Natalia BAJOR clinched the titles in the Women’s Singles and the Women’s Doubles Events at the Polish National Championships.Patryk CHOJNOWSKI won the title in Men’s Singles Event. Men’s Singles Event Semi final Patryk CHOJNOWSKI (KS AZS AWFIS Gdańsk) – Marek BADOWSKI (BOGORIA Grodzisk Mazow) 4:2 Patryk ZATÓWKA – Piotr CHODORSKI (KOLPING Jarosław) 4:0 Final Patryk CHOJNOWSKI – Patryk ZATÓWKA 4:1 Women’s Singles Event Semi final Natalia PARTYKA – Roksana ZAŁOMSKA (KU AZS UJD Częstochowa) 4:1 Natalia BAJOR (KU AZS UE Wrocław) – Katarzyna WĘGRZYN (KU AZS UE Wrocław)Wrocław 4:1 Natalia PARTYKA – Natalia BAJOR 1:4 Men’s Doubles Event Semi final Konrad KULPA (ENERGA KTS Toruń) Tomasz KOTOWSKI (ENERGA KTS Toruń) – Jakub FOLWARSKI (MKS POGOŃ Siedlce) Adrian WIĘCEK 3:0 Artur GRELA (KS GWIAZDA Bydgoszcz) Szymon MALICKI (OLIMPIA-UNIA Grudziądz) – Marek BADOWSKI (BOGORIA Grodzisk Mazow) Patryk ZATÓWKA 0:3 Final Marek BADOWSKI Patryk ZATÓWKA – Konrad KULPA Tomasz KOTOWSKI 2:3 Women’s Doubles Event Semi final Natalia PARTYKA Natalia BAJOR (AZS UE Wrocław) – SZYMCZAK Julia (KU AZS UE Wrocław) Sandra KOZIOŁ (UKS DOJLIDY Białystok) 3:0 Katarzyna WĘGRZYN (KU AZS UE Wrocław) Anna WĘGRZYN (KU AZS UE Wrocław) – Aleksandra ALARZ (GLKS Nadarzyn) Joanna KIEDROWSKA (UKS CHROBRY Międzyzdroje) 3:0 Final Natalia PARTYKA Natalia BAJOR – Katarzyna WĘGRZYN Anna WĘGRZYN 3:2 Mixed Doubles Final Robert FLORAS (TTS POLONIA Bytom) Anna WĘGRZYN (KU AZS UE Wrocław) – Samuel KULCZYCKI (OLIMPIA-UNIA Grudziądz) Katarzyna WĘGRZYN (KU AZS UE WrocławDŚL) 0:3  

National Championships Switzerland   In Centre Sportif du Bois-des-Frères in Geneva Rachel MORET and Lionel WEBER won the titles in their respective Women’s and Men’s Singles Events at the 86th National Championships of Switzerland. In Men’s Event 64 players were on duty whilst in Women’s Event 26 were listed. Rachel MORET won the title for the third time after she did it in 2017 and 2018. Lionel WEBER become a champion for a second time. Previously he won in 2017.   Men’s singles Event Semi final Nicola MOHLER (St. Louis / F) – Lionel WEBER (Rio-Star Muttenz) 1:4 Hardmeier ELIAS (Neuhausen) – RYU Osiro Shinohara Pedro (Bietigheim-Bissingen / D) 2:4 Final RYU Osiro Shinohara Pedro – Lionel WEBER 1:4 Women’s Singles Event Semi final Rachel MORET (Châtelaine) – Amanda FAUVEL (Carouge) 4:1 Alexandra TCHALAKIAN (Lausanne) – Rahel ASCHWANDEN (T-Card) 4:2 Final Rachel MORET- Alexandra TCHALAKIAN 4:2 Men’s Doubles Event Semi final Dimitri BRUNNER Lars POSCH (Rapid Luzern / Wädenswil) – RYU Osiro Shinohara Pedro Cédric TSCHANZ (Bietigheim-Bissingen / D / Rio-Star Muttenz) 3:0 Samy ZMIROU Yanick TAFFÉ (Veyrier / ZZ-Lancy) – Sam BOCCARD Nicolas SIMONET (Veyrier / ZZ-Lancy) 3:2 Final Dimitri BRUNNER Lars POSCH – Sam BOCCARD Nicolas SIMONET 2:3 Women’s Doubles Event Céline REUST Salomé SIMONET (Neuhausen / Fribourg) – Mireille KROON Alexandra TCHALAKIAN (ZZ-Lancy Lausanne) 3:1 Amanda FAUVEL Rijana ZUMBRUNNEN (Carouge Rio-Star Muttenz) – Rahel ASCHWANDEN Rachel MORET (T-Card Châtelaine) 0:3 Final Céline REUST Salomé SIMONET – ASCHWANDEN Rachel MORET 1:3 Mixed Doubes Event Semi final Rachel MORET Nicolas CHAMPOD (Châtelaine Vernier) – Salomé SIMONET Gaël VENDÉ (Fribourg La Chaux-de-Fonds) 3:1 Alexandra TCHALAKIAN Yanick TAFFÉ (Lausanne ZZ-Lancy) Rahel ASCHWANDEN Lars POSCH (T-Card Wädenswil) 3:1 Final Rachel MORET Nicolas CHAMPOD – Alexandra TCHALAKIAN Yanick TAFFÉ 3:1

Swedish Nationals   Mattias FALCK and Matilda EKHOLM clinched the title in the Mixed Doubles Event at the Swedish Nationals. Last year’s winners Harald ANDERSSON and Tilda JOHANSSON finishd at the position no. three.   Mattias FALCK/Matilda EKHOLM Truls MÖREGÅRDH/Filippa BERGAND Fabian ÅKERSTRÖM/Erika FRONT Harald ANDERSSON/Tilda JOHANSSON

In Romania ROMSTAL National Championships started and already the first medals are distributed.   Almost all the members of the national teams are in Buzau and each of them want to enrich their record with new national medals.   Mixed double is finished and the medalists for 2019 are:   Irina CIOBANU/ Adrian DODEAN Daniela DODEAN MONTEIRO/Ovidiu IONESCU Elizabeta SAMARA/Cristian PLETEA Adina DIACONU/Rares SIPOS  

England’s PG Mutual National Championships  Liam PITCHFORD and Tin-Tin HO are the top seeds and the defending champions at England’s PG Mutual National Championships this weekend.   PITCHFORD who has broken into the world’s top 20 recently is aiming to win the fifth men’s singles title of his career and if the seedings are accurate he will face Paul Drinkhall in the final – Drinkhall has won the event six times.   Sam Walker is also in the picture and is aiming to win the title for the first time. David McBeath and Tom Jarvis who were part of the England squad which won the Team World Cup bronze medal last year are also possible contenders.   Ho’s closest rival is Maria Tsaptsinos and they are seeded to meet in the women’s singles final. Ho has won the event in the last three years so is aiming to win her fourth career title.   Pitchford & Drinkhall are strong favourites to win the men’s doubles title yet again – the Commonwealth Games gold medallists are the top seeds with Walker & McBeath ranked at No 2.   Ho & Tsaptsinos are the No 1 pair in the women’s doubles while Jarvis & Ho are the top combination in the mixed doubles.   The event in Nottingham also features Under-21 events with Jarvis and Ho the top seeds in the men’s and women’s events respectively.   And on Saturday the para event features world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ross Wilson and Paralympic champion Will Bayley as well as Paralympic medallist Aaron McKibbin.   The tournament begins at 9am on Friday and you can watch live coverage on the Table Tennis England Facebook and YouTube pages. From 2.30pm on Saturday the event will be shown live on the BBC Sport website.

Joola Irish Junior & Senior Closed National Championships   The Joola Junior and Senior Closed National Championships will take place at the Lisburn Racquets Club from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd of March 2019.   The Junior tournament will see entrants competing in the Hopes (Under11) Mini Cadets Cadets and Juniors categories in both Singles and Doubles. The Senior tournament will see entrants competing in Men’s Women’s Restricted and U21 categories in Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles events.   Last years Men’s Singles Winner and current Irish Men’s number 1 Gavin MAGUIRE will be hopeful of retaining the title. In the Women’s Singles 2018 Champion Mia O’RAHILLY EGAN currently ranked at number 2 will do battle with the current Women’s number 1 Sophie EARLEY for the Women’s title.

Finnish Table Tennis Championships will be held in Tampere on the weekend. The competition will reveal Finnish representatives in Budapest WC in April but this time the event is quite interesting for other reasons.   One explanation of interest is women’s singles included with a new name. She is a 20-year-old Russian citizen Anastasiia BURKOVA who after more than two years of permanent residence in Finland has been granted the right to participate in championships.     First-ranked BURKOVA offers a tough resistance to the ruling champion Annika LUNDSTRÖM and internationally ranked Finland’s top player Anna KIRICHENKO. There are already five SM golds on KIRICHENKO’S list of merits.     BURKOVA was a junior top player in Russia and has won the country’s top 24 cadets (less than 14 years) tournament. The opportunity to study information technology in English brought her to Finland.     “Finland is a very advanced country in this area. In addition studying is free ” Burkova explains.     Studies began in Tornio but after a year the Russian moved to Haaga-Helia to Helsinki. At the same time it was possible to practice with Finnish top players at the Ruskeasuo Training Center.     “I think I have continued to develop in Finland. At least my forehand opening is better nowadays.”     In Finland BURKOVA first played the men’s first division but then went on to the main league. In her team in this season Kosken KAIKU the Russian has improved her playing all the time. In the last tournament she defeated among others Samuli SOINE who is placed fifth in a fresh national ranking.     “Playing against men was a new experience but it’s fun. It is also very good to practice with them.”   BURKOVA would like to represent Finland in competitions but it requires at least the acquisition of citizenship. There are no fundamental obstacles as BURKOVA is working and herself in charge of her own living. Finnish language is developing even though it is still quite difficult.     About Finland Anastasia has just good things to say.     “Finland is a really great country to live and study. Everything just works. People are very nice and most of them speak good English.”   Benedek Oláh at home   The most interesting player of the championships is however Benedek OLÁH who has made a lot of nice matches in France’s main league during the season. Oláh defending his title visits domestic competitions pretty seldom. He wants to be national champion although his own goals are much higher than in Finnish games.   The strongest opponent will probably be only 17-year-old Alex NAUMI who is living and practicing in Eslöv Sweden. Pasi VALASTI who has played the 18 times in MS final is still involved and harasses his younger like another experienced master Mika RÄSÄNEN. The 2015 winner Roope KANTOLA will also arrive in Tampere. With the exception of Kantola’s title Oláh has taken all the championships since 2011.   Anastasiia Burkova Born 24.8.1998 in Yaroslav Russia Lived in Finland since autumn 2016 Studying at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Software Engineer at Avaintec Ltd Belonged to a national junior top in Russia

The best Croatian male and female table tennis players will measure strengths in singles doubles and mixed doubles events. The organizer HSTS with STK Starr and Ronaldo REDJEP provided excellent conditions in Sveti Martin. The arrival of all the best players is expected and the competition will be very strong. Main favorites for the title are the last year’s winners GACINA and PETEK but also KOJIC and DJURAK who celebrated two years ago.   STK Starr regularly successfully organizes Croatian championships in senior competition U21 and younger age categories. Very pleased with the club are top players but also teams of sparring and training. The club is particularly prominent in its work with young people led by the Regional Table Tennis Center Varaždin for talented young table tennis players and the first results of this work are already being seen.   Last year’s Croatian champions:. Mens’ Event: Andrej GACINA Women’s Event: Petra PETEK Men’s Doubles: ZOVKO / BANEK Women’s Doubles: PETEK / MALOBABIC Mixed Doubles: REDJEP / DJURAK

The national championship in Greece reappears after several years in part of the province. After the games in Patras in 2005 the big organization goes to Crete and specifically to Chania. The city with tradition for decades in table tennis is hosting the championship this weekend. Chania is welcoming top names in the indoor gym of Klaadissos and wants to create the right conditions and show the best of the sport’s elite.   The national championship is back on the beautiful island of the Mediterranean after 17 years. In 2002 was organized in Hersonissos Heraklion and now the Greek Federation assigned it to Chania which in recent years has been successfully tested in various national events.   62 athletes and athletes are eligible to participate. There are 36 men and 26 women and come from 32 country clubs. Almost all the top names will be present in Crete and to question “who will win the titles in the singles” is hard to answer. Last year’s winner Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS Tasos RINIOTIS with three consecutive finals Yiannis SGOUROPOULOS European champion in juniors George KONSTANTINOPOULOS appears as key contenders for the title. From this year’s event the great Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU will be missing. The men who won a total of eight titles in men’s singles stopped his career last year whilest there are the usual absences of Kallinikos KREANGA and Panagiotis GIONIS.   The women’s singles event is also strong and competitive. Katerina TOLIOU defends the trophy Konstantina PARIDI wants to repeat her last year’s excellent game when she reached the final Christina FILI looks very strong at the age of 40 while Maria CHRISTOFORAKI Georgia ZAVITSANOU and other players can reach the top.   THE LAST 10 :   MEN’S SINGLES:   2008-2009 John VLOTINOS 2009-2010 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2010-2011 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2011-2012 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2012-2013 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2013-2014 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2014-2015 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2015-2016 Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU 2016-2017 Tasos RINIOTIS 2017-2018 Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS    WOMEN’S SINGLES:   2008-2009 Katerina DOULAKI 2009-2010 Christina FILI 2010-2011 Katerina DOULAKI 2011-2012 Filaretti EXARCHOU 2012-2013 Christina FILI 2013-2014 Maria CHRISTOFORIKI 2014-2015 Katerina TOLIOU 2015-2016 Georgia ZAVITSANOU 2016-2017 Christina FILI 2017-2018 Katerina TOLIOU