2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament After five days of fierce battles at the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament the list of nine qualifiers in each Men’s and Women’s Event for Olympic Games in Tokyo is completed. In the second stage of the tournament in Portugal Republic of Korea In Women’s and Hong Kong China in Men’s Event booked the final place for Japan. All the visa’s for the Europeans six in Men’s and four in Women’s Event were booked in the first stage. At the end of the second stage Asia gained both remaining places. In Men’s Event Slovenia Croatia Sweden France Portugal Serbia Chinese Taipei Republic of Korea already joined Hong Kong. In the final on the last hurdle Asia’s side beat Czech Republic. Previously in semifinal Czechs beat Hungary whilst Hong Kong prevailed against Slovakia. In Women’s Event France kept their hopes alive until the ultimate round of the Second stage. They overcame Russia in the first Stage and lost to Chinese Taipei in Round of 16. In the second stage they overcame India in spectacular match then beat Portugal and eventually lost in the final today against Republic of Korea. Before Republic of Korea in Women’s Event Austria Poland Hungary Romania Chinese Taipei DPR Korea Singapore and Hong Kong China booked their tickets.
France vs. Korea for the final spot for Japan
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament In the semifinal of the second stage of the Men’s Event at the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament Hungary will meet Czech Republic whilst Slovakia will play against Hong Kong China. One place remains to be decided in each of the men’s and women’s events. In Women’s final Republic of Korea will meet France . In the semi Korea overcame Spain in straight matches. SHIN Yubin CHOI Hyojoo and SUH Hyowon showed no mercy against Ana GARCIA Galia DVORAK and Maria XIAO. Previously Spain overcame Belarus 3:2 and Korea beat Ukraine 3:1. France accounted for India in five matches before they moved to the penultimate stage. Portugal also needed five matches to beat Netherlands in quarters. In semis France halted hosts dreams for Olympics. They prevailed in four matches. In Men’s Event the success of the European teams continued with the victory of the Czech team seeded at the position no. 16 against no. 5 seeds India. Tomas POLANSKY and Lubomir JANCARIK gave their team valuable lead in the doubles. Harmeet DESAI and Kamal Sharath ACHANTA lost in four games. Pavel SIRUCEK kept the winning pace with the victory over Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN whilst ACHANTA managed to justify his status with the point against Pavel SIRUCEK. That was the only victory India posted in five games POLANSKY beat GNANASEKARAN to finish the match. “We knew it was going to be a difficult match. India was 5th seeded I think. They are for sure better but we just said we will give our best. We also have a strong team. We just believe in ourselves and it worked ” said Tomas POLANSKY. Slovakia overcame Belgium in straight matches. Lubomir PISTEJ beat Robin DEVOS in a stunning 3-2 (12-10 11-3 9-11 10-12 11-3) in the last duel. Previously WANG Yang overcame Cedric NUYTINK in straight games. In the duel between Great Britain against Hungary we saw once again higher ranked team departure in defeat. Seeded at the position no. 17 Hungary prevailed in four matches against team ranked at the position no. 7. Liam PITCHFORD beat Bence MAJAROS to gibe British team only point. Adam SZUDI beat Paul DRINKHALL and Nandor ECSEKI beat PITCHFORD in other singles match. Sam WALKER and DRINKHALL lost to ECSEKI and SZUDI in doubles. “I’m very happy I think I played one of the best matches in my life. The score was 1-1 so I knew this game would be very important. If I could win this game then it would be a big step to winning the team game. So I just gave everything and really I’m happy ” said Adam SZUDI. Hong Kong China beat Poland 3:1 and Jakub DYJAS posted only win. He beat LAM Siu Hang.
Sweden Slovenia Serbia Croatia France Portugal secured Tokyo tickets
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament Men’s Teams of Sweden Slovenia Serbia Croatia France Portugal Korea Republic Chinese Taipei booked their place at the Olympic tournament in Japan after success in the Round of 16 of the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament in the Multiusos de Gondomar in Portugal. Once again Serbia was in charge for the biggest upset of the day. After success over Austria they knocked down Hong Kong in another five matches thriller. Once again Dimitrije LEVAJAC was the player who won the decisive fifth match. LEVAJAC only 18 years old and listed at no.397 on the men’s world rankings prevails against 28 year Wong Chun Ting ranked no.19 (11-9 8-11 10-12 11-3 11-6) to give Serbia the no.27 seeds a sensational 3-2 win against Hong Kong China the no.10 seeds. “I was a little afraid but I managed not to think about it. I was only focused to put the ball on the table. Ball – table…that was in my mind. The atmosphere was great I was driven by support from my coach team and spectators. Everyone was by our side ” said LEVAJAC. Croatia also found their way to the Olympics. They accounted for Great Britain in straight matches. Andrej GACINA was successful on both his exits to the table. With Frane KOJIC in doubles he overcame Samuel WALKER and Paul DRINKHALL and he also beat Paul in singles. Tomislav PUCAR succeeded against Liam PITCHFORD. Team India’s men’s squad was one match ahead against Team Slovenia thanks to Sharath Kamal ACHANTA and Harmeet DESAI winning 3-0 versus Deni KOZUL and Bojan TOKIC but that was the only point they have won. Darko JORGIC leveled with the straight games victory against Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN and he also scored in fourth match against Sharath Kamal ACHANTA. TOKIC won his singles match against Harmeet DESAI. “It’s the first time for me I’m really happy! It was the team all together not just me. It’s just an amazing feeling and I’m looking forward to Tokyo and will try and win some games there too. Our leader the oldest guy (TOKIC) was a little bit sick so we changed. He said you’re a better player better ranking and have more chances to win these matches. Yes I played really good just an amazing feeling ” said JORGIC. France beat Slovakia in straight matches whilst Portugal gave home crowd good performance and crowned two days fights with the ticket for Tokyo. Tiago APLONIA Joao MONTEIRO overcame Belgium’s Florent LAMBIET and Martin ALLEGRO; Marcos FREITAS beat Cedric NUYTINCK and MONTEIRO overcame ALLEGRO. More here
Romania Poland Hungary and Austria booked tickets for Tokyo
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament On the third day of the play in the Multiusos de Gondomar in Portugal in the Women’s Teams Event at the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament Poland Hungary Romania Austria DPR Korea Singapore Hong Kong China and Chinse Taipei booked their place for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Ukraine Netherlands Portugal France and Belarus have another chance to gain one remaining place that awaits the winner of the second stage. Romania was under severe pressure today against India. Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN and Elizabeta SAMARA defeated Sutirtha MUKHERJEE and Ayhika MUKHERJEE 3-2 in the opening match but Bernadette SZOCS suffered defeats by the hands of Manika BATRA and Sutirtha MUKHERJEE in her singles duels. SAMARA beat 3-1 Ayhika MUKHERJEE before MONTEIRO DODEAN overcame BATRA in the decisive match to seal this nerves wracking match. “Our double is still solid even if we had some difficulties. We have been playing since we were 13 years old so we know how to win. I think the doubles were really the most important ” explained SAMARA. Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN added: “These players have the rackets really different from what we usually practice. It was really hard at first but then we got into the game and it got a lot better. Lately my ranking has been getting lower and lower but when my team needs me I could give them the point so I just felt really satisfied.” Austria’s LIU Jia with the win in doubles and singles match lead Austria to victory over Spain. Sofia POLCANOVA added another point in singles to the score line. Team France was unable to progress they lost to Chinese Taipei and Belarus suffered against Hong Kong China. Hungary the no.7 seeds succeeded against Portugal the no.13 seeds without their leading player Georgina POTA. Dora MADARASZ took the leading role and overcame FU Yu and LUO Xue. Previously Maria FAZEKAS and Szandra PERGEL had beaten LUO Xue and SHAO Jieni to secure a good start for Hungary. “Honestly I still can’t believe we could qualify it’s just amazing. When the draw came out it was one of the worst draws Portugal. We tried our best and after the double I felt a little bit better we were leading. It’s like a miracle I still can’t believe. We won this qualification without Pota and thanks to her we were seeded number 7. In the second game I was up 8-3 (or something) and I lost my concentration I tried to focus on my receive. I didn’t want to think about the Olympics I just wanted to win and I did it! In the last game 10-7 I thought ok this is the match ball for the Olympics ” explained Dora MADARASZ. Poland the no.8 seeds beat Ukraine the no.9 seeds. Reigning European champion Li Qian beat both Margaryta PESOTSKA and Tetyana BILENKO to underline her status. Natalia PARTYKA overcame Ganna GAPONOVA and for the fourth consecutive occasion PARTYKA has qualified for both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. “After the first game I knew that I wanted to play the expedite system because it would be easier for me to win against BILENKO with this system ” said LI Qian. In the second stage Ukraine will meet Korea Netherlands will meet Portugal France will play against India and Belarus will face Spain. More here
Day packed with drama in Gondomar
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament The second day of the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament brought a lot of upsets and thrilling encounters in Gondomar. In addition in Women’s Teams Event DPR Korea and Singapore already booked their place at the Olympic tournament by reaching the quarter final of the Qualifications. In Men’s first round despite the best efforts of Robert GARDOS Team Austria have been eliminated by Team Serbia’s fantastic resilience as Dimitrije LEVAJAC beat Stefan FEGERL in the deciding battle (12-10 1-11 10-12 11-8 11-9) to give Serbia a 3-2 overall victory. Poland was also streched to full distance against Nigeria. Once again Jakub DYJAS was the key player. He won both his singles matches. Jakub World no. 71 beat world no.18 Quadri ARUNA needing just the four games. Samuel KULCZYCKI and Marek BADOWSKI won the doubles match. Team Hungary have secured a clean 3-0 overall win over Team Belarus and ended Vladimir SAMSONOV’S hopes of a seventh appearance at the Olympic Games. Also in three straight games Sweden overcame Spain. “I think I was a little bit nervous at the beginning from my side. But Kristian was playing really well he was a good partner for me today and we succeeded. We received better and I was more aggressive at the end. In the singles match in the second game I started to serve better. Robles had more problems with my serve and I received better so that was the key for me today against him. Now we will try to rest to be ready for the Hungarian team ” said Jon PERSON. Croatia led by Andrej GACINA and Tomislav PUCAR overcame Greece in four matches. Panagiotis GIONIS won only point for Greece. In each Event at the Olympic tournament will play 16 teams. So far seven same teams in Men’s and Women’s category already booked their place. Germany at the 2019 European Games Egypt at the 2019 African Games China at the 2019 ATTU Asian Championship USA at the North America Qualification Event Brazail at the Latin America Qualification Event Australia at the Oceania Qualification Event and Japan as a host. More here
Belarus and France beat the odds to move step closer to Japan
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament Led by inspiring performance of Viktoria PAVLOVICH and fantastic win of Nadezhda BOGDANOVA Belarus made a thrilling comeback from 1-2 down to beat Team Singapore 3-2 in the opening round of the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament. In Gondomar France also beat the favorites – Russia to come one step closer to the Olympic tournament in Tokyo this summer. Thailand’s duo Nanthana KOMWONG and Orawan PARANANG had a better start against Nadezhda BOGDANOVA and Daria TRIGOLOS but Viktoria changed the path of the match by beating Suthasini SAWETTABUT. Nadezhda BOGDANOVA beat Suthasini SAWETTABUT 3-2 (11-9 8-11 11-5 6-11 16-14) after Daria TRIGOLOS suffered in the third encounter of the match and PAVLOVICH beat Nanthana KOMWONG 3-0 (15-13 11-9 11-7) in the ultimate match of the duel to secure overall victory against no 15 seed. Belarus is seeded at the position no. 22. In the next Round Belarus will have to meet the top seeds – Team of Hong Kong China. Similarly to Belarus France also posted great win against better ranked Team of Russia and tomorrow they will meet no. two seeds Chinese Taipei. Most dramatic duel in the match between no. 12 seeds Russia and no. 18 seeds France was five games thriller between Stephanie LOEUILETTE and Polina MIKHAILOVA 3-2 (11-6 11-5 13-15 5-11 11-7). YUAN Jia Nan and doubles LOEUILETTE and YUAN completed the win. “It’s the first game it’s strange the pressure is here. We play against them a lot against Mikhailova we watched a video to prepare and we play our best. Against her (Mikhailova) it’s definitely difficult because she attacks and defends a lot it depends a lot more on her. We have to be focused and patient. We are playing Chinese Taipei really good team but we also have good doubles we will try our best” said Andrey ZARIF. Stephanie Loeuillette added: “In the third set Polina changed she attacked more with forehand and fourth set it was the same so I said I had to change receive short or attack on service because she has good forehand.” Team Netherlands secured a 3-0 overall win over Team Serbia Poland overcame Nigeria Ukraine beat Belgium.
18 tickets for Tokyo on offer in Gondomar
2020 ITTF World Team Qualification tournament After the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification tournament commencing in Gondomar on Wednesday the nine teams in Men’s and Women’s Team’s Event will book their place at the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer. The tournament ends on Sunday. In Gondomar there are nine places available in each of the men’s team and women’s team events; additionally each successful team may further nominate two members to compete in the singles competitions. There is no place for error – it is knock-out system from the beginning. However for most of the teams it will be enough to successfully conclude two rounds in order to secure their place in Japan. The quarter-finals semi-finals and final will not be played. In the women’s event is there are 30 teams Hong Kong China and Chinese Taipei the respective top two seeds commence play in round two. They need just one encounter one win and the passport is stamped. In the men’s event there are 34 teams registered; thus an opening round comprising four outfits is required. Italy the no.26 seeds meet Malaysia the no.34 seeds the winners confronting Belgium the no.12 seeds; Poland the no.23 seeds face Lithuania the no.33 seeds the successful team meeting Nigeria the no.14 seeds.Notably for the winners of the latter exchanges Chinese Taipei the no.2 seeds could await; in the opening round they meet Thailand the no.28 seeds. After three days of play on Friday 24th January eight men’s teams and eight women’s team will have booked places in Tokyo. In each discipline the one further place will be determined on the concluding two days of play. The eight teams who were the losers in the round of the last 16 progress progress to a knock-out event; the winners are Tokyo bound. In each Event at the Olympic tournament will play 16 teams. So far seven same teams in Men’s and Women’s category already booked their place. Germany at the 2019 European Games Egypt at the 2019 African Games China at the 2019 ATTU Asian Championship USA at the North America Qualification Event Brazail at the Latin America Qualification Event Australia at the Oceania Qualification Event and Japan as a host. Draw Men’s Team Group 1: Korea Republic (1) v Russia (19); DPR Korea (31) v Czech Republic (16) Group 2: Slovenia (11) v Iran (20); Luxembourg (32) v India (5) Group 3: Great Britain (7) v Argentina (24); Greece (29) v Croatia (9) Group 4: Belarus (15) v Hungary (17); Spain (25) v Sweden (3) Group 5: France (4) v Denmark (22); Slovakia (18) v Romania (13) Group 6: Belgium (12) v Italy (26) or Malaysia (34); Ukraine (21) v Portugal (8) Group 7: Austria (6) v Serbia (27); Singapore (30) v Hong Kong China (10) Group 8: Nigeria (14) v Poland (23) or Lithuania (33): Thailand (28) v Chinese Taipei (2) Women’s Team Group 1: Hong Kong China (1) v bye; Belarus (22) v Thailand (15) Group 2: Spain (14) v Great Britain (25); Czech Republic (19) v Austria (6) Group 3: Poland (8) v Nigeria (27); Belgium (24) v Ukraine (9) Group 4: DPR Korea (10) v Malaysia (29); Lithuania (30) v Korea Republic (4) Group 5: Singapore (3) v Luxembourg (20); Serbia (21) v Netherlands (11) Group 6: Portugal (13) v Slovakia (26); Croatia (28) v Hungary (7) Group 7: Romania (5) v Italy (23); India (17) v Sweden (16) Group 8: Russia (12) v France (18); Chinese Taipei (2) v bye
Darko JORGIC’s premiere in Montreux
2020 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup The best year in his career 2019 Darko JORGIC crowned with the first ever appearance at the 2020 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux. He is no. 17 in Europe seeded at the position no. 15 in Men’s Event. Slovenia’s top player booked his place in the close finish in 2019. “It was close call. I was at the line but not certain to qualify. Thankfully good finish of the season launched me to the position that made me eligible to compete in Montreux. In December I reached the semifinal of the Canadian Open and latter I reached the round of 16 in Austria. Currently I am ranked at the position. No. 40 in the World ” explain JORGIC. There will be few opportunities to warm up for 2020 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup in January. “I am currently in Germany and training in 1. FC Saarbrücken TT. We had a rough start of the season. It commenced with unexpecting defeat against ASV Grünwettersbach in German Cup at the beginning of January. I was very unhappy with my performance. On the other side ASV Grünwettersbach seized the opportunity well and reached first ever title after they eliminated us in the semifinal. They became more relaxed and overcame TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen in the final stage. Now we will be focused on Bundesliga and we will prepare for German Open and ITTF Olympic Teams Qualifications in Portugal at the end of the month ” stated JORGIC Last year you reached position no. 38 at the World – best ever. “Yes that is my best ranking so far and I am happy generally with my season. I only regret our unfortunate fate and draw that brought us Germany in the quarterfinal of the European Championships. If we had little bit more luck…” In Swiss will also play: Mattias FALCK of Sweden Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Timo BOLL of Germany Simon GAUZY of France is fourth at the seedings followed by Liam PITCHFORD of England Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden Marcos FREITAS of Portugal Jonathan GROTH of Denmark Daniel HABESOHN of Austria Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia Robert GARDOS of Austria Emmanuel LEBESSON of France WANG Yang of Slovakia and host nation representative Lionel WEBER. “ I am in lower half of the draw so I will play with someone from Top 8 player. Whoever will be on the other side of the net will be tough adversary. For me first goal is to overcame opening round. If I succeed everything else will be easier. FALCK BOLL and OVTCHAROV are in great shape right now.” We entered last year in Olympic cycle there are a lot of challenges on the way before the Japan 2020. “First goal is to reach the qualification place in Portugal with team. It will be extremely difficult and it depends a lot of draw. In the team with me will be also TOKIC KOZUL and HRIBAR. We are at the position between 9 and 16 in the seedings so we can only hope to avoid top Asian side. Latter we will all fight for points and better position at the rankings to find our way in the Singles tournament in Tokyo. “
TTCLM: Outstanding comeback of Bogoria!
2019/20 Table Tennis Champions League Men quarter-finals leg 1 Polish club KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki has created outstanding comeback against actual TTCLM runner-up TTSC UMMC to win first quarter-final leg on home soil 3:1. Actually three comebacks have been packed in this super exciting clash as host players reversed score from 0:2 to 3:2 three times in a row. Russian team won the opening match thanks to Aleksandr SHIBAEV who beat Panagiotis GIONIS in five games in spite of being one game behind after third set. That was the first comeback in this clash and the only one taken by Verkhnaya Pyshma’s side. Bogoria’s players won next three encounters in a same manner refusing to give up the fight at 0:2 in favour of their opponents. Jonathan GROTH was beaten in that way by both Marek BADOWSKI and Panagiotis GIONIS while Pavel SIRUCEK overcame Andrej GACINA. GIONIS faced two points down (7:9) in late fifth game against GROTH but managed to secure victory to Bogoria by winning four points in a row. The last point of the match was amazing beautiful rally with more than twenty exchanges between them with a perfect concluding attack of host. TTCLM quarter-finals leg 1 KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki – TTSC UMMC 3:1 Panagiotis GIONIS – Aleksandr SHIBAEV 2:3 (11:6 5:11 11:6 4:11 8:11) Marek BADOWSKI – Jonathan GROTH 3:2 (11:13 9:11 11:9 11:9 11:6) Pavel SIRUCEK – Andrej GACINA 3:2 (9:11 6:11 12:10 11:4 11:6) Panagiotis GIONIS – Jonathan GROTH 3:2 (9:11 6:11 11:5 11:9 11:9)
TTCLM: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV secures win for Orenburg
2019/20 Table Tennis Champions League Men quarter-finals leg 1 Reigning TTCLM champion Fakel Gazprom Orenburg beat GV Hennebont 3:1 in the first quarter-final leg held in France tonight January 16th. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was man of the match as he secured two points for his side improving his season’s win-loss record to 6-0. Cedric NUYTINCK prevailed against Marcos FREITAS in straight games of the opener but guests responded with three victories in a row. OVTCHAROV beat Quentin ROBINOT to level the score at 1-1 CHUANG Chih-Yuan overcame Samuel WALKER while German faced hard task in the fourth encounter. NUYTINCK had an advantage after first three games against OVTCHAROV but guest reversed the score to secure victory for five-time TTCLM champion. TTCLM quarter-finals leg 1 GV Hennebont TT – Fakel Gazprom Orenburg 1:3 Cedric NUYTINCK – Marcos FREITAS 3:0 (13:11 11:8 11:8) Quentin ROBINOT – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 1:3 (11:8 7:11 8:11 7:11) Samuel WALKER – CHUANG Chih-Yuan 0:3 (15:17 6:11 5:11) Cedric NUYTINCK – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 2:3 (11:8 7:11 13:11 7:11 2:11)
