60th STAG European Youth Championships Tomorrow 520 players in 45 teams from 44 Associations will start their journey hoping for glory and the medals at the 60th STAG European Youth Championships. It will be the test for the new generations. In Portugal’s Guimaraes host team will be under severe pressure. After great success of the senior team and the title at the European Championships in Lisbon in 2014 host nation’s boys and girls will be under spotlight. Raquel MARTINS is the best-ranked player in the Junior Girls Team at the position no. 105 at the European rankings. However she is the first year junior so she will need a little help from Daniela MOURA and Alexandra PISCO the players who had the experience of one year playing in the junior field. For PISCO it will be the third Championships but for MOURA it will be the premiere. “We are currently in the Second Division of the teams and we hope we will be among top two teams in the Group at the end of the group stage ” said Luis SOUSA coach of the Girls team. Portugal is seeded at the position no. two in their group behind Ukraine and above Lithania Montenegro and Cyprus. “We expect the most from Raquel MARTINS but MOURA and PISCO brings the maturity to the team. Vitoria SANTOS is also great potential but I think she needs a little bit more experience. Next year she will be much stronger. “ All four teams had preparation in High Performance Centre in Vila nova De Gaia with the teams of England Ireland and Italy. “They added some extra value to our work ” added SOUSA. “For girls playing in front of their families and friends in Portugal will be something special. It could create the pressure but I hope to get the best from it.” Junior Boys are also in the second division. They will play against Finland and Luxembourg for the top position in the Group. “We faced great difficulties even before the start of the competition. Samuel DA SILVA is injured. He had a problem with his hand and he probably will not be fully recovered to play in the Team’s event. I hope we will have him back in game for singles ” said Pedro OLIVIERA coach of the Boys team. The success of the men’s team in Lisbon was a special moment for Portugal’s table tennis. “The boys are motivated. They all look after the great generation of FREITAS APOLONIA MONTEIRO. Of course they will be under severe pressure here but we will try to make it work in our favor in close encounters.” The only team that will play in the first division is the cadet boy’s team. Tiago LI is the leading player who recently won the silver medal at the Italian open. “The most dangerous adversaries in our group is France. They are very strong but we hope we will reach our goal and stay in the top division ” said Helder MELIM cadet boy’s coach. Preparation with England and Ireland helped team get the stability and team spirit but coach underlined that the season was very long. “Boys are little bit tired this was very demanding season on national and international level. However they are very proud to have possibility to play at home soil and they will give their best.” Cadet girls are in second division. Ines BATISTA will lead the very young generation. For Patricia SANTOS and Ines MATOS it is the first year in cadets whilst Silvia SANTOS is in her second year. “We are talking about the youngest members of the team. We are trying to help them to overcame the pressure of playing at home and to turn it into our advantage ” said Cadet girls coach Marco RODRIGUES.
Two last men`s champions will play in Group B in Luxembourg
The Draw of the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European Table Tennis Championships Austria (2015 champion) and Portugal (2014 winner) will share Men’s Group B in the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European Table Tennis Championships. That was the outcome of the Draw held today in Luxembourg host country of the event scheduled for September 13th to 17th. Luxembourg’s top women’s player NI Xia Lian carried out the gripping draw of the teams for the Championship the Challenge and Standard Divisions. The „referee“ of the Team Event Stuart SHERLOCK (ENG) was in charge of the draw in Luxembourg-Kirchberg; he was assisted by the Belgian ETTU Competition Manager Didier LEROY the Norwegian President of the ETTU Technical Committee Oivind ERIKSEN and Event Manager Jean-Marie LINSTER from Luxembourg. Regarding Draw for the Men’s event reigning champion Austria will face 2014 winner Portugal Slovenia and Slovakia. Six times consecutive champion Germany actual runner-up will play in Group A beside 2015 bronze medalist Belarus Croatia and Spain. The German ladies title-holders since the previous event will meet Hungary Sweden and Croatia in a group. NI Xia Lian the present number 57 in the world ranking was not lucky in the draw for her team. The hosts will face Romania the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Luxembourg men’s team seeded in the Championship Division will compete against Sweden Greece and Russia. In the Championship and Challenge Divisions each team plays each other team in each of the 4 groups which entails 3 matches per team in the best-of-five system. At the end of this group phase the first and second placed will go to the quarter finals and play by k.o. for places 1 to 8 while the third and fourth placed compete for positions 9 to 16. In the Challenge Division the first and second placed compete for positions 17 to 24 whereas the third and fourth place vie for positions 25 to 32. In the Standard Division all matches will be played starting with position 33. WOMEN`S DRAW: 38 teams in total Women`s Championships Division GROUP A: Germany Hungary Sweden Croatia GROUP B: Romania Czech Republic Netherlands Luxembourg GROUP C: Austria Portugal Ukraine Spain GROUP D: Poland Russia France Belarus Women`s Challenge Division GROUP E: Slovak Republic Lithuania Switzerland Finland GROUP F: Serbia Belgium Italy Denmark GROUP G: Turkey Wales Azerbaijan Bulgaria GROUP D: England Slovenia Greece Israeli Women`s Standard Division GROUP I: Norway Estonia Bosnia Herzegovina Latvia Scotland Macedonia MEN`S DRAW: 42 teams in total Men`s Championships Division GROUP A: Germany Croatia Spain Belarus GROUP B: Portugal Austria Slovenia Slovak Republic GROUP C: Sweden Greece Russia Luxembourg GROUP D: France Romania Poland Ukraine Men`s Challenge Division GROUP E: England Denmark Netherlands Ireland GROUP F: Czech Republic Turkey Bulgaria Switzerland GROUP G: Hungary Belgium Finland Estonia GROUP H: Italy Serbia Israeli Lithuania Men`s Standard Division GROUP I: Latvia Norway Azerbaijan Montenegro Cyprus GROUP J: Scotland Wales Kosovo Bosnia Herzegovina Macedonia
LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European championships draw on Wednesday at 17:30
Produced by SPORTSTREAM.LU and live streamed by laola1.tv About two months before the start of the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European table tennis championships this Wednesday constitutes a major milestone for all participating associations players and coaches. The draw of the groups from 17.30 onwards at the event Hall “Coque” will pave the way for the team championships. The draw is a true milestone in the context of the European Team Championships. The final preparation phase is launched for all team they will know their opponents which they will confront in about two months on the other side of the table. And the fans can already calculate the theoretical way of their favorite team. The team championships will be played in three divisions. The 16 best teams play in four groups in the “Championships Division”. The next 16 teams form in four groups the “Challenge Division”. The remaining teams constitute the “Standard Division”. 42 men’s teams and 38 women’s teams have signed up for the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European table tennis championships. The teams have qualified for the respective divisions depending on their result from the qualification round. The winner of each group as well as the best five teams reaching the second place qualified for the “Championship Division”. Luxembourg as host country used its wild card to be part of the “Championship Division” too. The other runner-ups as well as the third placed teams and the winner of a qualification tournament of all remaining teams form the “Challenge Division”. All other teams play in the “Standard Division”. In the “Championships Division” and in the “Challenge Division” each team plays against each at the mode of “best-of-five”. After the end of the group stage the first and second place winners of the four groups get to the quarter-finals and play by K. O.-System in the “Championships Division” the places one to eight. The third and fourth place finisher play for places 9 to 16. In the “Challenge Division” the first and second place winners of the groups play for the places 17 to 24 the third and fourth place finisher for the positions 25-32. As far as the “Standard Division” is concerned the ETTU will only announce the applying system shortly before the draw. Traditionally the first matches of the acting champions i.e. Austria for the men’s and Germany for the women’s teams attract most of the interest. The draw will be processed according to the following sequence: (1) Challenge Division – Women; (2) Challenge Division – Men; (3) Championships Division – Women; (4) Championships Division – Men The draw will be produced by SPORTSTREAM.LU and be live streamed by LAOLA (www.laola1.tv) as well as on Facebook (@ettc2017.lu). Seeding List Men’s Championships Division 1 Germany 2 Portugal 3 Sweden 4 France 5 Austria 6 Romania 7 Greece 8 Croatia 9 Spain 10 Slovenia 11 Poland 12 Russia 13 Ukraine 14 Slovakia 15 Belarus 16 Luxembourg Men’s Challenge Division 17 England 18 Czech Republic 19 Hungary 20 Italy 21 Serbia 22 Belgium 23 Denmark 24 Turkey 25 Bulgaria 26 Netherlands 27 Israel 28 Finland 29 Lithuania 30 Estonia 31 Switzerland 32 Ireland Men’s Standard Division 33 Latvia 34 Scotland 35 Norway 36 Wales 37 Azerbaijan 38 Kosovo 39 Bosnia and Herzegovina 40 Montenegro 41 Cyprus 42 Macedonia Women’s Championships Division 1 Germany 2 Romania 3 Austria 4 Poland 5 Hungary 6 Russia 7 Czech Republic 8 Portugal 9 Ukraine 10 France 11 Sweden 12 Netherlands 13 Spain 14 Luxembourg 15 Belarus 16 Croatia Women’s Challenge Division 17 Slovakia 18 Serbia 19 Turkey 20 England 21 Wales 22 Slovenia 23 Belgium 24 Lithuania 25 Switzerland 26 Italy 27 Greece 28 Azerbaijan 29 Bulgaria 30 Israel 31 Denmark 32 Finland Women’s Standard Division 33 Norway 34 Estonia 35 Bosnia and Herzegovina 36 Latvia 37 Scotland 38 Macedonia
Uncle Pop Signs as 2017 Women’s World Cup Title Sponsor
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) together with Table Tennis Canada (TTC) have agreed a title sponsorship with Uncle Pop for the 2017 Women’s World Cup. The prestigious event which will be held on 27-29 October in Markham Canada will now be known as the Uncle Pop 2017 ITTF Women’s World Cup. Mr YANG Xiaoyong Chairman of Uncle Pop which is a Chinese leisure food company based in Sichuan stated during the signing ceremony: “Table tennis embodies health and happiness for the global audience and this is very much in line with Uncle Pop’s vision of making healthy high-quality snacks for consumers all over the world & become the leading Chinese manufacturer of leisure food. It is this common ideology that brought about this partnership and we hope to continue to have a long-term partnership in future.” Lavish signing ceremonies were held in Chengdu China and in Toronto Canada. The event in Chengdu China included defending Champion Miu HIRANO from Japan where Mr YANG Xiaoyong and the then ITTF Marketing & Commercial Director and now Acting CEO Mr Steve DAINTON formalised the deal for one of the most prestigious ITTF events of the year. Steve DAINTON added: “Thank you to Table Tennis Canada for introducing Uncle Pop to ITTF events. We feel that Uncle Pop is a great fit as a partner for the ITTF Women’s World Cup and for future ITTF events. The ITTF is looking forward to working with both Uncle Pop and Table Tennis Canada to make this event one to remember.” “We had a number of interests for the title sponsorship but we chose Uncle Pop as the company’s plans to expand into North America while strengthening its base in Asia aligns with our plans for hosting high level international events in Canada ” states Table Tennis Canada CEO Tony KIESENHOFER. “We can provide programming that is of interest to viewers in North America and in Asia and this results in large TV audiences and great brand exposure for our sponsors.” According to a media report commissioned by the ITTF over 45 million TV viewers watched last year’s event in Philadelphia USA. The Uncle Pop 2017 ITTF Women’s World Cup will feature 20 of the world’s best players. 17 of the players competing have to qualify through their respective Continental Cups plus the current World Champion a host player and a wildcard which means only the best of the best can compete.
The draw for the 2017 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships on Wednesday
The draw for the 2017 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships (13th to 17th September) will be held on Wednesday 12th of July in the ETTC 2017 venue COQUE starting at 17h30 (CET). The draw will be produced by SPORTSTREAM and be live streamed by LAOLA as well as on Facebook (@ettc2017.lu). The draw will be processed according to the following sequence: (1) Challenge Division – Women (2) Challenge Division – Men (3) Championships Division – Women (4) Championships Division – Men
27th Gold for Samsonov on the Gold Coast
Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open Vladimir SAMSONOV has won his 27th ITTF World Tour at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open which concluded today 7 July 2017 on the Gold Coast Australia. The evergreen 41-year-old extended his lead on the top of the ITTF World Tour wins over MA Long who sits on 24 World Tour titles. SAMSONOV’s 27th title also means that the Belarussian is the first ever player to win an ITTF World Tour event on every continent. SAMSONOV defeated Simon GAUZY (FRA) who on the other extreme was appearing in his first ever ITTF World Tour Final 11-13 11-8 11-5 11-8 11-8 to clinch this historic title. An elated SAMSONOV stated: “Before the event I had a feeling I wasn’t in good form. But after the first game and the second game I kept playing better and better. I think today I played fantastically and I am so happy to get the title in Australia. It was a great match and tough game.” Chinese CHEN Meng won her second ITTF World Tour title in 2017 by defeating her younger team mate two-time World Junior Champion WANG Manyu 3-11 12-10 3-11 12-10 11-2 11-7 in front of the sold-out crowd. The world #4 stated: “I’m very happy to get this win I think it was important that both of us were able to present a spectacular game. I think winning here could be a turning point for me for my other matches. This could be a new beginning.” The Korean pair of JANG Woojin & PARK Ganghyeon were too good for the Chinese Taipei duo of CHEN Chien-An & CHIANG Hung-Chieh beating them 11-2 11-13 11-5 11-6 to clinch the men’s doubles title. Women’s singles champion CHEN Meng & her partner ZHU Yuling won an all Chinese women’s doubles final over their colleagues CHEN Xingtong & WANG Manyu 11-8 11-9 11-7 to the delight of all their travelling Chinese supporters. The world’s best players now have some time off returning to action at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Bulgaria Open on 17 August 2017.
Greek’s team worked with Romania’s players
STAG European Youth Championships National Youth Team of Greece had a busy week in Peace and Friendship Stadium before the start of the STAG European Youth Championship in Guimaraes and had great a company to work with. Τhe athletes of the Romanian national junior team were in Athens from last Monday and joined Greeks at the training. Leading European players Kristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS who are in positions 1 and 2 respectively in the European ranking Under 18 and 4 and 11 in the World ranking list were present. SIPOS will play in Doubles with Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS as they did in the European Championship Under 21 last season. With the Greek athletes of the national youth and national men team were also Florin SPELBUS and Dragos OPREA while the boys were accompanied with the federal coach of the team Mandaline IONASCU. Coach Kostas VATSAKLIS welcomed the Romania’s players and coaches at the STIGA Area. The national coach said that it is a great opportunity for the Greek players to play with them at the trainings. The president of Greek Table Tennis Federation Manolis KOLYMBADIS also greeted members of the Romanian national junior team and thanked for the visit to Athens. Thir presence were helpful in the preparation of Greek internationals players. The Romanians also visited the capital’s sights and went to beach. They had arrived in Athens via Thessaloniki with a mini van of the Romanian Federation and reside in Kastela. Recently before this year’s national women’s team matches in the STIGA Area Elisabeta SAMARA had mini preparations whilst Bernadette SZOCS was there in a recovery period after injury.
Gerflor as the official sports floor partner and supplier for the LIEBHERR 2017 European Championships
The European Table Tennis Union is pleased to announce Gerflor as the official sports floor partner and supplier for the LIEBHERR 2017 European Table Tennis Championships. The Championships will be played at d’Coque the National Sports and Culture Centre Luxembourg from 13th to 17th September. ETTU President Ronald Kramer said that ETTU is very satisfied with the continuing partnership with Gerflor recognising the constantly high quality of their flooring.
BCE Host broadcaster of the 2017 European Championships
BCE has been selected as the host broadcaster for the 2017 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships which will take place from the 13th to the 17th September 2017 in Luxembourg. Taking place at the d’Coque the national sports and culture centre of Luxembourg the five days tournament will welcome players from across Europe. BCE will cover 9 games starting in the quarter finals of the tournament with live streaming on RTL.lu and the final on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg. The event will also be broadcasted on a global scale on Eurosport and other channels. “With all the necessary outside broadcasting and production means BCE is able to ensure the perfect coverage of the tournament. But it is our added –value services which make the difference: BCE holds a content delivery network as well as a strong transcoding platform allowing worldwide streaming on any device or platform” concludes Xavier Thillen Head of Production at BCE.
African Cup Champions Aruna & Meshref Qualifies for 2017 ITTF World Cups
Quadri Aruna & Dina Meshref claims titles at the 2017 ITTF-African Cup to qualify for 2017 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA & Egypt’s Dina MESHREF have emerged Champions at the 2017 ITTF-African Cup that concluded yesterday 3 July 2017 in Agadir Morocco to secure their places at the 2017 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups later this year. In an epic final Men’s Singles final clash ARUNA ended the dominance of his long time rival Omar ASSAR (EGY) in a tight seven-games encounter claiming a 4-3 (11-7 3-11 11-8 4-11 11-8 8-11 11-9) victory to make his second consecutive appearance at the Men’s World Cup. “I am so happy today that I won because it was not an easy match ” stated the elated 28-year-old. “I am happy that my backhand worked well in the match because I was afraid to use it against my friend – Omar Assar whom I know was in his best form this time. I think Omar Assar played and that I was just lucky today because sometime luck played crucial role in matches.” The Women’s Singles final was another classic Egypt – Nigeria clash between Dina MESHREF (EGY) & Olufunke OSHIONAIKE (NGR). In the very same venue where OSHIONAIKE shocked the young Egyptian last year at the 2016 ITTF-African Championships to reclaim the African Championships title 24 years after her first the 41-year-old was not able to repeat her success against MESHREF this time round. The 23-year-old Egyptian was determined not to let history repeat itself putting up an impressive performance to sweep the title 4-0 (11-7 11-9 11-8 11-2) leaving no chance for OSHIONAIKE to fight back in the match. MESHREF stated after her victory “It was not an easy match and this cannot be judged by the result. The first two games were very tough and I knew that if I could win the first two games my confidence will grow and I have the opportunity to win the match.” “It was good winning at same venue I lost to her last year but most importantly qualifying for the ITTF Women’s World Cup a tournament which is very special to me.” The 2017 ITTF-African Cup staged in Agadir Morocco from 1-3 July is the continental qualification for the prestigious ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups to be held later in the year: Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup – 20-22 Oct 2017 Liege (BEL) Uncle Pop 2017 ITTF Women’s World Cup – 27-29 Oct 2017 Markham (CAN) The ITTF World Cups are the second most prestigious events on the international table tennis calendar with only 20 of the top table tennis players qualifying through their respective Continental Cups together with the current World Champions one host player and a wildcard. The next continental qualification for the ITTF World Cups will be the ITTF-Pan American Cup in San Jose (CRC) from 28-30 July 2017. Qualified Players: World Champions: MA Long (CHN) DING Ning (CHN) 2017 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) Alexander SHIBAEV (RUS) Simon GAUZY (FRA) LI Jie (NED) Petrissa SOLJA (GER) Sabine WINTER (GER) 2017 ITTF-Oceania Cup: David POWELL (AUS) LAY Jian Fang (AUS)
