Japan’s Hokuto KORIYAMA knows how it feels to win in Finland. The Japanese clinched his third consecutive men´s singles title on Sunday in Lohja. KORIYMA knocked his countryman Takumi ICHINOSE 4-2. ICHINOSE challenged the champion with two sets but finally left-handed KORIYMA showed who is who. KORIYAMA’S performance describes well the level of Japan’s table tennis at the moment. He is ranked 32rd in the latest Japan ranking and is not even near the best team of his country. In many other countries he would be at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Benedek OLÁH´s dream of home victory was passed once again. Sunday’s first match against Japanese Takumi ICHINOSE forced OLÁH into the only defeat of the competition. OLÁH finally third at the tournament gave his full recognition to ICHINOSE. – In French main league nobody has read my serves as well. The winner of women´s singles was Avane MORITA from Japan. Norwegian MA Wenting got only two sets in the final. The third was Japan’s Miko TOKUNAGA. Men’s singles final Hokuto KORIYAMA Japan – Takumi ICHNINOSE Japan 1-6 12-14 11-9 12-10 11-7 Women’s singles final Ayane MORITA Japan – MA Wenting Norway 11-7 9-11 11-9 8-11 11-8 11-8 Complete results: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1neBiarEMT75Sky3RqjIVQTM95BZiCF5L
China steals the show on epic final day in Bendigo!
The 2018 ITTF World Junior Table Tennis Championships very much belonged to China after the nation’s players dominated the final day in Bendigo Australia from start to finish. Today’s individual prizes (Girls’ and Boys’ Singles Girls’ and Boys’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles) follow gold medals in Wednesday’s Teams events thus completing a clean sweep of trophies throughout the tournament. A breath-taking battle between the top two seeds: the Girls’ Singles final more than lived up to its billing and undoubtedly provided the day’s most enthralling final. SHI Xunyao (CHN) and QIAN Tianyi (CHN) both came into the contest off the back of convincing semi-final victories the former beating Yumeno SOMA (JPN) 4-0 and the latter dropping just one game to SU Pei-Ling (TPE). Once pitted against one another in the final neither player gave an inch in a match that went the full distance. After surrendering a 1-0 lead to then trail 2-1 and 3-2 it had seemed as though QIAN would be ending the day empty-handed. However she managed to keep her cool when it mattered most clinching the final two games to come out ultimately on top after a rollercoaster ride of an encounter: 11-8 5-11 9-11 11-5 9-11 11-9 11-8. If the Girls’ Singles contest went right to the wire the same could not be said for both Boys’ finals as XU Haidong (CHN) saw off Yukiya UDA (JPN) 4-1 to seal glory in the Boys’ Singles having partnered XIANG Peng earlier to the Boys’ Doubles title with a straight games victory over Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN (RUS). However that did not mean there was any less fiery intensity to these matches with each individual game decided by fine margins: XU staved off the threat of a potential comeback when UDA took the third game by battling his way to win 13-11 11-4 8-11 11-9 11-8. Meanwhile in the Doubles XU and XIANG came from behind within the first game to grasp a crucial early foothold in the match. Despite the best efforts of Russia’s dynamic duo GREBNEV and KATSMAN including an audacious yet perfectly executed ‘Behind The Back’ shot from the former China’s Boys never looked back and saw out the victory 11-9 11-8 11-3. The star of the show in Wednesday’s Junior Girls’ Teams triumph just four days later SHI Xunyao (CHN) took centre-stage once more appearing in three finals on Sunday. Her rock-solid partnership with HUANG Fanzhen made gold in the Girls’ Doubles all but a formality as they saw off Miyu NAGASAKI and Satsuki ODO (JPN) 3-1 in the semi-finals before defeating Miyuu KIHARA and Yumeno SOMA (JPN) in straight games: 11-7 11-8 11-6. Just moments earlier SHI also tasted success in the Mixed Doubles alongside XU Yingbin sealing a 3-2 victory in an all-Chinese final against YU Heyi and QIAN Tianyi: 11-8 3-11 11-5 9-11 11-5. Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST (FRA) were impressive in overcoming Yukiya UDA and Shunsuke TOGAMI (JPN) to reach the Boys’ Doubles semi-finals before they were ultimately outfought and thought by GREBNEV and KATSMAN. Can anyone break up the current dominance of China at next year’s ITTF World Junior Table Tennis Championships? The globe’s most promising upcoming talents will all be headed to Bangkok (THA) between 24 November and 1 December looking to give their budding careers lift-off for potential future greatness. Next week it will be Table Tennis’ established stars to battle it out for the big end-of-year titles at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. Make sure you don’t miss out on the action or the 2018 ITTF Star Awards by following on ITTF.com tv.ITTF.com and ITTF social media: Facebook Instagram Twitter Weibo Youtube.
Japan’s Hokuto Koriyama clinched the title in Finland – again
Japan’s Hokuto KORIYAMA knows how it feels to win in Finland. The Japanese clinched his third consecutive men´s singles title on Sunday in Lohja. KORIYMA knocked his countryman Takumi ICHINOSE 4-2. ICHINOSE challenged the champion with two sets but finally left-handed KORIYMA showed who is who. KORIYAMA’S performance describes well the level of Japan’s table tennis at the moment. He is ranked 32rd in the latest Japan ranking and is not even near the best team of his country. In many other countries he would be at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Benedek OLÁH´s dream of home victory was passed once again. Sunday’s first match against Japanese Takumi ICHINOSE forced OLÁH into the only defeat of the competition. OLÁH finally third at the tournament gave his full recognition to ICHINOSE. – In French main league nobody has read my serves as well. The winner of women´s singles was Avane MORITA from Japan. Norwegian MA Wenting got only two sets in the final. The third was Japan’s Miko TOKUNAGA. Men’s singles final Hokuto KORIYAMA Japan – Takumi ICHNINOSE Japan 1-6 12-14 11-9 12-10 11-7 Women’s singles final Ayane MORITA Japan – MA Wenting Norway 11-7 9-11 11-9 8-11 11-8 11-8 Complete results: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1neBiarEMT75Sky3RqjIVQTM95BZiCF5L
Silver for Russia’s Maksim Grebnev and Lev Katsman
2018 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN clinched silver in the Junior Boys Doubles Event at the 2018 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Australia’s Bendigo. Romania’s Cristian PLETEA won bronze in Boys Singles whilst Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST of France also won bronze. Top seeded pairings XIANG Peng and XU Haidong of China had beaten Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN (11-9 11-8 11-3) at the final hurdle. However by reaching the final they already exceeded expectations; they had commenced play as the no.14 seeds. Previously in the semifinal GREBNEV and KATSMAN beat Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST (6-11 8-11 6:11). In the Boys’ Singles semi-final contest XU Haidong the no.3 seed accounted for Romania’s Cristian PLETEA the no.5 seed (11-5 11-3 11-8 11-6).
Silver for Russia’s Maksim Grebnev and Lev Katsman
2018 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN clinched silver in the Junior Boys Doubles Event at the 2018 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Australia’s Bendigo. Romania’s Cristian PLETEA won bronze in Boys Singles whilst Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST of France also won bronze. Top seeded pairings XIANG Peng and XU Haidong of China had beaten Russia’s Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN (11-9 11-8 11-3) at the final hurdle. However by reaching the final they already exceeded expectations; they had commenced play as the no.14 seeds. Previously in the semifinal GREBNEV and KATSMAN beat Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST (6-11 8-11 6:11). In the Boys’ Singles semi-final contest XU Haidong the no.3 seed accounted for Romania’s Cristian PLETEA the no.5 seed (11-5 11-3 11-8 11-6).
Three medals in singles and doubles for Europe in Bendigo
2018 World Junior Championships At the 2018 World Junior Championships in Bendigo Europe secured three more medals. In the Junior Boys Singles Event Romania’s Cristian PLETEA reached the semifinal as well as two parings – Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST of France and Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN of Russia. On His way to the semis Cristian overcame China’s YU Heyi in the quarters in straight games (10-12 11-13 9-11 7-11). Previously he beat LI Hsin-Yang of Taipei (6-11 8-11 4-11 3-11) and India’s Jeet CHANDRA (8-11 5-11 8-11 8-11) both in straight games again. For Europe at least one silver and bronze are guaranteed. Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST will meet Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN in semis. In quarterfinal French pairings overcame Japan’s Shunsuke TOGAMi and Yukiya UDA (9-11 9-11 11-6 4-11). In two opening rounds they were better than China’s XU Yingbin and YU Heyi (12-10 14-12 11-6) and Stefan Peko and Jakub YELENIKA of Slovakia (11-8 11-7 11-9). Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN beat Romania’s pairings Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS in full five games (11-6 7-11 11-9 7-11 11-8) USA’s Sharon ALGUETI and Kanak JHA (11-6 12-14 11-13 11-5 7-11) Brazil’s Guilherme TEODORO and Rafael TORINO (6-11 14-12 13-11 8-11 5-11).
Three medals in singles and doubles for Europe in Bendigo
2018 World Junior Championships At the 2018 World Junior Championships in Bendigo Europe secured three more medals. In the Junior Boys Singles Event Romania’s Cristian PLETEA reached the semifinal as well as two parings – Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST of France and Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN of Russia. On His way to the semis Cristian overcame China’s YU Heyi in the quarters in straight games (10-12 11-13 9-11 7-11). Previously he beat LI Hsin-Yang of Taipei (6-11 8-11 4-11 3-11) and India’s Jeet CHANDRA (8-11 5-11 8-11 8-11) both in straight games again. For Europe at least one silver and bronze are guaranteed. Irvin BERTRAND and Leo DE NODREST will meet Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN in semis. In quarterfinal French pairings overcame Japan’s Shunsuke TOGAMi and Yukiya UDA (9-11 9-11 11-6 4-11). In two opening rounds they were better than China’s XU Yingbin and YU Heyi (12-10 14-12 11-6) and Stefan Peko and Jakub YELENIKA of Slovakia (11-8 11-7 11-9). Maksim GREBNEV and Lev KATSMAN beat Romania’s pairings Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS in full five games (11-6 7-11 11-9 7-11 11-8) USA’s Sharon ALGUETI and Kanak JHA (11-6 12-14 11-13 11-5 7-11) Brazil’s Guilherme TEODORO and Rafael TORINO (6-11 14-12 13-11 8-11 5-11).
Benedek OLÁH aiming the title again
29th Finlandia Open The 29th Finlandia Open is underway at the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja. Team competition started on Thursday and was completed on Friday when Russia and India &Venezuela mixed team met in the men’s final and the Japan 1 & 2 in the women’s final. The mixed team Raj MONDAL (India) and Cecilio CORREA (Venezuela) fought vaguely but the Russians took a 2-0 win. Petr FEDOTOV defeated MONDALI and Nikita ARTEMENKO right after CORREA. Both matches ended 3-1. Bronze was captured by Japan 1 and Russia 3. In women Saki SEYAMA did it again at this time together with Ayane MORITAN. Seyama won the opening match against Natsumi NAKAHATAN 3-1 but Morita was forced to take full five sets with Miko TOKUNAGA. France and Russia 3 took the bronze medals. Finlandia Open’s specialty in singles is progressive knockout system which has gathered 100 men and over 70 women to Kisakallio. Benedek OLÁH tries to win Finlandia Open very hard. Benedek opened his matches with a clean 4-0 win over Sweden’s Anton ANDERSSON and in the second Andriy GREBENIUK of Ukraine felt the same fate. The goal is to have a better ranking and take a place in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. – The last game was not easy because it seems like everyone wants to win me. Against the first seeded you can play freely and so all the ones seem to be doing Oláh said. Anastasia BURKOVA – seeded 27th – in women’s singles started with bye and then defeated Spain’s Andrea PEREZ 4-1. The third round became a “bomb” when Burkova was beating second seeded Iranian Neda Shahsava 4-0. Burkova is a Russian who has been living in Finland for two years because of studies and can take part in the Finnish Championships in the spring. Kisakallio is still popular among players and coach as the venues accommodation and food are all in the same complex. Progressive knockout system guarantees a lot of games for everyone as all positions from the first to the last are solved.
Good opening leg for guests in ETTU Cup
In the opening leg of the Men’ ETTU Cup guests were more successful. Logis Auderghem TT suffered in Auderghem against TTC Sokah Hoboken Cajasur Priego TM lost in Spain against Istres Tennis de Table whilst in Women’s ETTU Cup CP Lyssois Lille Métropole proved too strong for TTV Lybrae Heerlen. Logis Auderghem TT had a poor start against TTC Sokah Hoboken. Ludovic BIERNY and Alexy VAN DONGEN both lost against Rajko GOMMERS and Jeremy PETIOT in straight games. In third match Jasper MERCKX went full distance against ZHANG Dong Ying and managed to narrow the gap but PETIOT sealed the match win with the victory over BIERNY. On the other side Cajasur Priego TM only had a good start against Istres Tennis de Table. Carlos MACHADO beat Paul GAUZY before Samuel WALKER leveled the score with the victory over HAN Qiyao. WU Zhang Jiaji continued in the same rhythm with the victory over Andre SILVA. WALKER added another point to the score line by beating MACHADO. Fortune Kyiv overcame DeBoer Taverzo in thrilling full distance match. PARK Jeongwoo recorded both wins for hosts but Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO Grigory VLASOV and Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA all contibuted to guest’s win. Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa failed to take advantage on the home soil against Chartres ASTT. Vítor ISCHIY and Alexandre ROBINOT prevailed against Daniel KOSIBA and Hampus SODERLUND before Endika DIEZ narowed the gap with the victory over Romain LORENTZ. However ROBINOT beat KOSIBA in the last duel and secured great advantage before the return leg. In Dutch Heerlen MEN Shuohan Elena TIMINA and Rachel GERARTS could not stop Agnes LE LANNIC Tamolwan KHETKHUAN and Sanja KORAK. TTV Lybrae won only three games in three matches. Tecnigen Linares lost against ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly in Spain 1:3. The back bone of the French club’s success was Galia DVORAK with two wins over Roxana ISTRATE and Oranan PARANANG. PARANANG BEAT Tian Yuan in the opening match . The very first host team who managed to break the spell and to feel the joy of victory was TMK-TAGMET Taganrog. They overcame Arteal Tenis de Mesa in straight matches. In winning line up were PROKHOROVA FETIUKHONA and SABITOVA whilst Spanih club was reperesent by IAMANDI GARNOVA and GONZALES. Kazan secured opening leg victory over Moravsky Krumlov in Czech Republic. Hosts had a good start after Mitsuki YOSHIDA overcame Anna BLAZHKO but after that the course of the match went opposite direction. Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA lost against Antonina SAVELYEVA Barbora KAPOUNOVA suffered by the hands of Daria SHADRINA. In the fourth match YOSHIDA lost against. SAVELYEVA.
Good opening leg for guests in ETTU Cup
In the opening leg of the Men’ ETTU Cup guests were more successful. Logis Auderghem TT suffered in Auderghem against TTC Sokah Hoboken Cajasur Priego TM lost in Spain against Istres Tennis de Table whilst in Women’s ETTU Cup CP Lyssois Lille Métropole proved too strong for TTV Lybrae Heerlen. Logis Auderghem TT had a poor start against TTC Sokah Hoboken. Ludovic BIERNY and Alexy VAN DONGEN both lost against Rajko GOMMERS and Jeremy PETIOT in straight games. In third match Jasper MERCKX went full distance against ZHANG Dong Ying and managed to narrow the gap but PETIOT sealed the match win with the victory over BIERNY. On the other side Cajasur Priego TM only had a good start against Istres Tennis de Table. Carlos MACHADO beat Paul GAUZY before Samuel WALKER leveled the score with the victory over HAN Qiyao. WU Zhang Jiaji continued in the same rhythm with the victory over Andre SILVA. WALKER added another point to the score line by beating MACHADO. Fortune Kyiv overcame DeBoer Taverzo in thrilling full distance match. PARK Jeongwoo recorded both wins for hosts but Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO Grigory VLASOV and Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA all contibuted to guest’s win. Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa failed to take advantage on the home soil against Chartres ASTT. Vítor ISCHIY and Alexandre ROBINOT prevailed against Daniel KOSIBA and Hampus SODERLUND before Endika DIEZ narowed the gap with the victory over Romain LORENTZ. However ROBINOT beat KOSIBA in the last duel and secured great advantage before the return leg. In Dutch Heerlen MEN Shuohan Elena TIMINA and Rachel GERARTS could not stop Agnes LE LANNIC Tamolwan KHETKHUAN and Sanja KORAK. TTV Lybrae won only three games in three matches. Tecnigen Linares lost against ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly in Spain 1:3. The back bone of the French club’s success was Galia DVORAK with two wins over Roxana ISTRATE and Oranan PARANANG. PARANANG BEAT Tian Yuan in the opening match . The very first host team who managed to break the spell and to feel the joy of victory was TMK-TAGMET Taganrog. They overcame Arteal Tenis de Mesa in straight matches. In winning line up were PROKHOROVA FETIUKHONA and SABITOVA whilst Spanih club was reperesent by IAMANDI GARNOVA and GONZALES. Kazan secured opening leg victory over Moravsky Krumlov in Czech Republic. Hosts had a good start after Mitsuki YOSHIDA overcame Anna BLAZHKO but after that the course of the match went opposite direction. Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA lost against Antonina SAVELYEVA Barbora KAPOUNOVA suffered by the hands of Daria SHADRINA. In the fourth match YOSHIDA lost against. SAVELYEVA.
