LIEBHERR 2019 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships Nantes France Sept 3-8 Sweden’s player Anton KALLBERG who will turn 22 this Saturday stressed that his national team will target gold medal at the upcoming LIEBHERR 2019 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships Nantes France Sept 3-8. „Our expectations is to play well and our goal is the gold medal“ explained Borussia Dusseldorf player who had 4-2 individual win-loss record two years ago in Luxembourg when Sweden finished at the fifth spot. Sweden’s men team runner-up at the recent 2019 European Games in Minsk Belarus will be no. 2 seed in Nantes sharing Group B with 2009 bronze medalist Romania and Hungary 4-time champion (last time 1982). Sweden is the record holder with 14 titles. „I think we have two strong opponents with very high capacity” stated KALLBERG speaking about group stage opponents. He spent his holiday in Sweden with his family and in China with his girlfriend. Regarding his preparation for the championships in Nantes he explains: „My preparation is to first practice at home in Düsseldorf and then we have one week training in Sweden just before the Europeans starts.” Swedish players will have individual preparation at Bulgaria Open this week (13-18 August) and the Czech Open (20-25 August) while the entire national team will have its final preparation on home soil in Halmstad (25-30 August). Men’s team will be composed by Mattias FALCK Kristian KARLSSON Jon PERSSON Truls MOREGARD and Anton KALLBERG.
Will Bayley to star in Strictly Come Dancing!
Table Tennis England announced that Paralympic table tennis champion Will Bayley will strut his stuff in front of an audience of millions after being named as a contestant for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing. “The Rio 2016 Class 7 gold medallist was one of two dancers to be named today as the BBC reveals who will be taking part in the hit show which airs in the run-up to Christmas. 31-year-old Bayley who last week won the Class 7 singles at the PTT Japan Open in Tokyo – where he will defend his Paralympic title next year – said: “I’m so proud to be on the show it’s my family’s favourite show. “I have no dance experience at all but I hope I can do well. I want to inspire people with a disability – that would mean a lot to me. I want to prove to people I can do this.” “I don’t really dance at parties and I have no dancing background so it will be funny to watch me trying to learn. “I’m most looking forward to getting to know everyone on the show – the other contestants and the professional dancers – and it will be amazing to be taught how to dance by a top professional.” Bayley attended the Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon and once appeared in a DVD We’ve Got The Toaster so has some experience of performing and is determined to embrace the glitz and the glamour of the show including the costumes fake tans and sequins. However he does admit to one fear saying: “I’m most afraid of falling over!” Bayley is not the only sporting connection on this year’s series – former England goalkeeper David James is also among the contestants as is BBC sports news presenter Mike Bushell. Among the other dancers bidding to win the title are EastEnders actress Emma Barton comedian Chris Ramsey and YouTuber Saffron Barker with more to be announced in the coming days.”
Players Revealed for 2019 ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cups in Chengdu China!
Off the back of the final World Cup qualification tournament of 2019 the ITTF Africa Cup confirmation has arrived of the 40 athletes who will be packing their suitcases for two of the most prestigious events of the year: The 2019 Uncle Pop ITTF Women’s World Cup will get the ball rolling between 18th – 20th October while the Men’s World Cup will take place between 29th November – 1st December. Let’s take a look at some of the star names set to light up the shows in Chengdu China later this year. As world champion in Budapest Chinese star Liu Shiwen has rightfully qualified for the Women’s World Cup in her home nation and will be bidding for what would be a record fifth gold medal in the competition. A niggling injury kept her out of last month’s Australian Open and she has yet to hit the heights of Hungary in recent months however there is no way anyone can count Liu out of the reckoning. 2019 has been a tough ride for For China’s other participant Zhu Yuling who has not won on the ITTF World Tour for over a year (the 2018 Korea Open) however the World Cup is a different tournament and last year’s runner-up now has the chance to regain the gold she claimed for the first time back in 2017 in Markham Canada courtesy of winning the Asian Cup in April. Could last month’s triumph at T2 Diamond Malaysia prove to be the turning point in Zhu’s year helping her to build a head of steam before Chengdu? Only time will tell. Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee qualified for the World Cup by taking 7th place at the Asian Cup. Boasting an immaculate work-rate she will be a worthy representative for her nation in Chengdu. Similarly for Japan the youthful exuberance of Miu Hirano will be on display as the 19-year-old challenges again for top honours. Her 2016 success in Philadelphia remains the only time a non-Chinese player took the ultimate prize in Women’s World Cup history. Meanwhile Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem – renowned for her mixed doubles prowess yet equally dangerous in the singles – and Chinese Taipei’s Cheng-I Cheng – who picked up silver in 2016 before two bronze medals at the 2017 and 2018 World Cups – will also provide stiff competition from Asia. Romanian fan favourite Bernadette Szocs will be hoping to bring her A-game to Chengdu after finishing 2nd in the Europe Top 16 Cup back in February. Szocs is joined by compatriot and triple Olympian Elizabeta Samara whose silver medal back in 2012 remains the most recent time that a European reached the final of the Women’s World Cup. Poland’s Natalia Partyka has always amazed fans with her grit to participate in able-bodied competitions despite being a Paralympic athlete. Taking the 4th spot at the Europe Cup means that she too will be doing battle in Chengdu as will of course the current Europe Cup champion Petrissa Solja of Germany who took bronze in 2015. As the recently crowned Africa Cup champion for an incredible seventh time Dina Meshref will want to leave a mark on the world stage. The Egyptian star has a strong left-handed shakehand attacking style which is surely going to make her opponents wary. Pan American Cup champion Adriana Diaz will be representing Puerto Rico with pride. Her decisive play and strategic timeouts have become a regular sight as she slowly gains on the Asian elite in women’s table tennis. Approximately five weeks after the Women’s World Cup the men will assemble in the same city as they go about their own pursuit of glory between 29th November – 1st December. What more can be said about the legend that is Ma Long?! ‘The Dragon’ is set to appear in yet another World Cup and it will be a tough task for anyone to prevent him from claiming what would be his third career gold in the tournament. Fan Zhendong may not have won on the ITTF World Tour yet in 2019 but you can bet the former world no.1 and defending Men’s World Cup champion will be doing all he can to ensure the trophy stays by his side for another year. Egypt’s Omar Assar will be joining the party in Chengdu following his Africa Cup victory last weekend. This will be his third career appearance at the Men’s World Cup having previously qualified in 2015 and 2017. Meanwhile the “Thrill from Brazil” and Pan American Cup champion Hugo Calderano has started to show flashes of excellence on the international stage of late and looks determined to overcome an underwhelming group-stage exit last year in Disneyland Paris. Two-time Men’s World Cup champion (2002 and 2005) and four-time runner-up (2008 2012 2017 2018) fans will be delighted to see the highly popular German legend Timo Boll lining up in Chengdu after he claimed 3rd place at the Europe Top 16 Cup in February. Having qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo Boll took a small break tending to an injury but he is now back in the fold and ready to fire on all cylinders. Meanwhile his compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov – the man who beat Boll to the 2017 title in Liege – has shown signs of being able to turn on the style on the big occasions again of late. His victory at this year’s Europe Cup was a perfect example of this as he now looks for further honours. Chinese Taipei’s upcoming prodigy Lin Yun-Ju can no longer be considered a ‘dark horse’ in Chengdu. Winner of the 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open Lin then defeated Ma Long and Fan Zhendong on his way to claim gold at the T2 Diamond Malaysia event in Johor Bahru. Everyone’s eyes are certain to be on this fast-rising 17-year-old star. Tomokazu Harimoto is Japan’s prime candidate for honours and the 16-year-old will be aiming to go beyond his quarter-final finish at last year’s Men’s World Cup in Paris. Representing USA will be
New table tennis circuit world record officially recognized
Now it is official: The Record Institute for Germany (RID) has officially recognized the new table tennis circuit world record set by Borussia Düsseldorf on 5th June 2019 with 2 074 participants. Düsseldorf elementary school students of the third and fourth school years had played in the Merkur Spiel-Arena Düsseldorf at the SingPong event 15 minutes at 105 tables table tennis circuit. The record champion had achieved the previous record only a year ago at the same site with 1 252 players. The new record for the “largest table tennis circuit different tables” has now been recognized as a world record and certified with the presentation of an official RID record certificate. The record institute for Germany has also published a report on the website www.rekord-institut.org and made a record of the world record in the RID record archive. In addition participants can use the RID website to order personalized documents as of now. The record institute for Germany collects and reviews top achievements of all kinds and recognizes world records. An RID record is an effort that is accomplished for the first time or enhances existing performance and is interesting enough to attract public interest and be the subject of a competition. A RID record requires special skills must always be measurable and comparable and reach dimensions above the norm in the evaluation criteria such as quantity size number speed.
2019 ITTF Africa Cup champions Omar Assar and Dina Meshref book World Cup tickets
Egyptian duo Omar Assar and Dina Meshref successfully retained their titles at the 2019 ITTF Africa Cup on Monday 5th August in Lagos Nigeria to qualify for the Men’s and Women’s World Cups later this year. The no.3 seed in the men’s event Omar Assar (EGY) was imperious as he accounted for the host nation favourite and top seed Quadri Aruna (NGR) in the semi-final (11-6 11-8 3-11 11-7 11-3) before overcoming Ahmed Saleh (EGY) in a hard-fought final (10-12 11-3 11-6 12-14 11-3 9-11 11-3). Aruna duly finished in third place after winning his play-off against Sami Kherouf (ALG) (11-6 12-10 11-5). The no.8 seed had lost his semi-final against no.2 seed Saleh (11-7 11-6 7-11 11-4 6-11 11-2). Victory for Assar ensures that he will be making his third career appearance at the ITTF Men’s World Cup having previously qualified in 2015 (Halmstad Sweden) and in 2017 (Liège Belgium). The 2019 tournament will be held in Chengdu China between 29th November – 1st December. “It was a very tough tournament for me which started with a knee injury then I recovered on the second day. I am very happy with this victory and now I will keep training hard as I try to reach another goal in the German league seizing the next challenge.” Omar Assar Dina Meshref (EGY) will be making a sensational seventh career appearance at the ITTF Women’s World Cup after she once again emerged as women’s champion at the ITTF Africa Cup. The 25-year-old top seed defeated cousin and no.4 seed Yousra Helmy in straight games (11-9 11-9 11-1 11-8) to claim the title having overcome no.2 seed Offiong Edem (NGR) with the loss of just one game (11-5 11-6 9-11 11-4 11-8). Edem gained third place accounting for Fadwa Garci (TUN) in five games (8-11 11-8 11-13 11-7 11-8). Meshref who made her Women’s World Cup debut in 2011 (Singapore) has been an ever-present since 2014 (Linz Austria). The 2019 tournament will be held in Chengdu China between 18th – 20th October. “I feel very happy to have defended my title and qualified for the Men’s World Cup. I really hope I can represent Africa in the best possible way.” Dina Meshref The ITTF World Cups represent the second most prestigious events on the international table tennis calendar after the ITTF World Championships and they count towards the Grand Slam (Olympic Games World Championships World Cups). Each of the 2019 ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cups will feature 20 of the globe’s top table tennis players 18 of whom will have qualified through their respective Continental Cups together with the ITTF World Champion and a wildcard. Here are the players who have qualified so far for the 2019 ITTF World Cups: Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships: MA Long (CHN); LIU Shiwen (CHN). China Construction Bank 2019 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) Timo BOLL (GER); Petrissa SOLJA (GER) Bernadette SZOCS (ROU) Sofia POLCANOVA (AUT). Universal 2019 ITTF Pan American Cup: Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) Kanak JHA (USA); Adriana DIAZ (PUR) ZHANG Mo (CAN). Lion 2019 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup: FAN Zhendong (CHN) Koki NIWA (JPN) Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN); ZHU Yuling (CHN) Kasumi ISHIKAWA (JPN) FENG Tianwei (SGP). 2019 ITTF Oceania Cup: Heming HU (AUS); Jian Fang LAY (AUS). 2019 ITTF Africa Cup: Omar ASSAR (EGY); Dina MESHREF (EGY). The remaining players to qualify for the 2019 ITTF World Cups will be revealed on Wednesday 7th August.
Countdown to Nantes: One month before the start of the LIEBHERR European Team Championships
Watch the promotional video for LIEBHERR 2019 European Table Tennis Championships at ETTU Chanel There is only one month remained before the start of the final stage of the LIEBHERR 2019 European Table Tennis Championships (September 3-8). Do not miss the action in Nantes and clashes of 24 best teams in Men’s and Women’s Teams events. From today at 12 PM you can also see the promotional video on all ETTU Channels. The Salle Sportive Métropolitaine will gather the best Europe can offer. Reigning champions and seven-times gold medalist and 2019 European Games winner Germany (top seed) won all its seven titles in last 12 years in Timo BOLL era. They lead the list with giants like record holder Sweden (no. 2 seed) 14-time winners; host nation France (no. 3 seed); 3-time champions and the 2015 European champions Austria no. 4 seed. In Women’s Teams Event reigning champion is Romania whilst nine-time winner and actual runner-up Germany is no. 2 seed. The list goes on with record holder Hungary (no. 3 seed) 9-time champions and four-time European champion and actual bronze medalist Netherlands (no. 4 seed). The European Championships (Team Events) has been playing over a period of two years and be concluded with the final stage in the French city of Nantes (24 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams). Each of eight group will play a complete round robin (2 matches per team). Teams finishing in 2nd and 3rd positions in the groups have completed their matches. Group winners proceed to the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals the knockout system will be used. Facebook Instagram Twitter Tickets Event’s web site TV Schedule
Italy and Turkey won Men and Women Team’s Events in Montenegro
Balkan Senior Championships In Tivat Italy and Turkey clinched gold medals in their respective Men and Women Team’s Event at the 45 Balkan Senior Championships in Montenegro. In Men Team’s Event Ibrahim GUNDUZ Talha YIGENLER and Ziver GUNDUZ of Turkey stretched Marco RECH DALDOSSO Antonio AMATO and Daniele PINTO to full five games but could not secure the title. After 2 to null in reverse for Italy Daniele PINTO made u turn in the match and set the course of the match in the opposite direction. In semifinal Turkey beat Serbia’s Stefan KOSTADINOVIC Nikola STRUGAREVIC and Marko POPOVIC whilst Italy overcame Romania. For Romania played Cristian CHIRITA Alexandru MANOLE and Paul MILADIN. Later Serbia beat Romania in the match for the third position Slovenia is fifth followed by Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. In Women Team’s Event Turkey’s Sibel ALTINKAYA Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC overcame Romania’s Alina ZAHARIA Tania PLAIAN and Elena ZAHARIA in four games in the final. In the match for the third position Serbia’s Monika KNEZEVC Aneta MAKSUTI and Ivana VEJNOVIC overcame Slovenia’s Aleksandra VOVK Ana TOFANT and Spela TRELEC. Below are Italy Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Aftermovie of the STAG European Youth Championship
The official aftermovie of the STAG European Youth Championship which took place in Ostrava is on youtube channel. Yn see the clip with the greatest moments here YouTube We hope you will love it.
Amber racket 2019: three reasons to go to the Baltic Sea
From September 25th to 29th the eighth big table tennis tournament under the brand Amber Racket 2019 will take place in the Kaliningrad region (the Russian enclave which is situated between Poland and Lithuania). It is remarkable that competitions in the most western city of the country remain the only commercial tournament in the territory of Russia where so many foreign participants meet and play. The important question is why? According to the organizers represented by the Kaliningrad Regional Federation of Table Tennis and local retail chain of stores SPAR Kaliningrad – there are at least three reasons: First perfect location. Indeed Kaliningrad is only 350 km away from Warsaw and Vilnius (or Kaunas). These airports host low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Wizzair. Some foreign participants travel by car or by bus a part of players arrives to the nearby Gdansk which is only 150 kilometers from Kaliningrad. Many Russian table tennis stars play for the European clubs in particular in Poland and France. Secondly professionalism and high skill of participants of competitions. Both young promising players and winners and prize-winners of the European and the world championships among veterans also the acting players of the combined countries visit the Tournament with pleasure. The youth and veterans can play both in their category and in Open – therefore it will not be boring. This year the Amber Racket has grown for one play-day and has been supplemented by a Veterans “Over 50 years” event. The number of the participant countries remains stable; the players come from 12-13 countries. Last year the Tournament hosted for the first time the delegation from Spain including cadets and juniors. Johnathan MCDONALD junior from Sweden explained: “I loved very much the Amber Racket. It was a highly organized and a really exciting competition. I had a lot of games and I managed to rehabilitate in the OPEN after I had given a real bad performance in Juniors. It’s actually kind of cool to watch and then to compete with global players. Kaliningrad is a very beautiful city with a distinctive culture.” Thirdly it is very cool that since July 1 2019 citizens of 53 countries can obtain a free e-visa in only 4 days to visit the Kaliningrad region! More details on: http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/klgd_home_en.html The participants and the spectators remember the 2018 Tournament for highly qualified teams in Junior’s and Veteran’s events and especially tough competition in the OPEN. Four Russian champions (since 2012) played in this open category: Viacheslav BUROV Grigorii VLASOV Mikhail PAYKOV Alexey LIVENTSOV. Besides them there were the representatives of national teams from Belarus and Ukraine – Pavel PLATONOV Evgenii PRISHCHEPA and an internationally highest rated among all players – Kirill SKACHKOV. The twice champion of Russia in Singles and the Amber Racket -2018 winner Viacheslav BUROV said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to the organisers for such wonderful competition. It’s already the 7th time I take part in the tournaments in Kaliningrad witnessing the evolution of the Amber racket. The spectators are particularly noteworthy – they are well versed in game and they give great support to the players. Every match day fans are filling the Hall with their presence and it’s really exciting to play for such audience. I will come to the Amber Racket every year with great pleasure!”.
CEKIC returned to team of Montenegro
Balkan Senior Championships The Balkan Senior Championships started today in Podgorica Montenegro (31 July – 04 August) in Sport Hall “Verde”. The Championships commenced with the Teams Events. In Men’s Teams Event In Group A are Turkey Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Group B play Italy Kosovo North Macedonia and Albania whilst in Group C are Slovenia Serbia Montenegro and Greece. In Women’s Teams Event in Group A are Turkey Romania and Italy. In Group B are Slovenia Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina whilst in Group C are Serbia Montenegro North Macedonia and Albania. Last Senior Championships was held in 2001 in Plovdiv. Since then BTTU organised only Under 21 events but now they returned to no age – limit event. Team of Montenegro is reinforced for this occasion. After three years break Irfan CEKIC will play again for the national team.
