2018 STAG European Youth Championships Romania clinched three medals in both Junior Girls and Boys Doubles Events. Cristian PLETEA and Irvin BERTRAND of France who are at the top of Junior Boys seedings progressed to the semi final in superb style. Rares SIPOS and Dragos OPREA joined them. In Junior Girls Event Tania PLAIAN and Ekaterina ZIRONOVA of Russia followed the winning path. PLETEA and BERTRAND overcame Vitor AMORIM and Tiago LI of Portugal in straight games. Tomorrow in the semis they will meet YANG Xinyuand YU Khinhangof Azerbaijan. YANG and YU prevailed after five games against Matteo MUTTI and Carlo ROSSI of Italy. “We prepared well for the match. We understand each other very well and we have chances to win the title. From the next match we expect to play even better ” said Cristian PLETEA. Rares SIPOS and Dragos OPREA were also stretchered to full distance in the match against Bastien REMBERT and Lilian BARDET of France but it was opposite scenario in the duel at the bottom of the draw. No. two seeds Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia lost in straight games against Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBNEV of Russia. “The match was very nice because it was the first time we played together. For the moment it is was quite easy match. We will see in the semifinals because it will be harder but for the moment everything is ok ” said BERTRAND. Lev KATSMAN : “It was a very tough match because every set was 11-9 or 12-10. It was a great fight but at the end of the game we found a good tactic and we won.” OPREA had no doubt who will win th match. “It was a difficult match but we knew that by the end we will be winners. We knew that we can turn the match from any score. We were positive all the time and we believed in ourselves. The key point of the match was the ball from 2-2 and 10-10 which got broken we got the point and gained the confidence to play further and win. I feel very positive that we can win ” said OPREA. Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia justified their status and overcame Andrea PAVLOVIC of Croatia and Fanni HARASZTOVICH of Hungary in the quarterfinal. They will meet Anastasia KOLISH of Russia and Lucie GAUTHIER of France in the semis. The combination of Russia and France prevailed against Hungary’s Helga DARI and Anna FEJOS. “At the beginning it was very hard because we were under pressure but from second game it became better ” said Serbia’s JOKIC. NING Jing and CHEN Xingtaiof Azerbaijan overcame Ozge YILMAZ and Ece HARAC ofb Turkey whilst Tania PLAIAN and Ekaterina ZIRONOVA prevailed against ChristinaKALLBERG and Alma ROOSE. “It was not that difficult from my point of view but we had to play rough and to fight so I am very happy that I brought another medal for Romania ” said PLAIAN. Ekaterina ZIRONOVA: “The match was not so hard because we played together 2 years ago. We won the European Championship so we know how to play together and everything is good.” Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
Medal for Prithika PAVADE and Chloe CHOMIS in Cadet Girls Doubles
2018 STAG European Youth Championships In the semi final of the Cadet Girls Doubles Event at the 2018 European Youth Championships top seeded Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Liubov TENTSER of Russia will play against Radmila TOMINJAK and Reka BEZEG of Serbia. The other penultimate stage pairings are Prithika PAVADE and Chloe CHOMIS of France who will meet Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Linda ZADEROVA of Slovakia. Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Liubov TENTSER prevailed against Naomi PRNJAKOVIC and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany in four games whilst Serbian pairings beat Kornelija and Emilija RILISKYTE of Lithuania in straight games. “We played in the Teams Event against them and we beat Kornelija and Emilija. We knew what to do and I think they were under bigger pressure after that defeat because we recovered from 0:2 in reverse to win Team’s match ” explained Reka BEZEG. Prithika PAVADE and Chloe CHOMIS overcame Ukraine’s Iolanta YEVTODII and VasylysaKANUNNIKOVA. “Two opening games were easier but latter it became difficult. However we managed to maintain the control and to stay focused ” said CHOMIS. ARAPOVIC and ZADEROVA came to the victory easier then they expected. Arina SLAUTINA and Svetlana DMITRIENKO of Russia previously beat no. two seeds Elena ZAHARIA of Romania and Sophia KLEE of Germany. “They prevailed against favorites and we expected much harder match not straight games victory ” said ARAPOVIC. In the semi final of the Cadet Boys Doubles Event Maciej KUBIK of Poland and Ivor BAN of Croatia will meet Adam KLAJBER and Filip DELINCAK of Slovakia. In second semi final Andrei TOMICA and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania will play against Myshaal SABHI and Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA of France Top seeded combination of Poland’s and Croatia’s players needed four games to overcame Ukraine’s Andrii GREBENIUK and Belgium’s Louis LAFFINEUR. By same margin Slovakia’s pairings overcame Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE and NicolasDEGROS. “This is our first medal ” said KLAJBER.”It was a hard match. After 1:1 it was 10:4 but we won it at 12:10. After that we succeeded with 11:3 in fourth game.” Andrei TOMICA and Darius MOVILEANU beat Arnau PONS and Iker GONZALEZ of Spain whilst Myshaal SABHI and Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA overcame Mike HOLLO and Vincent SENKBEIL of Germany. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
40 nations participate in B75’s International Table Tennis Camp in Denmark
The table tennis club B75 keeps developing their international training camp that is held every summer from 15th to 31st July. It all began more than 10 years ago. A father wanted to create great opportunities for table tennis development for his son who was a player even though the child and his friends were born in the outlying area of Denmark. First collaboration with Swedish and Chinese coaches was established. It has now developed into an annual international training camp with players and coaches from 40 different countries. By the way the B75 club itself has also gone through a huge development culminating two months ago with its first team winning bronze medals in the highest Danish league Stigadivision. The international training camp consists of 128 players and 24 coaches who practice on a total of 64 tables. Every day they practice 2 ½ hours of multi ball and 2 ½ hours of regular exercises. The practice is highly individualized. Each group of 16 players and 4 coaches work together for 5 10 or 15 days to improve the areas that each player want to develop. Every day there are check-in and check-outs where the training sessions are planned and evaluated from both the coaches’ and players’ point of view. “We are proud that players and coaches from ‘all over the world’ choose to travel to Hjoerring to practice and learn from each other at our Summer Camp. We have worked hard the latest 10 years to develop our camp into international level. We are happy to have gathered some of the world’s best coaches under the same roof” says Camp Manager Lars Rokkjær who is also the leader of the ITTF HOTSPOT Centre in B75. This year B75 has introduced a new tool to increase the learning potential at the camp. It’s called a “roadmap” that visualizes where you are now in your development process and also shows your future goals and possibilities. It is a great way to get an overview of respectively the player’s and the coach’s ideas for short medium and long term development goals. Mohamed Elbeiali Egyptian national team player and in May 2018 ranked as nr. 101 in the world is sparring at the camp. He says: “I really like to be here. This is my second year on the camp. It is one of the best camps I have even been to. The atmosphere is fantastic. I hope to come next year”. Why do players and coaches from 40 nations come to this camp? The answer might be the camp’s philosophies and pedagogy. Any player can attend the camp. It’s all about your effort. Age and level do not matter. This year the youngest player is 5 years old. The oldest is 78 years old. An important theme is the fact that no human being can see itself. Therefore you need help and feedback from other players and coaches both during practice and during feedback sessions in order to develop. Table tennis is indeed a competitive sport but during practice the players should help each other. It is important that the coach does not only focus on and have knowledge about specific table tennis skills. The coach should be able to facilitate training sessions where the players work together. We believe that this increases the learning outcome for all players. B75 is selected as one of ITTF’s Hotspot Centre. The training methods and philosophies at the summer camp are implemented into the daily practices and camps of the table tennis club B75. B75 is open for visitors all year round. The summer camp 2019 is scheduled for 15th to 31st of July. Videos about the Summer Camp 2018: Summer Camp Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTDAOthB_TA B75 Development Roadmaps: https://youtu.be/Ui9csHJJWoE Players and coaches working at their development plan “the roadmap” https://www.facebook.com/InternationalTrainingcampDenmark/videos/1633010716797959/
Table Tennis. For All. For Life. Forum gave clear overview of the new strategic plan
Over 50 representatives from European National Associations have attended the first ever Table Tennis. For All. For Life. Forum hosted by the ITTF and ETTU during the STAG 2018 European Youth Championships in Cluj-Napoca Romania on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd July. Presentations talk and panel discussions from ITTF senior staff and ETTU officials were held at the forum ranging rom the new ITTF Strategic Plan to the future of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships fan engagement professionalising National Associations and High Performance. President of the European Table Tennis Union Ronald Kramer was pleased with how the forum unfolded: “Тhe two-day meeting was very successful. Numerous representatives from many National associations seized the opportunity to meet and speak about the effects of the changes within the World Team Championships. There was a clear overview of the new strategic plan and the vision for the future of our sport. Those who attended heard many valued ideas and had the facility to ask relevant questions. All this will help our future development. Together with the ITTF we are heavily involved in matters that will help develop our sport. This forum proved a perfect place to exchange views on the developments and challenges for Europe.” The forum had the goal of bringing together the expertise across Europe and learning from each other’s experiences to developing table tennis across all facets including commercial high performance and good governance. ITTF Vice President Petra SÖRLING stated: “The first ever Table Tennis. For All. For Life. Forum achieved everything that the ITTF set out to achieve which was to enhance the ITTF relationship with all the European National Associations and to share with them ITTF’s new bold plans for the future to bring table tennis to the next level. We had great discussions with all the attendees and we learnt a lot about their challenges and how the ITTF can better assist them to achieve their goals. We look forward to continuing this forum concept and meeting all of our member associations.” The Table Tennis. For All. For Life. forums will take place on every continent over the next 6-12 months with the goal of educating the continents and national associations on ITTF’s activities and sharing the experience of ITTF’s success. As well as to listen to the concerns of all our members and debate some of the new ideas with them. The next forum will be held in Costa Rica on 9-10 August 2018. ITTF CEO Steve DAINTON outlined the importance of the first forum held in Cluj-Napoca especially following the big changes announced at the LIEBHERR 2018 World Team Championships in Halmstad. “After Halmstad where many new and relatively large changes were made by the ITTF It was important for those who wanted to discuss further could. We were so pleased that at our first forum we had so many associations and so many fruitful discussions.”
Great win for FANBO Meng
2018 STAG European Youth Championships Two big favorites in Junior Girls and Junior Boys Singles Event exited earlier then their rankings predicted at then 2018 STAG European Youth Championships. Silver medalists from last year in Guimaraes Cristian PLETEA of Romania and bronze medalists Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia suffered defeats in the third round of the Junior Singles. Cristian PLETEA lost against FANBO Meng of Germany in seven games (-5 5 8 -8 -9 9 9). Christina KALLBERG of Sweden needed one game less to beat TAILAKOVA (3 -5 -7 6 8 8). “I do not know what to say. Compared to the game in the teams competition I played a lot more consistent and better. In addition my performance was tactically outstanding. Besides my game was very disciplined and structured. I have made only a few slight mistakes ” said FANBO. In Junior Girls Event Romania still can count on Andreea DRAGOMAN who beat Germany’s Laura TIEFENBRUNNER to reach the Round of 16 and to Tania PLAIAN who succeed against Natlia GRIGELOVA of Slovakia. In Junior Boys at the top of seedings Rares SIPOS is unbeaten. He overcame Alberto LILO of Spain to reach the Round of 16. Top seed in the cadet Boys Singles Event Maciej KUBIK is safely through to the Round of 16. In third Round he overcame Max HEDBOM of Sweden. Ivor BAN of Croatia was very confident before he met Filip DELINCAK of Slovakia after the victory over Tan ISRAELI of Israel. “This match was very good I played very good. There were a lot of balls on the table maybe I served bad but I tried to put the ball back on the table after the serve and it went good. Against Filip DELIONCVK I played before and I always won ” said BAN. However this time it was different. BAN suffered by the hands of Slovak in seven games. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
Christina KALLBERG and Alma ROOSE
2018 STAG European Youth Championships In Junior Boys Doubles Cristian PLETEA of Romania and Irvin BERTRAND of France are safely through to the Round of 16 in the Junior Boys Doubls Event at the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships. They prevailed against Radim BAKO and Tomas MARTINKO of Czech Republic. For the place in the quarterfinal they will meet Cedric MEISSNER of Germany and Patrik JUHASZ of Hungary. They beat Dimitrije LEVAJAC and Nemanja DILAS of Serbia. “So far for the double I managed to play really good with BERTRAND yesterday. Today in the first 3 sets I can say I had an average game after that I came back; the footwork started to work well and I felt a bit better. I hope that in next matches I will play better and better ” said PLETEA. In the lower half of the draw Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia overcame Alberto LILO and Marc GUTIERREZ of Spain. No. two seeds will play against Goncalo GOMEZ and Samuel DA SILVA of Portugal. In the Junior Girls Doubles Event Christina KALLBERG and Alma ROOSE of Sweden were in charge for the biggest upset. They overcame Mariia TAILAKOVA of Russia and Andreea DRAGOMAN of Romania to reach the Round of 16. In the Cadet Boys Doubles Event Thomas JOYCE and Art MCLAUGHLIN of Ireland exceeded the expectations and reached third round of the competition. They accounted at David BESSA and Joao SILVA of Portugal in full distance match. Sweden’s pairings Theo ABRAHAMSSON and Max HEDBOM are also out. Daniels KOGANS of Latvia and Mitja OMERZEL of Slovenia booked their place at the Round of 16. In Cadet Girls Doubles Event Elzbieta KWIATKOWSKA and Ilona SZTWIERTNIA of Poland reached the top 16 after victory over Anna HURSEY of Wales and Sophie EARLEY of Ireland. No. one seeds Elizabeta ABRAAMIAN and Liubov TENTSER successfully progressed to the next round. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
Two French pairings secured medal
2018 STAG European Championships In Junior Mixed Doubles Event at the STAG European Youth Championships Leo DE NODREST and Camille LUTZ secured place in the quarterfinal after match against Carlo ROSSI of Italy and Sabina SURJAN of Serbia and latter they beat Jan ZANDECKI and Katarzyna WEGRZYN of Poland. Polish pairings previously eliminated Lev KATSMAN and Kristina KAZANTSEVA of Russia. “It is first time that we played together. We had only two or three trainings before European Championships and it was little bit odd to play in Mixed Doubles. Except at the Continental Championships we do not have the chance to play at such event” said LUTZ. The pairings added they were not under pressure. “I never had a chance to play against those two players and we did not think about their tactics. We just were focused on our game; we tried to put as much balls on the table as we could ” said DE NODREST. Top seeds Jules ROLLAND and Lucie GAUTHIER of France will also play in semis. Today they overcame YU KHINGHANG and NING Jing of Azerbaijan. They will meet Maksim GREBNEV and Natalia MALININA of Russia. Russia’s pairings overcame Cedric MEISSNER and Franziska SCHREINER of Germany. “The match was very difficult. It was very close. We won the first game and we had the set ball in the second one but we lost it with 22-24. After that we won the 3rd to 9. We didn’t play good in the 4th we lost to 5. In the last set we played very very good. We made good choices. The Azeri boy wanted to play strong on me and he made mistakes so we took it and won for the semifinal ” said Lucie GAUTHIER. “It is a pleasure to bring another medal to France. We won last year so now we will try to do the best and take the gold for France and for us.” No. two seeds Rares SIPOS and Anastasia KOLISH are out. Romania’s and Russia’s combination suffered against Lilian BARDET and Isa Cok of France in Round of 16. However French pairings failed to continue to the semis after defeat against Samuel KULCZYCKI and Anna WEGRZYN. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
First medal for Adam STALZER and Linda ZADEROVA
2018 STAG European Youth Championships The medal winners in the Cadet Mixed Doubles Event are know tomorrow in the semi final and in the final we will see how the medals will be distributed. The outcome of the quarterfinal came as a surprise especially in the top half of the draw. Andrea PUPPO of Italy and Arina SLAUTINA of Russia emerged as surprise semifinalists after victory over French pairings Thibault PORET and Chloe CHOMIS. Doubles from France previously overcame top seeded Maciej KUBIK of Poland and Elizabet ABRAAMIAN of Russia. “It is the first time that we play together and in addition it is my first medal. I am very happy ” said PUPPO. They will meet pairings who were in charge for another upset – Adam STALZER and Linda ZADEROVA of Czech Republic. It is also first medal for them. “ I don’t believe it it’s a perfect moment. I am so happy that we won against France. We played so good. It was a nice match. It was 1-1 and we were loosing with 9-5 but the we won the set and this was the key point of the match ” said Linda. In the lower half of the draw Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA and Prithika PAVADE overcame Mike HOLLO and Sophia KLEE of Germany. “This match was hard but now we are happy that we won the medal. Now we will go for gold ” said RAKOTOARIMANANA. In the semi final they will meet Andrei TOMICA and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania. Romanian pairings overcame Theo ABRAHAMSSON and Rebecca MUSKANTOR of Sweden. “I feel very good we had a tough match. They played good but we played better. We hope to get to the finals and to win it ” said Andrei TOMICA. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
Triple Title for Local Hero JANG at 2018 Korea Open
It was an incredible day for JANG Woojin and for Korea table tennis as the 22-year-old swept both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles title in Daejeon in front of an ecstatic 6000-capacity crowd at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum Shinhan Korea Open. With the Mixed Doubles title from yesterday with North Korea’s CHA Syo Him already in his pocket he becomes the first ever triple-Champion on the World Tour. JANG and CHA’s unified Korean mixed doubles win was a symbolic start in bringing North and South Korea together on the table. At a press conference earlier in the day ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: “It was a particularly touching moment for us as the ITTF Foundation started this project in Halmstad and we have long-term plans for the unified teams perhaps even for the Busan 2020 World Table Tennis Championships.” Member of the International Olympic Committee and Korean table tennis Olympic Gold Medalist RYU Seung-Min added: “The unified team in Korea Open is a symbolic achievement and a historical moment for Korea. I hope this historical moment can be continued in the future. We had a tripartite agreement with ITTF North Korea and South Korea on 21 July 2018. With the support from the ITTF Foundation we all agree to form unified teams in Austrian Open and Swedish Open.” South Korean President Moon Jae-in commented on his Facebook page “I applaud the joint performance of the two Koreas at the 2018 Korea Open international table tennis tournament. Jang Woojin and Cha Hyosim won the brilliant gold medal of the mixed doubles and provided an exciting victory. I would also like to thank the South and North Korean team players who have done their best to the end. With the athletes’ performances from the two Koreas Daejeon Chungmu Gymnasium was filled with cheers of ‘We are one’. A small table tennis ball brought the North and South together.” Building on his momentous win from yesterday JANG got the local fans on their feet at the Men’s Singles Final as he swept China’s LIANG Jingkun aside 4-0 (11-8 11-9 11-7 11-3) giving no chance to the 21-year-old. Having to play from the Korea Open qualifications it was an unbelievable run for the 2013 World Junior Champion who took down XU Xin and Jun MIZUTANI on his way to the final. To cap off his unforgettable Korea Open JANG partnered LIM Jonghoon against Hong Kong’s HO Kwan Kit & WONG Chun Ting in the Men’s Doubles Finals. It was a tight match with the 2nd game going to 19-17 but they did not hesitate as they defeated their opponents 3-1 (11-8 19-17 9-11 11-9). “I never thought that I would be able to win all three titles but here I am now and I am very glad about all the fans who cheered for me. I believe the Korea Open is a great opportunity for all table tennis fans to enjoy.” said JANG after his titanic win. It was an all-Chinese affair for the Women’s Singles Final as ZHU Yuling faced off against CHEN Meng. Their familiarity with each other posed no difficulty to ZHU as she defeated CHEN 4-1 (11-4 7-11 11-8 11-5 11-9) to clinch the title. After her victory Zhu stated: “As always we had an amazing match against each other. I would like to thank my fans who came to cheer for me. The Korea Open was absolutely successful for me and I personally have a love for Korean culture and food.” While in the Women’s Doubles Final it was a reversal of roles as CHEN and DING Ning overpowered their fellow Chinese WANG Manyu and ZHU Yuling 3-1 (14-12 9-11 11-9 13-11) to seal the deal. The Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour continues next week 26-29 July in Geelong Australia. The Shinhan Korea Open is the fourth of six Platinum events on the ITTF World Tour 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 qualify for the singles doubles and mixed doubles events at the one-million-dollar World Tour Grand Finals in December. Quick Links: Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum Shinhan Korea Open Daily Schedule & Results Media Kit Flash Quotes Photos for Editorial Use
Favorites are warming up
2018 STAG European Youth Championships In Juniors Singles Events at the 2018 STAG European Youth Championships the tops seeds still enjoy their break but for doubles the competition is in full swing. There were very few surprises in the opening round but not all favorites progressed to the Round two without the difficulties. In Junior Boys Singles top seeded Rares SIPOS will play tomorrow against Jonatan MCDONALD of Sweden. Swede accounted for Benno OEHME in five games today. Yaniv KARAMAZIN of Israel created and early stage upset by beating YANG Xinyu of Azerbaijan in full distance thriller. Olav KOSOLOSKY of Belgium was stretched to full distance before he prevailed against Francisco RUIZ of Spain. “Yes the singles match was a surprise I know it but I expect to keep playing good in the rest of the competition and manage to advance in the rounds. I feel good but it is not the time for relaxing I need to push forward “ said Yaniv KARMAZIN.“I expect to win the next games this competition is really important for me because I worked very hard for it and I hope to keep playing like I played in the last match.” In Junior Girls Singles Event top seeded Sabina SURJAN of Serbia will meet Snezana MARKOVIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow. In the opening round Snezana beat Helga DARI of Hungary in straight games. Marta VUKELIC of Croatia prevailed against Charlotte BARDSLEY of England in six games to create the upset. “I feel very good for I have managed to win against Bardsley. I will prepare for the next matches and I hope that I will win. My goal is to reach the round of 32 getting to final 16 would be perfect for me” said VUKELIC. Netherland’s MEN Shuohan was stretched to full distance but ZHOU Chuyi prevailed to book her place in Round two. Ekaterina ZIRONOVA of Russia was also under pressure in the opening round against Kalina HRISTOVA of Bulgaria. By same margin Ema LABOSOVA of Slovakia beat Andreea HUDUSAN of Romania. Top seeded pairings in Junior Boys Doubles Event Cristian PLETEA of Romania and Irvin BERTRAND of France progressed easily to Round two of the Junior Boys Doubles Event. Same stands for Sabina SURJAN and Tijana JOKIC of Serbia in Junior Girls Doubles Event. Yaroslava PRYKHODKO and Polina SHUMAKOVA of Ukraine produced the upset by beating Belarus’ Marharyta BALTUSHITE and Nadezhda BOGDANOVA in five games duel of the first round. Quick links ETTU EYC page Organiser’s web site ETTU on Facebook ETTU On Instagram ETTU on Twitter
