The German Table Tennis Association applies for hosting the 2023 Individual World Table Tennis Championships Finals together with the Sports City of Düsseldorf. After the DTTB had internally checked all the application conditions imposed by the International Table Tennis Federation ITTF and had analyzed the extensive ITTF Manual and calculated the budget on Thursday night the city council of Düsseldorf gave its approval for the application. “We are very happy that the Sports City of Düsseldorf will support us once again as our partner in hosting the world’s biggest indoor sports event in Germany” states DTTB President Michael Geiger. “Like in 2017 we want to present world-class sports in a world-class atmosphere. But this time it will be a whole new concept.” Unlike two years ago when the state capital of North-Rhine Westphalia has already been the scene for World Championships four years from now not Messe Düsseldorf but the ISS Dome will be the venue. ISS Dome will also be the location to host the elite players at the Men’s World Cup next fall for the second time after 2014. In 2023 all matches will be played in only one competition hall where a maximum of 4 tables will be set up. All players will have the same top playing conditions and they will get to enjoy competing in front of thousands of spectators on site and millions on TV and via livestream. Not only the centre court atmosphere which will be more intensive in the ISS Dome but also the higher spectator capacity is another great advantage of the new venue. In 2017 on the final days the ticket requests exceeded the supply by far. Many enthusiastic table tennis fans could not purchase a ticket on the last five days of the WTTC. In 2023 with more than 2 000 additional seats available at ISS Dome the promoter will enable more visitors to attend this extra-ordinary tournament. Düsseldorf’s department head of sports and city director Burkhard Hintzsche: “With table tennis World Championships in Düsseldorf we can provide Borussia’s nationally and internationally successful players once again with an extra-ordinary home game. Düsseldorf can present its excellent infrastructure with the ISS DOME as venue and the German Table Tennis Centre as training venue and can proof its high competence in organising and operating major sports events. By hosting table tennis World Championships in Düsseldorf we also support the application process of the Rhine-Ruhr-Region for the 2032 Olympic Games.” Prolonged Time Frame Compact Game Format As requested by the ITTF the World Championships will be prolonged from previously eight days to nearly two weeks now. The professional TV production will also be expanded. The new WTTC format developed by the ITTF will be applied for the first time in Houston USA in 2021. And the competitions will be more compact: with only 128 women’s players and 128 men’s players competing in singles as well as 64 doubles pairs each in men’s women’s and mixed doubles the number of participants will be significantly reduced compared to the 2017 WTTC. The exact date of the championships has not been determined yet but will most probably be in May and last until the long Pentecost weekend. “The goal of the DTTB is to make the 2023 Individual World Table Tennis Championships Finals set new and highest standards and serve as a role model for all future events in table tennis” says DTTB President Geiger. Another reason for optimism besides the decade-long experience of the DTTB and the Table Tennis Marketing Company in organising international major events is the huge success of the World Championships in 2017. Altogether 58 000 spectators visited Messe Düsseldorf on eight tournament days. On five days the venue was sold out. The feedback that the organisers from DTTB and Sports City of Düsseldorf got from the spectators as well as from the participants from more than 100 nations was only positive. Like in 2017 the side events shall not fall short in 2023. The location around the ISS Dome will be a huge festival area for the worldwide table tennis family and all visitors. Already in 2017 the DTTB and the Sports City of Düsseldorf provided a great experience for participants and spectators. This shall be even topped in 2023. Interesting Competitors for Germany in 2023 Besides Germany Australia Kuwait and South Africa expressed their interest in hosting the 2023 World Championships on time. All candidates have to submit their application documents including the name of the host city as well as the exact venue latest until November 30. From December 2019 until February 2020 the ITTF will do inspection visits. Afterwards there will be the presentation of the candidates during the Team WTTC in Busan South Korea and the ITTF Annual General Meeting on March 23 will decide about the host allocation for the WTTC Finals. WTTC: 360 Millions of Media Value three Million ITTF Social Media Followers The ITTF estimates the media value for the sponsors of table tennis World Championships at 360 million Euro (2018 WTTC). The International Federation with its 226 member nations alone has more than three million followers on various social media not including it-TV subscribers. The three upcoming WTTC host cities have already been fixed. After the Team WTTC in Busan the Individual Championships in 2021 will take place in Houston USA followed by the next Team WTTC in Chengdu China.
Daniel HABESOHN shines on his premiere
Chengdu Airlines Men’s World Cup Group Stage Daniel HABESOHN of Austria after fantastic performance against Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus booked his place in the main draw of the Chengdu Airlines Men’s World Cup in China. Top spot in the same group belongs to Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany; Kristian KARLSSON is at the top of the Group C whilst Simon GAUZY of France progressed to the Round of 16 from the spot no. two. Legendary SAMSONOV managed to recover from 3-1 and to level the match at 3-3 but HABESOHN showed no mercy in the decisive game (11-8 11-9 7-11 12-10 5-11 7-11 11-5). Previously. Germany’s OVTCHAROV secured his place in the last 16 as he beat Vladimir SAMSONOV 4-2 (11-8 11-5 7-11 11-7 7-11 11-6). “We know each other very well there’s no more surprises. He knows what I think and I know how he thinks so I think the one who is in a better shape on the day will win. Today I was better and stronger. I don’t know who I will play against so right now I’m happy I won both of my matches today and qualify for the main draw in which I’ll try my very best to win a medal ” said OVTCHAROV. In the opening match Dimitrij overcame HABESOHN but that match was also full of drama. After 3-0 lead OVTCHAROV barely managed to withstood the spirited comeback from Austria’s player (11-5 11-8 11-9 8-11 8-11 7-11 11-8). OVTCHAROV will meet Mattias FALCK of Sweden in Round of 16 whilst HABESOHN will play against FAN Zhenndog of China. Swede KARLSSON secured his place among top 16 players with both matches wins today. He overcame the lowest seeded player on duty Australia’s Heming HU (8-11 11-2 11-8 15-13 11-8) and needed only 30 minutes to overcame Nigerian Quadri ARUNA (12-10 11-7 11-8 11-9). KARLSSON will play against LIN Yun Ju of Taipei in main draw. Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN top Group D with Simon GAUZY on the position no. two. Jonathan GROTH failed to post a win today. GNANASEKARAN beat Groth in six games (11-3 12-10 7-11 16-14 8-11 11-8). GAUZY overcame GROTH (11-9 7-11 11-5 11-6 11-2) and lost to GNANASEKARAN (13-11 11-9 8-11 12-14 11-7 5-11 8-11). “I think it was a good match against GROTH especially mentally after losing such a close match this morning. I took 15 minutes to digest this defeat. I need to come back and try my best to win this match to be in the round of 16 tomorrow. That is what i did and I played really good match ” explained GAUZY. GAUZY will meet MA Long of China in next round. Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN will play against Timo BOLL of Germany.
HAN Ying concludes group stage unbeaten
2019/20 ECLW Round 5 Both KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg and its leading player HAN Ying will enter the quarter-finals unbeaten after Round 5 match they won against SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i SC 3:1. Polish champion concluded group stage with a perfect win-loss record of 4-0 while German player has 6-0. Moreover HAN lost just one game in total playing six matches. This time strong defender beat Maria FAZEKAS and Szabina SURJAN both in straight games. American player WU Yue overcame Mercedesz NAGYVARADI while Serbian rising star 17-year-old SURJAN upset former individual European champion Elizabeta SAMARA after full five games. In the Round 6 December 6th Hungarian side faces Metz TT to decide who will be the second quarter-finalist from Group C. ECLW Round 5 Group C KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg – SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i SC 3:1 HAN YING – Maria FAZEKAS 3:0 (11:6 11:6 11:2) Elizabeta SAMARA – Szabina ŠURJAN 2:3 (11:9 11:5 8:11 15:17 8:11) WU Yue – Mercedesz NAGYVARADI 3:1 (11:9 5:11 11:6 11:6) HAN Ying – Szabina ŠURJAN 3:0 (11:7 11:6 11:2)
Reigning ECLW champion host SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i
2019/20 European Champions League Women Round 5 The 2019/20 ECLW Round 5 will be held from this Tuesday to Sunday (Nov 28-Dec 1) as reigning champion KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg host the 2013 runner-up SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i SC in Group C. Polish champion will play in its strongest mode although they already secured place in the quarter-finals. That was a promise of coach Zbignew NECEK whose side won in Hungary 3:1 five weeks ago: “We have normal professional approach as for every match. We will go out to and fight for victory showing our best.” Regardless of the score of this clash Budaorsi will have deciding day in the Round 6 against Metz on December 6th. Former four-time ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastside (3-0 win-loss record) faces 2016 ETTU Cup women winner CP Lyssois Lille Métropole (0-2) with clear situation in Group A. German side booked its place among the best eight clubs after Round 4 victory over GIRBAU-VIC. Lille Metropole was beaten by Berlin 3:1 in the Round 2 after two wins of SHAN Xiaona. UCAM Cartagena (0-2) host TT Saint Quentinois (3-0) in Group B. It will be the last chance for Spanish side unlike SKST STAVOIMPEX Hodonin (1-1) in Austria against Linz AG Frochberg (3-0). Former two-time ECLW champion Linz has secured top spot in Group D while Czech team is 99 % into quarter-finals after 3:0 (9-0) victory in Spain against Leka Enea. ECLW Round 5 GROUP A: TTC Berlin Eastside – CP Lyssois Lille Métropole (Nov 29 18:30 CET) GROUP B: UCAM Cartagena TM – TT Saint Quentinois (Nov 29 19:00 CET) GROUP C: KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg – SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i SC Nov (Nov 28 18:00 CET) GROUP D: Linz AG Froschberg – SKST STAVOIMPEX Hodonin (Dec 01 16:00 CET)
Bronze for France in Korat
NSFD World Junior Championships Thailand France clinched bronze medal at the NSFD World Junior Championships in Korat Thailand. Lilian BARDET Vincent PICARD Alexis LEBRUN and Dorian ZHENG concluded the Team’s Event with the defeat against Chinese Taipei 0-3. The duel started with the thriller PICARD lost to TAI Ming-Wei in five games; FENG Yi-Hsin beat BARDET in four games whilst LEBRUN suffered by the hands of HUANG Yan-Cheng. The third encounter also went full five games. Russia was streched to full distance in the duel for the 5th position. Against Singapore Vladimir SIDORENKO was the key player. He overcame BEH Kun Ting and KOH Dominic Song .Lev KATSMAN also beat KOH to secure third point for Russia. Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE Olav KOSOLOSKY and Nicolas DEGROS beat India in straight matches to secure 9th position. In Junior Girls Event Russia’s Anastasia KOLISH Mariia TAILAKOVA and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN finished the competition at the position no. 6 after full distance match against USA. Match for 7th position between Germany and France concluded in favor of Anastasia BONDAREVA Franziska SCHREINER and Sophie KLEE. Poland lost to Hong Kong match for the 9th position 0-3 whilst Czech Republic overcame Australia in the match for the 13th position 3-1.
2019 – The year that the ITTF invested in its future
At the recent Team World Cup in Tokyo ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT and CEO Steve DAINTON shared their thoughts on the key areas in which the organisation has committed itself to ensure a brighter future for international table tennis. In light of the projects launched since 2017 growth in the organisation and a keen desire to expand the industry as much as possible in the medium to long-term future WEIKERT and DAINTON discussed where the ITTF has invested significant financial and human resources during 2019. At October’s ITTF Executive Committee meeting the decision was taken to fully go ahead with the new commercial vehicle World Table Tennis under the proposed structure presented by the Tender’s Selection Panel. World Table Tennis will house the ITTF’s core commercial assets from 2021 with the aim to grow the sport in a much more professional way. The benefits are far-reaching and will facilitate more innovative conversations with potential partners thus enabling the ITTF to modernise its commercial business activities and ultimately unlock the full potential of table tennis so that it can compete among the highest-profile sports in the world. Steve DAINTON: “Through World Table Tennis we are endeavouring to build a platform that really benefits our athletes and fans enabling better structured events and higher prize money. Lots of time and resources have gone into this as it’s a huge project that will revolutionise our sport for good. The professionalisation of our core top products is something that had been missing in our sport – this is a great moment for table tennis.” Thomas WEIKERT: “We are committed to following our new strategy. We must be transparent uphold good governance and make sure that all of our stakeholders can follow our steps forward. We want that players are more satisfied by prize money and events themselves while we also want to support our members by making more money to reinvest into the development of our key stakeholders. At the start of 2019 the ITTF sought interest from cities around the world to become the global ‘Home of Table Tennis’ – a future Headquarters to centralise the ITTF’s workforce and drive the growth of table tennis. WEIKERT: “We have grown tremendously as an organisation since June 2017 and we now have over 70 full-time staff members. Our strategy now is to centralise the workforce in one location to allow for more efficient operations. What’s great is that we have received significant interest from some very big cities which interest us.” DAINTON: “We have adopted a professional approach to our search for a future ‘Home of Table Tennis’ with the consultation of Deloitte Withers LLP and HASSELL. Due to the high level of interest we are sure that we will end up somewhere great but we needed to make sure we invested in this with a professional approach to ensure we get the best outcome. This won’t just be any old-style headquarters. We want our future property to have plenty of table tennis activity in contrast to our current home.” Established in May 2018 the ITTF Foundation grew significantly in 2019 celebrating the inauguration of their headquarters in Leipzig in September. From this central base the Foundation is coordinating CSR activities internationally to help make the world a better place through table tennis. WEIKERT: “With the headquarters opening in Leipzig the ITTF Foundation is hiring more staff and running more projects than ever before most notably a first ever World Parkinson’s Table Tennis Championships held in New York. Meanwhile to mark World Table Tennis Day the ITTF Foundation focused its efforts on the Slum Ping Pong initiative to leave a positive legacy through table tennis in Kampala. CSR activities of this kind are set to multiply in future.” DAINTON: “We have added significant extra resources to ensure the Foundation is a success this year. The activities that the Foundation undertake also have a huge social benefit and it is therefore in our interest to ensure that table tennis can also be a tool to ensure positive action in society. We believe that the investment we have made will allow the Foundation to build the team to become more self-sustaining in the future. It must also be noted that from 2019 we also increased significantly our financial investment into our ITTF-led Development Programme to give it a further boost.” The ITTF is also investing plenty of time into considering to change the current Governance structure in order to embrace the good governance principles of the 21st century particularly those principles emanating from the IOC Session in Copenhagen 2009 and the subsequent reviews led by the IOC and ASOIF. As the ITTF tries to further professionalise its operations it realises how important it is to have professional staff working in all areas of the organisation. WEIKERT: “The ITTF is currently reviewing the whole constitution which includes a discussion for a possible change with regard to the participation of the Continental Federations which would enable them and their leadership to be closer to the main decision-making bodies of the ITTF.” DAINTON: “The ITTF has seen in recent years that the relationship with the Continental Federations even with more resources provided by the ITTF than ever before is often not ideal. We believe that this has a lot to do with the current Governance structure. We have therefore invested to set up a platform of Governance that would ensure that the continents are better represented and that our key stakeholders feel more included in future projects.” From 2021 the World Table Tennis Championships Finals will adopt a modern format to expand the global footprint and visibility of table tennis. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible the ITTF has been holding discussions with the Continental Federations. DAINTON: “We have invested plenty of time and resources alongside our Continental Federations to get the structure of the new World Table Tennis Championships
Medal for France at the NSFD World Junior Championships
French trio comprising Lilian BARDET Vincent PICARD Alexis LEBRUN and Dorian ZHENG justified their position as fourth seeds and booked place in the semifinal pf the Junior Boys Team’s Event at the NSFD World Junior Championships in Thailand’s Korat. In the quarterfinal they overcame Singapore’s BEH Kun Ting PANG Yew En Koen and CHUA Josh Shao Han in straight matches. In semis they will meet Chinese Taipei. Germany suffered by the hands of the reigning champions in the round of 8. China moved further to the penultimate stage whilst Germany’s Kirill GERFADEEV Dominik JONACK Kay STUMPER and Felix WETZEL will play against Russia for the position 5-9. Russia lost to Japan. Lev KATSMAN Maxim GREBNEV Artem TIKHONOV and Vladimir SIDORENKO are the top seeds but Japan seeded at the position no. 5 proved better team this time. In the semifinal of the Junior Girls Teams Events China will meet DPR Korea whilst Chinese Taipei will face Japan. One round earlier China overcame France in straight games. Isa COK Prithika PAVADE and Camile LUTZ failed to stop SHI Xunyao CHEN Yi and KUAI Man. In quarters Russia also lost in straight matches. Anastasia KOLISH went full distance against PYON Song Gyong; Mariia TAILAKOVA stretched KIM Kum Yong to five games whilst Elizabet ABRAAMIAN suffered in straight games against Kim Un Song. Germany put Chinese Taipei under severe pressure. YU Hsiu Ting gave Asian side good start with the victory over Anastasia BONDAREVA but Franziska SCHREINER and Sophie KLEE secured led for Germany with wins over CHIEN Tung Chuan and CAI Fong En. After win over BONDAREVA YU proved too strong for SCHREINER and CHIEN sealed the match with 3-0 over BONDAREVA. France will play against Russia for position no. 5 whilst Germany will meet USA. Czech Republic lost to Hong Kong in the play of match 9-16. For the position 13-16 they will meet Canada.
Good start for Europeans in Korat
NSFD World Junior Championships Thailand The first phase of the Teams events at the NSFD World Junior Championships in Thailand commenced today. European teams had a good start. Belgium and Germany recorded wins in the opening matches in Junior Boys whilst Germany Czech Republic and France won in Junior Girls. Only Poland failed to post a victory. Belgium overcame Australia at the start of their journey in Korat. Adrien RASSENFOSSE Olav KOSOLOSKY and Nicolas DEGROS proved too strong for LEE Yonghun Nicholas LUM and Fin LUU. Only DEGROS lost one game overall it was 3-0 for European side. Tomorrow they will meet USA. Germany’s Kay STUMPER Dominik JONACK and Kirill FADEEV overcame Peru in straight matches. Felipe DUFFOO Jhon LOLI and Carlos FERNANDEZ failed to post victory in singles matches. The top four seeded teams – Russia Chinese Taipei China France – gain a direct entry; the remaining places are filled by the outfits that finish in first place in each of the four groups three teams in groups. In Junior Girls Team’s Event France overcame Nigeria in straight matches. Isa COK beat Sukurat AIYELBEGAN Prithika PAVADE succeeded against OLOWA FALANA and Camile LUTZ beat Rogiat JIMOH. Czech Republic also beat Nigeria. Gabriela STEPANOVA Zdena BLASKOVA and Linda ZADEROVA will play against France tomorrow for the leading position in the group. Germany’s Franziska SCHREINER Anastasia BONDAREVA and Sophia KLEEE overcame Thailand in straight matches. Next in line on their way to the main draw is Egypt. Poland with sisters Anna and Katarzyna WEGRZYN and Aleksandra MICHALAK lost to DPR Korea in straight matches. The top four teams China Japan Russia and Chinese Taipei – receive a direct entry to the quarter-finals.
Kosovo is hosting Connect TT Youth Regional Balkan League
ETTU President Ronald KRAMER visited Kosovo KTTA is hosting the “Connect TT Youth Regional Balkan League” which is taking place in Palace of Youth and Sports in Prishtina. In the opening ceremony of Balkan Youth League ETTU President KRAMER said that he is very happy to be part of the inauguration of the initiative of region countries to organize Balkan League. “These kind of organizations helps in promotion and development of table tennis” stated KRAMER. President of KTTA Nehat CITAKU said: “We are honored to have ETTU President KRAMER in Kosovo for opening ceremony of the League. We have started with 4 countries of the region but we are looking forward to see in the near future more countries joining this initiative.” During his visit in Kosovo KRAMER has met Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo Ramush HARADINAJ where he emphasized that ETTU supports initiative such as Balkan League. Prime Minister HARADINAJ welcomed and thanked President KRAMER for his visit in Kosovo and emphasized that the Government will continue to support such initiative. Mr. Kramer also paid a short visit in KTTA’s office where he meet with Board Members and Organizing Committee of Balkan League.
Patrick FRANZISKA beaten by LIN Yun-Ju in six games
T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Patrick FRANZISKA lost to the no.4 seed Chinese Taipei’s LIN Yun-Ju in the quarter-finals of the T2 Diamond Singapore. German opened well the clash but lost next three games in a row. After the fourth game “Fast5” came into play providing new chance for no. 6 seed but LIN won after six games (10:11 11:6 11:6 11:2 1:5 5:2). Men’s semi-finals (Nov 24): XU Xin (China) – Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan) LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) – LIN Gaoyuan (China). Women’s semi-finals (Nov 24): SUN Yingsha (China) – WANG Manyu (China) Mima ITO (Japan) – JEON Jihee (Korea). T2 Diamond Table Tennis League is organised in collaboration with the ITTF. As a core tenet of ITTF innovation lab T2 Diamond functions as a testing bed for new rules and formats of table tennis assess their impact on the game and to prime them for wider usage within the ITTF circuit. Collectively the 32 participating players are awarded 16 600 bonus ITTF World Ranking points – a significant boost as they battle their way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification – and USD 500 000 in prize money.
