2018 ITTF World Cadet Challenge The 2018 ITTF World Cadet Challenge (Tuesday 23rd – Wednesday 31th October 2018 Totorri Japan) gathers six Continental Teams representing Africa Asia Europe Latin America North America and Oceania plus the Hopes Team and the Host Team Japan. Each team nominated four cadet boy players and four cadet girl players. They will fight for trophies in Teams Singles Doubles & Mixed Doubles events for girls & boys. Before the Events all boys and girls will be part of ITTF Official Training Camp. European team already arrived in Tottori and they are very happy with the conditions Japan TTA offers. For Europe will play: Elena ZAHARIA (ROU) Elizabet ABRAMIAN (RUS) Rebecca MUSKANTOR (SWE) Kornelija RILISKYTE (LTU) Maciej KUBIK (POL) Myshaal SABHI (FRA) Mike HOLLO (GER) Adrien RASSENFOSSE (BEL). Players are accompanied by coaches Csilla BATORFI ( for girls) and Joze URH (boys). Never CEGNAR is Team Manager.
ECLW champion extended to full distance by ETTU Cup winner
ECLW Round 2 Group A: Metz TT – Dr. CASL 2:3 Young and talented team of Metz TT with two Under-21 players in its line-up forced defending ECLW champion to give everything they could in the Group A Round 2. After exhausted battle and many upside-downs actual ECLW champion beat current ETTU Cup Women winner 3:2. DOO Hoi Kem has provided early lead for Croatian side as she beat Carole GRUNDISCH in straight games of the opening clash. But 21-year-old Pauline CHASSELIN and 19-year-old Adina DIACONU have reversed the score in favour of French team as they overcame FU Yu and NI Xialian respectively. CHASSELIN was two sets down but managed to reach one of biggest wins in her career so far. Two-times in a row European Junior champion 2015 and 2016 DIACONU prevailed against NI who won her first European singles gold a year before a birth of Romania’s player. FU has faced a huge task against GRUNDISCH being one game down after three sets but easily won last two games. Actual World no. 13 DOO the best Hong Kong’s player has secured victory for the reigning ECLW champion as she overcame CHASSELIN in straight sets. ECLW Round 2 GROUP A Metz TT – Dr. CASL 2:3 Carole GRUNDISCH – DOO Hoi Kem 0:3 (5:11 4:11 8:11) Pauline CHASSELIN – FU Yu 3:2 (6:11 4:11 11:5 11:8 11:8) Adina DIACONU – NI Xialian 3:0 (11:7 11:8 11:5) Carole GRUNDISCH – FU Yu 2:3 (9:11 13:11 11:6 2:11 4:11) Pauline CHASSELIN – DOO Hoi Kem 0:3 (8:11 7:11 7:11)
Good start for BOLL and OVTCHAROV
LIEBHERR 2018 Men’s World Cup in Paris Timo BOLL and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany recorded wins in the opening round of the LIEBHERR 2018 Men’s World Cup in Paris. For Dimitrij OVTCHAROV it was a very hard task. The no.3 seed was close to defeat against a Sweden’s Mattias FALCK the no.13 seed (11-5 4-11 7-11 13-11 5-11 12-10). Much easer Timo BOLL the no.2 seed beat Emmanuel LEBESSON of France to reach the quarterfinals(11-8 8-11 11-8 11-5 11-7). “Emmanuel is always a dangerous opponent. I was a bit worried about getting a good start but I did it and I think I played well today. It’s awesome playing in Disneyland and in France with many enthusiastic supporters. I hope they will continue to cheer for me” said Timo BOLL Dimitrij OVTCHAROV also said his adversary was very hard to beat. the only previous occasion when they had met was just under two years ago at the 2016 Swedish “Mattias was a tough opponent. We had met previously in the Swedish Open and I lost that match. He’s very unpredictable and difficult to play against. It was a super close match. Thanks for the support. Of course we’re playing in France so the French players will get plenty of backing.” Koki NIWA the no.8 seed beat Denmark’s Jonathan Groth the no.12 seed (11-8 11-5 4-11 11-5) and thus repeated the successes enjoyed on the ITTF World Tour in Germany in 2011 and more recently at the LIEBHERR 2017 World Championships in Düsseldorf. Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO beat Korea Republic’s JEONG Sangeun the no.11 seed (11-6 11-6 11-7 11-7).
ECLW Round 2: Former champions won away
Group B: Etival Clairefontaine ASRTT – TTC Berlin Eastside 0:3 Group C: TT Saint Quentinois – Linz AG Froschberg 1:3 Two former ECLW champions won their Round 2 matches away tonight October 19th: Etival Clairefontaine ASRTT – TTC Berlin Eastside 0:3 TT Saint Quentinois – Linz AG Froschberg 1:3. Both winning sides four-time ECLW champion Berlin and two-time winner Linz now have two victories each in their respective groups. German side had an easy job against newcomer from France losing just one set in three encounters. Matilda EKHOLM beat SHAO Jeni in the opener while Georgina POTA recorded one more win in straight games against Hana MATELOVA. One of most talented German players Nina MITTELHAM who plays her first season for Berlin has overcame Camelia IOACOB to secure the win for the guests. Sofia POLCANOVA improved her season’s record to 3-0 as she provided two wins for Linz AG Froschberg against TT Saint Quentinois. The bronze medallist from the recent 2018 ITTF-European Championships in Alicante beat both Aurore LE MANSEC and her former teammate ZHANG Mo. Third point came from Linz’s newcomer Linda BERGSTROM who prevailed against Polina MIKHAILOVA in straight games. ECLW Round 2 GROUP B Etival Clairefontaine ASRTT – TTC Berlin Eastside 0:3 SHAO Jieni – Matilda EKHOLM 0:3 (6:11 5:11 4:11) Hana MATELOVA – Georgina POTA 0:3 (9:11 13:15 7:11) Camelia IACOB – Nina MITTELHAM 1:3 (11:7 8:11 9:11 5:11) GROUPC TT Saint Quentinois – Linz AG Froschberg 1:3 ZHANG Mo – SOO Wai Yam Minnie 3:0 (11:8 11:8 11:5) Aurore LE MANSEC – Sofia POLCANOVA 1:3 (6:11 11:9 7:11 2:11) Polina MIKHAILOVA – Linda BERGSTROM 0:3 (8:11 8:11 7:11) ZHANG Mo – Sofia POLCANOVA 1:3 (8:11 6:11 11:9 4:11)
TTCLM Round 2: HABESOHN pushes Muhlhausen to win over Eslovs
First TTCLM victory in the history of German club: Post SV Muhlhausen – Esovs Ai Bordtennis 3:2 Post SV Muhlhausen secured its very first TTCLM victory as they beat Esovs Ai Bordtennis 3:2 after two wins of Austrian player Daniel HABESOHN while Lubomir JANCARIK added third point in the fifth encounter against Robert SVENSSON. It was very exciting tense clash with many upside-downs. HABESOHN opened the match by his win against SVENSSON in four games. Eslovs’ rising star 16-year-old Truls MOREGARD levelled the score to 1-1 against Lubomir JANCARIK. Actual European Youth Championships gold medallist (Junior) Greece’s Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS overcame current European Championships runner-up Ovidiu IONESCU in straight games. Last two encounters have been extended to full distance. First HABESON prevailed against MOREGARD then JANCARIK beat SVENSSON to secure the win for the host side. TTCLM Round 2 GROUPD Post SV Muhlhausen – Esovs Ai Bordtennis 3:2 Daniel HABESOHN – Robert SVENSSON 3:1 (12:10 15:13 3:11 11:5) Lubomir JANCARIK – Truls MOREGARD 1:3 (11:9 7:11 8:11 6:11) Ovidiu IONESCU – Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS 0:3 (3:11 4:11 9:11) Daniel HABESOHN – Truls MOREGARD 3:2 (11:2 5:11 6:11 11:3 11:8) Lubomir JANCARIK – Robert SVENSSON 3:2 (11:5 11:1 8:11 5:11 11:8)
IN MEMORIAM Judit MAGOS (1951 – 2018)
With great sadness ETTU announces the death of Judit MAGOS (1951 – 2018) 6 times European Champion 26 times Hungarian Champion. In 1978 Sportswoman of the Year in Hungary. In Hungary she played in Statisztika and ESMTK and in Germany in Saarbrücken and in Elvsberg. MAGOS was the role model for many table tennis players.
SAMSONOV and LEBESSON in the same Group in Paris
Men’s LIEBHERR World Cup The second ITTF’s most prestigious table tennis event of the year after the World Championships Men’s LIEBHERR World Cup commences tomorrow in Paris. It is the third time after Liege and Belgium that France hosts the Event. The 20 players taking part in the LIBHERR 2018 Men’s World Cup qualified through their Continental Cups apart from wildcard awarded to Emmanuel LEBESSON (FRA) and Host Nation Representative (FRA). In the first stage of the event in Group A will play Hugo CALDERANO of Brazil Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus and Emmanuel LEBESSON. In Group B are Simon GAUZY Quadri ARUNA og Nigeria JHA Kanak of USA. In Group C are JEONG Sangeun of Korea Gustavo TSUBOI of Brzil and Gionis PANAGIOTIS of Greece. In Geoup D are Jonathan GROTH of Denmark Mattias FALCK of Sweden and HU Heming of Australia. Top 8 players are: FAN Zhedong of China Timo BOLL of Germany Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany LIN Gaoyuan of China LEE Sangsu of Korea Tomokayu HARIMOTO of Japan WONG Chun Ting of Hong Kong and Koki NIWA of Japan. They will join the top two players from each group in second phase. Prize Money Winner: US$ 60 000 Runner-up:US $40 000 3rd place:US$ 20 000 4th place:US$ 14 000 5th –8th place:US$ 10 000 9th – 16th place:US$ 7 000 17th –20th place:US$ 5 000 Total: US$ 250 000
ECLW Round 2: ETTU Cup winner vs. ECLW winner
Metz TT hosts Dr. CASL this Saturday October 20th ECLW Round 2 will be held from this Friday to Monday (October 19-22nd) offering clash between actual ETTU Cup winner Metz TT from France and defending ECLW champion Dr. CASL from Croatia. They are going to play one against another this Saturday 20:00 CET in the French city of Metz. “Result in the first match was as we all expected. We were also glad to see Xia Lian “at work”. Last week we had 4 very strong matches in 7 days and 4 impressive victories – 4:1 7:0 6:1 and 3:0. Our line-up in Metz will be enforced in comparison with the last match. So I hope that we will continue our winning way” stated coach of Zagreb’ side Tino Sven CASL whose team beat Budaorsi 2i 3:0 in the opening round. President of Croatian champion Martin-Tino CASL is looking forward meeting such strong opponent in Group A: “On Saturday we will play our most important match in the group stage. The host team has 3 Chinese players and also 2 very good French players. They won the last season of the ETTU Cup and it means that they are very strong opponents. Anyway if we want to defend our title and we want we must win in this match too. “ Four-time ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastside travels to France to play against ECLW newcomer ETIVAL CLAIREFONTAINE ASRTT. French side will have its very first game in this competition while German side targets its second win in Group B. TT Saint Quentinois hosts two-time ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg in Group C after superb start of Austrian team (3:0 vs. Sporting). Team manager of the host side Jean-Louis POLARD explains: “After 3 seasons in a row competing with Berlin Eastside in the same group our team TT Saint-Quentinois will have another big club to face Linz AG Froschberg. As it said the Austrian team had a great start with a 3/0 victory against Sporting Clube de Portugal. No doubt they are firm favorites with European No.1 Sophia POLCANOVA SOO Minnie from Hong Kong and another good 3rd player. As previously our goal is to qualify for the quarter-finals in the second position. So the crucial matches will be against the Portuguese team of Lisbon. Meanwhile we are pleased to welcome the Austrian team and we are sure that the public in Saint-Quentin will be delighted to see some of the best European and World players. “ Second seed KTS Tarnobrzeg faces Czech Republic’s SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex after 3:1 home win against LZ Linz Froschberg. It will be first 2018/19 game of Czech club. ECLW Round 2 GROUP A: Metz TT – Dr. CASL (Oct 20 20:00 CET) GROUP B: ETIVAL CLAIREFONTAINE ASRTT – TTC Berlin Eastside (Oct 19 20:00 CET) GROUP C: TTSaint Quentinois – Linz AG Froschberg (Oct 19 19:30 CET) GROUP D: SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex – KTS Enea Siarka Tarnobrzeg (Oct 22 18:00 CET)
T2Diamond announces 2019 dates and launches Host City Selection Process
Following the ground-breaking collaboration with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) T2 is excited to introduce new “Diamond-tier” events from 2019 and beyond and the official 2019 schedule of T2Diamond has been revealed. The prestigious annual series of professional table tennis tournaments T2Diamond comprises three world-class events in its second season. Featuring the world’s elite players with highest points from the ITTF World Tour T2Diamond will employ an innovative competition format inspired by that of its inaugural season in 2017. T2Diamond will continue to explore new broadcast innovations and develop bold and compelling integrated marketing campaigns throughout the season to elevate the profile of table tennis to a wider global audience. T2Diamond 2019 will comprise the following events: Tournament 1: 18 July – 21 July 2019 Tournament 2: 26 September – 29 September 2019 Tournament 3: 28 November – 1 December 2019 ITTF CEO Steve DAINTON stated: “As announced on 2 July 2018 we are very excited about growing our partnership with our biggest supporter Mr. Frank Ji. This collaboration with T2Diamond gives the ITTF the perfect opportunity to test innovations that will enhance our professional product leading into our next rights cycle in 2021.” T2 CEO and Commissioner Jeff CHUE said: “After the huge success of season one it is fantastic that we have the opportunity to collaborate with the ITTF to launch T2Diamond. The T2 DNA will be preserved with all events being played on one table and fans being able to get up close and personal with the world’s best table tennis players. Together with world class broadcast coverage and innovative digital marketing I am sure these three T2Diamond events will showcase even more of the beauty of this incredible sport to an even wider consumer demographic.” “T2Diamond promises to deliver an international sporting event that celebrates true sporting excellence and culture while creating a revolutionary standard for table tennis ” added Jeff CHUE. The process for identifying and selecting host city partners to jointly organise and stage any one or more T2Diamond events from 2019 and beyond has been launched. The selection process affords all aspiring parties the opportunity to present proposals to host any one or more T2Diamond events from 2019 onward. With the support of ITTF T2Diamond is inviting the submission of proposals from aspiring partners to be appointed a T2Diamond host city partner. More information on the T2Diamond Host City Partner Selection Process can be found here Headquartered in Singapore and with offices in Shanghai Chicago and Tokyo T2Diamond is a pan-regional first-of-its-kind professional table-tennis league that features a new groundbreaking format. The first season of the league featured separate but concurrent Men’s Women’s and Mixed-Team Championships a player draft system (for the Mixed- Team Championship) 24-minute time limit per match and a unique scoring system. The inaugural edition in 2017 showcased 36 of the world’s best professional players from around the world competing for a combined prize purse of over US$2 million. Media Contacts: ITTF: mpound@ittf.com T2Diamond: media@t2apac.com
Post SV Mühlhausen ready for home debut in TTCLM
This Friday October 19th Post SV Mühlhausen hosts Eslövs from Sweden German club Post SV Mühlhausen has lost its very first TTCLM game 3:0 three weeks ago in Orenburg but didn’t disappoint at all. Daniel HABESOHN and Ovidiu IONESCU extended their strong rivals to full distance while Stefan MENGEL played very hard against Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the third encounter. Now they will have TTCLM home debut facing 2016 runner-up Eslovs (Friday October 19th 19:00 CET) „Eslövs will have a good confidence after the victory against Hennebont. The team is young and hungry to win more games in the TTCLM. But our advantage is that we will play at home. I think for the young players from Eslövs it will be not easy to play in our fast and loud arena. We want to win this match!” stressed coach Erik SCHREYER. Mühlhausen player Lubomir JANCARIK added: „Match against Eslovs in our opinion can be very attractive for our fans. We will welcome team made of two young talented players and also player with lots of experiences. But we believe that we will proof our strength and that everybody will enjoy nice matches and beautiful atmosphere of TTCLM here in Mühlhausen.“
