More than 50 highly qualified and motivated sports professionals applied to the New Leaders Sport Leadership Education Programme. All corners of Europe were represented with applications from 28 countries. All together 30 game changers from 26 countries have been selected and the names were announced at the recent European Olympic Committees General Assembly in Marbella. The EOC Gender Equality Commission accepted the participants. The European Table Tennis Union is pleased to announce that Galia DVORAK member of ITTF Athletes Commission and chair of ETTU Athletes Commission and Pierre KASS ETTU Deputy Secretary General have been selected as game changers. ETTU President Ronald KRAMER said that he was delighted when hearing that the two candidates from European table tennis passed the selection. He had immediately congratulated the two table tennis ‘Game Changers’ when he was informed. “On one hand it reflects the ambition of ETTU to invest in the professional quality of our people by initiating support for their eagerness to learn. On the other hand it is a recognition of the quality of the applicants and of their leadership skills and ambitions. I wish Galia and Pierre a lot of pleasure success and good luck in this unique learning experience ” President KRAMER stated. Motivation to enhance personal leadership skills and enthusiasm to have a wider impact on the sport movement were at the heart of the applications. The call to implement the IOC Gender Equality Recommendations into action was warmly welcomed and the participants are eager to start the work in their own organisations. “I feel honoured to be accepted in the programme and am striving to create change. Improving leadership skills is of major value and I focus on achieving gender equality in our sport ” said ETTU Deputy Secretary General KASS. Chair of ETTU Athletes Commission share the same feeling. “I felt very happy and honored when I found out that I was accepted in the programme. I think it will be a good oportunity to learn and to improve my leadership skills always having in mind to apply this knowledge in our sport and helping the athletes ” said Galia DVORAK. Mentoring Champions sharing their wisdom One of the goals in the New Leaders programme is that no new leader is left without a support from an experienced mentor. Ms Daina GUDZINEVIČIŪTĖ newly awarded IOC Women and Sport World Trophy winner IOC Member Lithuania NOC President and EOC Executive Board member expressed her passion to become a mentor. “I am sure that the New Leaders Programme will help the participants to acquire knowledge develop skills and enhance self-confidence. I am very happy to join this project and as a mentor I will support participants and share my experience.” New Leaders is a legacy project of Ms Birgitta Kervinen 2017 IOC Women and Sport World Trophy Winner. The educational programme is a joint effort coordinated by the NOC of Finland together with the IOC EOC NOC of Lithuania NOC of Ireland and NOC of Azerbaijan. The programme encourages people to dream speak up and act as game changers shaping the future of sport. Topics of strategic leadership communications public speaking lobbying and conflict management will be viewed through the lenses of equality sustainability human rights and ethics. Participants will design concrete action plans on a personal and organisational level implementing the IOC Gender Equality Recommendations into action.
ETTU hopes warming up for World Championships in Melbourne
In the eve of the 2018 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Bendigo Australia all teams players and coaches well arrived to Melbourne. They will be the part of the ETTU WJC Preparation Camp (Melbourne 25th of November – 1st of December). “In total we have 29 players 16 from our Eurotalents U-17 project and 13 coaches. Three coaches are responsible for implementing the ETTU WJC Preparation Camp: Davit SARGSYAN Madalin IONASCU and me ” said ETTU Development Manager Neven CEGNAR. “ The rest of coaches are from France Romania Russia and Poland. Daily practice program is already in full swing in five sessions: Morning 2 sessions (8 30-13 15) Afternoon 2 sessions (14 30-19 15) Evening 1 session (20 30-21 30) “Here are also teams from USA Canada and Australia sharing the practice time with us. Everything is fine and we have great support from Loops Table Tennis Academy Simon GERADA and his staff ” stated CEGNAR.
TTC Sokah Hoboken in Round four
In Women’s ETTU Cup Tecnigen Linares beat Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa in full distance match to secure the place in the Fourth Round. TTC Kazan also repeated the result from the opening leg and overcame Hotel-Museo Patria Chica Priego TM in straight matches. ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly joined them after 3:0 victory over DT Roodt – Syre. Roxana Ana Maria ISTRATE Orawan PARANANG and Paula BUENO played for the winning Tecnigen Linares whilst Anna BLAZHKO Daria SHADRINA and Antonina SAVELYEVA represented Kazan in Spain. Galia DVORAK SUN Jiayi and TIAN Yuan led ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly to the next phase. In Men’s ETTU Cup Logis Auderghem TT suffered in Croatia against STK Starr Varaždin 2:3 but they won the opening leg 1:3 so they are safely through. Ludovic BIERNY beat Sorosh AMIRI NIA and Leon ŠANTEK. For three points for guests Leon ŠANTEK beat Niels VELDEKENS Ronald REĐEP overcame Jasper MERCKX and Sorosh defeated Niels VELDEKENS in the decisive match. Once again SK Vydrany lost against TTC Sokah Hoboken. Rajko GOMERS won both his encounters against Samuel NOVOTA and against Zoltan LELKES. Stefan PEKO beat Jeremy PETIOT and that was the only win for hosts. Laurens DEVOS overcame LELEKAS.
ECLW Round 5: First win for Saint Quentinois
French club caused upset against two-time ECLW champion: Linz AG Froschberg – Saint Quentinois 0:3 TT Saint Quentinois caused upset in the 2018/19 ECLW Round 5 as they beat away former two-time ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg 3:0. It was very first win for French club in Group C but however they need to play their decisive match in the upcoming Round 6 against Sporting Clube de Portugal. Polina MIKHAILOVA has recorded her first victory for Saint Quentinois but very important one. Russian player beat Karoline MISCHEK in straight games of the opener. Next two matches had two unexpected winners: Aurore LE MANSEC prevailed against Hong Kong’s SOO Wai Yam Minnie while promising Audrey ZARIF overcame upset Linda BERGSTROM. Both sides have played without their best ranked players: Sofia POLCANOVA (Linz actual world no. 15) and ZHANG Mo (Saint Quentinois world no. 23). Former Linz’s member ZHANG is currently playing at the 2018 Pan America Championships in Santiago Chile. ECLW Round 5 GROUP C Linz AG Froschberg – TT Saint Quentinois 0:3 Karoline MISCHEK – Polina MIKHAILOVA 0:3 (7:11 5:11 5:11) SOO Wai Yam Minnie – Aurore LE MANSEC 1:3 (10:12 9:11 11:8 5:11) Linda BERGSTROM – Audrey ZARIF 1:3 (16:14 9:11 4:11 7:11)
Coin flip for TV Lybrae Heerlen
For probably the first time in ETTU Cup history a match has been tied by individual matches games and points and therefore according to the ETTU’s regulations has been decided by lot the flip of a disc. Everyone at the match in Netherlands witnessed remarkable and unique event. ETTU Cup women Round 3 match (home and away) between TV Lybrae Heerlen and Fenerbahce Spor Kulubu concluded with leveled result 4-4 games 15-15 points 280-280! The referee Jos van de BERG was forced to do the coin flip to decide the winner: green for Lybrae Heerlen red for Fenerbahce Istanbul. Coin ended on green. So Lybrae Heerlen won coin flip. TTV Lybrae Heerlen lost against Fenerbahce Spor Kulubu 3:1 in the return leg. MEN Shuohan suffered in the opening game against Nadezhda BOGDANOVA. However after Rachel GERARDS faced same faith against Sibel ALTINKAYA and it was only experienced Elena TIMINA who scored for the hosts against Gulpembe OZKAYA “I play table tennis for more than 40 years but I never had to deal with a decision made by a draw. After almost five hours of playing in Istanbul and Heerlen there is no difference between both teams. I feel sorry for this unsatisfactory defeat for Istanbul but I am very happy to reach the 4th round in ETTU Cup. I returned to the Netherlands and I knew that LYBRAE Heerlen who are the champions of organizing events would be the best choice. It will be more and more difficult from now and Lille will be the big favorite team in the 4th Round. But we surprised in the 1st 2nd and 3rd Round so let’s see what we can do now ” said Timina.
Istres Tennis de Table and Fortune Kyiv justified their dominancy
In the return leg of the Round three of the Men’s ETTU Cup Fortune Kyiv and Istres Tennis de Table justified their supremacy in the opening leg and booked their places in the next phase in straight matches. Fortune Kyiv beat Turk Telekom Ankara Sport Club in Turkey. Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO Viktor YEFIMOV and Grigory VLASOV showed no mercy against Stanislav GOLOVANOV Irfan TAVUKÇUOĞLU and Mustafa Fahrettin EKMEKCI. Spanish Borges Vall also failed to post the victory in this round against Istres Tennis de Table. Paul GAUZY Samuel WALKER and Laurens TROMER lost only two games against Marc DURAN Oriol MONZO and Joan MASIP. By same margin like two weeks ago Cajasur Priego TM overcame Fenerbahce Sport Club. Mohamed EL BEIALI beat Alejandro CALVO and that was the only point for guests. HAN Qiyao overcame Afsin GÜL Carlos MACHADO beat Mesud FARAHMAND and HAN Quyao succeeded against EL BEIALI. Chartres ASTT overcame ASD Marcozzi Cagliari 3:1. They succeeded in opening leg as well. Romain LORENTZ Alexandre ROBINOT and Vincent PACARD overcame Makansuola KAZEEM John OYEBODE and Gabriele PICULIN. In Women’s Cup Moravsky Krumlov overcame Aquaestil Duga Resa. They lost their first encounter in Croatia 3:1 but today’s straight matches win launched them to next phase. Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA Mitsuki YOSHIDA and Kristýna MIKULCOVÁ overcame Marta VUKELIĆ Ana STEPINAC and Lana STEPINAĆ.
Easy wins for Arteal and CP Lyssois Lille
In the return leg of the Women’s ETTU Cup Arteal Tenis de Mesa and CP Lyssois Lille Métropole justifed their supremacy shown in two weeks earlier. Spanish and French clubs beat Austria’s TTC Villach and Sweden’s Sparvägen TTC again in straight matches. Arteal Tenis de Mesa played with Tatiana SANTOS Roxana IAMANDI and Raquel BONILLA GONZALEZ whilst Tamolwan KHETKHUAN YANG Xiao Xin and Agnes LE LANNIC were on duty for for CP Lyssois Lille Metropole. Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa suffered defeat in the return leg tonight but they are through to the next round in the Men’s ETTU Cup by better game ratio. Ping Pong Club Villeneuvois won in France by same result 3:1 as they lost two weeks ago but the game ratio is 17:16 in favor of Leka. Romain RUIZ gave hosts good start tonight but Hampus SODERLUND forced RUIZ to go full distance. Adrien MATTENET lost in straight games against Daniel KOSIBA before Stephane OUAICHE and RUIZ succeeded in next two matches. KOSIBA also stretched the fourth duel to full distance.
ECLW: Successful return of SHAN Xiaona
Round 5: Dr. CASL – Metz TT 3:1 Berlin – Clairefontaine 3:0 Reigning ECLW champion Dr. CASL from Croatia and four-time ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastside from Germany have concluded their group stage campaign with a perfect 4-0 record. Croatian side beat actual ETTU Cup Women champion Metz TT 3:1 while Berlin overcame Etival Clairefontaine ASRTT in straight matches. Romania’s rising star Adina DIACONU has upset current world no. 14 DOO Hoi Kem from Hong Kong after full five games of the opening encounter. Next three matches have belonged to the host team: FU Yu beat Carole GRUNDISCH LI Jie overcame Pauline CHASSELIN while DOO secured fourth season’s win to Dr. CASL against GRUNDISCH. SHAN Xiaona had a successful return to ECLW after giving birth winning her match in straight games against Clairefontaine’s Maria DOLGIKH. Berlin’s player has lost just 14 points in total. Georgina POTA and Nina MITTELHAM beat Camelia JACOB and SHAO Jieni respectively. ECLW Round 5 GROUP A Dr. CASL – Metz TT 3:1 DOO Hoi Kem – Adina DIACONU 2:3 (11:8 14:16 8:11 15:13 10:12) FU Yu – Carole GRUNDISCH 3:1 (12:10 11:8 9:11 11:8) LI Jie – Pauline CHASSELIN 3:0 (11:8 11:6 11:5) DOO Hoi Kem – Carole GRUNDISCH 3:0 (11:5 14:12 11:3) GROUP B TTC Berlin Eastside – Etival Clairefontaine ASRTT 3:0 Georgina POTA – Camelia JACOB 3:1 (11:9 11:6 10:12 11:3) Nina MITTELHAM – SHAO Jieni 3:0 (11:8 11:9 12:10) SHAN Xiaona – Maria DOLGIKH 3:0 (11:6 11:4 11:4)
Iveta VACENOVSKA causes big upset in Poland
ECLW Round 5: Tarnobrzeg – Mart Hodonin 1:3 Czech Republic’s SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex has booked its place in the 2018/19 ECLW quarter-finals as it beat away two-times ECLW runner-up and actual no. 2 seed KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg. Hodonin won 3:1 thanks to Iveta VACENOVSKA who created two upsets tonight (Nov 22) defeating two strong defensive players Viktoria PAVLOVICH and HAN Ying. Host side won the opening game as HAN overcame GUO Ruichen in straight games but Hodonin responded by three wins in a row. VACENOVSKA leveled the score by 3-0 win against former two-times European Championships gold medalist PAVLOVICH while ex-Tarnobrzeg’s Natalia PARTYKA upset 2015 ECH Women Single’s winner Elizabeta SAMARA. VACENOVSKA was faced with two match points of HAN Ying in the fourth encounter but managed to provide historic win for the club from her hometown Hodonin. It was first Tarnobrzeg’s defeat in the ongoing season. ECLW Round 5 Group D KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg – SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex 1:3 HAN Ying – GUO Ruichen 3:0 (11:8 11:5 11:3) Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Iveta VACENOVSKA 0:3 (6:11 9:11 4:11) Elizabeta SAMARA – Natalia PARTYKA 1:3 (11:6 11:13 14:16 4:11) HAN Ying – Iveta VACENOVSKA 2:3 (11:6 8:11 8:11 11:6 11:13)
ECLW R5: Different approach of Berlin and Saint-Quentin
Irina PALINA and Jean-Louis POLARD speak about upcoming matches of their teams ECLW Round 5 has been opened tonight November 22nd by game held in Poland between Tarnobrzeg and Mart Hodonin while three more matches are scheduled for Friday (Nov 23) and Sunday (Nov 25). Coach of the four-times ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastside Irina PALINA hopes that her side is able to continue its winning streak in Group B playing against Clairefontaine: “The minimum goal of a match is to win one match and get the first number to the final stage. The maximum challenge is to win with a good score with a good level of Nina MITTELHAM‘s game to “warm up“ SHAN Xiaona after baby pause. And I hope in the company of Gina (POTA) girls realize all our plans” TT Saint-Quentin team manager Jean-Louis POLARD explained about forthcoming clash against Linz AG Froschberg that his side “has no real chance in Austria”: “The last away match in Linz is far less important than the last home match scheduled on November 30th versus Sporting Clube de Portugal. Whatever the result will be in Austria the crucial battle will be against Lisbon. So the French players are more relaxed to play away and will try to do their best against the already qualified Austrian team. Our girls lost 3:1 in Saint-Quentin and they aim to do at least as well in Linz.”
