NSFD World Junior Championships Thailand Russia is the leading nation in the Junior Boys Team’s Event at the forthcoming NSFD World Junior Championships in Thailand’s Korat. The Championships commences tomorrow the finals are scheduled for Wednesday 27th November the day the mixed doubles event starts; the boys’ singles girls’ singles boys’ doubles and girls’ doubles begin on Thursday 28th November. Play concludes on Sunday 1st December. Lev KATSMAN leads Russia supported by Maxsim GREBNEV Artem TIKHONOV and Vladimir SIDORENKO. Next in line is the Chinese Taipei outfit formed by TAI Ming-Wei HUAG Yu-Je HUANG Yan-Cheng and FENG Yi-Hsin. China the no.3 seeds and defending champions are represented by XU Yingbin XIANG Peng LIU Yebo and ZENG Beixun. The French trio comprising Lilian BARDET Vincent PICARD Alexis LEBRUN and Dorian ZHENG complete the top four seeded teams. Seeded at the position no. 7 is Belgium with Adrien RASSENFOSSE Olav KOSOLOSKY Nicolas DEGROS and Louis LAFFINEUR followed by Germany’s Kirill GERFADEEV Dominik JONACK Kay STUMPER and Felix WETZEL. In the boys’ singles event XIANG Peng is the top seed followed by Lev KATSMAN Iran’s Amin AHMADIAN and Vincent PICARD of France; Amin Ahmadian won the junior boys’ singles title earlier this year in Hong Kong. Russia’s pairings Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN leading the list in the boys’ doubles seeding whilst Lilian BARDET and Vincent PICARD of France are at the position no. two. In the junior girls team’s event China led by SHI Xunyao supported by KUAI Man CHE Yi and WU Yangchen is at the top of the list. Japan represented by Miyu NAGASAKI Miyuu KIHARA Kyoka IDESAWA and Haruna OJIO is second followed by Russia’s Elizabet ABRAAMIAN Anastasia KOLISH Mariia TAILAKOVA and Olga VISHIAKOVA. In the junior girls’ singles event WU Yangchen is the top seed followed by Amy WANG of the United States. At position no. seven is Poland’s Anna WEGRZYN Prithika PAVADE of France is at the position no. 9 Zdena BLASKOVA of Czech Republic is at the position no. 10.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Mattias FALCK lost in Singapore
T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Sweden’s Mattias FALCK lost their Round of 16 matches at the T2 Diamond Singapore hence OVTCHAROV’s compatriot Patrick FRANZISKA continues as the only European in the quarter-finals scheduled for Saturday November 23. FALCK lost to no.2 seed LIN Gaoyuan of China 4:1 (11:8 11:9 11:10 9:11 5:4) while no.10 seed OVTCHAROV was beaten by his former teammate in Russian club Fakel-Gazprom no.8 seed Jun MIZUTANI of Japan after seven games – 4:3 (11:10 9:11 5:11 11:9 5:2 0:5 5:4). No.6 seed FRANZISKA who beat Korea’s LEE Sangsu in the opening day at Our Tampines Hub is going to play quarter-finals against no.4 seed LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) who prevailed against JANG Woojin (Korea). Korea’s JEOUNG Youngsik the no.11 seed upset China’s LIANG Jingkun the no.5 seed in the exciting ending after 24 minutes when the “fast five” rule came into play. JEOUNG won 4:3 (11:5 11:10 7:11 11:3 4:5 2:5 5:3). Men’s quarter-finals (Nov 23): XU Xin (China) – JEOUNG Youngsik (Korea) Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan) – Koki NIWA (Japan) LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) – Patrick FRANZISKA (Germany) LIN Gaoyuan (China) – Jun MIZUTANI (Japan). Women’s quarter-finals (Nov 23): SUN Yingsha (China) – DING Ning (China) CHEN Xingtong (China) – WANG Manyu (China) Mima ITO (Japan) – Hitomi SATO (Japan) CHEN Meng (China) – 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.
FRANZISKA reaches quarter-finals in Singapore
T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore German player Patrick FRANZISKA reached T2 Diamond quarter-finals as he beat Korea’s LEE Sangsu 4:1 (11:2 11:10 11:10 4:11 5:3) in the opening day of the event hosted by Our Tampines Hub in Singapore. Men’s Singles no.1 seed XU Xin progressed among the best eight after victory over Hong Kong’s WONG Chun Ting who was forced to withdraw after two games due to injury. Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO overcame host CHEW We current world no.276 4:1 (11:6 7:11 11:5 11:10 5:2). Tomorrow November 22nd another two European players will play their Round of 16 matches: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Germany) vs. Jun MIZUTANI (Japan) 15:15 CET and LIN Gaoyuan (no.2 seed China) vs. Mattias FALCK (Sweden) 06:00 CET. FRANZISKA’s next opponent is going to be the winner between no. 3 seed LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) and JANG Woojin (Korea). Four Women’s Singles encounters took place in the opening day: CHEN Xingtong (China) – YU Mengyu (Singapore) 4:2 ZHU Yuling (China) – WANG Manyu (China) 3:4 Mima ITO (Japan) – Kasumi ISHIKAWA (Japan) 4:1 Hitomi SATO (Japan) – WANG Yidi (China) 4:1. 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.
Eirik ANSNES became the first student of his generation to graduate at the TT study programme
Norwegian coach Eirik ANSNES supported by the ETTU graduate at the TT study programme at the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split Eirik Ansnes from Norway has become the first student of the first generation of the TT study programme to successfully graduate at the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split. This university degree study programme in sports coaching especially designed to suit the needs of table tennis players and coaches was launched at the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split three years ago in conjunction with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). The project has gathered professors and experts from more than 20 different well recognised institutions (universities/institutes/academies) worldwide and initially enrolled 20 students from 5 different continents. By successfully defending his final thesis titled “How can coaches develop and maintain a coach-athlete relationship which enhances athletes performance” under the mentorship of Assoc. prof. Guillaume Martinent from the University of Claude Bernard Lyon France Eirik has obtained the professional title Bachelor of Kinesiology – Sport training (Table tennis). “As Eirik had been one of the two students sponsored by the ETTU throughout his three year studies apart from congratulating to him personally for his achievement a congratulation and gratitude go to the ETTU as well for recognising and supporting the project and some of the European coaches who have been involved in the programme ” said professor and head of undergraduate study programe of kinesiology in English Assist. Prof. Goran Munivrana PhD.
Patrick FRANZISKA against LEE Sangsu
T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore The 2019 T2 Diamond Singapore commences tomorrow November 21st at the Our Tampines Hub gathering world’s top 16 players in each men’s and women’s singles events. Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA is the first European who will step on the stage having Round of 16 match against Korea’s LEE Sangsu. Tomorrow November 21st three more matches to be held in the Men’s Singles event: XU Xin (no. 1 seed China) vs. WONG Chun Ting (Hong Kong) Hugo CALDERANO (Brazil) vs. Koki NIWA (Japan) and CHEW Zhe (Singapore) vs. Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan). Second day will see the rest of the Round of 16 clashes: JEOUNG Youngsik (Korea) vs. LIANG Jingkun (China) LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) vs. JANG Woojin (Korea) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Germany) vs. Jun MIZUTANI (Japan) and LIN Gaoyuan (no.2 seed China) vs. Mattias FALCK (Sweden). Four Women’s Singles encounters are scheduled for the opening day: CHEN Xingtong (China) vs. YU Mengyu (Singapore) ZHU Yuling (China) vs. WANG Manyu (China) Mima ITO (Japan) vs. Kasumi ISHIKAWA (Japan) and Hitomi SATO (Japan) vs. WANG Yidi (China). 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. Seamaster T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Players Men: XU Xin LIN Gaoyuan MA Long FAN Zhendong Tomokazu HARIMOTO WANG Chuqin LIN Yun-Ju LIANG Jingkun Patrick FRANZISKA Hugo CALDERANO Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Mattias FALCK Jun MIZUTANI JEONG Yeoungsik JANG Woojin CHEW Clarence. Seamaster T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Players Women: SUN Yingsha CHEN Meng Mima ITO WANG Manyu CHEN Xingtong LIU Shiwen DING Ning Miu HIRANO WANG Yidi Kasumi ISHIKAWA FENG Tianwei ZHU Yuling HE Zhuojia Hitomi SATO CHENG I-Ching YU Mengyu.
European youth in Bangkok
ETTU Preparation Camp in Thailand Bangkok hosts ETTU Preparation Camp. In Thailand are currently 29 players from seven European countries are working with 12 coaches and ten sporting partners. The players coming from Russia Romania France Belgium Hungary Poland Germany whilst players from Thailand and China are on duty as sparing partners. “The conditions in Hotel Grand Four Wings and top prepared Fashion Island Venue are great. We have fantastic support from the great people from Thailand TTA ” stated ETTU Competition Manager Neven CEGNAR.”I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Sakul ARIYACHOTIMA for his big help in past 10 months in preparation for this camp.” David JOHSTON (FRA) and Petre ARNAUTU (ROU) are also members of the coaching team.
Chengdu Airline confirmed as 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup Title Sponsor.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is pleased to announce Chengdu Airline as Title Sponsor of the 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup set to take place in Chengdu China from 29th November – 1st December. Founded in 2010 under the name United Eagle Airlines Chengdu Airlines Co. Ltd headquartered in Chengdu Sichuan Province is a flight operator offering journeys to 88 different locations across the world. The agreed partnership sees Chengdu Airline named as Title Sponsor and receive category exclusivity for the airline service for the 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup an event which will see 20 of the finest male table tennis stars on the planet meet in fiery competition for one of the most coveted trophies the sport has to offer. While the ITTF Men’s World Cup has visited China on several occasions this is the first time in the tournament’s 23-year history that the city of Chengdu plays host and comes one month on from the 2019 ITTF Women’s World Cup which was also staged in the capital of Sichuan Province. “Chengdu Airline will support the ITTF to make the 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup a great event flying the domestic civil aircraft to the world. I believe that this partnership will further enhance our international friendship and make new contributions to table tennis in the future!” said Zha Guangyi General Manager of Chengdu Airline. Chengdu Airline is no stranger to the world of table tennis having thrown its support behind the 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup acting as Official Sponsor on that occasion. One year on and with many of the world’s greatest male table tennis stars taking to Chengdu for the 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup Chengdu Airline’s partnership with the event is the perfect fit for what promises to be a spectacular three days of world-class action. “We are delighted to be welcoming Chengdu Airline back on board for one of our most prestigious events of the year. The city of Chengdu is familiar territory for top ITTF events and therefore it is fitting that we partner with a locally headquartered yet nationwide respected company in Chengdu Airline.” stated Kimberly Kho ITTF Head of Sponsorship. Stay tuned for further updates on the Chengdu Airline 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup on ITTF.com and the ITTF’s social media channels: Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube and Weibo.
Players confirmed for 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be staged in Zhengzhou China from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th December Following the conclusion of the 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open on Sunday 17th November the players are now confirmed for the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be staged in Zhengzhou China from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th December. A prize fund in excess of US$ 1 000 000 a total of 16 players will compete in each of the men’s singles and women’s singles events. In each of the men’s doubles women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions it is eight pairs. In the mixed doubles there is the added incentive of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games spots available to the four semi-finalists. Being a qualifying event for Tokyo 2020 only one pair per national association is permitted. China’s Xu Xin (2 044 points) and Fan Zhendong (1 507 points) ended the year in first and second places in the ITTF World Tour men’s singles standings. Xu Xin won in Japan Korea and Australia while Fan Zhendong succeeded in Germany and Austria. Both are former winners at the Grand Finals: Xu Xin won in 2012 in Hangzhou and in 2013 in Dubai; Fan Zhendong in 2017 in Astana. Next in line are two more world-class athletes from China Lin Gaoyuan (1 475 points) and five-times Grand Finals champion Ma Long (1 425 points). This year Ma Long won in Qatar and China; Lin Gaoyuan in Hungary and Hong Kong. Sitting in fifth place is the defending Grand Finals champion Tomokazu Harimoto (930 points). The 16-year-old Japanese star who stole the show last year in Incheon succeeded in Bulgaria. Following are two other teenagers in Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju (866 points) and China’s Wang Chuqin (819). Highly impressive throughout 2019 Lin and Wang celebrated gold at the Czech and Swedish Opens respectively their first ever men’s singles titles on the ITTF World Tour. Completing the top 10 male representatives in Zhengzhou are China’s Liang Jingkun (773 points) Brazil’s Hugo Calderano (619 points) and Germany’s Timo Boll (544 points) the winner in 2005 in Fuzhou. Boll’s teammates Dimitrij Ovtcharov (512 points) and Patrick Franziska (496 points) are next in line followed by China’s Zhao Zihao (489 points) Sweden’s Mattias Falck (438 points) and Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik (404 points). Japan’s Jun Mizutani (402 points) a Grand Finals champion in 2010 in Seoul and in 2014 in Bangkok completes the top 16 names. Both 19 years young China’s Sun Yingsha (1 882 points) and Japan’s Mima Ito (1 685 points) ended the year in the respective top two places. Sun Yingsha won in Japan Australia and Germany while Ito secured gold in Austria after being the silver medallist in Germany Sweden and Hong Kong. Completing the top five positions are world no.1 Chen Meng (1 600 points) Wang Manyu (1 182 points) and Chen Xingtong (880 points). Chen Meng is seeking a third straight Grand Finals title having succeeded in 2018 in Incheon and also in 2017 in Astana; impressively this year she prevailed in Hungary China Korea and Sweden. Meanwhile Wang struck gold in Qatar and Chen Xingtong enjoyed back-to-back summer successes in Bulgaria and Czech Republic. Additionally from China Liu Shiwen the reigning World champion (835 points) Ding Ning the Olympic champion alongside Zhu Yuling (714 points) and He Zhuojia (438 points) all finished in qualifying positions. Notably Liu Shiwen has won the women’s singles title at the Grand Finals on three occasions commencing in 2011 in London always beating Ding Ning in the final. Later Ding Ning won in 2015 in Lisbon and Zhu Yuling the following year in Doha. He Zhuojia was runner-up last year in Incheon. Joining Mima Ito from Japan will be Miu Hirano (636 points) Kasumi Ishikawa (574 points) and Hitomi Sato (387 points). Singapore’s Feng Tianwei (504 points) Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching (395 points) and China’s Qian Tianyi (364 points) the 2018 World Junior champion complete the list. Feng Tianwei and Kasumi Ishikawa are both former Grand Finals champions having won in 2010 in Seoul and in 2014 in Bangkok respectively. 2018 Grand Finals champions Hong Kong China’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem celebrated gold in Australia and Korea this year to finish top of the mixed doubles standings (877 points). Lin-Yun Ju and Cheng I-Ching concluded matters in second place (857 points) ahead of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen the reigning World and Asian champions. The Chinese duo won in Hungary Qatar and Sweden; in fact their only defeat of the year came in the final in Korea by Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem. Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito (676 points) closely follow in fourth place ending the year ahead of Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong and Shin Yubin (338 points). Last year it was Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon to celebrate men’s doubles gold on home soil in Incheon. This time compatriots Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu are aspiring to Grand Finals glory as top seeds in Zhengzhou (900 points) after striking gold in Australia and Bulgaria. The formidable pair won the Grand Finals in 2016 in Doha. China’s Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong successful this year in Japan Korea and Sweden secure second position (775 points). Gold medallists in China Germany’s Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska finished in fourth place (563 points) behind China’s Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan (694 points) the winners this year at the Asian Championships as well as on the ITTF World Tour in Hong Kong. Hong Kong China’s Wong Chun Ting and Ho Kwan Kit the runners up one year ago at the Grand Finals in Incheon ended their campaign in fifth place (451 points). Notably in the men’s doubles there is no representative from Japan; it is very different in the women’s doubles. Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki the recent winners in Austria finished the
PETKEVITCH elected member of Executive Committee of Belarus NOC
Olympic meeting took place today in the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. The meeting has been attended by the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander LUKASHENKO NOC members chairmen of the Boards of Trustees of Federations Associations and Unions heads of sports and tourism Departments of Regional and Minsk Executive Committees and directors of Olympic Prepapration Centers. Among the important questions on agenda were the elections to the NOC authorities. The participants of the meeting elected Alexandre PETKEVITCH the head of the Belarusian Table Tennis Federation as one of the members of NOC Executive Committee. Among the new names in the Executive Committee are also Viktar LUKASHENKO (the First Vice President of the NOC of Belarus) Dzmitry DAUHALIONAK (NOC Vice President) Vice Chairman of Minsk Executive Committee Artsiom TSYRAN and coach athlete of the national sailing sports team Tatiana DROZDOVSKAYA. The delegates approved to reduce the number of NOC vice presidents positions down to two persons to improve the effectivity of NOC authorities’ work. Viktar LUKASHENKO has been elected the first vice president of NOC whilst Dzmitry DAUHALIONAK being the Deputy Chairman of Canoe Association of Belarus and the Olympic champion has become the vice president of NOC. In course of the Olympic meeting Alexander LUKASHENKO presented NOC signs of honor “For merits in the development of the Olympic movement in the Republic of Belarus” to the athletes Ekaterina KARSTEN and Aliaksandra HERASIMENIA. The meeting also discussed about the preparation of the Belarusian athletes for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
OVTCHAROV FRANZISKA and FALCK in Singapore
T2 Diamond 2019 The finale of this year’s T2 Diamond 2019 season will be taking place in Singapore at Our Tampines Hub between 21st – 24th November 2019. 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. The opening event of the T2 Diamond 2019 season at Seamaster T2 Diamond 2019 Malaysia saw four days of scintillating play in Johor Bahru where Chinese Taipei teenager LIN Yun-Ju and China’s ZHU Yuling were crowned as champions. Audiences officials and players alike have shared positive feedback for the fast-paced and exciting gameplay. Collectively the 32 participating players were 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. T2 Diamond takes the sport of table tennis in a fresh direction featuring a 24-minute countdown clock in the first to four games with a Fast5 being required if the time expires. Seamaster T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Players Men: XU Xin LIN Gaoyuan MA Long FAN Zhendong Tomokazu HARIMOTO WANG Chuqin LIN Yun-Ju LIANG Jingkun Patrick FRANZISKA Hugo CALDERANO Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Mattias FALCK Jun MIZUTANI JEONG Yeoungsik JANG Woojin CHEW Clarence. Seamaster T2 Diamond 2019 Singapore Players Women: SUN Yingsha CHEN Meng Mima ITO WANG Manyu CHEN Xingtong LIU Shiwen DING Ning Miu HIRANO WANG Yidi Kasumi ISHIKAWA FENG Tianwei ZHU Yuling HE Zhuojia Hitomi SATO CHENG I-Ching YU Mengyu.
