2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships The opening day of the competition at the 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships in Minsk proved very difficult for girls who started matches early at 9 AM local time whilst for the time of men’s event it seamed that the boys were ready. In the opening round of the Women’s Singles event top ranked two players in Stage one Lisa LUNG of Belgium and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania recorded easy wins. “It was not that easy match for me. It was the opening one at the tournament and I need some time to warm up ” said LUNG who beat Simay KULAKCEKEN of Turkey. However for the Karoline MISCHEK of Austria it was a tough start. She suffered by the hands of third player in the group Rebekka CARLSEN of Norway 1:4. “I maintained my focus and to play for each ball. It was very difficult match for me ” said CARLSEN. Seeded at the position no. four in her Group Marketa SEVCIKOVA of Czech Republic overcame Hungary’s Leonie HARTBRICH 4:2. “I am not happy how I played at the beginning. I performed bad at the start but managed to do much better in the end ” said SEVCIKOVA. Veronica MOSCONI of Italy prevailed against Marie MAESEN of Belgium: ”It was not hard for me to win this one. I think my adversary did not show her best so I took the upper hand.” Cristina KALLBERG of Sweden beat Ana TOFANT of Slovenia in straight games. “I’d say it was not tough but it was not easy neither. Quite OK that’s it. I did not do anything special I just focused on putting the ball to the table. My opponent was not very strong too maybe she was not in her best today. I am happy I have won” said KALLBERG. Ozge YILMAZ of Turkey stretched the favorite Ilka DOVAL of Norway to full seven games. “Although the score is 4:3 I can’t say this was a difficult match. It’s my first here so I think I’ll do better in the next games ” TYILMAZ was confident after the match. Marek BADOWSKI of Poland the leading name in the first phase beat Jordy PICCOLIN of Italy in straight games. Despite slight injury Deni KOZUL of Slovenia joined him after the victory over Matteo MUTTI of Italy. “I had to fight for each point. My adversary was strong so I had to catch his rhythm to deal with his backhands. Also he played aggressively so the game was tense. I’m glad about the results ” said KOZUL. Andreas LUND of Denmark safely concluded opening round but in the same Group Florian CNUDE of Belgium suffered by the hands of Aleksandr LUSIN of Estonia. “I did not expect to win this match. Three months ago I lost 3:0 to this player so that’s a nice surprise for me. His play style is something I can hardly catch. I think the change of spin helped me to win today. A glorious game this is it ” LUSIN was very happy. Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria beat Helshan WEERASINGHE of England but he found himself in great trouble after Helshan recovered from 2:0 to level the match. “The first two sets were a piece of cake but then something changed in the mood of the game so I started losing. I lost two next games. Finally I understood what was needed I changed my service style got a good ball to play and managed to lead in the fifth set which was crucial for me to recover. Many fast balls were on the play so I had to act quickly with no time to think” explained KOLODZIEJCZYK. Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary upset the favorite. He beat Nils HOHMEIER of Germany 1:4. “I had told my coach that I had to win before the match. Actually the game was nice but there were some difficulties. I lost the first set and understood that something was missing but then I got the chance to make neat services received well and applied many backhand loops and topspins which I think helped me a lot. A nice one I’d say. “ Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece overcame top seeded player in his Group Abdullah YINGLERT of Turkey 4:2. “You never know what to expect from the first match. I played free did my best but still I lost two sets so I had to re-focus to achieve the result. My opponent is a strong player so yes it wasn’t easy ” said SGOUROPOULOS. Joan MASIP of Spain forced Simon SODERLUND of Sweden to go full distance. “The game was tough for me. Actually I had to struggle with my own play during the match because there were some flaws with the short serves. Also I’d known little about the tactics of my rival so I had to adapt to the situation explained SODERLUND. Another favorite Jiri MARTINKO of Czech Republic and another escape by narrow margin. Artur ABUSEV of Russia recovered from 1:3 in reverse but failed to win the match. “ I had a great start so I thought it to be an easy one. I was still leading 3:1 when the situation changed in the fifth set. It was a real battle but in the end I got my victory. Also I’ve played with ABUSEV many times before and he always beat me so today’s win is an achievement for me” said MARTINKO. Samuel KALUZNY of Slovakia overcame Israel’s Mathan SIMON 4:1 “Second and third game were crucial in this match. In the second I was leading 8-4 and still lost it. After taht it was hard for me to regain the rhythm of the game. The third game was long as we made it 15:13 but it determined the result of the game and it was in my
Aneta MAKSUTI triple champion of Serbia
Serbian National Championships Aneta MAKSUTI is the most decorated player at the Serbian National Championships collecting all three possible titles. Bojan CREPULJA beat in the Men`s Singles final Ivor KATIC 4:1 (13:11 8:11 11:6 11:5 11:7). KATIC created an impressive comeback in the semi-finals against Marko PETKOV reversing the score from 1:3 to 4:3. Beside PETKOV bronze medalist is Lorencio LUPULESKU who lost to CREPULJA in five games. Men`s Doubles winners are Ilija MAJSTOROVIC/Marko PETKOV who overcame Bojan CREPULJA/Lorencio LUPULESKU in straight games. Aneta MAKSUTI (no. 3 seed) clinched Women`s Singles gold as she beat Sabina SURJAN in five sets. Main candidate for the title no. 1 seed Andrea TODOROVIC was beaten by Izabela LUPULESKU in the Round 2. Alongside LUPULESKU bronze medalist is Viktoria TRUZINSKI who took the Women`s Doubles crown with Aneta MAKSUTI. Ivor KATIC and Aneta MAKSUTI clinched Mixed Doubles gold after very tense five games against Vladimir RADONJIC/Dragana VIGNJEVIC.
Minsk welcomed European top U21 players
2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships The 2018 BELGOSSTRAKH European Under 21 Championships gathered 56 players in Men’s and 55 players in Women’s Singles Event in Minsk. Under the roof of impressing Falcon club in next four days they will fight for the titles in Singles and Doubles Events. The only way to play here is by being invited. The highest ranked 56 men and 56 women players derived from the December 2017 European Under 21 ranking lists received the invitation with a maximum 3 men and 3 women players from a member Association. In singles events 8 seeded players are directly placed in stage two. Top seeds in Men’s Event are Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic Darko JORGIC of Slovenia Andreas LEVENKO of Austria Cristian PLETEA of Romania Bence MAJOROS of Hungary Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus Rares SIPOS of Romania and Patryk ZATOWKA of Poland. In Women’s Singles Event top players are WAN Yuan of Germany Adina DIACONU of Romania Alina NIKITCHANKA Daria TRIGOLOS and Nadezhda BOGDANOVA of Belarus Solomiya BRATEYKO of Ukraine Natalia BAJOR of Poland and Maria TAILAKOVA of Russia. The remaining 48 or 47 players play in a qualification in 12 groups. The winner and the runner-up from each group will qualify for stage 2. The players ranked 9 – 20 shall be placed in descending ranking order respectively at the top of the groups 1 to 12. In Stage 3 the 16 qualifiers from stage 2 will play a direct knockout competition. Last year at the inaugural Championships held in Russia’s Sochi Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia and Chantal MANTZ of Germany clinched the titles in Singles.
Star Studded ITTF World Tour Qatar Open Begins Action in Doha
The cream of the crop in world table tennis are in Doha for the first Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum event of the year the Qatar Open which runs from 8-11 March 2018. After two days of high level qualification we have the final 32 men and women made up from 16 players who came from qualification to meet the top 15 seeds plus a host player who will now compete in the main draw today. The qualification was the highest ever quality with players as high as 18 in the world having to fight for a spot in the main draw including Olympic & World Champion DING Ning (CHN) and former world number one LIU Shiwen who had dropped in their world rankings due to inactivity in 2017. The high level of qualification means there are some extremely tough first round matches for the top seeds. None more than the world number one ZHU Yuling having to play her teammate LIU Shiwen in the first round. Commenting on the match that would not be out of place as the final here in Qatar ZHU Yuling stated: “It’s a tough draw but of course I expected that I could meet my teammate in the first round we have 14 of us competing here so the chances are pretty high. Against Liu Shiwen I still have more defeats than victories even though I won our last encounter at the Women’s World Cup last year so I can only try to play my best.” In the men’s draw all eyes will be on Timo BOLL (GER) who became the oldest ever world number one last week at 36 years of age and is turning 37 for his first-round match against Chinese Taipei’s rising star LIN Yun-Ju. Three-time Qatar Open Champion XU Xin who will be looking at making history as the most successful Men’s Singles player in Qatar faces Portugal’s Tiago APOLONIA in his opening match. While world number two FAN Zhendong looks at taking his first Qatar Open title following his success at the 2018 Hungarian Open in January. The Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open is the first of six ITTF World Tour Platinum events in 2018 which is the top tier of the ITTF World Tour with the most prize money and world ranking points. Together with the six regular ITTF World Tour events players compete to earn World Tour Standings points to be one of top 16 to qualify for the one-million-dollar World Tour Grand Finals in December.
SHIBAEV and MIKHAILOVA secure top prize in Russia
Russian National Championships Alexander SHIBAEV and Polina MIKHAILOVA are the single`s winners of the Russian National Championships. They beat in the final games Vildan GADIEV and Olga VOROBEVA respectively. SHIBAEV 2014 winner participated first time after that title at the national championships while GADIEV recorded his best ever result and even more he upset last year`s winner and current no. 2 seed Alexey LIVENSTOV in seven games of the quarter-final. Both individual winners have needed five games in the final games: MIKHAILOVA beat defending champion VOROBEVA in the gold medal contest 4:1 (11:13 11:5 11:9 11:7 11:3) whilst SHIBAEV has defeated GADIEV 4:1 (11:5 11:6 9:11 11:7 11:5) Men`s Doubles winners are Mikhail PAYKOV and Alexey LIVENTSOV who prevailed against Alexander SHIBAEV and Kirill SKACHKOV after full five games 2:3 (14:12 9:11 8:11 12:10 5:11). The best Women`s Doubles are composed by Valeria KATSYUR and Anastasia KOLISH. They secured gold after very tense final clash against Antonina SAVELYEVA and Elena ABAIMOVA also in five sets.
Sofia POLCANOVA repeats hat-trick in Austria
Austrian National Championships Linz`s player Sofia POLCANOVA 23 has repeated hat-trick at the Austrian National Championships winning again gold in all three events: Women`s singles and doubles and Mixed Doubles. Daniel HABESOHN secured his third crown in the Men`s Singles event by beating his former teammate 2017-winner Stefan FEGERL in five games. “My goal was to win all possible titles Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles and I am delighted by the outcome” stated Sofia POLCANOVA in the city of Wolfsberg. HABESOHN stressed that two crucial moments for his success emerged in first two sets when he faced huge deficit (5:8 and 0:5 respectively). Men`s Singles Final: Daniel HABESOHN – Stefan FEGERL 4:1 (11:9 12:10 11:8 11:13 11:4) Bronze: Simon PFEFFER and Alexander CHEN Women`s Singles Final: Sofia POLCANOVA – LIU Yuan 4:0 (11:5 11:9 11:3 11:6) Bronze: Karoline MISCHEK and Amelie SOLJA Men`s Doubles Final: Alexander CHEN / Simon PFEFFER – Christoph SIMONER / David VORCNIK 3:2 (11:8 6:11 6:11 11:5 11:9) Bronze: Dominik HABESOHN / Mathias HABESOHN and Dominique PLATTNER / Martin STORF Women`s Doubles Final: Sofia POLCANOVA / Ines DIENDORFER – LIU Yuan / Lena PROMBERGER 3:0 (11:9 11:6 11:6) Bronze: Sophia KELLERMANN / Karoline MISCHEK and Nicole GALITSCHITSCH /Lisa STORER Mixed Doubles Final: Sofia POLCANOVA / Simon PFEFFER – Lisa STORER / Christoph SIMONER 3:1 (11:7 11:5 9:11 12:10) Bronze: Karoline MISCHEK / Thomas GRININGER and Nicole GALITSCHITSCH / Dominik HABESOHN
Lisa LUNG wins first title NUYTINCK again on the top
Belgian National Championships Lisa LUNG aged 18 won her very first title of Belgian National Championships in the city of Louvain-la-Neuve whilst Cedric NUYTINCK 25 continued his dominancy in the men`s competition. LUNG faced very hard task in the penultimate stage being extended to full distance by Daria MITYUKOVA (led 3:1) while in the gold medal contest she overcame Margo DEGRAEF in six games. Men`s Singles semi-finals provided two super tense clashes both in seven games: Cedrid NUYTINCK vs. Martin ALLEGRO Yannick VOSTES vs. Florian CNUDDE. Defending champion and no. 1 seed has defeated VOSTES in straight games of the final. Men`s Singles Semi-finals: Cedrid NUYTINCK – Martin ALLEGRO 4:3 (9:11 6:11 11:8 11:9 9:11 11:9 11:9) Yannick VOSTES – Florian CNUDDE 4:3 (6:11 11:7 11:6 11:9 9:11 9:11 11:7). Finals: Cedrid NUYTINCK – Yannick VOSTES 4:0 (11:6 11:2 11:7 11:7) Women`s Singles Semi-finals: Margo DEGRAEF – Eline LOYEN 4:3 (11:7 11:9 8:11 9:11 10:12 11:7 14:12) Lisa LUNG – Daria MITYUKOVA 4:3 (4:11 11:6 8:11 9:11 11:9 11:9 11:6). Finals: Lisa LUNG – Margo DEGRAEF 4:2 (11:4 7:11 11:5 12:14 11:8 11:5) Men`s Doubles Final: NUYTINCK / DEVOS – LAMBIET / ALLEGRO 3:0 (11:8 11:9 12:10) Women`s Doubles Final: LOYEN / DEGRAEF – OZER / MARCHETTI 3:2 (4:11 5:11 13:11 11:9 11:6) Mixed Doubles SCHENKEL / MITYUKOVA – SONNET / GUIDON 3:2 (11:8 8:11 6:11 11:7 11:8)
President Roland KRAMER visit Denmark for 75 years anniversary
During the National Championships the Danish table tennis association celebrated the 75 years anniversary. The ETTU president Ronald KRAMER was present. President KRAMER also met the President of the Olympic Committee of Denmark Niels NYGAARD and Anders MØLGAARD President of the Danish Association
Darko JORGIC and Alex GALIC defend their crowns
National Championships of Slovenia Darko JORGIC and Alex GALIC managed to defend their titles in the National Championships of Slovenia held in the city of Otocec. JORGIC beat Deni KOZUL in six games of the Men`s Singles final clash whilst GALIC prevailed against Katarina STRAZAR in straight sets. Individual champions celebrated twice at the 27th national championships as they won gold in Doubles events JORGIC with Peter HRIBAR and GALIC with Nina ZUPANCIC. Men’s Singles Semi-finals: Darko JORGIC – Janez PETROVCIC 4:0 (11:2 11:6 11:1 11:8) Deni KOZUL – Jan ZIBRAT 4:2 (11:6 11:6 7:11 2:11 13:11 13:11). Final: Darko JORGIC – Deni KOZUL 4:2 (11:6 11:2 6:11 5:11 11:6 11:8) Women’s Singles Semi-finals: Alex GALIC – Ana TOFANT 4:2 (11:2 11:5 8:11 8:11 16:14 11:2) Katarina STRAZAR – Lea PAULIN 4:1 (11:8 10:12 12:10 11:8 11:8). Final: Alex GALIC – Katarina STRAZAR 4:0 (11:8 14:12 11:9 11:7) Men’s Doubles final: Jan ZIBRAT/Deni KOZUL – Peter HRIBAR/Darko JORGIC 2:3 (10:12 11:7 7:11 11:1 9:11) Women’s Doubles final: Nina ZUPANCIC/Alex GALIC – Aleksandra VOVK/Spela TRELEC 3:0 (11:5 11:6 11:9) Mixed Doubles final: Peter HRIBAR/Aleksandra VOVK – Deni KOZUL/ Katarina STRAZAR 3:2 (11:8 11:8 4:11 7:11 11:4)
GACINA and PETEK champions in Croatia
National Championships of Croatia Andrej GACINA and Petra PETEK are the single`s winners at the National Championships of Croatia held in the city of Sveti Martin. Men`s Singles top seed GACINA player of Russian club UMMC won all his matches till the final in straight games but he lifted the trophy without playing final encounter as his opponent Tomislav PUCAR was forced to withdraw due to injury. „I feel sorry because of this situation and I wish him (PUCAR) to have a fast recovery and comeback“ stated Andrej GACINA about PUCAR who suffered an injury in the final of Men`s Doubles event. GACINA took his first title after three years (in last two he didn`t participate). Last year`s champion Frane KOJIC was beaten by PUCAR in straight games of the semi-final. Regarding Women`s Singles Petra PETEK repeated her achievement from 2016. Like two years ago in Varazdin she won two gold medals taking also Women`s Doubles crown together with Ivana MALOBABIC. PETEK needed just four sets to regain the title against Ivana TUBIKANEC who eliminated reigning champion Mirela DURAK in the semis. Men`s Singles quarter-finals GAĆINA – ARBANAS 4:0 (1 5 10 3) ČIPIN – I. ZELJKO 4:1 (-3 7 5 5 7) KOJIĆ – ZOVKO 4:3 (7 8 -12 4 -11 -6 5) BAN – PUCAR 0:4 (-7 -4 -5 -7) Semi-finals GAĆINA – ČIPIN 4:0 (13 8 6 4) KOJIĆ – PUCAR 0:4 (-5 -10 -11 -9) Finals GAĆINA – PUCAR 4:0 (w.o) Women`s Singles quarter-finals JEGER – JAZBEC 4:2 (4 9 -9 -8 9 4) MALOBABIĆ – PETEK 3:4 (-5 -8 -8 5 3 7 -5) TUBIKANEC – ARAPOVIĆ 4:0 (6 7 7 8) PAVLOVIĆ – ĐURAK 3:4 (-9 -7 -8 6 8 7 -10) Semi-finals JEGER – PETEK 2:4 (13 -6 -9 -9 3 -6) TUBIKANEC – ĐURAK 4:1 (7 -2 9 12 8) Finals PETEK – TUBIKANEC 4:0 (9 9 9 8)
