The International Table Tennis (ITTF) has been recognised for its ground-breaking innovation in brand activation and digital marketing as the 2018 ITTF TATA Trickshot Challenge sits among the finalists for Best Brand Activation Involving Sport at the Sports Business Awards 2019. In the lead up to the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Halmstad Sweden the ITTF launched the 2018 TATA Trickshot Challenge as a sponsorship activation for one of the major sponsors at the World Championships: TATA Wooden Door a Chinese wooden door brand based in China. The goal of the campaign was to create brand awareness for TATA and its products as well as promote the World Championships through fan engagement posts across the ITTF’s social media channels: Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube and Weibo. The main challenge faced by the team was how to tell a compelling story about TATA’s products using table tennis which also integrated with the World Championships event the players as well as TATA’s factory whilst also delivering unmistakably engaging content. To successfully encapsulate all of these elements the idea of the trickshot was born. To its advantage trickshots and other stunning table tennis shots were already performing well on the ITTF’s social media channels. To this day the exceptional skill on show from professional table tennis players continues to catch the eye of ITTF followers and social media users across the world. Therefore the 2018 TATA Trickshot Challenge was introduced to create potentially viral trickshot videos using miniature TATA doors with the end goal of engaging fans and raising awareness simultaneously for the TATA brand and the World Championships. Part 1 of the campaign saw two world-renowned table tennis stars – Olympic Champion Liu Guoliang and Singapore’s top player Feng Tianwei – film a series of challenging trickshots at the TATA Wooden Door’s factory in China with videos released in the lead up to the World Championships. Part 2 took place at the World Championships in Halmstad where top table tennis teams were challenged to complete trickshots using the TATA miniature doors on each day of the event. The video series was a big success for both the ITTF and TATA generating a real buzz among TATA customers on the ITTF’s social media channels and on TATA’s digital platforms in China. Additionally the campaign resulted in plenty of user-generated content with fans sending in their attempts of the trickshot challenges on social media using the hashtag #TATATrickshot. Given its success the ITTF will be launching a new TATA Trickshot series around the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships held between 21-28 April in Budapest Hungary. Always innovating the latest campaign involves a different format and protagonists compared to the previous series. Stay tuned on the ITTF’s social media channels so you don’t miss a trick! ITTF & Sports Business Awards 2019 The International Table Tennis Federation has been nominated among the finalists for a number of category prizes at the Sports Business Awards 2019: Best Brand Activation Involving Sport – 2018 ITTF TATA Trickshot Challenge Best Sports Governing Body Initiative – ITTF Foundation Best Sports Event of the Year – World Table Tennis Day Best Club CSR or Community Scheme – Buenos Aires – Tokyo; bridging the Olympic Games / Dream Building with Refugees The Sports Business Awards were conceived in 2017 to celebrate the hard work and successes of individuals and teams who make all sporting success possible; the organisers the suppliers the designers the administrators the advisors the technologists the marketers and the companies who ensure that the business of sport in all its various and myriad forms happens successfully. Quick Links: 2018 ITTF TATA Trickshot Challenge Sports Business Awards 2019 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships ITTF Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Weibo
ETTU Development camp underway in Luxembourg
ETTU Hopes Selection Camp is underway in Luxembourg. Tradicionaly good conditions attracted a lot of participants. This time the rekord is broke with 41 players (20 girls and 21 boys) born on 2007/2008 and 2009/2010. There are players from 15 countries working under guidence of 19 coaches. Also there are six players from China helping with sparing. Martin OSTERMANN and XIA Cheng from Luxembourg TTA are in charge with organisation alsongside four coaches from China: CHEN Bin LIU Jia Yi WANG Yan and ZHENG Chaoying. Six best rated players three boys and three girls will be nominated for the ITTF Hopes Week and Challenge and for Final Eurotalents Selection Camp in Slovenia’s Otocec in October.
ETTU – ITTF Women Coaches Seminar 2019
The European Table Tennis Union in cooperation with the Slovak Table Tennis Association invites all European female coaches to the ETTU Women Coaches Seminar which will be held in Bratislava Slovak Republic from 6th to 8th June 2019. ETTU Women Coaches Seminar is part of the ITTF/ ETTU Development Program and it is primarily intended for all European female coaches but female coaches from other continents are welcome too. Topics/Program „Coaching of young table tennis players“ / „Major Technical Mistakes (Early Detection and Correction Methods)“ – Jaroslaw KOLODZIEJCZYK (AUT) – Thursday 6th June 16:00 – 19:30 – Friday 7th June 09:00 – 12:30 „Footwork learning methods with young table tennis players“ – Lara BROICH (GER) – Friday 7th June 15:30 – 19:00 – Saturday 8th June 09:00 – 12:30 Lecturers: Jaroslaw KOLODZIEJCZYK (AUT) – Austrian National Coach U-18 Lara BROICH (GER) – German National Coach Cadet Girls Entry to be sent to: Eva ODOROVA – SVK TTA Sports Director (sstz1@sstz.sk) with copy to: Zita PIDL – ETTU Project Consultant (zpidl.ettu@gmail.com) Possible questions please address to: visa and organization – SVK TTA Branislav KALUZNY (marketing@sstz.sk) and Eva ODOROVA (sstz1@sstz.sk) technical issues – Neven CEGNAR ETTU (ncegnar@gmail.com) administration – Zita PIDL ETTU (zpidl.ettu@gmail.com)
World Table Tennis Day 2019 celebrations a resounding success
A record-breaking 862 registered events in 104 countries World Table Tennis Day 2019 truly lived up to its billing as a global celebration of sport in society. In its fifth edition the annual event held on 6 April centres around bringing people together from all corners of the world to promote social inclusion through table tennis in accordance with the vision of the award-winning programme TT4ALL. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the ITTF Foundation together with Slum Ping Pong staged this year’s flagship event in Kampala Uganda using the sport to break barriers and develop positive messages on children’s girls’ and women’s rights. Slum Ping Pong which was also chosen among the projects to receive support from the ITTF Foundation via the TT Dream Building Fund runs a table tennis club with over 100 children attending regularly. From the capital to the countryside celebrations extended across to the Uganda’s Western rural district of Hoima in tandem with the Hoima Network of Child Rights Clubs (HONECRIC) whose project is aimed at developing technical and life skills for children and youth. Reaching out to approximately 8 000 kids in 70 schools across the region the project is aimed at reducing early school dropout rates and encouraging the inclusion of children with and without disabilities through table tennis. “The children love table tennis. They play it while saying out loud what they want to be when they grow up. This helps to foster discipline and determination ” said Lloyd Birungi HONECRIC Project Officer Following the motto “Nothing is impossible for those who believe” Ibrahim Hamadtou the Para Table Tennis champion and renowned Egyptian athlete who plays without hands played an integral role in the site visits across Uganda rallying with young people at the table tennis tables and encouraging them to pursue their dreams!
Ruthless Dr. CASL reaches final in Croatia
National Championships Reigning ECLW champion Dr. CASL once again will play in the final of National Championships of Croatia (HEP Superliga) as they beat TIS 4:0 in the return leg of the semi-finals. Zagreb’s side enters ultimate stage after two 4:0 wins and 24:0 set-ratio in both legs. Each of four encounters in the second semi-final clash has been decided in straight games: FU Yu vs. ARAPOVIC NI Xia Lian vs. CAKOL DURAK vs. JAZBEC and FU/NI – CAKOL/JAZBEC. Actual both ECLW and Croatian champion is going to play against Varazdin in the 2018/19 HEP Superliga final. Dr. CASL will defend ECLW crown next month May 3-11 against actual runner-up KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg.
Tarnobrzeg once again in the national final
Women’s National Championships of Poland Actual ECLW runner-up and 2018/19 ECLW finalist (May 3-11) KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg booked its place in the final of the National Championships of Poland as it beat twice GLKS Scania Nadarzyn. Tarnobrzeg won second semi-final clash in straight games in spite of playing without two strong defenders HAN Ying and LI Qian. All three encounters took three sets each: Viktoria PAVLOVICH vs – Paulina KRZYSEK Elizabeta SAMARA vs. Klaudia KUSINSKA and Kinga STEFANSKA vs. – Katarzyna SLIFIRZCYK. Tonight April 6th Tarnobrzeg will find out the name of its opponent in the 2018/19 final. Polish champion two-time ECLW runner-up are going to play for ECLW crown next month against reigning champion Dr. CASL from Croatia.
Silver pair from Doha on opposite sides in Bundesliga
The 2018/19 Bundesliga semi-finals Borussia Dusseldorf faces another hard task after 2018/19 TTCLM semi-finals where they were eliminated by Russian club UMMC. The 30-time champion of Germany will play against Saarbrucken in the second leg of the 2018/19 Bundesliga semis scheduled for tomorrow Friday April 5th. Saarbrucken beat reigning champion 3:2 in the first game held in Dusseldorf thanks to Patrick FRANZISKA who beat both Timo BOLL and Sharath Kamal ACHANTA. “For us it’s like a final in April. Saarbrücken made a big step towards the finals. Patrick FRANZISKA is currently in top shape and hard to beat. They also have a top doubles” explained manager Andreas PREUSS how strong is Saarbrucken. Timo BOLL (Borussia) and Patrick FRANZISKA (Saarbrucken) won Men’s Doubles silver at the recent 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open but tomorrow they will play one against another. Manager of Borussia Dusseldorf Andreas PREUSS stressed that all players of his side are well prepared for the upcoming clash and the only question is who will play as no. 3 Anton KALLBERG or Omar ASSAR. Coach Danny HEISTER promised that his players are going to fight like lions to provide third semi-final clash on April 14th in Dusseldorf. Other two semi-finalists are TTF Liebher Ochsenhausen and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. Hugo CALDERANO was man of the match in the first leg contributing with two points in 3:1 win of Ochsenhausen.
Third stage of tickets sale for Minsk starts in May
European Games The 2019 European Games will be held in Minsk Belarus from 21st to 30th June 2019 and feature 15 sports including table tennis. Table Tennis will be played from Saturday 22nd to Saturday 29th June. 3 events will be played: teams singles and mixed doubles. In the team event 12 men’s and 12 women’s team will participate: the best 11 teams according to the Special Team Ranking List as of 1 December 2018 and Belarus as the Home Association. Residents of any country in the world can arrange tickets for the main multisport event of 2019 in Europe through the website https://www.en.minsk2019.ticketpro.by/ and through official resellers in Europe. In Russia tickets can be bought through the website of the official ticket agent www.ponominalu.ru. There is the access to the sale system through the platform minsk2019.by either. Tickets’ sale takes place in three stages.The third stage will begin in May 2019 after the final approval of television platforms. The total number of seats in the stands during the II European Games will be 381 thousands with the possibility of increasing them to 535 thousands depending on the demand and popularity of the sport. The total number of sessions for which tickets will be sold is 120. Tickets of several categories have been developed: Standard VIP for the Opening Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony. The cost of tickets for table tennis competitions is from 10(5$)to 40(20$)BLR rubles. In March the sale of tickets for people with additional needs started. It is planned to sell about 3 thousands tickets for designated places.The Directorate has planned several categories of seats for people with disabilities. So on special platforms that are equipped as a part of the modernization of sports facilities for the Games places will be allocated for people in wheelchairs and their accompanying persons. Another category of places is designed for sports enthusiasts with sight disabilities.These places will be located as close as possible to the competition zones. For fans with disorders of the musculoskeletal system there are places as close as possible to the aisles.The price of tickets for people with additional needs will be 10% of the nominal value. As the organizers of the Games expect this factor will allow the largest number of sports fans of this social group to visit the multisportforum. The procedure of purchasing tickets by people with additional needs is protected from unfair actions of third parties. In particular a two-step application form is provided. The first step is to register it on the website of the official ticket operator of the II European Games – https://www.en.ticketpro.by/ specifying personal information contact details as well as sports events of interest. Then within 48 hours the fan will be contacted by mobile phone or email. In this case the reservation is confirmed and the date of the visit to the cash desk is agreed upon for the personal purchase of the ticket. To make a purchase a fan will need to carry with him the original passport and the original identity card of the disabled person. Tickets can be redeemed both in advance and on the day of the competition at the ticket office located in the immediate vicinity of the sports facility. Entertainment programs food courts and photo zones are organized on all sports facilities of the Games. There will also be a wide selection of souvenirs including toys in the form of the mascot of Lesik the Fox. Note that tickets to the II European Games 2019 automatically become a visa for foreign fans. Minsk European Games
PITCHFORD and SZOCS climb up to their highest position ever
ITTF World Rankings April 2019 England’s Liam PITCHFORD has moved two places up in the latest ITTF Men’s World Rankings to occupy his highest place so far no. 15. He also became the best placed player from his country surpassing Chester BARNES Denis NEALE and Ernie BUBLEY who all were world no. 16. Timo BOLL of Germany continues as the best ranked European player keeping no. 5 followed by his compatriot Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (no. 12) Liam PITCHFORD (no. 15) Sweden’s Mattias FALCK (no. 16) Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA (no. 18) Belarus Vladimir SAMSONOV (no. 19)… Slovenian rising star Darko JORGIC jumped 13 places up from no. 54 to no. 41. World Top 4 places are unchanged and belong to three China’s players FAN Zhendong (no. 1) XU Xin (no. 2) and Lin GAOYUAN (no. 3) and Japan ’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO (no. 4). Regarding Women’s rankings Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS also reached her best ever spot no. 17 (4 places up) and became highest placed European player followed by Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA (no. 19) Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA (no. 21) Germany’s Petrissa SOLJA (no. 23) Netherlands’ LI Jie (no. 27) Sweden’s Matilda EKHOLM (no. 30)… China’s DING Ning remains world no. 1 followed by her four compatriots ZHU Yuling CHEN Meng WANG Manyu and LIU Shiwen.
The Dragon is breathing fire once again
Cometh the hour. Cometh the man. Or should we say superman? Arguably the greatest player ever to grace the sport of table tennis Ma Long completed his stunning return from a seven-month knee injury nightmare with silverware on Sunday. If that wasn’t remarkable enough his victory at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open also saw the Chinese superstar rewrite the record books equalling the 27 ITTF World Tour titles attained by Belarusian legend Vladimir Samsonov. Furthermore today’s victory in Doha comes exactly three weeks before the World Table Tennis Championships kick off in Budapest the sport’s main event of the year which everyone had thought Ma Long would be missing. Doubts even surrounded his participation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Not anymore. Ma Long is back in business and how! Nicknamed ‘The Dictator’ and ‘The Dragon’ for his ruthless natural-born winning ability Ma Long showed that he has not lost an ounce of his champion class quality and competitiveness. In Qatar he truly was the ‘Comeback King’ and not only for returning from seven lonely months out in the wilderness. THE DRAGON DICTATES IN DOHA In the final itself Ma Long had to haul himself back from two games down against fellow Chinese star and second seed Lin Gaoyuan who looked on course to ruin the Dictator’s dream return to the international stage. Give up hope Ma Long certainly did not. The 30-year-old reigning World and Olympic Champion called upon all of his big-match experience to stage an inspirational fightback winning four consecutive games to complete a victory that meant so much. “In the context of my longstanding injury to come back the way I have done this is the happiest ITTF World Tour title victory of my career. Winning here provides the perfect boost ahead of next month’s World Championships and of course aids my long-term preparations for next year’s Olympic Games.” Ma Long. Following confidence-boosting 4-0 wins over Timo Boll (GER) and Jun Mizutani (JPN) the Dictator overcame his two highest-ranked compatriots Xu Xin and Lin Gaoyuan each by the 4-2 scoreline. Indeed Ma Long’s story in Qatar has been about raising the intensity when it matters most a characteristic of all true champions. His final flourish provided a fitting ending to proceedings in Doha and the perfect launchpad for preparations ahead of the World Championships which will take place between 21-28 April in Budapest. REVENGE FOR WANG MANYU The Women’s Singles final was a repeat of last year’s match-up as Wang Manyu once again went head to head with Liu Shiwen; only this time there would be a role reversal in terms of result. Coming into the contest off the back of an imperious 4-0 victory over top seed and World no. 1 Ding Ning in Sunday morning’s semi-final Wang Manyu cut the figure of a woman on a serious mission here in Doha. It was mission complete later in the afternoon as the 20-year-old rising star defeated the reigning Qatar Open champion Liu Shiwen. 4-2 was the final score and in all honesty the trophy always looked like ending in the embrace of a delighted Wang Manyu who had this to say after the final: “This win gives me a big confidence boost ahead of the World Championships. It proves to me that I have been working in the right way in recent weeks and months while I still have some time to tweak other aspects of my game before heading to Budapest.” Wang Manyu DRAMATIC DOUBLES FINALS The Mixed Doubles final was a stunning show of free-flowing table tennis. Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin (CHN) rose highest to the occasion seeing off Mima Ito and Masataka Morizono (JPN) in three straight games to clinch gold. The Men’s Doubles final was a hard-fought affair. Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska (GER) made it tough for Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting (HKG) levelling the scores at 1-1 but the experienced pair then pushed on to win 3-1 and bring the gold medals to Hong Kong. An all-Chinese showdown in the Women’s Doubles final saw Ding Ning and Wang Yidi take the match to a fifth game but Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu managed to get over the line and leave the court as champions. SPECIAL MENTIONS GO TO… Naturally all beaten finalists played key roles in the dramatic narrative to unfold in Doha over the past six days. Lin Gaoyuan came ever so close to adding to his ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open title earlier this year the ‘Dark Knight’ edging arguably the most epic match of this year’s Qatar Open: Saturday night’s marathon semi-final against Mattias Falck (SWE) which finished 4-3. Falck’s breath-taking battling performances provided Europe’s brightest light not least after the 12thseed defeated last year’s ITTF World Tour Grand Finals champion Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) in the quarter-finals. In the women’s draw Liu Shiwen played comfortably her best table tennis in nearly a year to reach the final while beaten semi-finalist Sun Yingsha (CHN) leaves Qatar with plenty more credit added to her burgeoning reputation following her selection for the World Championships off the back of stunning displays at the Chinese ‘Marvellous 12’ qualification tournament. NEXT STOP: BUDAPEST The biggest event in the international table tennis calendar will kick off in three weeks’ time as the world’s greatest stars gather in the Hungarian capital to battle for the sport’s major prizes. Until then stay up to date on all news and build-up on ITTF.com and the ITTF’s social media channels: Facebook Instagram Twitter Weibo Youtube LinkedIn. QUICK LINKS: 2019 Qatar Open Results Highlights Live Blog Photos Quotes 2019 World Championships
