LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships   Top seeded pairings in Alicante at the LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships Patrick FRANZISKA of Germany and Jonathan GROTH of Denmark successfully concluded their match against Alvaro ROBLES of Spain and Ovidiu IONESCU of Romania in the Round of 16 (3 8 7 3).   No. two seeds Mattias FALCK and Kristian KARLSSON reached the quarterfinal after victory over Jesus CANTERO and Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC (5 6 -10 9 8).   “KARAKASEVIC is very good in the short game so we had to stop him. We were aggressive ” said Mattias FALCK.   Ruwen FILUS and Ricardo WALTHER of Germany overcame WANG Yang of Slovakia and Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece (8 -8 -7 3 4 7).   “It was very strange situation for me. We had to play against two players with defensive style and both of them has very different one from each other. We knew we have to attack because will surely not and we could not afford any easy mistakes ” said WALTHER.   Simon GAUZY and Emmanuel LEBESSON of France overcame Tamas LAKATOS of Hungary and Hunor SZOCS of Romania (9 4 10 5).   “We moved well an we were very aggressive. This combination is very dangerous but I think the real challenge will be to play against Mattias FALCK and Kristian KARLSSON in next round. They are among top five doubles in Europe ” said GAUZY.   Samuel WALKER of England and Tobias RASMUSSEN of Denmark overcame Nandor ECSEKIN and Adam SZUDI of Hungary (7 9 6 10) and they will meet Ruwen FILUS and Ricardo WALTHER.   Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships   The bronze medal winners at European and World Championships in 2015 LI Jie of Netherlands and LI Qian of Poland showed very convincing performance in the Round of 16 of Women’s Doubles at the LIEBHERR 2018 European Championships.   They overcame Spanish representatives Maria XIAO and Galia DVORAK in straight games (3 5 7 3).   “We had a difficult match against Ukraine’s Ganna GAPONOVA and Tetyana BILENKO yesterday but it proved useful. After the match with the players with defensive style of play it was easier for us today ” said LI Jie.   Tomorow they will meet NI Xia Lian and Sarah DE NUTTE who overcame Szandra PERGEL and Dora MADARASZ (-5 6 3 9 -5 9).   “We avenged our defeat in quarterfinal from the same pairings from two years ago. We were denied of medal I am sure because of controversy. At 9:8 we lost the point undeservedly and that cost us the match. I feel after this victory the justice was served ” said NI.   Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania has a new doubles partner Bernadette SZOCS and they reached the quarters after victory over LIU Jia and Amelie SOLJA (4 6 8 -9 14).   “LIU is very experienced player and it is always difficult to play against her but Bernadette and I understand each other very well. We have a good connection ” said SAMARA.   SAMARA and SZOCS will play against Nina MITTELHAM and Kristin LANG of Germany in the quarterfinal. German pairings overcame YU Fu and SHJAO Jieni of Portugal today (8 -7 -9 -7 9 -9). Adina DIACONU and Irina CIOBANU of Romania will meet Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria and Yana NOSKOVA of Russia.  

LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships   The bronze medal winners at European and World Championships in 2015 LI Jie of Netherlands and LI Qian of Poland showed very convincing performance in the Round of 16 of Women’s Doubles at the LIEBHERR 2018 European Championships.   They overcame Spanish representatives Maria XIAO and Galia DVORAK in straight games (3 5 7 3).   “We had a difficult match against Ukraine’s Ganna GAPONOVA and Tetyana BILENKO yesterday but it proved useful. After the match with the players with defensive style of play it was easier for us today ” said LI Jie.   Tomorow they will meet NI Xia Lian and Sarah DE NUTTE who overcame Szandra PERGEL and Dora MADARASZ (-5 6 3 9 -5 9).   “We avenged our defeat in quarterfinal from the same pairings from two years ago. We were denied of medal I am sure because of controversy. At 9:8 we lost the point undeservedly and that cost us the match. I feel after this victory the justice was served ” said NI.   Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania has a new doubles partner Bernadette SZOCS and they reached the quarters after victory over LIU Jia and Amelie SOLJA (4 6 8 -9 14).   “LIU is very experienced player and it is always difficult to play against her but Bernadette and I understand each other very well. We have a good connection ” said SAMARA.   SAMARA and SZOCS will play against Nina MITTELHAM and Kristin LANG of Germany in the quarterfinal. German pairings overcame YU Fu and SHJAO Jieni of Portugal today (8 -7 -9 -7 9 -9). Adina DIACONU and Irina CIOBANU of Romania will meet Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria and Yana NOSKOVA of Russia.  

LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships Top seed in the women’s Singles event Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria booked her place in the Round of 16 at the LEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championshi0ps i9n Alicante. In the round of 32 she overcame Irina CIOBANU of Romania in six games (6 -10 7 -8 7 7).   However CIOBANU’s compatriot Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN is still very much in game. She overcame YU Fu of Portugal (10:12 11:4 11:4 12:14 7:11 9:11).   “Last time we met I beat her but it was very difficult match at the European Championships in Luxembourg. It was 2:2 and 9:6 for her. It did not get any easier this time. On top of all we were both struggling because umpires’ strange decisions. They were taking points from both of us. At some point of game I said ‘please let us play” said Daniela. “FU has very strong service quality forehand top spin and she gave me hard time.”   Speaking about hard times Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden was stretched to full distance against France’s Stephanie LOEUILLETTE (9 -10 -10 -10 10 7 6) before she prevailed. In the same position was Aneta KUCEROVA of Czech Republic in the match against Izabela LUPULESKU of Serbia (-5 -10 5 8 7 -5 -9).   “After I had won two opening games I thought it will be easy…and in split seconds it was 2:2. In the seventh game I was 6:8 down before her coach called for time out. I do not know why he did it but it helped me. After that I leveled and win ” said KUCEROVA.   Nina MITTELHAM of Germany overcame Szandra PERGEL of Hungary (11:7 11:9 11:4 11:7).   “I managed to control the match with the very good service so PERGEL did not have many options ” said MITTELHAM.   Polina MIKHAILOVA of Russia was two games to one in reverse before she leveled to beat Tin Tin HO of England (14:12 6:11 7:11 11:4 15:13 11:8).   “In the opening games HO played extraordinary good. She stretched me to the limits in order to beat her. We played many times before recently in Linz and still I was surprised by her game ” said MIKHAILOVA.   At the bottom of the draw no. two seed LI Jie of Netherlands easily prevailed against ZHANG Xuan of Spain (5 4 5 7).     Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships   First time since June Timo BOLL of Germany played at the tournament and his first appearance was successful. In the Round of 64 at the Men’s Singles event at he LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships Timo overcame Lionel WEBER of Switzerland (7 -6 11 1 6).   “I was not expecting a lot from myself. For a first time I played against WEBER so it was difficult for me. I struggled with my return game at the beginning and I was not very happy with my movements but I hope it will improve as the Championships progresses one step at the time” said BOLL.   Liam PITCHFORD of England overcame Nandor ECSEKI of Hungary (5 7 6 -5 -8 6).   “I controled the game from the beginning and it gave me confidence. I was good with the receive which gave good advantage. Nandor had to change the service; I did not respond well on his changing the rhythm at first. In sixth game I improved my service to regain the control ” explained PITCHFORD.   Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships   First time since June Timo BOLL of Germany played at the tournament and his first appearance was successful. In the Round of 64 at the Men’s Singles event at he LIEBHERR 2018 ITTF European Championships Timo overcame Lionel WEBER of Switzerland (7 -6 11 1 6).   “I was not expecting a lot from myself. For a first time I played against WEBER so it was difficult for me. I struggled with my return game at the beginning and I was not very happy with my movements but I hope it will improve as the Championships progresses one step at the time” said BOLL.   Liam PITCHFORD of England overcame Nandor ECSEKI of Hungary (5 7 6 -5 -8 6).   “I controled the game from the beginning and it gave me confidence. I was good with the receive which gave good advantage. Nandor had to change the service; I did not respond well on his changing the rhythm at first. In sixth game I improved my service to regain the control ” explained PITCHFORD.   Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

2018 LIEBHERR European Championships   Bernadette SZOCS beat the odds and overcame European champion from 2013 LI Fen in the Round of 64 at the Women’s Singles Event at the 2018 LIEBHERR European Championships in Spanish Alicante. Romania’s player succeeded in next round in big style in straight games (7 3 7 6).   “The odds were against me. We played many times before and in most occasions she was better but I was ready today. I suffered from the injury so I had to prepare even better than usual. I talked with my coach and with the people who know how to play against LI ” said SZOCS.”I was so unhappy when I saw the draw. Could not believe that I will meet LI at such early stage. However I thought if you want to be a champion you have to beat great player soon or a latter. It proved soon is better because I regain my confidence with this victory.”   Another young player also upset the rankings. Izabela LUPULESKU of Serbia overcame NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg (6 -8 9 8 12).   “When I started to play I just wanted to win a point against NI and when it happened I was relieved. Then I saw I can play against her and I seized my opportunity. She is very experienced and clever even now I do not believe that I did it ” said LUPULESKU.   ZHANG Xuan of Spain overcame Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia (-13 -7 8 6 6)   “I was very nervous before the match because BALAZOVA is very dangerous player. I was under pressure to stay focused and I was not happy with the start of my match. However my game improved during the match and I very good service game extra confidence. Barbora does not feel confident when she is playing against lefthanders and it also helped ” said ZHANG.   Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN of Romania overcame Kristin LANG of Germany (8 -8 12 -9 6 8).   “Kristin play with lot of power and it very hard to take control out of her game. I had to play more aggressive and to take the risk. In key moment I changed my service to confuse her ” said MONTEIRO DODEAN.   Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

LIEBHERR 2018 European Championships Title holders in Men’s Doubles Event Patrick FRANZISKA of Germany and Jonathan GROTH of Denmark reached the Round of 16 at the LIEBHERR 2018 European Championships in Spanish Alicante. They overcame Lionel WEBER and Filip CIPIN (Switzerland Croatia) in Round of 32.    “Since last European title we played a lot together at the tournaments won three or four of them …we are very confident in each other. I hope here for three medals but it is very long way in singles ” said FRANZISKA who secured the medal Mixed Doubles with Petrissa SOLJA already.   In the Round of 16 they will meet Diogo CARVALHO and CHEN Diogo. Portugal’s pairings overcame Belgium’s representatives Florent LAMBIET and Martin ALLEGRO.   In the lower half of the draw Mattias FLACK and Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden overcame Mihai BOBOCICA and Leonardo MUTTI of Italy and they will play against Jesus CANTERO of Spain and Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia. CANTERO and KARAKASEVIC overcame Tiago APOLONIA and Joao GERALDO of Portugal to create un upset. Liam PITCHFORD and Paul DRINKHALL of England beat Teodor ALEXANDROV and Denislav KODJABASHEV of Bulgaria.   Photos: ETTU Flickr ETTU_official –    Live Streaming: The event will be streamed on ettu.tv    Live Scoring: Live scoring can be followed here Tickets for the European Championships ticketmaster

2018 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships   Germany secured at least two bronze medals in the Mixed Doubles Event at the 2018 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships in Spanish Alicante. After quarterfinal matches Patrick FRANZISKA and Petrissa SOLJA as well as Ruwen FILUS and HAN Ying progressed to the penultimate stage.                                                  In the quarterfinal FRANZISKA and SOLJA overcame Matilda EKHOLM and Mattias FALCK of Sweden (9:11 6:11 11:13).   “They are very good last year’s finalists and this was very difficult match for us. We could not afford to be passive we attacked them. We were very aggressive ” said Patrick.   In the round of 16 they beat CHEN Diogo and SHAO Jieni of Portugal: “We are playing long time together. This morning was important to play safe and to put the ball on the table ” said Petrissa SOLJA.   Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia and Ruta PASKAUSKIENE of Lithuania aiming record in Alicante. They already have four gold medals and they are still in game for fifth. In the quarters they overcame Alvario ROBLES and Galia DVORAK of Spain (9:11 9:11 13:11 12;10 4:11).   “We won two opening games by narrow margin failed to convert match balls in next two games but when it came to decisive game we won it 11:4. That is the real quality of this mixed double ” said KARAKASEVIC.   HAN Ying and Ruwen FILUS had a good start against Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania but then started to struggle (4:11 9:11 11:4 11:13) before they clinched the victory. “We did not have opportunity to play together very much but as the Championships progresses we are better and better. Against Romania’s pairings we were very good at the beginning. However they started to play much better and we had to change the pace. We had to finish the match quickly in order to prevent the surprise ” said HAN.   Stefan FEGERL and Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria beat Lubomir PISTEJ and Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia (11:8 11:13 10:12 6:11).    “We played for a first time together recently at China Open but we were confident we can win the medal here ” said POLCANOVA.      

2018 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships   Germany secured at least two bronze medals in the Mixed Doubles Event at the 2018 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships in Spanish Alicante. After quarterfinal matches Patrick FRANZISKA and Petrissa SOLJA as well as Ruwen FILUS and HAN Ying progressed to the penultimate stage.                                                  In the quarterfinal FRANZISKA and SOLJA overcame Matilda EKHOLM and Mattias FALCK of Sweden (9:11 6:11 11:13).   “They are very good last year’s finalists and this was very difficult match for us. We could not afford to be passive we attacked them. We were very aggressive ” said Patrick.   In the round of 16 they beat CHEN Diogo and SHAO Jieni of Portugal: “We are playing long time together. This morning was important to play safe and to put the ball on the table ” said Petrissa SOLJA.   Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia and Ruta PASKAUSKIENE of Lithuania aiming record in Alicante. They already have four gold medals and they are still in game for fifth. In the quarters they overcame Alvario ROBLES and Galia DVORAK of Spain (9:11 9:11 13:11 12;10 4:11).   “We won two opening games by narrow margin failed to convert match balls in next two games but when it came to decisive game we won it 11:4. That is the real quality of this mixed double ” said KARAKASEVIC.   HAN Ying and Ruwen FILUS had a good start against Ovidiu IONESCU and Bernadette SZOCS of Romania but then started to struggle (4:11 9:11 11:4 11:13) before they clinched the victory. “We did not have opportunity to play together very much but as the Championships progresses we are better and better. Against Romania’s pairings we were very good at the beginning. However they started to play much better and we had to change the pace. We had to finish the match quickly in order to prevent the surprise ” said HAN.   Stefan FEGERL and Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria beat Lubomir PISTEJ and Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia (11:8 11:13 10:12 6:11).    “We played for a first time together recently at China Open but we were confident we can win the medal here ” said POLCANOVA.