in the backhand.”   Kanak JHA praised his opponent after the match who had already made his mark in the eighth Masters with his success over Belgian world-class player Cedric NUYTINCK: “It was my first match for a while so I knew it would be tough. Cedric is a very good player. We played matches before and it had been close. So I knew it would be tough going against him. I am happy that I won.”   Besides JHA two other top 100 players were in action on the first day of the tournament. The world number 39 Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) didn’t give Lleyton ULLMANN a chance in the round of sixteen nor did the world number 57 Anton KALLBERG against Tobias SLANINA. Spanish-Open semi-finalist Steffen MENGEL was in the beginning in troubles but in a partly worth seeing exchange of blows with Fulda’s dangerous left-hander Fanbo MENG he stood his ground in five sets. The favourite almost fell 1-2 behind but managed to fend off several of games points of Meng in the third set.   MENGEL: “I knew FANBO was in very good shape at the moment. He plays very aggressively and takes a high risk I had to be prepared for that. It was a very good match between the two of us today.”   Two second-league players from the German U23 support squad also reached the quarter-finals one of them even a little unexpectedly. In the duel of the DTTB junior squad 19-year-old Kirill FADEEV defeated the two years older former World Youth Championships quarter-finalist Tobias HIPPLER (Cologne) who was seeded seventh and had formerly managed to defeat world number 38 Omar ASSAR (Egypt) during the Masters tournaments. It was the third meeting of the two left-handers in the past two months. Hippler had been able to hold his own both times before. In the quarter finals on Saturday mostly the expected duels for a place in the preliminary round will take place: At the start of the day at 10 am US star Kanak JHA and Duesseldorf’s Swede Anton KALLBERG will determine one not german participant in the semi finals. 45 minutes later just Saarbruecken’s Masters debutant Patrick FRANZISKA will face Kirill FADEEV (Dormund) instead ofTobias HIPPLER from Cologne. At 11.30 a.m. the top seeded former World Cup winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV will play his opening match against youngster Gerrit ENGEMANN (Hamm). The quarter-final day ends at 12.15 p.m. with the meeting of the national team colleagues Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) and Steffen MENGEL.   So far Timo BOLL (Masters I) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Masters II and III) Bastian STEGER (Masters IV) Benedidkt DUDA (Masters VI) Dang QIU (Masters VII) have won the seven men’s tournaments and the only foreign winner so far is the Swede Anton KALLBERG (Masters VIII). The overall ranking is led by Dang QIU from Grünwettersbach with 170 points in front of four players who share second place with 110 points: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Benedikt DUDA Anton KALLBERG and Omar ASSAR. The five best scoring athletes will automatically qualify for the final tournament of the Duesseldorf Masters on 21 and 23 August three players will receive a wildcard. All tournaments will be broadcast live on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de. Before the showdown of the best players the tenth tournament of the Masters series will take place from August 14th to 16th.   Düsseldorf Masters 9th tournament (7-9 August)   Round of 16 August 7 Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER (1) bye Gerrit Engemann GER – An Duy Dang GER 4:0 (4 5 4 6) Steffen Mengel GER (7) – Fanbo Meng GER 4:1 (-8 7 11 8 3) Benedikt Duda GER (4) – Lleyton Ullmann GER 4:0 (5 6 3 6) Kanak Jha USA (set position 3) – Cedric Meissner GER 4:3 (10.7 -7 -9.7 -9.6) Anton Källberg SWE (5) – Tobias Slanina GER 4:0 (8 7 3 9) Tobias Hippler GER (8) – Kirill Fadeev GER 1:4 (-10 -6 10 -11 -9) Patrick Franziska GER (2) bye   Quarter-finals 8 August (in chronological order) Kanak Jha USA – Anton Källberg SWE 10 o’clock Patrick Franziska GER – Kirill Fadeev GER immediately following but not before 10.45 a.m. Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Gerrit Engemann GER directly after but not before 11.30 a.m. Benedikt Duda GER – Steffen Mengel GER directly after but not before 12.15 pm

The ITTF is developing official guidelines which must be implemented by all organisers of future ITTF events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic As the situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is constantly evolving across the world with some nations easing and also tightening restrictions as required the ITTF is gradually seeing an opening of society where infection numbers have been declining. In the table tennis community there has been a return to action in many parts of the world whilst in others ITTF members may be training at home or focusing on their mental and physical strength.   Whilst it has been encouraging to see how determined the table tennis community is to stay active in the sport even in tough times it has become evident that international events are not only essential to the livelihood of professional players coaches and associations but also a major aspect of keeping the community connected.   Fully determined to organise international events going forwards the ITTF has set out to develop official guidelines which must be implemented by all event organisers and the ITTF will continue to refine this document and its procedures with input from health authorities and public health and infectious disease specialists.   Click here to read the ITTF’s COVID-19 Recommendations document in full.

Six world-class players will be competing in the ninth edition of the Düsseldorf Masters on Friday (from 4 p.m.) Saturday and Sunday (each from 10 a.m.). Top seed is Dimitrij OVTCHAROV on number 2 comes Patrick FRANZISKA who will take part at Duesseldorf Masters for the first time. All matches in the ARAG CenterCourt can be watched live streaming on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and tischtennis.de. On Friday six quarter-final matches will be played.   Ricardo WALTHER who like FRANZISKA wanted to compete in the Masters for the first time had to cancel at short notice due to a thigh injury. Originally seeded number sixth he will be replaced by DTTZ member An Duy Dang but the draw will remain unchanged. A total of 14 players will take part in the Masters.   Düsseldorf Masters 9th tournament (August 7-9)   Round of 16 7 August (in chronological order) Kanak Jha USA (seeding position 3) – Cedric Meissner GER 4 p.m. Gerrit Engemann GER – An Duy Dang GER directly after but not before 16.40 Anton Källberg SWE (5) – Tobias Slanina GER immediately following but not before 17.20 Benedikt Duda GER (4) – Lleyton Ullmann GER immediately following but not before 18.00 Tobias Hippler GER (8) – Kirill Fadeev GER immediately following but not before 18.40 Steffen Mengel GER (7) – Fanbo Meng GER directly after but not before 19.20 Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER (1) bye Patrick Franziska GER (2) bye   Quarter-finals 8 August (in chronological order) Kanak Jha USA or Cedric Meissner GER – Anton Källberg SWE or Tobias Slanina GER 10 o’clock Patrick Franziska GER – Tobias Hippler GER or Kirill Fadeev GER directly after but not before 10.45 am Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER – Gerrit Engemann GER or An Duy Dang GER immediately following but not before 11.30 a.m. Benedikt Duda GER or Lleyton Ullmann GER – Steffen Mengel GER or Fanbo Meng GER directly after but not before 12.15   Semifinals August 9 Winner 1st quarter final – Winner 2nd quarter final 10am Winner 3rd quarter final – Winner 4th quarter final immediately following but not before 10.45 a.m. Final August 9 1 p.m.  

The ITTF announced that Her Royal Highness Princess Zeina RASHID of Jordan is joining as a board member of the ITTF Foundation. The former table tennis player who competed at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has continued to be heavily involved in sport and currently sits on the Jordan Olympic Committee as a member of the Board of Directors.   The 32-year-old is also in charge of the programme “20 for Tokyo 2020” an ambitious plan put in place by the Jordan Olympic Committee with the goal of having 20 athletes from the Middle East nation qualify for Tokyo.   ITTF Deputy President Khalil Al-MOHANNADI initiated the discussions to bring Princess Zeina RASHID on board and the ITTF Executive Committee has unanimously agreed to the proposal and welcomes her presence on the ITTF Foundation’s Governing Board.   “Table tennis was my gateway into competitive sport my career my passion. I am excited to have the opportunity to give back to the sport that has set my life on its current trajectory. Sport is a great unifying and equalising force and it is a privilege to join the ITTF Foundation which works every day to further this message by supporting and bringing communities together through table tennis ” said Princess Zeina RASHID ITTF Foundation Board Member   “We are delighted to be welcoming Her Royal Highness Princess Zeina RASHID to the ITTF family. A distinguished personality with a highly impressive reputation in the sports industry we are very much looking forward to working with her as her fresh input will be for the benefit of our sport. We need young leaders we need female leaders and we need leaders from different regions of the world. We believe that Her Royal Highness’s contribution to our sport and her commitment to the ITTF Foundation will generate an immensely positive impact and will inspire the entire table tennis community worldwide ” explained Khalil Al-MOHANNADI ITTF Deputy President   “Her Royal Highness Princess Zeina RASHID joins us with a wealth of experience in both fields of competitive sports and sports development putting her in a prime position to assess which goals we are pursuing and which projects we want to implement in order to take table tennis to ambitious new heights. We are therefore delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness on board certain that she will offer an invaluable contribution to our sport ” stated Thomas WEIKERT ITTF President

Now on one of the stars in the sky above will bear the name of István JÓNYER   Despite the pandemic situation a considerable number of guests gathered at the László Ormai Table Tennis Hall for the 70th birthday of István JÓNYER. The four-time world and four-time European champion classic also received an unusual gift for this anniversary.   The current members of the women’s and men’s Hungarian table tennis team gathered for István JÓNYER but we also found celebrities inside and outside of the sport world and of course the former players of the celebrated party would not miss the celebration either. From them Gábor GERGELY gave a speech – we could say that the thoughts came from his mind but rather from a little lower.    “Once before the birthday of our master Zoltán BERCZIK I formulated and wrote down the thoughts I wanted to say” recalled Gábor GERGELY with whom István JÓNYER became World champion in doubles in 1975 and in team in 1979. “Then when I stood on the podium and started saying ’Dear Zoli…’ I looked down at the paper and then threw it away in a theatrical gesture because it was in my heart what I wanted to say. This was the case now with Pista. I thanked him for his being because in the Hungarian and also in the world of universal table tennis he is ’the Jónyer’ after all. A one-time and unrepeatable man. He was helpful in everything standing beside the table and in his private life as well. Without him Hungarian table tennis would not have gone so far where it did. I also added that he should put everything aside knock on the door of the table tennis halls and feel free to tell what he sees because no one understands this game better than him.”   István JÓNYER knew about the ceremony thrown for him but the organizers still managed to create the surporise surprise: “When I came in and saw my teammates KLAMPÁR Gergely TAKÁCS and KREISZ with whom we won a world championship it was enough to make me become sensitive even my palms started to sweat. Obviously I thought there would some surprise but I did not expect that much interest from the media nor the players the association throw a fantastic party. ”   The Hungarian Table Tennis Association (MOATSZ) came up with a really special gift. With an official diploma certifying that from now on one of the stars in the sky above will bear the name of István Jónyer.   “István Jónyer is a star of international sports and a star of Hungarian table tennis thanks to his journey achievements work and of course the world and European championship golds” Roland Nátrán president of MOATSZ justified the gift. “This is why he received this diploma from the association it is a symbol of all that. What he achieved back in the 1970s still moves the world of table tennis even so many decades later so I do not think the attribution ‘star’ is an exaggeration.”   Péter SÁRFALVI accepted the invitation to the party without any hesitation.   “For me they were my childhood heroes the success series of István JÓNYER and the golden team in the seventies and World Championship victory in 1979 was like my father’s the six-three in London for my father” asserted the deputy secretary of state for Sports Facilities and Relations. “We grew up watching them and we had a lot of motivation from each of the five rash victories against China in Pyongyang. I even knew these legends personally through my then still active athlete dad. I recently got a DVD footage of this particular World championship final against China which was amazing I have often taken it out and watched ever since. I am just disappointed that no more could come to celebrate in the shadow of the epidemic but we are still plenty here who celebrated uncle Pista. ”   István JÓNYER like the whole golden team means a lot to Zoltán BÁTORFI as well.    “My father was my coach and I always heard him talking about Jónyer Gergely KLAMPÁR and the others” the head coach of the women’s national team recalled the beginning of his career. “Later I was one of the lucky players whose coach at the national team was Pista. I really liked him as a coach and I think he also liked me as a player I hold on to some really great memories from this time of my life. And I even played together with Tibi quite a few matches which is no wonder in light of the fact that he is still active today. These matches have been a huge experience for me and now as I recall them they are still one of the bests in my life.”   István JÓNYER who claims to be extremely sweet-mouthed was probably not surprised by his birthday cake but it was a different case with the star named after him.   “It is interesting I do not know whose idea it was. I still cannot comprehend maybe I will be able to do that after a few days passed by…” looked the legend for the right words whose perception of life does not change even after stepping into his seventies. “I swear on peace and calm I will try to continue living that way. I always know what I will do the next day so I set goals and try to achieve them just as I did in table tennis. Zoli Berczik was my great teacher in this because he told me: ‘Son what you can do today should not be postponed until tomorrow’.” As part of the party István Jónyer played a bit with his former teammates and then with the representatives of the younger age groups.