BUTTERFLY Under 21 European Championships The reigning champion from Minsk 2018 Maria TAILAKOVA of Russia seeded no. 3 in Gondomar exited from the Singles Event at the BUTTERFLY Under 21 European Championships after only two rounds of the Second stage. TAILAKOVA was free on the opening day of the competition and today she lost first match of second stage against Nadezhda BOGDANOVA of Belarus seeded at position no. 19. On second return to the table seeded at the position no. 30 Christina KALLBERG of Sweden sealed TAILAKOVA’s faith. Last match Franziska SCHREINER of Germany won without the fight. TAILAKOVA suffered from injury and withdrawn. Player who created biggest upset KALLBERG was excited after the victory. “I am shaking now ” admitted Christina after the victory over TAILAKOVA.” I had two really good wins today against good player from Germany and TAILAKOVA. Against Russia’s player I was two games down before I leveled to win. It was very hard match. However in both duels it was important that I kept my focus clear and had cold head.” In the last round in the Group Nadezhda BOGDANOVA beat KALLBERG but both players progressed to the Round of 16 after long and firce seven games duel for first position in the group. Adina DIACONU of Romania showed no mercy today. She overcame Lisa LUNG of Belgium Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia and Raquel MARTINS of Portugal in superb style. “I was not happy with the way I was playing yesterday but today everything came together ” said DIACONU who suffered unexpected first round exit last year in Minsk. Lisa LUNG is second with two victories. In Group A Sophia KLEE of Germany ranked only at the position no. 49 at the seedings recorded all three victories in the Group and clinched top position. To the Round of 16 she progressed by beating the top seeded Valeria SCHERBATYKH of Russia Oceane GUISNEL of France and Ozge YILMAZ of Turkey. GUISNEL joined her with two victories. Audrey ZARIF of France justified her rankings and finished first in Group D. Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania is second. To the Top 16 also progressed Marie MIGOT of France Maria MALANINA of Russia Daria TRIGOLOS of Belarus Leonie HARTBRICH of Hungary Tin Tin HO of England Karoline MISCHEK of Austria Tania PLAIAN of Romania and Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia. The Women’s Doubles Event continues tomorrow with the top seeds entering the scene. Belgium’s Lisa LUNG and Margo DEGRAEF will meet Germany’s Sophia KLEE and Anastasia BOPNDAREVA whilst on the lower half of the draw Romania’s Adina DIACONU and Andreea DRAGOMAN will play against Airi AVEMERI of Estonia and Julia SLAZAK of Poland. Watch LIVE 2019 #U21Euro Table 1 https://bitly.su/opxsH Table 2 https://bitly.su/VAPd Follow results here
ECLW semis: Berlin vs. Dr. CASL Linz vs. Tarnobrzeg
First semi-final leg of 2018/19 ECLW will be held this Friday (March 8) and Sunday (March 10) Three ECLW champions – one actual (Dr. CASL) and two with six titles between them (Berlin and Linz) as well as one ECLW runner-up (Tarnobrzeg) will be involved in the upcoming semi-finals of the 2018/19 European Champions League Women: TTC Berlin Eastside – Dr. CASL (March 8th Friday 18:00 CET) Linz AG Froschberg – KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg (March 10th 15:00 CET). First out of two semi-finals is scheduled for March 8th in Berlin where four-time ECLW winner hosts reigning ECLW champion Dr. CASL. German side managed to survive in the quarter-finals in spite of losing first leg 3:1 against Czech Republic team Hodonin. Nina MITTELHAM won crucial point as she beat GUO Ruichen. The 22-year-old confirmed her good shape at the German National Championships winning her very first title. “Of course we are very happy with our in this situation unexpected 3:0 victory against Hodonin. The fantastic concentration of girls and their desire made almost impossible. And of course Nina (MITTELHAM) was the “cherry on the cake” with her winnings of the last match. We have a very difficult opponent for semi-final match they are favourites but ‘nothing is impossible’…” stated Berlin’s coach Irina PALINA. President of Croatian club Martin-Tino CASL expects very exciting first leg: “We are looking forward playing in Berlin as it will be the clash between two world class teams: actual ECLW winner against four-time champions! Real table tennis spectacle! There are no secrets between players of both sides as they use to play one against another at the international tournaments. Hence should not be any uncertainty in terms of knowing each other.” 2018/19 ECLW semi-finals Leg 1 TTC Berlin Eastside – Dr. CASL (March 8th Friday 18:00 CET) Linz AG Froschberg – KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg (March 10th 15:00 CET)
UMMC beats reigning TTCLM champion
The 2018/19 TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1: UMMC – Borussia Dusseldorf 3:1. KUTERGINA: “My big gratitude to GROTH who managed to beat BOLL” The 2012 TTCLM runner-up UMMC provided big advantage in the first semi-final leg as they beat at home reigning champion 11-time TTCLM winner Borussia Dusseldorf 3:1. FANG Bo won both his games while Timo BOLL suffered two defeats from Chinese player and Denmark’s Jonathan GROTH. “Obviously we didn’t expect such a big victory as we faced the hardest possible opponent” stated UMMC coach Tatiana KURETGINA speaking after the clash. “I just want to express my big gratitude to Jonathan GROTH who managed to beat Timo BOLL. It was for sure his best performance in our team. Regarding FANG Bo my compliments to him for being able to reverse the score from 0-2 to 3-2 against Timo BOLL. All our players showed strong team spirit and provided me the best possible present for the March 8th (Women’s Day). I would thank as well to our fans for their huge support.” FANG Bo former World Top 10 player overcame Anton KALLBERG in straight games of the opener. GROTH lifted up his side to 2-0 as he prevailed against BOLL in four close sets. In that moment German side was in very hard situation and their chances for the second leg depended of Kristian KARLSSON. Sweden’s player beat Alexander SHIBAEV to set the clash between two biggest stars: FANG Bo vs. Timo BOLL. Recently crowned 13-time German champion BOLL won first two sets but FANG responded by three games in a row to secure big victory for Russian club. “We expected hard game though Timo BOLL had a chance to turn the game in the different direction. But it was very hard to fight against FANG Bo this time. We lost first leg 3:1 but we’ll give everything in the second match in Dusseldorf to make success but now UMMC has better chances to progress in the final” explained Borussia’s coach Danny HEISTER TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1 UMMC – Borussia Dusseldorf 3:1 FANG Bo – Anton KALLBERG 3:0 (11:5 11:8 11:2) Jonathan GROTH – Timo BOLL 3:1 (12:10 12:10 9:11 12:10) Alexander SHIBAEV – Kristian KARLSSON 1:3 (6:11 11:9 9:11 9:11) FANG Bo – Timo BOLL 3:2 (11:13 7:11 11:4 11:6 11:4)
Patience paid of for Filip RADOVIC
Butterfly Under 21 European Championships In Men’s Event at the BUTTERFLY Under 21 European Championships in Portugal’s Gondomar favorites were not safe from upsets. There are only few opportunities for young players to play at U21 Events so the rankings do not give the real picture as their positions predicted. Most of the players who received wild cards and played as the last seeds in their groups progressed to the second stage of the event. European junior champion Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece was among them. Seeded only at he position three in Group one he booked second position and progressed to next group stage. Maciej KUBIK of Poland is at position no. one whilst top seeded Nils HOHMEIER of Germany failed to go through. Andrei PUTUNTICA of Moldavia won both his matches and he is safely through with Samuel KULCZYCKI of Poland. Denis IVONIN of Russia and Daniele PINTO of Italy in group 3 and Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia and Peter HRIBAR of Slovenia in Group 4 also preserved standing order. Artur ABUSEV of Russia joined them from group 5 but surprisingly Aviv BEN ARI of Israel failed to do the same. In the direct clash for second position Filip RADOVIC of Montenegro prevailed. “I never played against BEN ARI before but I kept my head cold and I had a lot of patience. That was the crucial thing for all three matches today. My game was good in two opening matches but it was not at the best level against Aviv. However it proved that good service and patience can be sufficient for win ” said RADOVIC. Tomasz KOTOWSKI of Poland and Patrik KLOS of Czech Republic moved to second styage from Group 6 but in Group 7 Medardas STANKEVICIUS of Lithuania upset the rankings order. From the position no. 4 he booked the top place. Thibaut DARCIS of Belgium finished second. Tomas POLOANSKI of Czech Republic and Alexandre MANOLE of Romania fought fot the top position in group 8. Undefeated POLANSKI concluded the day at the top of he standings. “Although Patric JUHASZ was the last in our Group my opening match against him was toughest for me today. I was three games up then he won two next games and put me under severe pressure. In sixth game I prevailed by narrow margin 14:12. Next two matches supposed to be harder but it was opposite. I felt good especially against MANOLE ” said POLANSKI. Luka MLADENOVIC of Luxembourg win group 9 whilst Uladzislau RUKLIATSOU of Belarus is second. Further Antonino AMATO of Italy Mathan SIMON of hIzrael Laurens DEVOS of Belgium Gerrit ENGEMANN of Germany Vladislav URSU of Moldova and Simon SODERLUND of Sweden booked their places in tomorrows stage 2. Watch LIVE 2019 #U21Euro Table 1 https://bitly.su/opxsH Table 2 https://bitly.su/VAPd Follow results here
Raquel MARTINS shines in front of home crowd in Gondomar
Butterfly Under 21 European Championships There were a lot of upsets in the opening rounds of the Women’s Singles Event but after first day of the competition at the BUTTERFLY Under 21 European Championships hosts can look forward second stage. Raquel MARTINS of Portugal received wild card to be present; seeded only at the position no. four in her qualifying group she beat the odds and finished second. MARTINS qualified for the second group stage in Gondomar tomorrow. MARTINS overcame Sarah MEYER of Luxembourg and Aleksandra VOVK of Slovenia. Hungary’s Leonie HARTBRICH was the only player to stop her but not before Raquel was 2:0 up. HARTBRICH recovered to win that match and concluded the day with all three wins at the position no. 1. “It is so good to play in your home town. This is the venue where I play every week and I feel comfortable playing here. I did not have enough points to be qualified for the Championships but I was confident and I gave my best. I am proud to have a chance to represent my country ” said MARTINS who clinched the medal last weekend at Portugal’s Nationals in team’s event. In Group one Oceane GUISNEL of France justified her position and finished at the top but not with the clear record. She suffered by the hand of Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland. Polish player seeded at position no. two however failed to justify her status she finished third after defeat against Maria YOVKOVA. Bulgaria’s player is second and she qualified for next round with Oceane. Maria MALANINA of Russia is yet to lose the game in the Championships. After three matches but Germany’s Franziska. SCHREINER beat the odds. From position no. 4 she cleared her way to the second stage. In the process she overcame Poland’s Anna WEGRZAYN – 4:3. Julia SLAZAK of Poland progressed to the next stage from position no. 2 in Group 3 but Anastasia BONDAREVA of Germany was in spotlight. She booked second position with two 4:3 wins against Fillipa BERGAND of Sweden and Rebekka CARLSEN on Norway and one 3:4 defeat. SLAZAK who lost against Filippa was the only player to overcame BONDAREVA. Christina KALLBERG of Sweden recorded all three wins. “I had rough time against Marta VUKELIC of Croatia in the opening round. Surprisingly match against top seeded MISCHEK was much easier than it was expected. I played tactically very good and beat her in straight games. Everything was easier after morning win ” said KALLBERG. Karoline MISCHEK of Austria finished second. Marketa SEVCIKOVA of Czech Republic and Erika FRONT of Norway will join her tomorrow in second stage. Also safely through are Adina DIACONU Andreea DRAGOMAN and Tania PLAIAN of Romania Sophia KLEE of Germany Margo DEGRAEF of Belgium Ozge YILMAZ of Turkey Andrea PAVLOVIC of Croatia Airi AVAMERI of Estonia Nadezhda BOGDANOVA of Belarus Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia Tin Tin HO of England and Jamila LAURENTI of Italy. Watch LIVE 2019 #U21Euro Table 1 https://bitly.su/opxsH Table 2 https://bitly.su/VAPd Follow results here
LUNDQVIST: We are really looking forward to this challenge ENDOLOV: We believe in the victory of our team
TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1: Angers – Orenburg (March 8th 19:00 CET) French club Vaillante Sports Angers is going to play against four-time TTCLM winner Fakel Gazprom Orenburg in the first semi-final leg this Friday March 8th (19:00 CET). Angers already repeated its best TTCLM achievement securing its place among the best four teams while Russian club targets its eight TTCLM finals in last nine years. “We are really looking forward to this challenge! Of course Orenburg are huge favorite but we will try to use our big home crowd to reach a good result in the first leg. It will be the highlight of the season for us and we hope to give Orenburg a fight for the final spot” stated Angers player Jens LUNDQVIST. Coach of Fakel Gazprom Vladimir ENDOLOV emphasizes that his side is ready for the fight against another French club: “The second quarter-final leg with the French club AS Pontoise Cergy TT in Orenburg was held in a tense and interesting struggle but under the dictation of our team. Confident and powerful table tennis which demonstrated OVTCHAROV and SAMSONOV brought the club the planned victory. Our opponent in the semi-finals is another French club VS Angers TT. It is a very strong team with high-level table tennis players. All our players had very serious preparation for the upcoming matches. We believe in the victory of our team and will do everything to reach the finals of the European Champions League.” 2018/19 TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1 UMMC – Borussia Dusseldorf (Thursday March 7th 15:00 CET)Vaillante Sports Angers – Fakel Gazprom Orenburg (Friday March 8th 19:00 CET)
U 13 Development Camp in Ostrava
Ostrava in Czech Republic hosts first U13 Development Camp this year. 15 players from Lithuania Turkey Slovakia Czech Republic Spain Hungary Sweden Belgium Netherlands and Italy work in perfect conditions provided by the hosts. Coaches KORBEL DEMEK VACENOVSKA as well as PISKOR who is in charge for fitness work with the players who are qualified for the Eurotalents program.
The 2018 finalists among Top 3 names at the seeding list
2019 BUTTERFLY European U21 Championships Gondomar Portugal 7-10 March – Women’s Singles Preview Two Russian players Valeria SHCHERBATYKH and Maria TAILAKOVA are listed as no. 1 and no. 3 respectively at the Women’s Singles seeding list of the 2019 BUTTERFLY European U21 Championships. They fought in the gold medal contest of the 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships as TAILAKOVA won gold in straight games. The 2019 championships commences tomorrow March 7th in the Portugal city of Gondomar European City of Sports in 2017 the host of the 2016 European Top 16 Cup. Regarding Women’s Singles participants 56 players in total will compete in at the place where Portugal’s national champions have been crowned last weekend. Top 8 seeded players will go directly to Stage 2 and they are following: 1 Valeria SHCHERBATYKH (RUS) 2 Lisa LUNG (BEL) 3 Maria TAILAKOVA (RUS) 4 Audrey ZARIF (FRA) 5 Marie MIGOT (FRA) 6 Daria TRIGOLOS (BLR) 7 ZHANG Xuan (ESP) and 8 Tatiana KUKULKOVA (SVK). Reigning European U21 champion TAILAKOVA had several successes at the international stage since their cadet gold medal at the 2015 European Youth Championships. Russian talent and Lisa LUNG were semi-finalists at the 2017 STAG European U21 Championships Sochi Russia. Current no. 2 seed in Gondomar Lisa LUNG of Belgium was 2014 EYCH runner-up of the Cadet Girls event the success that has been reserved before (twice – 2012 2013) for the actual no. 5 seed in Gondomar Marie MIGOT of France. Beside Top 8 names there are several rising stars who proved their talent on the international stage. Like no. 15 seed Adina DIACONU (ROU) multiple gold medallist from European Youth Championships and two her teammates from Romanian National Team no.18 Andreea DRAGOMAN (ROU) and no. 53 Tania PLAINAN (ROU) the runner-up of the 2018 European Youth Championships. DRAGOMAN and PLANIAN finished second and third respectively at the 2018 European Youth Top 10 in the Portugal city of Vila Real. Two years ago at the inaugural 2017 STAG European U21 Championships Sochi Russia Chantal MANTZ clinched the crown in Women’s Singles Event as she overcame team-mate and club-mate WAN Yuan in six games. Lisa LUNG of Belgium and Maria TAILAKOVA of Russia were semi-finalists. Last year’s 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships saw Maria TAILAKOVA’s victory against her compatriot Valeria SHCHERBATYKH in straight games of the gold medal contest. Natalia BAJOR (POL) and Anastasia KOLISH (RUS) were semi-finalists.
Gondomar hosts rising stars: LEVENKO tops seeding list
2019 BUTTERFLY European U21 Championships Gondomar Portugal 7-10 March – Men’s Singles Preview Portugal city of Gondomar – European City of Sports in 2017 – already established itself as the excellent host of one huge table tennis event like it was during the 2016 European Top 16 Cup (Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and SHEN Yanfei won gold) while now it will see the 2019 BUTTERFLY European U21 Championships to be held on March 7-10th. Regarding Men’s Singles Seeding List 53 players in total will compete in at the place where Portugal’s national champions have been crowned last weekend. Top 8 seeded players will go directly to Stage 2 and they are following: 1 Andreas LEVENKO (AUT) 2 Darko JORGIC (SLO) 3 Cristian PLETEA (ROU) 4 Rares SIPOS (ROU) 5 Aliaksandr KHANIN (BLR) 6 Tobias HIPPLER (GER) 7 Florian CNUDDE (BEL) and 8 Jiri MARTINKO (CZE). The 2016 European Youth Championships Junior Boy runner-up Andreas LEVENKO of Austria tops seeding list followed by three who finished at the podium of 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 CH in Minsk Belarus the runner-up Cristian PLETEA (2015 EYCH Cadet gold 2017 EYCH Junior silver) and bronze medallists Darko JORGIC (repeated his success from the inaugural 2017 STAG European U21 Championships Sochi Russia) and Rares SIPOS. Defending U21 European Men’ Singles champion Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic commences the upcoming championships as no. 25 seed. In dramatic closure of the 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships he overcame Cristian PLETEA of Romania after full seven games 4:3 (11:6 5:11 12:10 11:5 5:11 7:11 12:10) to clinch the title in the final of the Men’s Singles Event. In the semi-final encounters PLETEA was extended to full distance by Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC while POLANSKY defeated Rares SIPOS of Romania in five games. Two years ago at the inaugural 2017 STAG European U21 Championships Sochi Russia Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia was crowned champion as he beat Germany’s QIU Dang 4:1 (11:6 11:2 9:11 14:12 11:9). Semi-finalists were Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC and Deni KOZUL. Beside Top 8 players at the seeding list of the 2019 BUTTERFLY European U21 Championships there are some familiar names from the podiums of the European Youth Championships like Vladimir SIDORENKO (RUS no. 12 seed) twice in a row EYCH Cadet Boy gold medallist (2016 and 2017) Maciej KUBIK (POL no. 32) the 2018 Cadet Boy EYCH winner Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS (GRE no. 33) actual European Junior champion who won his first out of two titles in Portugal (2017 EYCH Guimaraes)…
Reigning TTCLM champion ready for clash against UMMC
TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1 UMMC – Borussia (March 7th 15:00 CET). Manager of German club Andreas PREUSS: “These are the duels one is dreaming of”. Team manager of UMMC Dmitry BALACHENKOV: “I’m sure our players will do their best in front of their fans and prove their level.” Reigning TTCLM champion Borussia Dusseldorf travels to Russia in a good shape to play first semi-final game against 2012 TTCLM runner-up UMMC this Thursday March 7th. Three members of the most successful European club (11-time TTCLM winner) won medals at the national championships held last weekend: Timo BOLL reached his 13th gold in Germany while Kristian KARLSSON and Anton KALLBERG finished second and third respectively in Sweden. “Bogoria was the strongest opponent we could get in quarter finals UMMC is the strongest one in semis. Since years UMMC is one of the best clubs in Europe. We do have a lot of respect. GACINA GROTH FABG SHIBAEV – all of them are world class players. I think my team is hot we want to defend the TTCL title” stated coach Danny HEISTER. Manager Andreas PREUSS believes that his side is capable to secure good result before the second leg in Germany: “We are happy to play against one of the best teams. These are the duels one is dreaming of. These are the interesting matches matches at eye level. We had a big event in Bundesliga against Ochsenhausen which took place in Munich with 4.500 spectators. This was our goal in the last weeks now we are going to focus us on TTCL semifinals. We had two good games against Bogoria UMMC had to fight hard against Mühlhausen and just won by points. But this has happened in the past. The duel against UMMC will start with 0:0 and I am sure it will be tough.” Team manager of UMMC Dmitry BALACHENKOV stated: “Borussia is the winner of the Champions League of the last season and we know that matches against them will be tough. But our team also made it to the semi-finals for the first time in five years for a reason. Now we have a very good composition. I’m sure our players will do their best to show their best play in front of their fans and prove their level. Coach of Russian club the 2012 runner-up Tatyana KUTERGINA is sure that his side has capacity to beat TTCLM record holder: “Borussia team is a very serious contender they have the highest level tennis players. Player number 1 is of course Timo Boll. It seems to me that today this athlete is playing even better than a couple of years ago. The UMMC club this season has tennis players on the roster who I am sure will be serious competitors for both Boll and Kristian Carlsson. In face-to-face meetings with Borussia we still have fewer victories than defeats and we want to change these figures in favor of victories.” 2018/19 TTCLM semi-finals Leg 1 UMMC – Borussia Dusseldorf (Thursday March 7th 15:00 CET) Vaillante Sports Angers – Fakel Gazprom Orenburg (Friday March 8th 19:00 CET)
