National Championships – Italy The Italian Championships will be played from the 1st to the 3rd of March in Bolzano which will host the Nationals for the first time. The location will be the Table Tennis Center “Maso della Pieve”. The most important national event is organized by Italian Table Tennis Federation and the Provincial Committee of Bolzano in collaboration with the City of Bolzano. Sponsors are Stag and Iset Marketing. In Men’s Singles all the best athletes of national ranking will be present. Niagol Stoyanov (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) the defending champion will try to confirm the title and his strongest opponents will be Leonardo Mutti the first seed and runner up last year Mihai Bobocica and Marco Rech Daldosso (Aeronautica Militare) Jordy Piccolin (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Maurizio Massarelli (TT Ennio Cristofaro) Daniele Pinto (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Matteo Mutti (Milano Sport Tennistavolo) Antonino Amato and Damiano Seretti (Top Spin Messina) Paolo Bisi (Cral Comune di Roma) Stefano Tomasi (Marcozzi Cagliari) Romualdo Manna (Apuania Carrara) and Francesco Lucesoli (Upr Montemarciano). Bobocica won the title six times (2007-2009-2011-2012-2013-2017) Stoyanov twice (2014-2018) and three other players once each: Tomasi (2010) Leonardo Mutti (2015) and Rech Daldosso (2016). In Women’s Singles the best seeds are Chiara Colantoni (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Debora Vivarelli (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Veronica Mosconi (Polisportiva Bagnolese) Giorgia Piccolin (Centro Sportivo Esercito) who won last year Jamila Laurenti (Gruppi Sportivi della Polizia di Stato – Fiamme Oro) runner up in 2018 Le Thi Hong Loan (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Giulia Cavalli (Eppan Tischtennis Raiffeisen) Katja Milic (Sportni Krozek Kras) Cristina Semenza (Polisportiva Bagnolese) Arianna Barani (Anspi Tennistavolo Cortemaggiore) Bianca Bracco (Alfieri di Romagna TT Edera) Krisztina Nagy (Tennistavolo Coccaglio) Nicole Arlia (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) and Martina Nino (Tennistavolo Torino). There will be the come back of the great champion Tan Wenling Monfardini (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo). She is no.24 seed and she hasn’t played the Championships for many years. Piccolin climbed the top step of the podium in 2018 Mosconi in 2015 and Monfardini in 2008. The competition starts on March 1st at 12 with Mixed Doubles followed at 3 30 pm by Men’s doubles and at 4 pm by Women’s doubles. At 9 am of Thursday (March 2nd) the qualification groups of Men’s and Women’s Singles will start and go on for all the day. On Sunday (March 3rd) the main draws will designate the new champions.
Fakel Gazprom targets new TTCLM finals
Coach Vladimir ENDOLOV speaks on the upcoming semi-finals against Angers Fakel Gazprom Orenburg is determined to reach its eight TTCLM finals in last nine seasons but they have to beat Vaillante Sports Anters in order to achieve it. Russian club defeated two-time TTCLM winner AS Pointoise Cergy in the quarter-finals with an excellent team work as coach Vladimir ENDOLOV stressed: “The quarter-final leg 2 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 semifinals is another French club VS Angers TT.” Angers overcame SPG Walter Wels in the previous round to match its best ever TTCLM result (semi-finals) while Orenburg’aim is to improve its record to five TTCLM crowns. “Angers is a very strong team with high-level table tennis players. All our players are very seriously preparing 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” stated coach ENDOLOV. First semi-final leg will be held on March 8thin France while the second game is scheduled for March 22nd. In the other semis reigning champion and 11-time TTCLM winner Borussia Dusseldorf faces 2012 runner-up UMMC.
Outstanding in both disciplines Dr. Peter von Pierer passes away
By Deutscher Tischtennis-Bund (translated by Ebby Schöler) Dedicated to promoting table tennis and tennis highly respected in both sports a resident of Marloffstein Dr. Peter von Pierer passed away on Sunday 10th February; he was 88 years old. A sportsman and volunteer he influenced the direction of each sport; now the DTTB (Deutscher Tischtennis-Bund) and the DTB (Deutscher Tennis-Bund) say “good-bye“ to a long term friend and official. Born in Vienna 0n Monday 17th March 1930 Peter settled down in Bavaria; he engaged himself as member of the DTTB Presidency and at the same time as team captain of the DTB. Between 1975 and 1981 he was a sport official and later until 1985 Vice-President of DTTB. In addition he advised both DTTB and DTB as a lawyer in legal matters and promoted modern development within competitive sports. Among many honours Peter received the German National order “Bundesverdienstkeuz“. As an athlete he was remarkable in both sports; he was excellent at table tennis and much more than passable in tennis. In the 1950s he was amongst the best table tennis players in Germany. Between 1951 and 1954 he took part in four international matches and was selected for the 1954 World Championships. He represented Germany in two team matches. During the last All German Championships in 1954 which included both the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) he reached the men’s singles final losing to the one and only Conny Freundorfer the winner of an incredible nine men’s singles titles between 1953 and 1961. Later he became Chair of the European Table Tennis Union’s Youth Committee succeeding Sever Danet an age when the ETTU had an Executive Committee (the Officers) and a Management Committee (Officers plus elected members later Officers plus Committee chairs). Meanwhile in tennis Peter also reached remarkable goals. For many years he was named on the Bavarian Ranking list; in those days he played for the best German Team 1. FC Nuremberg winning the German Team Championships. “Today this double engagement in tennis and table tennis would be hard to imagine but I managed to do it at that time without problems. In winter I mainly concentrated on table tennis in summer on tennis.“ Peter von Pierer (DTS 1977 now Tischtennis“ the official DTTB magazine). At the age of 17 years Peter started to play table tennis at TV 1848 Erlangen near Nuremberg. At this club the always exemplary sportsman also celebrated his farewell from active competitions; he played his last team match in the fourth division the “Kreisliga“. In the same year Peter von Pierer finished as official and transferred the leadership of the tennis district “Mittelfranken“ to younger hands. We will always remember him.
Invitation to umpire at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
The ITTF Umpires and Referees Committee invites national associations to nominate Blue Badge International Umpires to officiate at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Staged in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium play commences on Saturday 25th July and concludes on Friday 7th August. A national association may submit a maximum of two nominations of whom one must be female. It is an open invitation thus many umpires nominated may not be selected. Selection will be based on past performance (the number of Meets with a minimum of 80 per cent ratio of Meets in the past three years); in addition continental quota and gender equity will also be considered. Preference will be given to umpires who did not participate in the Rio 2016 Olympic or Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The closing date for nominations is Monday 11th March 2019; the names of umpires selected will be announced later in the year in May. Late submissions will not be considered. Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Official Letter of Invitation (issued Monday 11th February) Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Application Form (closing date is Monday 11th March
19 th Linz Austria Raiffeisen Youth Championships 2019
19th– 22nd April 2019 The 19 th Linz Austria RAIFFEISEN Youth Championships 2019 and 3rd International JOINT Training Camp before the tournament will be held from 14th until 22nd April in Linz. Events: Mini Cadet Boys and Mini Cadet Girls Team (born 2008 and younger) Younger Cadet Boys and Younger Cadet Girls Team (born 2006 and younger) Cadet Boys Team and Cadet Girls Team (born 2004 and younger) and Junior Boys and Junior Girls Team (born 2001 and younger). In same age categories players will play in singles events. Application/contact: http://www.froschberg.at Franz OBERMAYER youth.championships@froschberg.at Tel.: +43(0)664-4985512 Fax: +43(0) 732-251952
PALINA: Nothing is impossible
TTC Berlin Eastside erased 3:1 win of Hodonin in the 2nd quarter-final leg to set the clash with reigning ECLW champion Dr. CASL Four-time ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastside looks very optimistic after an impressive performance in the second quarter-final leg against Czech Republic Hodonin. Few days after their win in straight games coach Irina PALINA praises her girls who managed to erase 3:1 deficit from the first leg. “Of course we are very happy with our in this situation unexpected 3:0 victory. 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. “Nothing is impossible” but we have a very difficult opponent for semi-final match.” Each player in the Berlin’s line-up showed their best but 22-year-old Nina MITTELHAM surpassed expectations as she upset GUO Ruichen in four games of the third match. Berlin faces reigning ECLW champion Dr. CASL in the semi-finals to be held in March.
Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open captures the imagination of players and spectators in Lisbon
New event. New incentives. New spectacle. New champions. The Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open saw a number of rising stars grasp the chance to compete and claim silverware on the international stage. The very first event of the inaugural ITTF Challenge Plus series held between 13-17 February in Lisbon also provided plenty of thrilling table tennis and memorable moments: Hina HAYATA (JPN) was the worthy winner of the Women’s Singles title. The 18-year-old 11th seed saw off top seed LIU Shiwen (CHN) and 8th seed Georgina POTA (HUN) on Saturday before overcoming HU Limei (CHN) on Sunday to book a place in the final against compatriot Honoka HASHIMOTO (JPN). The Japanese duo played out a dramatic seven-game thriller with HASHIMOTO claiming a two-game advantage before HAYATA fought back to lead 3-2 and ultimately seal a 4-3 victory (9-11 8-11 11-4 12-10 11-3 8-11 11-8).For HAYATA this was a first international Singles title since the 2017 Challenge Spanish Open in Almeria. LIANG Jingkun (CHN) was the revelation of the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour in which he finished fourth and the 22-year-old is demonstrating that last year’s achievements were no fluke as he followed up on his Men’s Doubles gold at January’s Hungarian Open by winning the first ever Challenge Plus title.Third seed LIANG overcame four Chinese opponents in the latter stages: WANG Chuqin NIU Guankai LIU Yebo and LIN Gaoyuan. Having dropped just one game in four matches heading into the semi-final LIANG trailed 2-0 and 3-1 against LIU before winning three consecutive games to reach the final. Once again he had to come from behind against top seed LIN who had just beaten Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) 4-2 in the semi-final and was tipped for a second successive title following Men’s Singles gold at the Hungarian Open. However LIANG’s resilience shone through once more as he fought back from losing the first game to claim a 4-1 victory (6-11 12-10 14-12 11-7 11-6). FAN Siqi and YANG Huijing (CHN) were crowned Women’s Doubles champions after yet another absorbing final in Lisbon in which they overturned a two-game deficit to defeat Dora MADARASZ and Szandra PERGEL (HUN) 3-2 (8-11 3-11 11-6 11-9 11-2). To complete a clean sweep of comebacks across all four of Sunday’s finals CAO Wei and XU Yingbin (CHN) sealed Men’s Doubles gold with a 3-1 victory (5-11 11-5 11-6 11-7) over Shunsuke TOGAMI and Yukiya UDA (JPN). For both Chinese Doubles pairs the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open yielded their very first international titles. The fact that so many new names announced themselves on the world stage in Lisbon proved the theory behind launching the ITTF Challenge Plus: that upcoming players gain exposure to elite table tennis competition to challenge themselves earn international recognition and experience thus reaching the next level in their careers. The ITTF Challenge Plus – the first of a rebranded two-tier ITTF Challenge series – also offers players higher world ranking points and increased prize money. Consisting of six events per year the ITTF Challenge Plus allows a higher number of cities to get on board and stage an international table tennis event. The second ITTF Challenge Plus event will bring the show to new shores once more as Muscat gets set to host the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open between 20-24 March. QUICK LINKS: Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open Live Blog Photo Gallery Match Highlights 2019 ITTF Challenge Series Events Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Weibo LinkedIn
Vladimir SAMSONOV halted in the semi final at Portugal Open
Vladimir SAMSONOV reached the semi final of the Men’s Singles Event at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open. Belarusian suffered by the hands of the Chinese top seed LIN Gaoyuan in a spectacular affair. Despite holding a lead by the close of game three Vladi couldn’t quite find the finishing touch as LIN Gaoyuan took his game up another notch sealing the win by a 4-2 margin (11-7 11-13 8-11 11-9 11-8 11-7). China’s LIN Gaoyuan and LIU Shiwen the top seeds beat Slovakia’s Lubomir PISTEJ and Tatiana KUKULKOVA the no.2 seeds in three straight games (11-8 11-6 11-4) to clinch the crown in Mixed Doubles Event. LIN Gaoyuan and LIU Shiwen add to the success enjoyed last year on the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour. On home soil in Shenzhen Lin Gaoyuan won in partnership with CHEN Xingtong; later in the year LIU Shiwen struck gold when she joined forces with XU Xin in Linz. The winner in both 2017 and 2018 in Belgium Japan’s Shunsuke TOGAMI emerged victorious in the under 21 men’s singles final; he beat China’s XIANG Peng in three straight games (12-10 12-10 11-7). The women’s singles runner up on the 2014 ITTF World Tour in Argentina when beaten in the final by colleague HE Zhoujia China’s FAN Siqi resisted a brave recovery by Romania’s Adina DIACONU to clinch the under 21 women’s singles title (11-8 12-10 2-11 8-11 11-9).
Bidding is open for cities to host the ITTF’s Headquarters Training Centre and High Performance & Development base
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is receiving bids from cities keen to grasp this unique opportunity to become the global ‘Home of Table Tennis’ including the ITTF’s future Headquarters Training Centre and High Performance & Development base. The ITTF’s current Headquarters are situated in Lausanne Switzerland while the ITTF Asia-Pacific Office is based in Singapore accounting for 50% of the ITTF’s 50 professional staff at present. However with the total number of staff members set to increase by 50% over the next few years the ITTF is on the lookout for a brand new ‘Home of Table Tennis’ to drive the exponential growth of a sport in ever-increasing demand. Upwards of half a billion people are playing Table Tennis around the world and the ITTF runs 120 international events which are viewed live on TV in over 120 countries and by over 500 million people. Aggressive growth over the last 10 years in terms of commercial value global participation and world-class events has positioned the ITTF among the most dynamic sporting organisations on the planet. Armed with a clear vision through its new Strategic Plan and with the ITTF holding all of its commercial rights in its own hands heading into the next rights cycle in 2021 there has never been a more exciting time to invest in the sport and host the ‘Home of Table Tennis.’ The benefits for the successful host city are plentiful and most importantly wholly sustainable beyond the global prestige millions of dollars added to the city/country’s economy and raised potential to host major sport events showcasing internationally renowned professional athletes. That is because the ITTF is not simply looking for a new global Headquarters to house its ever-increasing professional staff but also an international Training Centre for its ambitious High Performance & Development projects. In short you will be helping to create and nurture the Table Tennis stars of the future while there will also be immediate pathways for local Table Tennis talent to train with the best coaches and players in the world just as local professional talent will have opportunities to join on board as ITTF staff members and contribute directly to the sport’s continued global growth. “Whilst this is an objective for beyond 2019 the ITTF is already planning ahead to set up a true ‘Home of Table Tennis.’ All cities submitting bids will realise the exceptional opportunities available to them not least raising their global profile and significant economic investments into their local communities. “This won’t just be an office but also a permanent base for our High Performance & Development strategy and state-of-the-art training facilities. The ultimate goal would be to have a mini museum TTX tables and a retail store too. We want people to stop by and enjoy a game of Table Tennis as well. “Hopefully this is the place that can help create the next stars of our sport. After all we need to be nurturing a new generation of talent from different parts of the world to ensure an exciting future for Table Tennis and one which will attract more and more spectators and supporters from across the globe. The new ‘Home of Table Tennis’ will go a long way to helping us achieve our long-term ambitions ” said Steve Dainton ITTF CEO. The ITTF ‘Home of Table Tennis’ should be located within an international city and provide opportunities for the office to expand over time with a minimum office space of 1000sqm preferably developed specifically for the ITTF on vacant land. Close proximity to an International Airport is also necessary given the ITTF’s global footprint with professional staff international partners and clients active in all corners of the world. With more than 30 nationalities represented currently among the ITTF’s workforce it is also essential that visa support is provided to assist in ensuring that staff from various countries are able to live and work within the country of the new ‘Home of Table Tennis.’ Bidding Process Expression of Interest – 15th April 2019 Concept and Plan Submission – 31st August 2019 Evaluation Period – 1st September-31st December 2019 Decision Announcement Are you the perfect match for us? Click here to find out more about this unique opportunity and enter your bid!
Zoran PRIMORAC seeks improvement for semi-final clash with Borussia
UMMC coach comments 2018/19 TTCLM quarter-finals Russian club UMMC 2011/12 runner-up of TTCLM managed to survive in the exciting second leg of the quarter-finals against German side Post SV Muhlahausen but their coaching staff is aware that the team should improve its shape in order to be competitive against reigning champion Borussia Dusseldorf. UMMC won first quarter-final leg in Germany 3:2 but Muhlhausen responded by the same victory in the Russian city of Verkhnaya Pyshma last weekend. The winner was decided according point-ratio (5:5 matches 20:20 sets 388:376 points). “The match with Muhlhausen was very dramatic. We started it well: FANG Bo won 3-0 Andrej GACINA played very hard – two match points” explained UMMC coach Zoran PRIMORAC. “Then we gave up a little and psychologically it was already very hard. At the same time I saw that the German team was getting better. IONESCU was very good HABESOHN just brilliantly played and probably it was one of his best matches. FANG Bo too was the playmaker. He was able to show character bravo to him! However you know you do not need such dramatic matches. You need to play hard right away in order not to count the points afterwards. Yes we were lucky – we reached the semi-finals but Borussia is ahead. We must prepare very well such mistakes are not allowed in the semi-finals”. Semi-final games will be held on March 7th in Russia and March 21st in Dusseldorf. Borussia eliminated Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki with two 3:1 victories.
