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

The best table tennis players of Netherlands will battlein the first weekend of March in Landstede Sportcentrum in Zwolle during the Dutch National Championships.   Player of the national team Ewout OOSTWOUDER (ITTF number 149) wants to defend his third title in the men’s tournament. The 19-year old talent SHUOHAN Men was the big surprise of the tournament in 2018. The Chinese young women with a Dutch passport impressed the audience by beating experienced players and she won the national championships for the first time in her career. OOSTWOUDER is the favourite for the tournament victory of this year but there are good players who are likely able to beat the champion. Rajko GOMMERS and Barry WIJERS were national champions in the past and they are playing for another title in the men’s tournament.   Ladies like Britt EERLAND ( ITTF number 38) Kim VERMAAS (ITTF number 138) and of course LI Jie (ITTF number 25) are serious candidates for the victory in the woman’s tournament this year. LI Jie is the number one of the ranking list followed by Britt EERLAND and Ana GOGORITA. The current champion SHUOHAN Men is the number five of the rankings list. LI Jie is the big favourite in Zwolle.   The tournament starts on Saturday the 2th of March and the finales will take place on Sunday the 3th.   Last year’s winners:   Year   Men’s Singles              Women’s Singles 2018   Ewout Oostwouder       Shuohan Men 2017   Rajko Gommers           Li Jie 2016   Laurens Tromer           Britt Eerland 2015   Ewout Oostwouder       Li Jie 2014   Ewout Oostwouder       Li Jiao 2013   Casper ter Lüün           Li Jiao 2012   Barry Wijers                Li Jiao 2011   Martijn de Vries           Li Jiao 2010   Michel de Boer             Li Jiao   See this link for the draw the Dutch National Champions.   Fans can watch live matches on our YouTube Chanel during the championships.

2019 Swedish National Championships   In STIGA Sports Arena in Eskilstuna 2019 Swedish National Championships will take place this weekend.   The men’s singles event is quite open. Many of the top-seeded players are potential winners. The winner will also be directly qualified for the upcoming World Championships. Three players are already selected (Mattias FALCK Kristian KARLSSON & Jon PERSSON) and two more will be. If someone of the already nominated players will win the coaches and high performance director will choose two more as “wild-cards”.   Top-seeded and favourites Men’s singels: – Mattias FALCK (1st seed) – Kristian KARLSSON (2nd seed) – Truls MÖREGÅRDH (5th seed and recent winner of Safirs International junior and elit)   The two dominating Swedish female players are also seeded as number one and two. Young players like Filippa BERGAND and Christina KÄLLBERG are also potential finalists. The two top-seeded players (Matilda & Linda) are already chosen for the World Championships two more spots are available. The terms are the same as for the male players – the winner will be qualified for the WTTC and the rest will be chosen by coach/high performance director.   Women’s singles: – Matilda EKHOLM (1st seed) – Linda BERGSTRÖM (2nd seed)   2019 Swedish National Championships is now fully integrated with Para which means many different classes will fight for titles thiw weekend   Last year’s winners   Men’s singles: Kristian KARLSSON Womens singles: Matilda EKHOLM Men’s doubles: Anton KÄLLBERG/Anders ERIKSSON Women’s doubles: Matilda EKHOLM/Ellen HOLMSTEN Mixed doubles: Harald ANDERSSON/Tilda JOHANSSON Junior girls: Filippa BERGAND Junior boys: Truls MÖREGÅRDH   Schedule: https://idrottonline.se/EskilstunaBTK-Bordtennis/globalassets/eskilstuna-btk—bordtennis/sm-2019/tidsschema-sm-och-para-sm-2019_03.pdf  

National Championships of Belarus   The Belarus National Championships will be held this weekend in the Republican Center for Olympic Preparation in table tennis.   In total 24 men and 24 women will participate in the competitions. They are selected by the national rating. In 2018 Pavel PLATONOV and Marharyta BALTUSHITE clinched the titles in the singles event.   A multiple champion of the Republic of Belarus Pavel PLATONOV will have fierce competition on his way to defend the title. In the last year’s final Pavel beat Aliaksandr KHANIN. The last has only once become a champion in singles event but in the World and National rankings he already beat Pavel. The third seeded at the tournament is Kiril BARABANOV who was a bronze medalist last year. The best results of the NC in his career Kiril achieved in 2015 and 2016 when he won second place.   One of the contenders for victory in the women’s singles event is Alexandra PRIVALOVA the first seeded. In 2018 she was haplet on the third step of the podium letting Viktoria PAVLOVICH and Marharyta BALTUSHITE go ahead. Note that this year Viktoria and Marharyta will not take part in the national championships.   Good chances to win are for Daria TRIGOLOS who is the silver medalist in singles event in 2015 2016 and 2017. The additional motivation of the athlete will be given by the fact that last year she remained outside the prize-winning three.   Nadezhda BOGDANOVA closes the list of favorites. Recently she has been demonstrating progress in international results. February 2018 Nadezhda started as a 236 in the World ranking. A year later she is already at the 116th place. So far Nadezhda has no medals in singles event in the national championships of Belarus. Will she be able to intervene in the fight for first place this year?   The live broadcast of the tournament will be available on the Federation’s youtube channel.