Interview with Swedish player Truls MOREGARD The 2017 ITTF World Junior Championships runner-up Sweden`s Truls MOREGARD won his first two Group C matches at the Third Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires Argentina (October 7-15th) against Argentina`s Martin BENTANCOR FERNANDEZ and Italy`s Matteo MUTTI (both in five games). Eslovs` player a 16-year-old continues his nice performances from the Table Tennis Champions League where he contributed with two wins in the opening round against French club G.V. Hennebont. He speaks about it in the following short interview… TTCLM Round 1 victory comment? – The first match in the Champions League was a really strong performance and a good win for the team! It was a really important victory for us. Key for excellent performances vs. Hennebont? – I had really good tactics against both PITCHFORD and the Chinese and I did very few easy mistakes. Eslovs` chances to reach TTCLM 1/4 finals? – Our chances to reach 1/4 will of course be tough but after this win I think that everything is possible. Personal goal in the 2018/19 season? – My personal goal is to play my best table tennis I can play and help the team to win many matches. Table Tennis idol? – I love to watch Timo (BOLL) play!! Career goal? – To be top 5 in the world! Personal aim at the 2018 YOG? – I think that YOG will be a great experience for me. It is very tough to take medal in this competition because everyone is very good. But I hope that I can play at my best and take medal. Also in the team event me and SURJAN has good chance! Official YOG website: here Quick Links Prospectus & Information Team Officials’ Guide YOG 2018 qualified players YOG Mixed Teams Entry List Qualification System (English) (French) IOC Guidelines Regarding Authorized Identifications (English) (French) Specific uniforms guidelines for Buenos Aires 2018 “Rule 50” Official 2018 YOG Event Page Table Tennis – Detailed Event Competition Schedule Official Practice Schedule Singles Seeding Information about practice during the competition
2018 YOG: MOREGARD SGOUROPOULOS and PLETEA determined to repeat GAUZY`s achievement from 2010
Summer Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires Argentina (October 7-15th) Table tennis events at the Third Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires Argentina will commence tomorrow October 7th by group matches in both singles Men`s and Women`s. A total of 64 players will compete divided in eight groups. Two top ranked European representatives Truls MOREGARD (Sweden No. 3 seed) and Sabina SURJAN (Serbia No. 5) will be united as Europe 1 team in the Mixed International Team event scheduled for October 12-15th Unique medal taken by European players in first two YOG editions was one reached by France`s Simon GAUZY eight years ago in Singapore. Truls MOREGARD 2017 ITTF World Junior Championships runner-up has showed in last two years that he is able to fight against strong Asian opponents. Men`s Singles event will see two more medal-collectors from Old Continent two-time in a row European Junior champion Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS from Greece and Europe Youth Top 10 winner Cristian PLETEA from Romania. Clear favourite in the Men`s Singles 15-year-old Tomokazu HARIMOTO (No. 1 seed) a second youngest participant in Buenos Aires commences his mission in Group A against Australia`s Benjamin GOULD tomorrow October 7th. Austria`s Maciej KOLODZIEJZCYK (No. 17) shares Group B with No. 2 seed JHA Kanak from USA Nicolas Ignacio BURGOS from Chile and Jann Mari NAYRE from Philippines. Two Europeans will compete in Group C Sweden`s Truls MOREGARD (No. 3) and Italy`s Matteo MUTTI (No. 15). Other two players in this group are Argentina`s Martin Fernandez BENTANCOR and North Korea`s KIM Song Gun. MOREGARD starts his YOG campaign against BETANCOR tomorrow October 7th 16:30 CET while his next opponent in Round 2 will be MUTTI. Russia`s Vladimir SIDORENKO is going to fight against three Asian players in Group D – LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei. No. 4) Yanapong PANAGITGUN (Thailand) and CHO Daeseong (South Korea) as well as Lithuania`s Medardas STANKEVICIUS (Group E) who will face Manav Vikash THAKKAR (India No. 5) Amin AHMADIAN (Iran) and CHOONG Javen (Malaysia). Chinese WANG Chuqin No. 6 is biggest name in Group E where he will meet Old Continent`s Bastien REMBERT (No. 11) from France and Vladislav URSU from Moldova. Fourth member of this groups is Tunisia`s Nathael Elyes HAMDOUN. Group G and Group H are composed by two strong European players each. Group G will see Round 1 games (Sunday October 7th) between Romania`s Cristian PLETEA (No. 9) and XU Nathan (New Zealand) and Azerbaijan`s YU Khinhang and Egypt`s Youssef ABDEL-AZIZ (No. 7). Group H commences by clashes Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS (Greece No. 8) vs. Cedric MEISSNER (Germany) and Azeez SOLANKE (Nigeria) vs. PANG Yew En Koen (Singapore). The best ranked women`s player from Old Continent Serbia`s Sabina SURJAN (No. 5 seed) is biggest name of Group E composed also by Slovakia`s Tatiana KUKULKOVA USA`s WANG Amy and Korea`s CHOI Haeeun. Top seeded Miu HIRANO from Japan will face two European players in Group A Belarus Nadezhda BOGDANOVA and Croatia`s Andrea PAVLOVIC. Lucie GAUTHIER from France Zdena BLASKOVA from Czech Republic and San Marino`s Chiara MORRI share Group B with No. 2 seed SUN Yingsha from China. Andreea DRAGOMAN (Romania) and NING Jing (Azerbaijan) respectively No. 13 and No 18 are placed in Group D beside Chinese Taipei`s SU Pei-Ling (No. 3 seed) and Nigeria`s Esther ORIBAMISE. Franziska SCHREINER from Germany and Jamila LAURENTI from Italy will have big challenge against No. 4 seed Adriana DIAZ from Puerto Rico. No. 11 seed Poland`s Anna Janina WEGRZYN is second best ranked player in Group G after Brazil`s Bruna TAKAHASHI (No. 7) No. 24 and No. 25 Mariia TAILAKOVA (Russia) and Annika LUNDSTROM (Finland) will face big challenge in Group H as other two players there are Jinnipa SAWETTABUT (Thailand No. 10) and LEE Karisa (Hong Kong No. 8). Mixed International Team event is scheduled for October 12-15th. Eleven European pairs will participate and among them is Europe 1 team composed by two strong players Truls MOREGARD from Sweden and Sabina SURJAN from Serbia as well as Romania`s Cristian PLETEA and Andreea DRAGOMAN. Official YOG website: here Quick Links Prospectus & Information Team Officials’ Guide YOG 2018 qualified players YOG Mixed Teams Entry List Qualification System (English) (French) IOC Guidelines Regarding Authorized Identifications (English) (French) Specific uniforms guidelines for Buenos Aires 2018 “Rule 50” Official 2018 YOG Event Page Table Tennis – Detailed Event Competition Schedule Official Practice Schedule Singles Seeding Information about practice during the competition
England and Italy succeeded in Norway
ITTF-European Teams Championships The last two matches of fourth round of ITTF-European Teams Championships first phase played in Norway. In both Men’s and Women’s Event hosts suffered defeat. Italy’s Leonardo MUTTI Antonino AMATO and Daniele PINTO overcame Norway’s Eskil LINDHOLM Borger HAUG and Frederik MERINGDAL. The match concluded in straight matches. Previously Italy beat Israel and Norway in the opening round. In Women’s category England needed one match more to record the victory. Maria TSAPTINOS overcame Ilka DOVAL and Tin Tin HO overcame both Rebekka CARLSEN and DOVAL. Rikke SKATTET scored the only point for the hosts against Denise PAYET. England is unbeaten in the Group; besides Norway they overcame Greece. You can see full results and standings link here
Victory for Hungary in Spain
ITTF-European Teams Championships In in the fourth round of the first phase of the ITTF-European Teams Championships Spain lost against Hungary on home soil. Dora MADARASZ overcame Maria XIAO Georgina POTA prevailed against Galia DVORAK and Szandra PERGEL beat Alba FERNANDEZ. It was the last match of the Round in A Groups of the Women’s Event. In B Groups in Men’s Event England recorded straight matches victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tom JARVIS overcame Armin ALICIC Sam WALKER prevailed against Edin KOJIC and David McBEATH accounted for Luka MATKOVIC. You can see full results and standings link here
Future Events Working Group Discuss ITTF World Championships Expansion
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Future Events Working Group met in Alicante Spain on 17 & 18 September 2018 to discuss strategies to ensure 100% participation of all 226-member National Associations into the new World Championships system. The 2018 ITTF Board of Directors Meeting in Halmstad approved the expansion of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships starting in 2021 which will see the creation of regional and qualification stages that will lead into the World Table Tennis Championships final. The meeting which was the Working Group’s first meeting with new members including technical experts from each continent on board made a lot of progress through the 2-day meeting. With the goal of having full participation of all National Associations in mind the Working Group focused discussions around how to ensure that all countries across the globe could play in the World Table Tennis Championships continental and regional stages leading into the World Table Tennis Championships finals. Tony KIESENHOFER Chair of the ITTF Future Events Working Group shared: “When making fundamental change for a better future we expect that a new direction will face thorough scrutiny. In the end I was pleased that while looking at their continental realities and interests the members of the group engaged with a bigger picture discussion: A World Championships that aims to take place around the world with media and spectator engagement and over a longer period of time. This new model puts a clear emphasis on engaging and helping with the development of the associations that are currently not participating in the World Championships.” “I think it became clear to all that the ITTF’s investment in this new project will be at the early stages of the World Championships this makes good sense to me for reasons of participation visibility and public engagement – as a result I am convinced that such a model will result in a significantly greater table tennis economy that will bring the resources for worldwide table tennis development not as a political token but as part of a viable business plan.” ITTF CEO Steve DAINTON stated after the meeting “After two days of fruitful discussion I was mainly pleased that there was a large focus placed on the overall system needed for the future of the new and expanded World Table Tennis Championships. With the goal to increase visibility of our sport in all corners of the World and to have all our 226 members fully active in our events a new and excellent system is absolutely necessary. It was also good to have the meeting at the European Championships as we could hear also at their congress that there is still a lot of doubt about how to achieve these goals. However after the meetings I do believe we are on track and we will ensure events that allow more people around the world to experience our sport see it in the media and to create record attendance at a World Table Tennis Championships.” ITTF Competition Director Vicky ELEFTHERIADE added: “The Future Events Working Group had two days of constructive discussions and inspiring exchange of ideas. It was important to share views on how we can help table tennis and players benefit from the new and expanded World Championships system. The road to the World Championships Finals will be led by dynamic formula considering a number of factors – for defining a number of quota places per Continent and a number of meaningful events. The big focus and required resources will be put in developing appealing events on a Regional and Continental level. Events from the early stages of the World Championships to the World Championships Finals which can showcase table tennis players from all corners of the world.” The Future Events Working Group will present their final plan for approval at the 2019 ITTF Board of Directors meeting in Budapest Hungary during the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships.
PAVLOVICH: BALTUSHITE showed strong character
ITTF-European Teams Championships Belarus women`s team recorded very important win in the Stage 1 Round 4 of the ITTF-European Teams Championships defeating Russia 3:2 at home. Marharyta BALTUSHITE managed to reverse the score from 0-2 to 3-2 against Valeria SHCHERBATYKH in the decisive fifth encounter. “I am pleased with our girls. Marharyta showed strong character fought for every ball despite the fact she was two sets behind. I really liked the game – it was a tough emotional but we won” explained Belarus captain Viktoria PAVLOVICH who overcame Anastasia KOLISH. It was a good team work of host side while Yana NOSKOVA took both points for Russian side against Marharyta BALTUSHITE and Nadezhda BOGDANOVA. Guests have played without their best player Pilina MIKHAILOVA. During the post-game press conference Viktoria PAVLOVICH explained that she was forced to change her mental approach during the clash against Anastasia KOLISH: “I do not know the reason but for me it is very difficult to play at home. I started the match with wet hand being very excited. During the meeting I said to myself: I’m better and I must prove it against Anastasia. “ You can see full results and standings link here Belarus head coach Tatyana PETKEVICH pays tribute to the Russian team: “It`s always difficult to play against Russian team and we must fight for every point. This time we played a good match against a very worthy opponent. For us three sets will be enough to secure the place at the European Team Championship in 2019”. Belarus – Russia 3:2 Nadezhda BOGDANOVA – Valeria SHCHERBATYKH 3:1 (10:12 11:7 11:7 12:10) Marharyta BALTUSHITE – Yana NOSKOVA 1:3 (11:8 7:11 2:11 13:15) Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Anastasia KOLISH 3:1 (8:11 11:6 11:2 11:7) Nadezhda BOGDANOVA -Yana NOSKOVA 2:3 (15:13 11:7 7:11 6:11 8:11) Marharyta BALTUSHITE – Valeria SHCHERBATYKH 3:2 (6:11 3:11 11:8 11:6 11:9)
Guests showed no mercy in fourth Round
ITTF-European Teams Championships With exception of Belarus most of the guests will go happy home after tonight’s matches in the fourth round of the first phase of the ITTF-European Teams Championships. In Groups A in Men’s Event Portugal overcame Hungary in Miskolc in straight matches. Bence MAJAROS suffered by the hands of Joao GERALDO Adam SZUDI lost against Marcos FREITAS and Nandor ECSEKI lost against Tiago APOLONIA. This is second win for Portugal. They beat Hungary already in the first round but lost against Austria. Belarus is unbeaten after three matches. Once again Ukraine lost their encounter against strong Belarus team. Vladimir SAMSONOV lost his opening encounter against Lei KOU Pavel PLATONOV overcame Yevgeny PRYSHCHEPA who lost against SAMSONOV in fourth match. In third Aliaksandr KHANIN beat Viktor YEFIMOV. Croatia prevailed against Turkey and avenged their defeat in the opening round against the same adversary. In Previous Round Turkey lost against Poland. Andrej GACINA set the course of the match. He overcame Ibrahim GÜNDÜZ; Tomislav PUCAR and Tomislav KOJIC FRANE beat Batuhan ULUCAK and Talha YİĞENLER ABDULLAH. In Luxembourg Greece prevailed. Luka MLADENOVIC created great upset by beating Panagiotis GIONIS but it was the only point hosts gained. GIONIS recovered to overcame Gilles MICHELY IN THE FOURTH MATCH. Previously Anastasios RINIOTIS beat MICHELY and Joannis SGOURPOULOS overcame Fabio SANTOMAURO. Sweden beat Denmark in Odense. Mattias FALCK Kristian KARLSSON and Jon PERSSON needed only three matches to overcame Jonathan GROTH Anders LIND and Kasper RASMUSSEN. Sweden beat Denmark already but lost against Spain. Spain beat Denmark as well. Greece overcame Luxembourg again. They lost only against Russia. Slovenia overcame Belgium for a second time. Darko JORGIC Bojan TOKIĆ and Deni KOZUL succeeded against Robin DEVOS Cedric NUYTINCK and Florent LAMBIET. Only point Belgium won after NUYTINCK beat TOKIĆ but experienced TOKIC overcame DEVOS in the fourth match. In Groups A in Women’s event in Baku Germany beat Azerbaijan. It is Germany’s third victory in that Group. They already prevailed against Azerbaijan at home soil and they beat Luxembourg. In Baku Nina MITTELHAM Chantal MANTZ and WAN Yuan prevailed against Bulusa EMINOVA Maryam IMANOVA and Nazakat GARAEVA. Poland beat Slovenia against. They suffered only against Ukraine. Tonight Alex GALIC suffered by the hands of Kataryna GAZYBOWSKA FRANZ Natalia PARTYKA beat Katarina STRAZAR and Natalia BAJOR overcame Ana TOFANT. After two 3:2 wins against Italy and Croatian previous rounds Netherlands recorded straight matches win over Italy tonight. Britt EERLAND beat Giorgi PICCOLIN LI Jie overcame Chiara COLANTONI and Kim VERMAAS beat Veronica MOSCONI. Austria repeated the success from the opening round and overcame Switzerland. Amelie SOLJA Sophia POLCANOVA and Karoline MISCHEK beat Rachel MORET Mireille KROON and Céline REUST. In Groups B in Men’s Event Montenegro suffered by the hands of Dutch players in Podgorica. Luka BAKIC lost against Laurens TROMERS Filip RADOVIC against Ewardus OOSTWOUNDER and Dusan BULATOVIC failed to beat Rajko GOMMERS. Israel overcame Kosovo in Pristina. It is their second victory in the Group. In previous Round Israel lost against Italy. Michael TAUBER Aviv BEN ARI and Tal ISRAEL played for the winning side whilst Faith KARABAXMAKU Mentor SHABANI and Kreshnik MAUMUTI represented Kosovo. Cyprus was defeated against Czech Republic in Nicosia. It is their second defeat against same adversary and it is Czechs third victory in the Group. Pavel SIRUCEK Tomas TREGLER and Tomas KONECNY proved too strong for Marios YIANGOU Hristos HRISTONOV and Yiangos YIANGOU. Azerbaijan lost at home soil against Lithuania. Sanan ALYEV Muhammed IBRAHIM and Vazir ALLAHVERDIYEV played for the hosts while Rimas LESIV Matas SKUSAC and Matas VILKAS played fir the winning side. Finland needed four matches to overcame Scotland in Glasgow. RUMGAY was the only to score in Scotland. Olah BENEDEK Naumi ALEX and Soni SAMULI played for the winning team. In Groups B in Women’s Event Lithuania overcame Finland again but this time in Helsinki. Korneliya RILISKYTE beat Anna KIRICHENKO Egle STUCKYTE overcame Jannika OKSANEN and Ruta PASKAUSKIENE beat Aleksandra TITIEVSKAYA. They also overcame Israel in previous round. Turkey also secured third victory in their Group. They beat Estonia twice and Denmark once. Tonight Ozge YILMAZ Sibel ALTINKAYA and Betul Nur KAHRAMAN recorded victories against Airi AVAMERI Vitalia REINOL and Kätlin LATT. Serbia is at the top of the table in their group with third win. Again they prevailed against Scotland. Aneta MAKSUTI beat Lucy ELLIOT Dragana VIGNJEVIC overcame Rebecca PLAISTOW and Aleksandra SAVIC beat Faye LEGGETT. You can see full results and standings link here
The ETTU Cup is heating up – the draw for second round conducted
ADC Ponta Do Pargo – Calheta wil have representatives in both Cups The draw for the second phase of the ETTU Cups was conducted today. The matches in next Group stage are scheduled for 20th and 21st October. In the second Group Stage of the Men’s ETTU Cup in Group A will play Cajasur Priego TM and A.D. Vincios ASD Marcozzi Cagliari and TT Vedrinamur. In Group B are: ADC Ponta Do Pargo – Calheta Universidad De Burgos Ping Pong Club Villeneuvois and Türk Telekom Ankara Sport Club. In Group C are: TT Team Poltava Borges Vall SF SKK EL Nino Praha and GDCS Juncal. In Group D are: SK Vydrany TTSC UMMC-ELEM Logis Auderghem TT and DT Echternach. In Women’s ETTU Cup in Group A will meet: GDCS Do Juncal Hotel-Museo Patria Chica Priego TM Sparvägen TTC and ADC Ponto do Pargo-Calheta. In Group B: Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa TT Dinez A.S.D. Tennistavolo Norbello and Hillerød G.I. Bordtennis. In Group C: DT Roodt-Syre Arteal Tenis de Mesa Dozy Den Helder/ Noordkoop AO Foinikas AG. Sofias. In Group D: TT MORAVSKY KRUMLOV Tigem Spor Club TTV Lybrae Heerlen and Yalova Belediye Genclik Spor Kulübü.
Belarus beat Russia for a second time in the ITTF-European Championships Teams
Once again Belarus prevailed against Russia in the first phase of the ITTF-European Championships Teams. In February in the opening match Belarus needed only three matches in Russia but tonight they were stretched to full distance. Yana NOSKOVA proved too strong for both Marharyta BALTUSHITE and Nadezhda BOGDANOVA but two matches were not enough. Belarus showed they had a stronger team led by Viktoria PAVLOVICH. So far both Russia and Belarus suffered by the hands players from Sweden. Belarus – Russia 3:2 Nadezhda BOGDANOVA – Valeria SHCHERBATYKH 3:1 (10:12 11:7 11:7 12:10) Marharyta BALTUSHITE – Yana NOSKOVA 1:3 (11:8 7:11 2:11 13:15) Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Anastasia KOLISH 3:1 (8:11 11:6 11:2 11:7) Nadezhda BOGDANOVA – Yana NOSKOVA 2:3 (15:13 11:7 7:11 6:11 8:11) Marharyta BALTUSHITE – Valeria SHCHERBATYKH 3:2 (6:11 3:11 11:8 11:6 11:9) You can see full results and standings link here
Mie SKOV helped Hillerød GI reach the second phase in ETTU Cup
Hillerød GI bordtennis hosted the opening round of ETTU CUP group D and after successful event progressed to the next phase from second spot. Good news for Danish table tennis is comback of Mie SKOV. “Our first lady and most famous Danish women table tennis player ever – Mie Skov – had a fantastic comeback and won 5 out of 6. Even though it is not a professional comeback this is very good for promoting women’s table tennis in Denmark” stated Thomas Hjermind Jensen. TTV Lybrae Heerlen concluded the competition at the posion one. CTT Balaguer Villart Logistic and TTC Rapid Luzern are third and fourth.
