The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has concluded a site inspection for the Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships to be held in Halmstad Sweden from 29 April to 6 May 2018. The ITTF inspection party led by ITTF Deputy President Khalil AL-MOHANNADI and the ITTF CEO Steve DAINTON toured all the facilities that will be used for 54th World Table Tennis Championships in the table tennis heartland of Sweden. After visiting the venue together with the Executive Committee ITTF Deputy President Khalil AL-MOHANNADI stated: “We were pleased and impressed with the progress the organizing committee is making and we strongly believe that the event will be able to build on the momentum of the 2017 edition to make new records. The venue and facilities are great and we are excited to see the hosts put their Swedish twist on the biggest table tennis event on earth.” The main hall where the World Champions will be crowned will have three tables which will all be produced live for ITTF’s global TV rights holders over the eight-day event with special innovations to be announced soon. An elaborate sports presentation plan will ensure that the tens of thousands of fans expected to flock in to the Halmstad Arena will be treated to a table tennis show that they will never forget. ITTF CEO Steve Dainton added: “We feel very relaxed and comfortable after our visit to Halmstad not only due to the awesome hospitality the locals have shown us but mainly due to the plans and preparations presented to us for next year’s Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships. There is a high-level detail and creativity on the plans and we are extremely confident that the event will be a great event. That said the last months leading to the event are crucial and there is still a lot of work to be done. Limited tickets and hotels will mean that it will be important for fans to get their hands on the tickets when tickets are released in November so they can be a part of the World Championships.” The 2018 edition of the World Team Table Tennis Championships will consist of 72 teams who will qualify through their continental championships. The top 24 teams will make up the Championship Division which will battle to be World Team Champions. Early bird tickets go on sale on 1 November 2017 head over to http://wttc2018halmstad.com/ to pre-register your interest so you don’t miss out!
Russian teams showed no mercy
TTCLM Round 1 Thursday`s matches: Orenburg –Bogoria 3:0 UMMC – Chartes 3:0 Pontoise – Sporting 1:3 Three Round 1 matches of the 2017/18 TTCLM were held today September 28th. Two in Group A TTC Fakel Gazprom – K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki 3:0 AS Pontoise Cergy – Sporting Clube de Portugal 1:3 and one in Group B: TTSC UMMC – Chartres ASTT 3:0 Reigning champion and no. 1 seed Fakel Gazprom from Orenburg beat Polish side Bogoria in straight games but not so easy. Two World`s top players Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (no. 4) and Jun MIZUTANI (no. 8) have been extended to full distance by Masaki YOSHIDA (no. 19) and Pavel SIRUCEK (no. 162) respectively. Especially OVTCHAROV was faced with a huge challenge in the fifth set against Japanese winning it by a narrow margin. SIRUCEK led after third set against MIZUTANI but 2016 Olympic bronze medalist easily won last two games. Mr. TTCLM Vladimir SAMSONOV did his job against Daniel GORAK to confirm first victory in the 2017/18 TTCLM. Newcomer in the TTCLM Sporting Clube de Portugal upset two times TTCLM winner AS Pontoise Cergy playing in France. Joao MONTEIRO decided the winner as he beat both Can AKKUZU (in the fifth set 8:8 11:8) and Marcos FREITAS while the third Sporting`s point came from Diogo CARVALHO against Niagol STOYANOV. Best player of host side FREITAS overcame Aruna QUADRI who debuted in the TTCLM. Two teammates two left-handed players from the Portugal`s National Team Marcos FREITAS and Joao MONTEIRO met in the crucial fourth clash. They won together Team`s gold at the LIEBHERR 2014 ITTF European Championships and silver two weeks ago in Luxembourg. But tonight they were fierce rivals. MONTEIRO led 2:0 (9:6) against FREITAS but host won five consecutive points to secure fourth set. In the fourth one guest reversed the score from 4:7 to 9:8 but Pontoise`s player had two opportunities to provide the fifth game (10:9 11:10). After all MONTEIRO won clash attacking without calculation in decisive moments. The 2012 TTCLM runner-up UMMC lost just two sets against 2013 runner-up Chartres. It was a good team work of Russian side which had problems with injuries last week (VLASOV and SHIBAEV). Japanese Maharu YOSHIMURA debuted in TTCLM by clear win against Romain LORENTZ. Andrej GACINA and Alexander SHIBAEV defeated Robert GARDOS and Alexandre RIBINOT respectively. 2017/18 TTCLM Round 1 GROUP A TTC Fakel Gazprom – K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki 3:0 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV – Masaki YOSHIDA 3:2 (13:15 12:14 11:4 11:4 12:10) Jun MIZUTANI – Pavel SIRUCEK 3:2 (11:13 11:7 5:11 11:5 11:3) Vladimir SAMSONOV – Daniel GORAK 3:0 (11:6 11:5 11:9) AS Pontoise Cergy – Sporting Clube de Portugal 1:3 Marcos FREITAS – Quadri ARUNA 3:0 (11:5 11:9 11:8) Can AKKUZU – Joao MONTEIRO 2:3 (2:11 15:13 6:11 11:6 8:11) Niagol STOYANOV – Diogo CARVALHO 2:3 (11:4 9:11 10:12 11:5 5:11) FREITAS – MONTEIRO 1:3 (5:11 9:11 11:9 12:14) GROUP B TTSC UMMC – Chartres ASTT 3:0 Andrej GACINA – Robert GARDOS 3:2 (5:11 7:11 11:8 11:7 12:10) Maharu YOSHIMURA – Romain LORENTZ 3:0 (11:9 11:3 11:8) Alexander SHIBAEV – Alexandre ROBINOT 3:0 (11:5 13:11 11:4)
Club season in Europe is heating up
The new season in ETTU Cup starts this weekend with the matches in the group stages. Belgium Spain Luxembourg and Greece will host the groups in Women’s ETTU whilst Slovakia Italy Belgium and Spain will host Men’s Groups. In Group A in men’s ETTU Cup in Slovakia are SK Vydrany Fortune Kyiv Sarkuysan Spor Kulübü Clube Desportivo Sao Roque and Turk Telekom Ankara Spor Kulubu. In Group B will play ASD Marcozzi STK Budućnost GD Toledos ADC Ponta do Pargo and CTT Royal Alpa Schaerbeek Woluwe. In Group C in Belgium will play CS Mioveni AD Vincios BMC DKV Borges Vall TT Vedrinamur and TTSC UMMC Elem. In Group D in Spain are Universidad De Burgos GDCS Juncal Irun Leka Enea Tenis de Mesa CE MSC Tennis Academy SCC and Yironi Givatayim Israel. Last season winner is French Stella Sport la Romagne. In the final they overcame another French club Vaillante Sports Angers TT. In women’s ETTU Cup in Group A in Belgium KTTC AFP Antwerpen will host ASD Tennistavolo Norbello ADC Ponta Do Pargo – Calheta – Madeira SPARVÄGEN TTC TT Dinez. In Group B in Luxembourg will play Dozy Den Helder / Noordkop TTC Rapid LUZERN B – 72 Team Grace DT Roodt – Syre and TTC Rapid LUZERN. In Group C in Spain at the list are Tecnigen LINARES TT Vedrinamur Kocasinan Belediyesi Spor Club Bursaspor and Hotel Patria Chica Museo Priego TM. In Group D in Greece are Irun Leka Enea DT Diddeleng DT Nidderkäerjeng Sarises Florinas G.D. do Centro Social do Juncal and G.D. Toledos Last season Turkish Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor clinched the trophy after they overcame Turkish Tigem SC Ankara.
Last 4 ECH gold medalists to play in 2017/18 Seamaster ECL Women
This Friday and Sunday Round 1 will be held as top seed Tarnobrzeg presents its strong newcomer Elizabeta SAMARA Women`s Singles winner of the 2015 ITTF European Championships Eight out of 12 clubs will open the 2017/18 Seamaster European Champions League Women this Friday and Sunday (Sep 29 Oct 1): KTS Tarnobrzeg -TuS Bad Driburg (GROUP A Sep 29 18:00 CET) BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR -Linz AG Froschberg (GROUP B Oct 01 15:00 CET) Dr. ČASL – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly (GROUP C Oct 01 18:00 CET) TTC Berlin Eastside – SKST Mart Hodonin – Stavoimpex (GROUP D Oct 01 14:30 CET). The upcoming season should be one of the best in terms of world class players and equality of the teams. Fans in 12 table tennis cities of Old Continent will see last four individual European champions – HU Melek (2016 gold medalist club Bursa) Elizabeta SAMARA (2015 Tarnobrzeg) LI Fen (2013 ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly) and Viktoria PAVLOVICH (2012 Tarnobrzeg) as well as last six finalists of the ECH Women`s Singles Event: HU beat YU Fu (Dr. CASL) in 2016 SAMARA defeated LI Jie (Dr. CASL) LI overcame SHAN Xiaona (Berlin). Top seeded KTS Tarnobrzeg is clear favorite against Tus Bad Driburg in the opening round. Polish champion last two seasons runner-up signed Elizabeta SAMARA (current bronze medalist from 2016 European Championships) to improve its super defensive squad in last two seasons (HAN Ying LI Qian Viktoria PAVLOVICH). KTS Tarnobrzeg: HAN Ying (World no. 9) Elizabeta SAMARA (no. 28) LI Qian (no. 45) Viktoria PAVLOVICH (no. 61) Andrea TODOROVIC Kinga STEFANSKA and 13-year-old Julia SZCZEPANIK. TuS Bad Driburg: Nina MITTELHAM (no. 108) Sarah DE NUTTE (no. 124) SU Yan Nadine BOLLMEIER Elena WAGGERMAYER Linda VAN DE LEUR-CREEMERS. Dr. CASL from the city of Zagreb no. 3 seed returns to the ECLW with its strongest team ever. They have two medalists from the LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships: FU Yu was runner-up LI Jie took bronze. Croatian side hosts TT Grand Quevilly from France with an option to present three World`s Top 40 players (third one is no. 32 DOO Hoi Kem). Dr. CASL: LI Jie (World no. 24) DOO Hoi Kem (no. 32) YU Fu (no. 39) ZHOU Xintong (no. 122) Dorina SREBRNJAK Mirela DURAK Manca FAJMUT. ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly: LI Fen (no. 53) KIM Hayeong Barbora BALAZOVA Galia DVORAK (no. 106) Oceane WATIGNY. The 2016/17 ETTU Cup Women winner Bursa Buyukshehir Belediyespor(No. 4 seed) hosts double ECLW winner Linz AG Froschberg who will play without LIU Jia after many years. Actual individual champion of Old Continent HU Melek will be supported by two more strong players Singapore’s ZENG Jian and Russia’s Yana NOSKOVA. Bursa: ZENG Jian (World no. 19) HU Melek (no. 25) LEE Ho Ching (no. 42) Yana NOSKOVA (no. 93) Simay KULAKCEKEN (no. 331) Linz: Sophia POLCANOVA (no. 44) ZHANG Mo (no. 57) Linda BERGSTROM (no. 159) HO Tin-Tin (no. 205) Lucia TRUKSOVA (no. 359). Defending ECLW champion and four times winner TTC Berlin Eastside actual no. 2 seed opens new season against Czech Republic`s SKST Mart Hodonin – Stavoimpex. Coach Irina PALINA can count on the same superb line-up from last few seasons SHAN Xiaona Petrissa SOLJA Georgina POTA while strong Hong Kong`s player TIE Yana will be newcomer in the German side. Berlin: SHAN Xiaona (no. 16) Petrissa SOLJA (no. 28) Georgina POTA (no. 31) TIE Yana (no. 35) Shiho MATSUDAIRA Hodonin: Natalia PARTYKA (no. 66) Renata STRBIKOVA (no. 100) Solomiya BRATEYKO (no. 213) Marketa SEVCIKOVA (no. 384) Katerina PENKAVOVA. 2017/18 Seamaster European Champions League Women Round 1 GROUP A: KTS Tarnobrzeg -TuS Bad Driburg (Sep 29 18:00 CET) GROUP B: BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR -Linz AG Froschberg (Oct 01 15:00 CET) GROUP C: Dr. Časl – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly (Oct 01 18:00 CET) GROUP D: TTC Berlin Eastside – SKST Mart Hodonin – Stavoimpex (Oct 01 14:30 CET)
TTCLM: Top 2 seeds Orenburg and Borussia target new final
Managers expectations for the 2017/18 TTCLM – ANDREEV: “All players of our team are in good form and ready to compete for the new title” PREUSS: “Our goal is to reach the final again and to fight for the title” Top two seeds and 2016/17 TTCLM finalists champion Fakel Gazprom Orenburg (actual no. 1 seed) and runner-up Borussia Dusseldorf (no. 2) are planning to meet again in the final showdown next spring. Speaking about expectations for the Round 1 two managers emphasize that their clubs have the highest possible aims. “Many teams have very strong players – the leading players of the world and Europe. The path to victory will be very difficult. We need the highest skill many forces both psychological and physical. All players of our team are in good form and ready to compete for the new TTCLM title. We wish everyone good luck in the new season of the European Champions League” stated Orenburg`s manager Victor ANDREEV whose side will host K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki in the Group A Round 1 game (Sep 28 15:00 CET). Borussia commences new season against Hennebont (Group D) playing on its soil (Sep 29 18:30 CET). Manager Andreas PREUSS speaks: “We had a fantastic year in 2016/17 when we played the TTCL-final against Orenburg. We have great players and a special team spirit and so it´s our goal is to reach the final again and to fight for the title. But first of all we have to play group stage with the strong teams Dzialdowo and Hennebont. The first match on Friday in our hall ARAG CenterCourt will be already a very important one.” Coach of German team Danny HEISTER confirmed that his side faces Hennebont in a good shape: “We already started in German Bundesliga and had European Championships a few days ago. So we are happy to start now in the new TTCL season too. Our players are in a good shape and so I hope that we will open this TTCL-year with a victory against Hennebont. The French team with Chen Pitchford and Robinot is tough and we have to play on a high level to beat it.” In other Group D clash Danish side Roskilde travels do Poland to play against TTCLM newcomer K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo. Team manager-player of Roskilde Allan BENTSEN is happy that his club will play again in this prestigious competition: “Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 looks forward to play in the Champions League once more. It will even this year be a hard one but we hope that our players can play some good matches and show some good table tennis. We specially look forward to present all the good players in Roskilde. Our team is ready to fight for some win in the group matches. ZHAI looks really good so hope he can continue his good performance from last year”.
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen beats TTC Ostrava 2016 in four games
German side won 3:1 in the opening match of the 2017/18 TTCLM season Simon GAUZY provided two points German TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen beats Czech Republic`s TTC Ostrava 2016 3:1 in the opening game of the 2017/18 Table Tennis Champions League Men. Actual individual silver medalist of the 2016 European Championships Simon GAUZY was man of the match providing two points to the 2009 TTCLM runner-up. The best ranked French player on the ITTF World Ranking list current no. 16 beat both Tomas TREGLER and Panagiotis GIONIS. GAUZY defeated TREGLER in straight games of the opener. Guest actual World no. 135 showed better table tennis than his ITTF ranking speaks. He forced Frenchman to play his best losing all three sets by a narrow margin. Current World No. 26 Hugo CALDERANO defeated no. 27 Panagiotis GIONIS after full five games. Host refused to give up in late fourth set in spite of being three points down (7:10) but managed to level the score at 10:10. Greek won that game (concluded with a nice serve on Calderano`s backhand side) and pushed encounter to the fifth set. However CALDERANO dominated in the deciding game winning it 11:5. Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC (actual World no. 119) who spent several seasons in Bundesliga won unique point for Ostrava as he beat Joao GERALDO (no. 77) in straight games. Serbian player dominated in the opening set collecting points thanks to his powerful backhand like in his best days (10:1). Other two sets he won by a narrow margin. GAUZY provided first victory to his side as he overcame GIONIS in four sets. Leading Ochsenhausen`s player did his job tonight… 2017/18 TTCLM Round 1 Group C TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Ostrava 2016 3:1 Simon GAUZY – Tomas TREGLER 3:0 (12:10 11:9 12:10) Hugo CALDERANO – Panagiotis GIONIS 3:2 (14:12 8:11 11:8 10:12 11:5) Joao GERALDO – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 0:3 (2:11 10:12 12:14) Simon GAUZI – Panagiotis GIONIS 3:1 (11:2 8:11 11:5 11:5)
TTCLM GROUP B: There will be big fight for the quarterfinals!
Round 1 will be held this Thursday and Friday: UMMC – Chartres (Sep 28 16:00 CET) Saarbrücken – Eslovs (Sep 29 19:00 CET). – What Slobodan GRUJIC (Saarbrucken) and Tatiana KUTERGINA (UMMC) expect from their teams…. Group B is probably best balanced out of all four groups in the 2017/18 Table Tennis Champions League Men as it has three former TTCLM runner-ups UMMC Chartres and Eslovs and 2011/12 semi-finalist Saarbrucken. In the opening round Russian club hosts Chartres whilst Swedish side travels to Saarbrucken. “Of course we want to see our rookie Maharu YOSHIMURA (world no. 25) in the game although I understand that this will be his first match for UMMC and it is quite possible that he will be worried. Nevertheless I hope for the better” says Tatiana KUTERGINA coach of no. 4 seed UMMC. “Unfortunately our Russian players – Grigory VLASOV and Alexander SHIBAEV – still suffer from old injuries: SHIBAEV has a problem with his knee and VLASOV – with his back. However all the athletes have already arrived and started training; we still have time to properly prepare for the match. “ KUTERGINA stressed that Chartres is a serious contender: “Few years ago this team played in the final of the TTCLM. Our old friend Robert GARDOS plays for this team and we very well know his ability to pull off the most difficult matches. There is information that one of the leaders of Chartres Par GERELL will not come to the opening match of the Champions League in Verkhnaya Pyshma. However with any team we will do our best to win. After all fans have missed table tennis: because of the European Championship this season starts a little later so we cannot disappoint our fans. “ TTCLM no. 5 seed Saarbrucken enters new season with same top four players: World no. 39 Tiago APOLONIA no. 53 Patrick FRANZISKA no. 62 Bojan TOKIC and no. 91 Patrick BAUM. Coach Slobodan GRUJIC who won twice TTCLM as a player stated: “There will be big fight for the quarterfinals in our group bearing in mind that we have four equal teams. That`s why we must be ready from the very first match and to use an advantage playing in front of our fans. I hope that our players will have special motivation as each of them took medal at the recent 2017 ITTF LIEBHERR European Championships in Luxembourg.” No. 14 Eslovs created one of biggest upsets in the TTCLM history two seasons ago. Finalists from that season XU Hui and Robert SVENSSON will lead again their side. Eslov`s PR Viktor SODERLUND said that his side will play for the victory n Germany: “We are excited for the first match in the 2017/2018 Champions League. We have respect for the Saarbrucken team who seems to be a strong team but we go for the victory on Friday!”
African Champion Aruna QUADRI to debut in TTCLM
“I am really so happy that my dream of playing with the best in Europe is becoming a reality” stated QUADRI By Olalekan OKUSAN ITTF Africa Press Officer African Champion – Aruna QUADRI has scored another first as the Nigerian and African to feature in the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League this year. QUADRI who plies his trade with Portuguese league champion – Sporting Lisbon will lead his team in the six-team championship (group stage) which kicks off in September across Europe. First game his side plays away against two times TTCLM champion AS Pontoise Cergy on September 28th. In the seeding for the 16 teams QUADRI’s Sporting Lisbon is rated 13 as the only team from Portugal competing against star-studded teams from Germany France Russia Poland Sweden Austria Denmark and Czech Republic. An excited QUADRI said that he cannot wait to compete in the tournament as the best players in the world feature in the lucrative league. “I am really so happy that my dream of playing with the best in Europe is becoming a reality. It is indeed a new challenge for me because my president and coach are not really happy that we might lose early in the tournament and ended up not making it to the ETTU Cup for the third placed team in the group of four teams. They actually wanted us to play the ETTU Cup but our European ranking was good enough to qualify us for the Champions league and that was why we were included in the 16-team tournament ” he said.
2018 European Championships in Alicante offers a new innovative concept
The European Table Tennis Union is pleased to announce the 2018 European Championships (individual events) have been awarded to the Real Federación Espanola de Tenis de Mesa to be held in the city of Alicante Spain from 18th to 23rd September 2018. ETTU President Ronald Kramer is delighted with the choice for Alicante for hosting the 2018 European Championships. “Not only because of the city and its facilities but more so because of the Table Tennis Festival concept that the Spanish Table Tennis Association and the city are working on. I sincerely congratulate our Spanish Association with their proposal to look for new ways to enhance the attractiveness of our sport. This innovative concept combines our wish to see the best players from Europe participating in our individual championships supported by table tennis fans who can play their own ‘holiday’ matches and visit the European Championships matches as spectators. The tourist city of Alicante – with its experience in hosting the World Veterans Championships in 2016 – in cooperation with the Spanish Table Tennis Association should be more than capable to meet the challenges of this new concept ” said ETTU President KRAMER. Real Federación Espanola de Tenis de Mesa President Miguel Angel MACHADO is looking forward another big event in Spain. “I am very pleased with the awarding of the 2018 European Table Tennis Championshps to the Spanish Table Tennis Federation and to the city of Alicante. Alicante organised the World Veterans Championships in 2016 and we are delighted to have another big table tennis experience in this beatiful city” The hosts are preparing completely new concept for the 2018 edition of the Championships. “I am very happy to contribute to this project. The 2018 European Table Tennis Championships in Alicante will be a new challenge for the Spanish Table Tennis Federation as it was the World Veterans Championships held in this city in 2016. For next year we would like also to start with a new concept with the organisation of the European Table Tennis Championships as the main sports event of a big EURO TABLE TENNIS FESTIVAL with sports education entertainement and solidarity as a much wider frame of this table tennis event; we would like to have a full table tennis atmosphere during the week of the European Table Tennis Championships ” said Jordi SERRA CEO of the 2016 World Veteran Championships or the former ITTF Executive Director for the period 2000 to 2012.
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and TTC Ostrava 2016 open 20th edition of TTCLM
First out of eight Round 1 games will be held this Wednesday in Germany (Sep 27 19:00 CET). Defending champion Orenburg again No.1 seed and clear favorite having three Top 10 players at the ITTF World Ranking list The 20th edition of the Table Tennis Champions League Men will be opened this Wednesday by the Group C match between TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and TTC Ostrava 2016. Seven more Round 1 games are scheduled for this Thursday and Friday (September 28th and 29th). Bearing in mind all facts – one out of it is that five Top 10 players from the ITTF Ranking list will participate: No. 4 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV No. 6 Timo BOLL No. 7 WONG Chun Ting No.8 Jun MIZUTANI No. 10 Vladimir SAMSONOV – we can expect one of the best TTCLM seasons so far. GROUP A Winners of the last six seasons are favorites of Group A four times champion and actual title holder TTC Fakel Gazprom and double winner AS Pontoise Cergy. Russian club plays against K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki from Poland while French team hosts newcomer from Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal. No. 1 seed Orenburg continues with its strong line-up: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (actual World No. 4) Jun MIZUTANI (No. 8) Vladimir SAMSONOV (No. 10). Club signed World No. 132 Alexey LIVENTSOV having also promising 18-year-old player Denis IVONIN. No. 8 seed Pontoise still has Marcos FREITAS (No. 17) as their leading player followed with two more familiar names: Tristan FLORE (No. 44) and Niagol STOYANOV (No. 154). One of most talented French players Can AKKUZU (No. 123) are ready for his TTCLM debut. No. 12 seed Bogoria targets quarter-finals with two strong international names: actual World No. 19 Japanese Masaki YOSHIDA (reached his best place No. 18 last month) and non-ranked Chinese HAN Chuanxi who was one of the best players of the 2016/17 Swedish Super League playing for Halmstad BTK. HAN had 10-1 individual score (he beat among others Eslovs` XU Hui who has one the beset individual scores in last couple of TTCLM seasons). Coach Tomasz REDZIMSKI believes that HAN could be a good replacement for Greek Panagiotis GIONIS. Other Bogoria`s members are No. 99 Daniel GORAK and No. 162 Pavel SIRUCEK. No. 13 seed Sporting starts its very first TTCLM season with two Top 50 players: No. 33 Aruna QUADRI (after Omar ASSAR from Egypt No. 31 best ranked African player) and No. 48 Joao MONTEIRO. Two options for the team`s no. 3 in the line-up will be No. 185 QUADRI`s compatriot Bode ABIODUN (Nigeria) and No. 278 Diogo CARVALHO. GROUP B Three TTCLM runner-ups will play in the Group B UMMC Chartres and Eslovs and one forms semi-finalist Saarbrucken. In the opening round Russian club hosts Chartres whilst Swedish side travels to Saarbrucken. No. 4 UMMC again has well balanced squad. This time their best ranked player will be Japanese Maharu YOSHIMURA (No. 25) while last season`s trio is still on disposal for the coach Tatiana KUTERGINA: No. 36 Alexander SHIBAEV No. 51 Andrej GACINA No. 98 Grigory VLASOV. No. 5 Saarbrucken didn’t have significant changes. Two promising players 19-year-old Czech Republic Tomas POLANSKY (No. 180) and 20-year-old Slovenian Deni KOZUL (No. 226) have been added to No. 39 Tiago APOLONIA No. 53 Patrick FRANZISKA No. 62 Bojan TOKIC No. 91 Patrick BAUM. No. 10 Chartres is not strong as it was in GAO Ning `s era but still has good players. They are No. 39 Par GERELL No. 57 Robert GARDOS No. 134 Alexandre ROBINOT No. 169 Romain LORENTZ. No. 14 Eslovs created one of biggest upsets in the TTCLM history two seasons ago. XU Hui and Robert SVENSSON experienced TTCLM final playing many exciting games in this prestigious competition. Two more names will be Hungary`s No. 192 Daniel KOSIBA and No. 332 15-year-old domestic player Truls MOREGARD. GROUP C The 2009 TTCLM runner-up TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (no. 3 seed) and actual ETTU Cup Men winner Stella Sport La Romagne (no. 7) are the best ranked Group C teams. German side hosts TTC Ostrava 2016 in the Round 1 while French club welcomes Austrian SPG Walter Wels No. 3 seed Ochsenhausen secured its promising team for the upcoming seasons. They showed against Borussia last year in the quarter-final stage how they could be dangerous. Same quintet will represent German club in the 2017/18 season all five born from 1994 to 1996: World No. 16 Simon GAUZY No. 26 Hugo CALDERANO No. 32 Yuto MURAMATSU No. 59 Jakub DYJAS No. 77 Joao GERALDO. The 2016 silver medalist in the Singles Event of the LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships GAUZY is the oldest one being 22 year old. No. 7 seed Stella Sport La Romagne has the same trio who won 2016/17 ETTU Cup Men: Chinese WEI Shihao No. 84 Adrian CRISAN. They beat Angers twice in the final as WEI overcame twice in straight games 2016 individual ECH gold medalist Emmanuel LEBESSON. Ollivier BRICE is fourth player of this French side. No. 11 seed Ostrava hopes that two experienced players two former individual bronze medalists from European Championships can provide them good results in the upcoming season. They are current World No. 27 Panagiotis GIONIS and No. 119 Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC. Other Ostrava`s players are No. 135 Tomas TREGLER No. 301 Ondrej BAJGER and legend of Czech table tennis Petr KORBEL. No. 15 seed SPG Walter Wels` leading player will be World No. 61 Korean CHO Seungmin. He joined two players from the 2016/17 line-up World No. 163 Zsolt PETO and Chinese WANG Jianjun as well as Dominique PLATTNER and newcomer World No. 151 Robin DEVOS who replaced Mihai BOBOCICA. GROUP D TTCLM record holder ten times champion Borussia Dusseldorf faces a real challenge in the Group D in the battle for the top spot. Timo BOLL & Co. comence against French Hennebont while the strong newcomer from Poland K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo expects Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61 No. 2 seed
