The Hungarian women’s team spent a week in Havírov enjoying  the invitation of the Czech national team.   In the current non-tournament period the national associations are trying to seize every opportunity to get their players ready with as many different training partners as possible to break the monotony. Hungary men’s team visited Austria last week and this week they invited the Croats to Budapest. During this time women’s national team trained in the Czech Republic.   “We are still in Havírov the Czechs invited us together with the Polish national team” began the weekly report the head coach of the women’s national team Zoltán BÁTORFI. “A new training center was built here which has not yet been completely finished but the playing field is already completed. Eighteen players took part in the trainings; we are finishing a very useful week.”   The best Czech (Hana MATELOVÁ Karin ADÁMKOVÁ) and the best Polish players (Natalia PARTYKA Natalia BAJOR) were among the 18 people while the Hungarian delegation consisted of Bernadett BÁLINT Orsolya FEHÉR Leila IMRE Dóra MADARÁSZ and Mercédesz NAGYVÁRADI.   Besides Georgina PÓTA who is fulfilling happily her mother role right now Szandra PERGEL could either travel with the national team for some unfortunate reasons. The left-handed player who signed for a French team for the next season underwent eye surgery due to a partial retinal detachment.   “We do not know exactly what caused the trouble nor do the doctors” revealed the head coach about Szandra PERGEL. “She had been complaining about her eye for a while and finally she went to the Sports Hospital from where she was immediately redirected to the eye clinic because they saw that there was a bigger and more serious problem. Thank God the surgery went well she is already recovering at home but it will take quite a while. She has to stay in bed for two or three weeks she cannot even get up we do not know yet when she will be able to play again.”   At the European Championships in September the player who is leaving Budaörs after 11 years will surely not be able to participate.   As for the program in August of our national team: according to the head coach of the national team after the days spent in the Czech Republic a more relaxed week awaits the girls then the Slovak and after that the Polish national team will be hosted in Hungary as part of a joint preparation. The Poles will also be present at the Budapest Championship scheduled for the end of August. Of course the program mentioned here is entirely depends on the evolution of the virus situation.

The Hungary men’s team trained with the Austrian men’s national team last week while this week it is training together with the Croats.   Last week the Hungarian national team had fourteen trainings in Stockerau and then on Friday the team travelled to Slovakia where they played a friendly match against the Vydrany team. Since then the boys have been training at home again with the Croatian national team who similar to the Austrian players are in good shape.   “Every player is different the Croatian national team is also very strong they qualified for the Olympics in the team event so it is very good to have them here training with us this week. This is a very good opportunity to practice against different playing styles” shared his thoughts Ádám SZUDI.   He will take part in two foreign challenger competitions together with Bence MAJOROS in the coming weeks and in the meantime they will also have a training camp in Ochsenhausen.   “These matches against each other do not bring me the same stress-level at all as a bigger competition” Bence MAJOROS spoke about the main difference between matches played at competitions and the training or friendly matches. “You obviously try to create that kind of pressure on your own and deliver the same performance as in a competitive match but I do not think that is possible.”   The highest ranked Croatian player Tomislav PUCAR is also already starving for real match situations.   “We are very good friends with the Hungarian team as we have been preparing for competitions together many times before I was also training in this hall a few years ago” evoked the player ranked 37th. “It is not easy to stay focused because we just train train and train. We are really looking forward to the return of competitions.”   Practically all major battles have been cancelled until the European Championships but Frane KOJIC (ranked 90th) is not very optimistic about that tournament.   “It is my first time here the Hungarians gave us a very kind welcome” KOJIC confirmed the ‘rumors’ about the good relationship. „The conditions inside and outside the hall are excellent. In principle we are preparing for the European Championships scheduled to mid-September but because of the coronavirus I do not think they can actually carry out the competition. It is important to interrupt the monotonous workouts with a few matches between us. Of course the stress-level is not the same as in a sharp situation but they can also be spiced up a bit by betting with a small sum of money or a coffee invitation.”   Both OLIVÉR could not go to Austria with the national team – the injured Tamás LAKATOS was replaced by Csaba ANDRÁS – but now he can also experience what it is like to train with the bests.   “Yesterday I played against a Bundesliga top level player which I was very happy about. I hope I can still practice more with them the other today” revealed Olivér BOTH who will join a Bundesliga 3 level team in the autumn. “They play very sharply the ball passes very often even twenty or thirty times smoothly they hit big and sharp easily. I have to reach that level somehow.”   And when can this happen?   “It is hard to say. Maybe in a year but maybe not in five years. During yesterday’s game against them I realized that I was still quite far from their level but I need to thrive for improvement and fix my weak points.”   Besides Olivér BOTH Csaba ANDRÁS and Patrik JUHÁSZ have been training with the adult team for some time now. We asked the head of the national team about their role and their future.   “It would be great if in the medium term they would bring themselves up conditionally and in the quality of their game that if normal sports life returns and any of our four adult players come home we could provide them a good quality practice with the help of these young players” expressed Péter MUSKÓ. “We still focus primarily on their fitness level. They conscientiously complete the fitness program prescribed by our fitness coach Ádám TÓTH and we expect their leap-like development from the work on these two paths.”  

Nominations for the ETTU Executive Board closed on Friday 31st July 2020.   There is one candidate for President – Igor LEVITIN (Russia).   There is one candidate for Deputy President – Pedro MOURA (Portugal).   There are 2 candidates for Vice President Finance – Sandra DEATON (England) and Roland NATRAN (Hungary).   There are 10 candidates for the 5 places as Vice President – . ROBERT RENNER (Austria) Vladimir SAMSONOV (Belarus) Nikolas ENDAL (Czech Republic) Peter Ernst SUNDBAEK (Denmark) Sonja GREFBERG (Finland) Miguel VICENS (France) Heike AHLERT (Germany) Ina JOZEPSONE (Latvia) Cristinel ROMANESCU (Romania) and Selçuk DEMİRBAŞ (Turkey).   The successful candidates will have a 4 years term until 2024.    

Sports Hall VIC in Barcelona will be the venue of the 35th International Open – 16th Adapted VIC on 3rd and 4th October.   CATEGORIES Men singles (Absoluto masculino)     OABM Women singles (Absoluto femenino) OABF Disabled Standing (Adaptado pie)     ODP Disabled Wheelchair (Adaptado silla)            ODC Open català masculí    OCM Cadet boys – Infantil masculino (Born 2006 or later) OIM Mini cadet girls – Alevín femenino (Born 2008 or later)    OALF Mini mini cadet boys – Benjamín masculino (Born 2010 or later) OBM   In order to guarantee the maximum possible safety of the participants on the occasion of COVID-19 for this edition of Vic International Open participation in all categories will be limited initially to a maximum of 24 or 32 participants in each event.   Entries will be accepted until 4th of September and will be attended in order of arrival in the email victt@victt.com.   AWARDS 35 VIC INTERNATIONAL OPEN   Men 1 600 Euros and trophy 2 300 Euros and trophy 3 150 Euros 5 to 8 Sports equipment award   Women 1 600 Euros and trophy 2 300 Euros and trophy 3 150 Euros 5 to 8 Sports equipment award   Disabled Wheelchair 1 120 Euros and trophy 2 60 Euros and trophy 3 Sports equipment award   Disabled Standing 1 120 Euros and trophy 2 60 Euros and trophy 3 Sports equipment award

  Hungarian team practices with European champions Until Friday the Hungarian men’s table tennis team will prepare in Stockerau together with the best of Austria’s men table tennis players.   The Stani Fraczyk Arena can be said to be legendary as Ferenc KARSAI who led Werner SCHLAGER to the world champion title worked in the hall for many years. These days it is the host of the training camp of the Austrian and Hungarian national teams.   “During the coronavirus situation we had previously discussed this training camp with the coach of the Austrian national team and the sports director of the local association. The opportunity gave to us as we are close to each other we have known each other for a long time we had the contact and we finally managed to get together for this week. This is a hall with six “rooms” and since there is a limitation on the number of people we could only come with four players” explained Péter MUSKÓ head coach of the men’s table tennis team the details of the cooperation.   Schlager is not the last Austrian ping pong player to gain glory for his homeland as in 2015 the team marked by Róbert GÁRDOS Daniel HABESOHN and Stefan FEGERL became European champion. So our players can truly learn from them.   “After many months we were finally able to come abroad and we can work with the European Champion Austrian national team which is a great honor for us” said Nándor ECSEKI. – “All three are European-class players so this is a very good opportunity for us to develop. They are very precise strong and extremely fast players I really felt that during practices. You can clearly feel that this is a slightly different category from ours but with time I think we can achieve this level.”   Ádám SZUDI also enjoys a lot working together with our western neighbors: “We have been training with each other in Budapest for a relatively long time so even from this point of view it is good that we are able to play with others now. Of course we are still in the preparation period I also struggled with minor injuries so I am not in my best form yet but I am on my way to get back on the level where I was before.”   The members of the national team have repeatedly said that they try to turn this epidemic situation to their advantage as much as they can. Bence MAJOROS sees it that they are on the right way to achieve that: “There is always room for improvement and obviously competition gives the best feedback on the work you have done but I think everyone has improved a lot technically physically and mentally so I can say that the last few months were worth something not just lost time.”   Due to the injury of Tamás LAKATOS Csaba ANDRÁS found out at the last minute that he could travel to Stockerau with the others.   “It feels very good to train with the European champions they play at a completely different speed than the young players players with my age but I try to compete with them” shared his thoughts the youngest member of the Hungarian delegation who is trying to learn as much as possible from his excellent training partners. – “I watched Daniel HABESOHN’S shifts from backhand to straight strokes and I really like Robi GÁRDOS’S game above the table. I also like their mental ability which allows them to do the training with the same intensity throughout the whole session.”   Daniel HABESOHN turned 34 during the training camp so he already has seen many things in his life but he was also happy for the Hungarian guests.   “For hygienic reasons for a long time we only trained with each other so we are very happy with the arrival of the Hungarian team. The practices are so much more varied this way and it is always good to see and play against other styles it benefits everyone.”   Róbert GÁRDOS returned to Austria from his home in Spain.   “In Spain the halls are closed only the larger training centers are open and I do not live in such a place I live in Granada” started the Hungarian-born foundational player of the Austrian national team. – “I built a small ”hall” in my house I used to train there. I have a 58-year-old Chinese coach who has been a pretty good player before. We train four times a week. I also came here now to get feedback on what needs to be improved on my training in Spain.”   The Hungarian national team will train in Austria until Friday and then will travel to Slovakia for a friendly match.

Anton KÄLLBERG is the winner of the eighth Düsseldorf Masters. The Swede beat Benedikt DUDA from Bergneustadt 4:3 in the final game. Duda had won the sixth edition two weeks ago. The Masters series organised by Borussia Düsseldorf in cooperation with the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) will be continued after a one-week break from 7 to 9 August. The final tournament with eight world-class players will be held at the ARAG CenterCourt at the end of August.   At 18:16 7:11 11:2 12:10 9:11 9:11 and 4:11 Germany’s number 39 in the world delivered a top-class and exciting exchange of rallies with KÄLLBERG who is noted on position 57.   The German who was already close to victory after leading 3:1 and 6:2 in the fifth game congratulated his opponent fairly: “I was still leading clearly but that didn’t mean that much. Because the level was very high all the time. As soon as one of us let up even a little the other one immediately followed suit. Anton really played at a very high level and therefore deserved to win.”   On the one hand DUDA was only five points short of victory in the fifth set on the other the Scandinavian had previously missed game points in two lost games: In the hard-fought opening game where the advantage swung cheerfully back and forth between the two opponents until 16-18 in extra time and in the fourth game where KÄLLBERG produced a missed service in a 10-9 lead and then had to give up the next two points.   After trailing 1:3 the Swede also played at full risk and was rewarded. KÄLLBERG: “I have the feeling that I stole the game a bit. But I also played a lot of good balls and am very satisfied with my performance. I risked a lot in the end and scored almost everything”.   Benedikt DUDA had previously entered the final with a 4-1 victory in the German left-hander duel with surprise semi-finalist Cedric MEISSNER. After 11:5 11:7 11:7 12:14 and 11:7 DUDA praised the U23 international who had unexpectedly defeated the 71st world number one Cedric NUYTINCK (Belgium) in the previous rounds and after a series of defeats lasting several years also his fearful opponent from his youth Tobias HIPPLER (Cologne).   DUDA: “Cedric played well today. He was very aggressive and hit good balls. You can clearly see that he has developed.”   The 20-year-old second-division player from Mainz was less satisfied with his performance today but with his overall results: “The Düsseldorf Masters was very good for me. I won against players who are rated much higher. I also haven’t had a win against Hippler since 2015. Unfortunately today against Benedikt was my worst match at the Masters so far.”     In the other semi-final the later Masters winner KÄLLBERG proved his good form and kept Omar ASSAR who had been placed in first place at a distance of 4-1. After 9:11 11:7 9:11 4:11 and 9:11 the world number 38 from Egypt admitted to having started the game nervously: “Anton was really strong today and played great he was very active. I myself was somehow very nervous before the match today.” Källberg was also satisfied with his penultimate day’s performance: “It was a good game with a lot of great rallies because Omar brings back a lot of balls.”   Anton KÄLLBERG’S tournament victory was the first success of a foreign player at the Düsseldorf MASTERS. In the previous editions Timo BOLL (Masters I) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Masters II + III) Bastian STEGER (Masters IV) Benedidkt DUDA (Masters VI) Dang QIU (Masters VII) as well as HAN Ying had won the women’s tournament. After seven men’s tournaments last week’s winner Dang QIU who took a break this time still clearly leads the overall ranking with 170 points. Four players are now tied for second place: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Benedikt DUDA Anton KÄLLBERG and Omar ASSAR who also moved up to 110 points this week.   The five best scoring athletes are automatically qualified for the final Düsseldorf Masters at the end of August with eight world stars three of them receive a wildcard. All tournaments will be broadcast live on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de. Before the showdown of the best after a one-week tournament break from July 7 to 9 and August 14 to 16 two more men’s tournaments will be held.   Düsseldorf Masters 8th tournament (23-25 July) Final July 25 Anton Källberg SWE – Benedikt Duda GER 4:3 (-16 7 -2 -10 9 9 4) Semifinals July 25 Anton Källberg SWE – Omar Assar EGY 4:1 (9 -7 9 4 9) Benedikt Duda GER – Cedric Meissner GER 4:1 (5 7 7 -12 7)  

Benedikt DUDA against Cedric MEISSNER and Omar ASSAR against Anton KALLBERG these are the semi-finals of the eighth Duesseldorf Masters with three favourites and one U23 national player. The preliminary round matches on Saturday will be played at 10 and 10.45 a.m. the final at 1 p.m. at the ARAG CenterCourt. All matches will be broadcast live on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de.   In the second semi-final on Saturday at 10.45 am it will be a German duel between the second-seeded Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) and outsider Cedric MEISSNER who showed maturity yesterday in his 4-2 victory over world number 71 Cedric NUYTINCK (Belgium) and also today in the U23 duel with Tobias HIPPLER. The 20-year-old second-division player from Mainz beat his one-year-older opponent from Cologne 11-9 11-9 6-11 13-11 8-11 and 11-2 who was himself the tournament surprise one week ago when he had beaten Egyptian star Omar ASSAR.   Youth Olympic participant MEISSNER was happy about his first entry into a Masters semi-final: “I lost three times narrowly against Tobias last year always in the fifth game once only because of a controversial referee decision. That’s why I’m all the more pleased to have won today. I said it yesterday that I’m in a better shape than in the last few weeks. It’s great that I made it to the semi-finals.”   HIPPLER knew the reason for his defeat today: “Cedric played better than the last few times also tactically a bit different. That took me a bit by surprise. In the first game I ran into a long serve twice at 9-9 in the second game I made two easy mistakes at 9-9 and my own service. When you’re running behind all the time it’s not that easy. But: Cedric played well and it’s okay that he won.”   Also eliminated in the quarter finals is Nils HOHMEIER. The 22-year-old Bundesliga player of the TTC OE Bad Homburg 2016 European Youth Champion in Doubles together with HIPPLER was not unexpectedly defeated by Benedikt DUDA who could now take his second Masters title on Saturday after winning the sixth tournament two weeks ago.   DUDA was satisfied with his performance which ended 11:9 11:5 12:10 and 11:4: “Nils played quite well and was very powerful in the rallies so I tried to play a lot of short-short to interrupt his rhythm. Two games were very tight he could have won them and he had easy chances”.   Right at the start of the day Steffen MENGEL (Mühlhausen) had to let Anton KALLBERG the finalist of the previous week enter the round of the best four in a hard-fought duel. The Swede stood his ground in six games with 11:8 11:9 7;11 11:9 12:14 and 11:7 against the semi-finalist of the Spanish Open and was happy about his performance: “I think I played very well. I played good returns in the games I won. Also with my service I often had advantages today. I was very satisfied with my strong topspin from the forehand as well as from backhand side”.     The adevrasy in the semis of the World Ranking-57th will be as expected the Egyptian Omar ASSAR who fully lived up to his role as favourite today when he beat Kirill FADEEV from Dortmund 4-1 in the first semi-final on Saturday at 10 o’clock. The 19-year-old second-division player coached by his this time injured teammate Dennis Klein pulled out all the stops against the multiple African champion in 4:9 11:9 9:11 4:11 and 8:11.   The experienced Egyptian praised his young opponent: “Kirill played very strongly today especially in the second game. He was very active and had a smart tactic. You can feel that Kirill has improved and I am happy for him. My performance today was better than last week but I hope that I can improve even more tomorrow in the semi-final against Anton”.   Duesseldorf Masters 8th tournament (23-25 July)   Final July 25 1 p.m. Semifinals July 25 Anton Kaellberg SWE – Omar Assar EGY 10 o’clock Benedikt Duda GER – Cedric Meissner GER directly after but not before 10.45 a.m.   Quarterfinal July 24 Omar Assar EGY – Kirill Fadeev GER 4:1 (4 -9 9 4 8) Steffen Mengel GER – Anton Kaellberg SWE 2:4 (-8.-9.7.-9.12.-7) Tobias Hippler GER – Cedric Meissner GER 2:4 (-9 -9 6 -11 8 -2) Benedikt Duda GER – Nils Hohmeier GER 4:0 (9 5 10 4)          

  Table Tennis England has teamed up with the British Esports Association to promote the importance of mental wellbeing and exercise.   The partnership brings together traditional sport with esports (competitive gaming) to explore the similarities between the two and promote the benefits of each other’s activities.   Table tennis and esports both offer a great brain workout can improve cognitive functions test reaction times and allow people to have fun and relax and socialise with one another.   Both activities have been proven to improve behaviour concentration and attendance levels in schools while also having benefits for those at the other end of the age spectrum including those who have dementia or Parkinson’s.   Both organisations are committed to bringing more participation opportunities to deprived areas of England. They will help promote each other’s activities help get young people active and push table tennis as a suitable social activity which helps develop key skills also used in gaming.   The campaign will utilise top stars in the fields of table tennis and esports to talk about their mental health experiences and struggles to help reduce the stigma surrounding it as well as Olympic table tennis players’ thoughts on gaming as a stress-relieving activity.   There will be activations on social media video platforms and more with the intention to host physical events in the future when it is safe to do so.   Until then both organisations will promote the partnership and generate buzz on social media with a mix of both entertaining and informative content.   Table Tennis England Chief Executive Sara Sutcliffe said: “The importance of good mental and physical health has arguably never been in sharper focus than now and the positive effects of both table tennis and esports are there for all to see. I’m particularly excited by the potential of this partnership to engage people of all ages and encourage them to seek out the benefits of an active lifestyle both physically and mentally.”   British Esports Association founder and CEO Chester King commented: “We’re delighted to be partnering with a reputable governing body to highlight the positives that both sports and esports promote. We have lots of ideas and hope to get the conversation going around the importance of both physical and mental health. Table tennis is also a sport that’s close to my heart and I look forward to seeing us get involved with some exciting activations.”