Dimitrij OVTCHAROV has won the third edition of the Duesseldorf Masters one week after his success at the second tournament. With a hard-fought victory the world number eleven withstood the Egyptian Omar ASSAR’s pressure in seven games final.   The fourth tournament of the Masters series at the ARAG CenterCourt will be streamed live again next week by Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and tischtennis.de.   Timo BOLL at the premiere event and now twice in a row Dimitrij OVTCHAROV this is the prominent list of winners of the Duesseldorf Masters after three appearances. This week a total of 14 starters took up the race with a mixture of world stars as well as up-and-coming talents from the DTTB-U23 support squad and the German Table Tennis Boarding School (DTTI).   Even though yesterday in the quarter-finals U21 European Championship finalist Gerrit ENGEMANN seriously put the world number 27 Kanak JHA in trouble in the end the four top seeded players reached the semi-finals as expected.   The final was not a clear affair but after a close course Dimitrij OVTCHAROV dominated the seventh game clearly and deserved to win 11:6. The 2017 World Cup winner was satisfied:   “After a good start from me and a 2-0 lead it was a close match. But I have not always won clearly against Omar at the international level. I didn’t feel too safe today and therefore lost focus but he simply played without any mistakes. I always wanted to play fast but he wanted to play slow – that got me out of rhythm. It was a tough match but in the end I’m glad I brought it home.”   Assar on the other hand had a problem with the narrow defeat: “It was a great pity that I did not win. It was a very close match and I had my chances to win the match. Even though I lost by a narrow margin I am very happy to have played at this level again.”   Prior to this Dimitrij OVTCHAROV had once again held his own in the round of the best four in a new edition of the previous week’s final in the German duel with Dang QIU (Gruenwettersbach) with 4-1. But the Portugal Open winner took his defeat calmly and analysed:   “Dima and I played against each other for the third time in three weeks. We also train together very often and Dima has now adjusted very well to me. He was getting better and better into his rhythm and I wasn’t so good myself today and left a lot of balls lying around. Dima deserved to win 4-1.”   In the second semi final match the world number 28 Omar ASSAR kept America’s rising star JHA at bay in six games:   “Omar is a very safe player. I was not focused enough today and then it’s hard to beat him. He was the better player today and he’s rightfully entered the final.”   In the points ranking which is still not really meaningful after three tournaments OVTCHAROV is now in front with 110 points second is Dang QIU with the score of 70 ahead of Timo BOLL (50). The Duesseldorf Masters organized by Borussia Duesseldorf with the support of the German Table Tennis Federation is held almost weekly from June to August at the ARAG CenterCourt in a knockout system with up to 16 participants. The series will conclude with a final tournament with eight professionals for which five athletes will qualify by scoring points and three will receive a wildcard.   Duesseldorf Masters 3rd tournament (15 to 17 June)   RESULTS Final June 17 Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Omar Assar EGY 4:3 (9 7 -10 -8 8 -8 6)   Semifinals June 17 Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Dang Qiu 4:1 (-7 6 7 8 5) Kanak Jha USA – Omar Assar EGY 2:4 (-4 9 10 -4 -9 -8)    

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) today published the findings of the third governance review for its full and associate member federations.  The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has moved up from group B to group A2 (A1 being the highest score and C the lowest) but even more significantly it has risen 10 positions up to 11th in the rankings having finished 21st in the 2018 report.  Since the last ITTF presidential election in 2017 the ITTF Executive Committee declared Good Governance Integrity and Transparency as three key pillars for the current four-year term while adopting in 2018 the first ever ITTF Strategic Plan and accomplishing the first part of the constitutional reforms in the same year.  “The results shown today by the ASOIF findings indicate that the ITTF is certainly on the right pathway. We are satisfied with the progress made since 2018; however we should not be complacent. I want to thank my Executive Committee colleagues and staff for their commitment to good governance. We will continue striving for improvements in the management of our organisation ” said Thomas Weikert ITTF President.  The ASOIF report covers the subjects of Transparency Integrity Democracy Development and Control Mechanisms. The ITTF has improved in all five areas scoring particularly highly in terms of Transparency.  “This is a significant improvement compared to the last ASOIF review in 2018. Although there is still a lot of work to do in terms of our overall governance as well as in assisting our members to follow the same principles I am confident that the table tennis family is determined to excel in those areas. Under the leadership of our Executive Committee and CEO together with staff colleagues we want to keep pushing the boundaries in order to achieve high standards in all that we do. I would like to thank everyone at the ITTF for their commitment to this increasingly important area of good governance ” explained Raul Calin ITTF Secretary General.  The ITTF is currently holding talks in relation to its overall future Governance structure. With discussions related to Development plans the establishment of a more independent Disciplinary Tribunal and even more robust Control Mechanisms will certainly help to keep raising the ITTF’s profile among the International Federations in the Olympic Programme.

Nowadays most probably Georgina PÓTA is the happiest table tennis player in Hungary but it is more possible that in the Whole world.   The best Hungarian table tennis player some days earlier as expected on the first of June gave birth to her first child to Regina who was born with 4220 g and 57 cm. Since then mother’s world is only revolving around her.   „Right now only my daughter and motherhood are that I preoccupy about it is unbelievable that already two weeks passed since I gave birth” – mused Georgina PÓTA about how time flies. “She sleeps well and only cries when she is hungry. In terms of calm she does not take after her parents as we are both perpetual movers. Everything runs smoothly and normally we get a lot of help from our families.”   The number one Hungarian table tennis player really missed exercising and playing table tennis in the last months of her pregnancy but with Regina’s birth everything has changed and table tennis does not even come to her mind.   Understandably she does not think much about resuming her workouts yet but if all goes according to plan she can grab a table tennis racket again in September.

Duesseldorf Masters III All four top seeds reached the semi-finals of the third tournament of the Duesseldorf Masters. The matches of the preliminary round (starting at 10 am) with the duels between Germany’s stars Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Dang QIU as well as Kanak JHA (USA) and the Egyptian Omar ASSAR will be streamed live on Wednesday as well as the final (2 pm) on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and on tischtennis.de.   One week after his success over the world rankings no. 76 Alberto MINO (Ecuador) Gerrit ENGEMANN (TTC GW Bad Hamm) once again put himself in the limelight. Although the runner-up of the 2019 European Under-21 Championship was defeated by the 27th ranked Kanak JHA in six games the second-placed American had to use all his skills in the tight game to prevent the 20-year-old Westphalian from winning the decisive game by 13-11 in the sixth game.   In the end JHA was happy to have saved the win back home: “It was a very close match. I think every game was fought until the end. I hope that I will play better tomorrow than I did today.”   Omar ASSAR kept 19 years old Cedric MEISSNER on 4-1 distance in the quarter finals. Although the Egyptian had to accept the game equalization against the former German Youth Champion and Youth Olympic participant he mastered the following rounds despite a good performance of the player from Mainz. On Wednesday the number 38 in the world will play against Kanak JHA for a place in the final (2 pm). The first of the two semi-final duels starts at 10 am.   The world number eleven Dimitrij OVTCHAROV played four sovereign games against Tobias HIPPLER and did not really let the 21-year-old newcomer of the 1st FC Köln into the game. In the second semi-final on Wednesday however the 2017 World Cup winner will have to stretch himself more. His opponent will be his national team colleague Dang QIU. The winner of the Portugal Open defeated OVTCHAROV in the quarter-finals of the first Masters but the Swabian lost the final at the second tournament a week ago without having a chance.   Dang QIU had to play over six games in the top eight today unlike his opponent tomorrow after Fanbo MENG reduced his lead to 2-3 after losing the first three games in a row to the world number 52nd. The 19-year-old talent like ENGEMANN against ASSAR made a remarkable showing but QIU didn’t let the left-hander from Fulda come near the deciding game after the tie for a 3-2 draw.   The favorite didn’t feel as fresh today as usual: “I must say I’m a little tired. I am now playing the third tournament in a row. But it will be similar for everyone. I started very well with a 3-0 lead. Then FANBO stepped up so I had to step on the gas again to get this thing home.”   The Duesseldorf Masters organized by Borussia Duesseldorf with the support of the German Table Tennis Federation is held almost weekly from June to August at the ARAG CenterCourt in a knockout system with up to 16 participants. The series concludes with a final tournament with eight professionals for which five athletes qualify by scoring points and three receive a wildcard. All matches will be broadcast live with several cameras on sportdeutschland.tv Borussia TV and tischtennis.de. Spectators on site are not allowed due to the Corona pandemic.   QUOTES Dimitrij Ovtcharov: “I think that Hippi has kept up with me right up to the middle of each movement. In the end I still put a shovel on it. I actually felt good but against Hippi it is always difficult to develop a rhythm because he has an unpleasant game. So I’m happy with the game.”   Dang Qiu: “I must say I’m a little tired. I am now playing the third tournament in a row. But it will be similar for everyone. I started very well with a 3-0 lead. Then Fanbo improved so much that I had to step on the gas again to bring this thing home.”   Kanak Jha: “It was a very close match. I think every game was fought until the end and most of them ended with only two points difference. I hope I’ll play better tomorrow than I did today.”   Omar Assar: “Cedric Meissner is a very strong player. But I am also very happy about my game and my performance. Let’s see what is possible tomorrow in the semi-finals. I wish Cedric and all the other young German players lots of fun at the next tournaments.”     Duesseldorf Masters 3. tournament (15.-17. June) Semi Finals June 17 (in chronological order) Kanak Jha USA – Omar Assar EGY 10am Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Dang Qiu immediately afterwards but not before 11 a.m.   Quarter Finals June 16 Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Tobias Hippler 4:0 (7 8 8 8) Dang Qiu – Fanbo Meng 4:2 (4 6 4 -9 -8 7) Omar Assar EGY – Cedric Meissnerr 4:1 (5 -10 6 7 2) Kanak Jha USA – Gerrit Engemann 4:2 (12 9 -8 9 -8 11)   Best 16 June 15 No match: Dimitrij Ovtcharov Tobias Hippler – Kirill Fadeev 4:1 (7 5 8 -6 8) Fanbo Meng – Tobias Slanina 4:0 (6 3 7 10) Dang Qiu – André Bertelsmeier 4:0 (8 5 7 8) Omar Assar EGY – An Duy Dang 4:0 (3 5 6 3) Nils Hohmeier – Gerrit Engemann 0:4 (-4 -5 -8 -5) No match: Kanak Jha USA  

Day one of the third Duesseldorf Masters is finished. The quarterfinalists are determined after six matches of the best eight. Tomorow for the first time this week the top seeded Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Kanak JHA will also enter the tournament. The event will be broadcast live on the ARAG CentreCourt on Tuesday from 9.30 a.m. on Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and tischtennis.de. The final day on Wednesday with semi-final matches and the final will start at 10 am.   Today there were plenty of high class rallies but exciting decisions remained scarce on the first day of the third tournament. Even the duel between Gerrit ENGEMANN and the eighth seeded Nils HOHMEIER which was previously considered to be equal ended 4-0 and it is surprising at least in terms of its level.   ENGEMANN said after the match: “It has never been so clear against Nils. I have always had close matches against him. I think it was the tactics I also tried a little bit in training how to get into the game better with my serve and that worked well against him”.   The other five winners of the first of three tournament days were the expected names in any case. Felix KOEHLER An Duy Dang Tobias SLANINA André BERTELSMEIER and Kirill FADEEV five talents of the German Table Tennis Boarding School (DTTI) were at the table. As expected the quintet paid their dues against the favoured competitors. But at least KÖHLER and FADEEV managed to win sets against the U23 national players Cedric MEISSNER and Tobias HIPPLER.   Interesting matches are expected in the quarter finals. The day starts at 9.30 am with the encounter between the previous week’s finalist DANG Qiu (Gruenwettersbach) and the former German youth champion Cedric MEISSNER (Mainz) followed by USA star Kanak JHA with Gerrit ENGEMANN (TTC GW Bad Hamm) who surprised with a victory over the world number 76 Alberto MINO (Ecuador) a week ago. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 2017 World Cup winner and winner of the second Masters is clearly favoured against Tobias HIPPLER in the third singles match before Egyptian Omar ASSAR is challenged by Fulda’s left-hander Fanbo MENG in the final duel of the day.   The Duesseldorf Masters organized by Borussia Duesseldorf with the support of the German Table Tennis Federation is held almost weekly from June to August at the ARAG CenterCourt in a knockout system with up to 16 participants. The series concludes with a final tournament with eight professionals for which five athletes qualify by scoring points and three receive a wildcard. All matches will be broadcast live with several cameras on  Sportdeutschland.TV Borussia-TV and tischtennis.de. Spectators on site are not allowed due to the Corona pandemic.   QUOTES OF THE DAY Dang Qiu: “In any case it was interesting to see on which level the boys from the German Table Tennis Boarding School are plying how efficient or how good they have become. The balls come a bit differently you have to adapt. In the end he played quite well and I also improved and therefore I think I won relatively sovereign 4:0”.   Omar Assar: “The Düsseldorf Masters are a very good idea of Borussia Düsseldorf and the DTTB. Because of the missing tournaments of the ITTF it is very difficult for a player. I am very happy that I can play again. Winning or losing is not important right now. I am just happy that I can play. Thanks to Borussia Düsseldorf for the organization.”   Cedric Meissner: “The last time I played Felix was two years ago. Since then he has definitely developed very well. I myself played very badly today it was my worst tournament match here so far. At the beginning I really only served and then didn’t play any more. In the middle of the second set I finally started to play with a bit more quality.   Fanbo Meng: “I found it hard to keep my focus that long. It’s been a very long time since I played four winning sets. So it’s a good preparation for the time when it’s time to go international again. Nevertheless I am happy that I won. It was not an easy game. He plays very unorthodox and is kind of hard to read.”   Tobias Hippler: “I prefer to play a total of four winning sets simply because you have a bit more time to get into the game even though I had a pretty good start today. I like playing Kirill because I know where the balls go and that helps me to move more. That’s why I’m actually always quite happy when I can play him.”   Gerrit Engemann: “It has never been so clear against Nils. I have always had close matches against him. I think it was the tactics I also tried a little bit in training how to get into the game better with my serve and that worked well against him”.   Duesseldorf Masters 3. tournament (15.-17. Juni) Best 16 15. Juni (in chronological order) Cedric Meissner (Seed 7) – Felix Koehler 4:1 (-7 10 6 9 7) Omar Assar (3) – An Duy Dang 4:0 (3 5 6 3) Fanbo Meng (6) – Tobias Slanina 4:0 (6 3 7 10) Tobias Hippler (5) – Kirill Fadeev 4:1 (7 5 8 -6 8) Dang Qiu (4) – André Bertelsmeier 4:0 (8 5 7 8) Nils Hohmeier (8) – Gerrit Engemann 0:4 (-4 -5 -8 -5)   Quarter Finals 16. Juni (in chronological order) Dang Qiu – Cedric Meissner 9:30am Kanak Jha – Gerrit Engemann directly after but not before 10:15 am Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Tobias Hippler directly after but not before 11 am Omar Assar – Fanbo Meng directly after but not before 11:45   Semi Finals 17. Juni (in chronological order) Winner 2nd quarter final – Winner 4th quarter final 10am Winner 1st quarter final – Winner 3rd quarter final immediately afterwards but not before 11 a.m.   Finale 17. Juni 2 am  

For A first time in the club’s history 1. FC Saarbrücken TT won the LIEBHERR TTBL final. They avenged last year’s defeat against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen to add well deserved and long awaited trophy to their treasury.   On Sunday Patrick FRANZISKA pawed their way to success after full five games thriller against Hugo CALDERANO and SHANG Kun added two victories to justify his status. For a third time this season 1. FC Saarbrücken TT proved too strong for TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen.   “It is amazing. Finally we reached the crown in Bundesliga. It is third time in the row that we played in the final and we finally have the last missing jewel for our crown. We have the trophy in ETTU Cup we won the German Cup and two years we were only one step from the title in Bundesliga. It is the great triumph for all of us and it is the great success for players and complete managing staff ” said coach Slobodan GRUJIC.   As a player in Germany GRUJIC also held the trophy in the Champions league but even then he did not have chance to enjoy the joy of winning the national championships. He became the coach in 1. FC Saarbrücken TT seven years ago.   “This project started 10 years ago and this triumph is the proof that we chose the right path. Patrick FRANZISKA is the back bone of our success and SHANG Kun was worthy reinforcement. In addition our policy to give a chance to young players such as Darko JORGIC and Tomas POLANSKY also paid off. We felt that our time has come and we seized our opportunity.”   The time was not only right – it was perfect.   “The success exploded. It is fantastic. We were live on Eurosport the report was seen on ARD ZDF Sky Sport News HD and Saarländische Rundfunk (SR). It was perfect timing. Table tennis is the first sport in Germany to finish the league in regular way after COVID 19; football and basketball are yet to conclude their championships. From the very beginning we insisted on “normal” finish. We wanted to gain the title in the venue and on the playing table even we were first before the break. We all wanted to play. Our matches were in the focus of all table tennis fans all over the World judging by the congratulation messages we are receiving today.” 1.FC Saarbrücken TT organized tournament before the play offs.   “It was very good idea. We adjusted to new conditions: health measures and absence of spectators. Players managed to maintain their shape. Naturally we all suffer from lack of tournaments and play but the conditions were the same for all ” explained Slobodan GRUJIC.        

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has always held a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and all forms of discrimination.  In light of recent global events the ITTF has reaffirmed this policy articulated by the following message posted across its social media channels:  “On our table everyone is equal. It’s time to level the playing field of life.”  Through this message the ITTF recognises its responsibility as an international sports federation to raise its voice conscious of the significant role that sport plays in society. “Our constitution makes clear the inadmissibility of discrimination against Associations or individuals on racial political religious gender or other grounds. We are fully committed against all forms of discrimination.” – ITTF President Thomas Weikert Table Tennis has been an inclusive sport since its origins. Men and women competed together at the very first World Championships in 1926. The ITTF professional events offer equal prize money for both men and women.  In the field of race discrimination the first of many victories against apartheid sport occurred in 1956 when the ITTF rescinded the membership of the all-white South African Table Tennis Union (S.A.T.T.U.) and formally recognised the non-racial South African Table Tennis Board (S.A.T.T.B.) as the “sole controlling body” of the sport in South Africa. The ITTF was the first Olympic Sports Federation to recognise Kosovo as a member association in 2003. This paved the way for Kosovo’s recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “Our sport is present in every corner of the world and we must ensure we keep spreading the message: we say NO to racism in any form.” – ITTF CEO Steve Dainton Table Tennis is played in 226 territories representing all regions of the world. No matter where you come from you are part of the table tennis family. Using table tennis as a tool to break down social and economic barriers is indeed at the heart of the ITTF Foundation’s mission. “Since the creation of the ITTF Foundation in 2018 we have strengthened our specific programmes for refugees. Everyone in the world should have access to the practice of sport.” – ITTF Foundation Director Leandro Olvech Staying true to its longstanding principles the ITTF will continue to strive for equality and unity not only within the sport but in the greater global community as well.