Reigning World & Olympic Champion DING Ning (CHN) has proved that she’s still a force to be reckoned with winning her third ITTF World Cup title on her third attempt at the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup today 30 September 2018 in Chengdu China. DING whose world ranking fell due to inactivity in 2017 was unstoppable in Chengdu storming her way into the final to face compatriot and defending Champion ZHU Yuling dropping only one game en route to the Final. In a rematch of the 2017 World Championships Final the Chinese duo took on each other in a fast and furious final showdown that thrilled the local crowd in the Sichuan Province Gymnasium. Experience prevailed as DING was able to take overall control of the rhythm in the match and critical moments to seal a 4-0 (11-9 11-8 12-10 11-8) victory. With the victory on hand DING’s world ranking is due to rise to number two in the world in October 2018. Elated with her hard-earned victory DING shared after the ceremony “I’m very happy with my victory and I think I’m really fortunate to be able to win the title on all three occasions I played. It’s indeed something to be excited about. I think this is definitely one of my best matches this year I have been having ups and downs over the past few months but today I played really well and I see this as a new starting point.” “Today even though I was able to win 4-0 it’s definitely not an easy match especially towards the latter of the match both of us played at a very high level. I was able to stay calm and implement my strategies firmly ” added DING. “I also really want to thank my fans who have been cheering and supporting me!” Chinese Taipei’s CHENG I-Ching added another World Cup medal to her medal collection taking Bronze in Chengdu with a convincing 4-1 (11-8 11-7 12-10 13-15 11-8) win over Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA. This will be CHENG’s third consecutive medal after claiming Silver in 2016 and Bronze in 2017. With the conclusion of the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup all attention will turn to the Liebherr 2018 ITTF Men’s World Cup to be held in Paris (FRA) from 19-21 October 2018 where 20 of the world’s best male table tennis stars will battle it out for the Men’s World Cup title. Quick Links: Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup Results & Schedule Flash Quotes Photos for Editorial Use Player Bio Media Kit Seeding List Qualification & Playing System Live Streaming & Matches on Demand Match Highlights
Victor ANDREEV celebrates his 70th anniversary
Victor ANDREEV celebrates his 70th anniversary on September 30 2018. He is the founder Vice-president and head coach of the Orenburg TTC Fakel-Gazprom. In the Russian table tennis history there are many great personalities: talented coaches creators and experts in table tennis centers. They are symbols of this beautiful sport. For many decades these people have been sparing no effort despite the emerging difficulties tried to use all opportunities for the development of their favorite sport. The most famous person in Russia is Victor ANDREEV from Orenburg. ANDREEV is first international umpire in the Soviet Union and Russia. He represented the country in major international competitions for 20 years. Victor ANDREEV officiated as umpire at three World Championships and seven European Championships many Open Championships of the European countries. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Russian table tennis Federation for three years. The high authority of Victor Andreev in our country and abroad contributed to his election as the Chairman of the Russian umpire Committee and a member of the ETTU umpire Committee. Victor has many merits before Orenburg. Thousands of competitions were organized and held under his leadership. He organized and held six TT Championships of the Soviet Union and four Russian Championships as well as the first tournament for the best Russian table tennis players – TOP-12. The level of organization of all sport events was very high. These competitions served as a powerful impetus to the development of table tennis in Orenburg. During this period the foundation of the legendary team Fakel-Gazprom was laid. Victor ANDREEV was the Chairman of the Orenburg Regional Federation from 1973 until 2004 (31 years!). The first table tennis departments were opened in sports schools in many cities of the Orenburg region. A good material base has been created in the Orenburg region. The table tennis school was opened in the Sports Palace Gazovik in 1984. In 1997 Victor ANDREEV joined the elite international organization Swaythling Club thanks to his fanatical work to promote the beloved sport and great umpiring experience. Victor started the new project after his umpiring career. He gathered professional table tennis players in the Sports Palace Gazovik in 2001. Under the leadership of Vice-President and head coach Victor ANDREEV the Russian TTC Fakel-Gazprom entered the Russian and European elite and held leading positions for 17 years. Orenburg team won 6 European Cups and 12 Russian Cups: the Super Cup of Europe ETTU Cup the ECL winner (four times) Russian Champions (eight times) and Russian Cup winner (four times)! No team in our country has achieved such success in the Russian table tennis history. The Russian Table Tennis Center was built in Orenburg thanks to ANDREEV’S initiative and the support of Gazprom. This unique sports facility started its work on April 2 2013. Victor ANDREEV was appointed its head. He had a great organizational work. He managed to solve a very difficult task – to gather qualified coaches. It has been 5 years. The Center raised many talented children during this time. Young table tennis players have already won 10 European medals. It is very difficult to achieve such a high recognition in Russia and Europe for a person from the province. However many people can envy Victor ANDREEV’S character and dedication. Victor sets himself high goals and persistently achieves their implementation throughout his life. Today he has new projects new ideas and new horizons. It is necessary to build sports boarding school for the Russian table tennis Center in Orenburg. Knowing Andreev we can confidently assume that this time everything will be done at the highest level. Yulia Khmelevskikh
TTCLM Round 1: Night of future table tennis stars
Truls MOREGARD (16-year-old) from Eslovs and Saarbrucken`s Darko JORGIC (20) and Cristian PLETEA (18) have contributed to their clubs` victories Concluding day of the 2018/19 TTCLM Round 1 was marked by three rising table tennis stars 16-year old Truls MOREGARD from Eslovs and Darko JORGIC (20) and Cristian PLETEA (18) from Saarbrucken. The 2017 ITTF World Junior Championships runner-up MOREGARD has recorded two wins against G. V. Hennebont while 2017 STAG U21 ECH silver medalist JORGIC and 2017 European Youth Championships runner-up Cristian PLETEA both won their matches against Angers. Eslovs Ai Bordtennis 2016 TTCLM runner-up beat Hennebont 3:1 at home. MOREGARD won both his encounters in straight games. First he overcame FAN Sheng Peng in the opener then he upset England`s Liam PITCHFORD who recently beat World and Olympic champion MA Long. Other Group D clash has belonged to four-time TTCLM champion Fakel Gazprom Orenburg. Russian club beat new participant in the best 16 European clubs Post SV Mühlhausen 3:0. Two newcomers in the Orenburg`s side Marcos FREITAS and YAN An have been extended to full distance by Daniel HABESOHN and 2018 ITTF ECH runner-up Ovidiu IONESCU respectively. Actual world no. 5 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV secured third point for his team as he beat his compatriot Steffen MENGEL in straight games. Orenburg`s biggest rival in Russia UMMC had successful start in the Group B. Tatiana KUTERGINA`s side prevailed against 2017 ETTU Cup winner Stella Sport La Romagne 3:0. Host team presented its new line-up FANG Bo Jonathan GROTH and Andrej GACINA (unique player from last season). GROTH`s win against CHEN Tianyuan was crucial moment for the final outcome. The 26-year-old Patrick FRANZISKA was the most experienced Saarbrucken`s player against Angers. German beat Jens LUNDQVIST in the straight games while Darko JORGIC (20) and Cristian PLETEA (18) have defeated Jon PERSSON and Andréa LANDRIEU respectively. TTCLM Round 1 Group B UMMC – Stella Sport La Romagne 3:0 FANG Bo -Daniel GORAK 3:1 (11:7 11:6 8:11 13:11) Jonathan GROTH – CHEN Tianyuan 3:1 (12:10 11:9 9:11 13:11) Andrej GACINA – Brice OLLIVIER 3:0 (11:5 11:5 11:5) Group C Saarbrucken – Vaillante Sports Angers 3:0 Patrick FRANZISKA – Jens LUNDQVIST 3:0 (11:5 11:9 11:6) Darko JORGIC – Jon PERSSON 3:2 (11:8 2:11 5:11 11:8 11:7) Cristian PLETEA – Andréa LANDRIEU 3:2 (6:11 11:9 11:7 4:11 11:9) Group D Fakel Gazprom Orenburg – Post SV Mühlhausen 3:0 Marcos FREITAS – Daniel HABESOHN 3:2 (11:6 9:11 11:4 4:11 11:3) YAN An – Ovidiu IONESCU 3:2 (15:13 8:11 11:5 8:11 11:7) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV – Steffen MENGEL 3:1 (10:12 11:3 13:11 11:6) Eslovs Ai Bordtennis – G. V. Hennebont 3:1 Truls MOREGARDH – FAN Sheng Peng 3:0 (11:5 11:9 11:9) Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS – Liam PITCHFORD 0:3 (3:11 9:11 7:11) Robert SVENSSON – Cedric NUYTINCK 3:2 (15:17 5:11 13:11 11:8 11:3) Truls MOREGARDH – Liam PITCHFORD 3:0 (11:7 11:7 11:9) More information: here ETTU Facebook ETTU Twitter ETTU Instagram
ETTU Cup commences this weekend
The ETTU Cup 2018/19 season commences on thiw weekend with the Groups Stage matches. In Men’s ETTU Cup 18 clubs are divided in four groups. In Group A the host will be Logis Auderghem TT of Belgium. There will play also t.t.v. Hercules 1 from Netherlands Türk Telekom Ankara Sport Club from Turkey STK Libertas Marinkolor from Croatia and CE MSC TENNIS ACADEMY SCC Sumy from Ukraine. In Group B the host is Ping Pong Club Villeneuvois from France. To France will travel Dutch Itass DTK’70 Divapan SC from Turkey GDCS Juncal of Portuga and Sarkuysan Spor Kulübü also from Turkey. DT Echternach will host clubs in Group C in Luxembourg. Spanish Fundación Cajasol Hispalis will be top rated club in the group where will play also ASD Marcozzi Cagliari of Italy and Portugal’s G.D.D Toledos. Romania’s CSS-FSK Odorheiu Secuiesc will host SF SKK El Nino Praha of Czech Republic Clube Desportivo Sao Roque of Portugal and TT Vedrinamur of Belgium. The winners and runners up will progress to the second stage scheduled for 20th – 21st October. In Group A in Women’s ETTU Cups the host and top seed is TT Vedrinamur of Belgium. There will also play Sparvägen TTC from Sweden Yalova Belediye Genclik Spor Kulübü from Turkey and ASEA Sarises Florinas from Greece. In Group B is C.T.T. Minerois host and top seed. Minerois will welcome A.S. Polemidia from Cyprus A.S.D. Tennistavolo Norbello and AO Foinikas AG.Sofias of Greece. In Group C top seed is DT Nidderkäerjeng followed by Dutch Dozy Den Helder/Noordkop and ADC Ponta do Pargo – Calheta of Portugal. The host is G.D. Dos Toledos also from Portugal. In Group D is Spanish CTT Balaguer Villart Logistic Hillerød G.I. Bordtennis of Denmark TTV Lybrae Heerlen and host TTC Rapid Luzern of Switzerland.
With three exceptions The ITTF eligibility regulations for World Title events shall apply to all ETTU events
Regulation changes and other propositions passed at the Ordinary ETTU Congress 19th September 2018 in Alicante (ESP). The amendments to the ETTC (CI and CT) are valid from 2020 onwards. Regulation B.10.3. INTERNATIONAL ELIGIBILITY The ITTF eligibility regulations for World Title events shall apply to all ETTU team and individual events except as provided in the chapters B.10.3.1 to B.10.3.3. B.10.3.1. European Veterans Championships (1) A player shall register with the Organizing Committee under the name of the country he is a national of and/or his country of main residence in Europe. If requested by the Organizing Committee or the referee the player shall provide documentary evidence of his eligibility. B.10.3.2. European Youth Championships and Europe Youth Top 10 (1) A player shall be eligible to represent in the European Youth Championships a Member Association having jurisdiction in a country if: a) the player either a.1. is a national of that country; a.2. has been born in that country without being a national of it; a.3. is resident in that country since at least five years ( the concerned player shall provide official documentary evidence of his residence if so required by ETTU ); and b) the player has never before represented any other Member Association in the European Youth Championships. B.10.3.3. European Club Cup Competitions (1) A player shall be eligible to represent a club as a ‘non-foreign’ player in the European Champions League or in the ETTU Cup if he is eligible to represent the Member Association to which the club concerned is affiliated in international team competitions in which the team represents an Association. Besides a player having the nationality of a state whose National Table Tennis Association is a Member Association shall have the right to represent as a ‘non-foreign’ player any club of any Member Association. (2) A player who has represented a club as a ‘non-foreign’ player in one of the Events mentioned in the first section of § (1) shall have the right to represent as a ‘non-foreign’ player any club of the Member Association to which the club he last represented is affiliated. (3) A club shall through the Member Association to which it is affiliated register with the General Secretary all proposed representative players who previously have represented a club of another Member Association not later than two (2) months before the start of the first event in which the players concerned are to represent it. Regulation CI: European Championships (Individual events) CI.7 ENTRIES CI.7.1 Numbers CI.7.1.1 In singles events each Association shall be entitled to enter according to the results of the previous year’s European Championships team events finals stage and 2nd stage as follows: Associations in positions 1-4: 5 players Associations in positions 5-8: 4 players Associations in positions 9-16 (2nd in final stage groups): 4 players Associations in positions 17-24 (3rd in final stage groups): 3 players 6 best placed Associations not proceeding to the final stage (from 2nd stage groups): 3 players All remaining Associations: 2 players Host Association 5 players In case of vacant places one place will be allocated firstly tothe 14 Associations with 3 players according to the ranking positions of the Associations secondly if there are remaining places one place will be allocated to Associations with 2 players according to the ranking positions of the Associations. Regulation CI: European Championships (Individual events) CI 4 Date and Duration CI.4.1. The Championships shall be held between 14th September and 31st October over a period of 6 days. Regulation CT: European Championships (Team events) CT 5.3 Date and Duration CT.5.3.1. The final stage of the Championships shall be held between 14th September and 31st October over a period of 6 days. Regulation H: Europe Top 16 Cup H.4. Qualification H.4.2 In each event the following players shall be invited: a) The current European Champion. b) The top 14 players from the last available European Ranking List excluding the current European Champion or top 15 players if a Host Association player qualifies. c) If no players qualify from the Host Association then the Host Association shall nominate one Host Association player. There shall be no more than 2 players from an Association. Regulation U: European Under 21 Championships U.3 Qualification U.3.3 If no players qualify from the host Association then the host Association shall nominate one host Association player. Any vacant places after the deadline fixed by the Secretary General may be offered to the host Association in accordance with regulation U.7.1.1.
Champions prove their pedigree in Group A
Favourites won TTCLM Round 1 games 3:0 – actual TTCLM champion and 11-time winner Borussia beat Sporting while two-time winner Pontoise prevailed against Ostrava Favourites proved their status in the opening round of the 2018/19 Table Tennis Champions League Men: TTC Ostrava 2016 – AS Pontoise Cergy 0:3 Borussia Dusseldorf – Sporting Clube de Portugal 3:0. Reigning TTCLM champion and record holder with 11 crowns Borussia has hosted last season`s semi-finalist Sporting. Portugal`s champion couldn’t count on injured Joao MONTEIRO while domestic team played without recently crowned 2018 ITTF European champion Timo BOLL who won his seventh title in Alicante last weekend. Two best ranked African players at the ITTF ranking list Omar ASSAR (World no. 29) and Quadri ARUNA (no. 22) were involved in this clash. ASSAR replaced BOLL as Borussia`s no. 1 this time debuting in TTCLM with 3:1 win against Diogo CARVALHO. Sweden`s Kristian KARLSSON who won Men`s Singles bronze in Alicante prevailed against ARUNA while his countryman Anton KÄLLBERG defeated Bode ABIODUN. AS Pontoise Cergy 2014 and 2016 TTCLM winner after six years played its first European match without Marcos FREITAS who signed for Fakel Gazprom Orenburg this summer. New line-up was composed by Can AKKUZU Mattias FALCK and Tristan FLORE. The 21-year-old AKKUZU has paved the way to Pontoise`s victory as he overcame Tomas TREGLER in the opener after full five games. Mattias FALCK and Tristan FLORE have concluded their clashes in straight games against Felipe OLIVARES and Ondrej BAJGER. 2018/19 TTCLM Round 1 Group A TTC Ostrava 2016 – AS Pontoise Cergy 0:3 Tomas TREGLER – Can AKKUZU 2:3 (5:11 4:11 13:11 11:8 4:11) Felipe OLIVARES – Mattias FALCK 0:3 (9:11 6:11 11:13) Ondrej BAJGER – Tristan FLORE 0:3 (9:11 6:11 8:11) Borussia Dusseldorf – Sporting Clube de Portugal 3:0 Omar ASSAR – Diogo CARVALHO 3:1 (11:3 11:4 7:11 13:11) Kristian KARLSSON – Quadri ARUNA 3:1 (11:7 9:11 12:10 11:9) Anton KÄLLBERG – Bode ABIODUN 3:1 (14:12 11:5 7:11 11:4) More information: here ETTU Facebook ETTU Twitter ETTU Instagram
Another win for Ireland in ITTF-European Championships Teams
In the first match of the Autumn series of ITTF-European Championships Teams B Groups Ireland recorded another victory. They overcame Sam Marino. This is second victory for Ireland against Sam Marino. They beat Azerbaijan as well and lost against Lithuania. San Marino is without victory. San Marino – Ireland 0:3 Mattias MONGIUSTI – Gavin MAGUIRE 9:11 11:9 10:12 3:11 Federico GIARDI – Ryan FARRELL 1:11 11:13 5:11 Mattia BERARDI – Sasha GILLEN 3:11 11:6 9:11 11:8 7:11
China’s Zhu Yuling Aims to Defend ITTF World Cup Title on Home Soil
20 of the world’s best female table tennis stars have gathered in Chengdu China for the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup starting tomorrow from 28 to 30 September 2018. Having claimed her career first ITTF Women’s World Cup title last year after an intense thriller against 4-time World Cup Champion LIU Shiwen (CHN) world number one ZHU Yuling (CHN) who is from Chengdu herself will be eyeing to defend her title on home soil to lift the World Cup trophy for a second time. The 23-year-old shared “It’s been a year since I won the title of course I hope to win it again but I think it’s important for me to stay calm and just put in my 100% into each match and play my best. I think it doesn’t matter if I’m the defending Champion or not I am sure every player will try to play their best to challenge me. Everyone wants to win against China so we need to make full preparations.” The top seed will have to fend off competition from other hot contenders for the title including Grand Slam Champion and 2-time World Cup Champion DING Ning (CHN) whom she lost the World Championships title to at the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships. The Chinese duo could meet early in the semi-finals if drawn into the same half in the main draw tomorrow. Japanese superstars Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Miu HIRANO will head the foreign charge for the title in China. HIRANO who shocked the table tennis scene after defeating both ZHU and DING to win Gold at the 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships will be looking to repeat her success and reclaim the title that she won in 2016 as the first non-Chinese player to ever lift the Women’s World Cup trophy. Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA who took bronze at the recently concluded European Championships will lead the strong European contingent including ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup Champion Bernadette SZOCS (ROU) to fight for the prestigious title. Action for the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup will begin tomorrow 28 September 2018 with seeds nine to 20 competing in four groups of three players in the group stage qualification rounds. The top two players of each group will then progress to join the top eight seeds in the knockout stage. The knockout stage of the tournament will see the eight qualifiers facing off the top eight seeds starting with the Round of 16 followed by Quarter-finals on 29 September and the Semi-finals and Final being played on 30 September 2018. Quick Links: Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup Results & Schedule Seeding List Flash Quotes Qualification & Playing System Player Bio Media Kit Live Streaming & Matches on Demand Match Highlights
TTCLM Round 1: Polish club celebrate
K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo – SPG Walter Wels 3:0 Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 – K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki 0:3 First day of the 2018/19 Table Tennis Champions League Men has belonged to the Polish sides as K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo and K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki beat their opponents in straight games SPG Walter Wels and Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 respectively. K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo was in full swing playing in front of its fans against Austria`s SPG Walter Wels. Hong Kong`s WONG Chung Ting showed no mercy against 22-year-old Adam SZUDI (World no. 157). Actual World no. 9 beat Hungarian player in straight games. WANG Yang (no. 69) overcame Korea`s PARK Ganghyeon (no. 231) in four games while Jiri VRABLIK has been extended to full distance by talented Slovenian Deni KOZUL current no. 112. Bogoria Grodzisk did a great job in Denmark by beating last season`s quarter-finalist Roskilde. Actual World no. 76 Pavel SIRUCEK paved the way to guest`s victory as he prevailed against ZHAI Yujia (no. 124) after full five games. Ultimate game was decided by a narrow margin. Former individual European champion Michael MAZE wasn’t in his best shape being beaten in straight games by Masaki YOSHIDA 0:3 (8:11 4:11 4:11). Greece`s Panagiotis GIONIS confirmed Bogoria`s win against Tamas LAKATOS. 2018/19 TTCLM Round 1 Group B K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo – SPG Walter Wels 3:0 WONG Chun Ting – Adam SZUDI 3:0 (11:8 11:8 11:2) WANG Yang – PARK Ganghyeon 3:1 (11:9 9:11 11:7 11:4) Jiri VRABLIK – Deni KOZUL 3:2 (12:10 2:11 11:7 9:11 11:4) Group C Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 – K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki 0:3 ZHAI Yujia – Pavel SIRUCEK 2:3 (7:11 15:13 11:8 3:11 9:11) Michael MAZE – Masaki YOSHIDA 0:3 (8:11 4:11 4:11) Tamas LAKATOS – Panagiotis GIONIS 1:3 (11:8 5:11 8:11 11:13) More information: here ETTU Facebook ETTU Twitter ETTU Instagram
2018/19 TTCLM Round 1: Newcomer from Germany Post SV Mühlhausen starts in Orenburg
Round 1 to be held from today September 26th to Friday. MAZE (Roskilde): “I’m ready and look forward for the Champions League season”. KUTERGINA (UMMC): “Each season our aims and goals are the same – to win”. ENDOLOV (Orenburg): “There have been significant changes in our team”. LUNDQUIST: “We are looking forward to be back in TTCLM” New edition of the Table Tennis Champions League Men TTCLM will be held from today to Friday September 26-28th with two games in the opening day: K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo – SPG Walter Wels (Sep 26 18:00 CET) Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 – K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki (Sep 26 19:00 CET). Borussia Dusseldorf No. 1 seed defends the title after its win against Fakel Gazprom Orenburg last spring after 6-3 aggregate score. These two sides are considered as in few previous seasons as top two favourites for the crown. Timo BOLL & Co. opens new season this Thursday at home against 2017/18 semi-finalist Sporting Clube De Portugal as Coach Danny HEISTER stated: “We are in pleasant anticipation to the start of new TTCLM season. We will start with a very interesting match against Sporting. It´s the first time that we play against the Portuguese team. They reached the semis last season and the will still have a strong team with ARUNA MONTEIRO and CARVALHO.” Two-time TTCLM winner AS Pontoise Cergy travels to Czech Republic to meet TTC Ostrava 2016 – AS Pontoise Cergy in other Group A clash. Actual ETTU Cup champion K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo from Poland hosts SPG Walter Wels in Group B while 2012 runner-up TTSC UMMC faces 2016/17 ETTU Cup winner and last season`s TTCLM newcomer Stella Sport La Romagne. Coach of Russian side Tatiana KUTERGINA explains: “Each season our aims and goals are the same – to win! The roster of the team gives us a hope that our goals may come true. FANG Bo came back! If he is in the same physical shape as one and a half years ago we have a right to expect for much more. If he will be successful in matches others will follow him. I am very happy that Jonathan GROTH plays for UMMC I am sure he will do his best to help the team. As for our rivals last season we lost out to German team Saarbrucken 1:3 and went down. Broadly speaking European Champions League does not forgive mistakes. We have a lot of respect to every rival team. On 28 of September we have a match with French team Stella Sport La Romagne. Once we played with them but did not have a success. This match will be a challenge for us. It’s a very professional strong team. Such a great players as Adrian CRISAN and CHEN Tianyuan is going to come.” Group C will see today`s clash between Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 and K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki. Roskilde`s team manager Allan BENTSEN has stressed: “We look forward to start Champions League again after last year`s good results a quarter-final we hope that this season will at least as good. We are again in last seeding but hope to play some good matches and I know if my players are good then we can beat many teams. Great Michael MAZE will do his best to help Roskilde to repeat its best result: “Not the result I’d hoped for at the ITTFEuros2018… I had fun though and it really felt great to be back at the table – though struggled a bit with the body in the last match… Still progressing overall and I’ll now take a few days off to rest and then I’m ready and look forward for the Champions League season starts with Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 The 2012 semi-finalist FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis faces former quarter-finalist Vaillante Sports Angers. Coach of host side Slobodan GRUJIC said: “We enter new season with much younger team and our aim is second or third place in the group stage. We look forward to the opener against Angers and of course we are keen to show good play and win”. Angers` Jens LUNDQUIST hopes that his side is able to secure its place among the best eight clubs: “We are looking forward to be back in CL! Even if the group is strong I think we have a good chance to reach quarterfinal. The first match in Saarbrücken will be difficult especially with Patrick FRANZISKA in a great form. But we come from a good start in Pro A (3-0 against St Denis) and if we can keep that level it’s not easy to defeat us.” Four-time TTCLM winner Orenburg hosts newcomer from Germany Post SV Mühlhausen as Coach Vladimir ENDOLOV states: “We congratulate everyone on the start of the new season in the European Champions League! All TTCLM teams have high-class players. This means that we will face a hard and intense struggle in this season. There have been significant changes in our team: instead of JUN Mizutani we invited two new high-class players: Marcos FREITAS (Portugal) and YAN An (China). We hope that with such players and our leaders: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Vladimir SAMSONOV our team will be the winner in the TTCLM season 2018-2019. We are quite sure that the upcoming match with the German club Post SV Mühlhausen will be interesting for the audience and tense for both teams.” Post SV Mühlhausen`s manager Thomas STECHER explains: “The match against Fakel Gazprom Orenburg will be the first match ever in the TTCLM in the history of Post Mühlhausen. For us it is a great pleasure to play against the best clubs in Europe and especially against Orenburg one of the best table-tennis teams in the world. We are curious about the Russian Federation and we will enjoy the journey very much.” Mühlhausen hopes that his players will continue good shape from the recent 2018 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships in Alicante where Ovidiu IONESCU won
