Vladimir ENDOLOV analyses first semi-final game of the 2017/18 TTCLM Reigning TTCLM champion Fakel Gazprom Orenburg has secured big advantage in the first semi-final leg held two weeks ago in Portugal but they are determined to enter the 2017/18 final with one more win in the second leg at home on April 6th. Four-time TTCLM winner in the last six seasons beat Sporting Clube De Portugal 3:0 (9:2). Orenburg`s Coach Vladimir ENDOLOV explains how his side managed to gain such big advantage: “The hosts of the match warmly welcomed our team and provided excellent conditions for full preparation for the first semi-final game of TTCLM. The match was expected to be tense and exciting. Therefore it happened. We were lucky with the line-up in this match. Vladimir SAMSONOV took the first match with Aruna QUADRI. SAMSONOV’s game was brilliant that evening and he defeated his opponent in a stubborn struggle. His victory has affected the outcome of this match. Then Jun MIZUTANI confidently beat João MONTEIRO showing excellent speed table tennis. In addition Dimitrij OVTCHAROV brought a victory point to Fakel-Gazprom in his match.” In spite of having this advantage ENDOLOV motivates his players to give their best in the returning clash: “Victory in the first leg gives us a great chance to reach the TTCLM final. But for this we need to show a good game in our home match and give pleasure to our fans.”
Croatia in fine form in Poland
ITTF European Team Championships Stage 1 The second round of the ITTF European Team Championships Stage 1 was played today. In A Groups in Men’s Event in Round two after a lot of struggling Slovenia added another victory to their record. In Romania hosts proved as a worthy adversaries. Ovidiu IONESCU and Adrian CRISAN were 2:0 in the lead after the duels against Darko JORGIC and Bojan TOKIC but Deni KOZUL prevailed against Hunor SZÖCS to get Slovenia back on the track. TOKIC and JORGIC seized the second chance and win the last two duels. Spain clinched the victory over Sweden after another five matches clash. It was Sweden’s Jon PERSSON who gave guests dream start but Carlos MACHADO and Jesús CANTERO prevented any further drama at the home soil. Anton KÄLLBERG joined PERSSON on score board with another point on Sweden’s account before MACHADO sealed the match. Slovakia beat Ukraine. Lubomir PISTEJ beat both Yevhen PRYSCHEPA and Viktor YEFIMOV whilst KOU Lei was the only one to score for Ukraine. Austria prevailed against Portugal in straight matches. Croatia beat Poland in straight matches. Andrej GACINA Tomislav PUCAR and Frane KOJIC all succeeded in four games against Jakub DYJAS Marek BADOWSKI and Robert FLORAS. In Groups B in Men Event Israel failed to halt Italy on their way to the second win in the group. Omri BEN ARI clinched only point in the match against Jordy PICCOLIN; Niagol STOYANOV and Mihai BOBOCICA on the other side were on the top of their game. Estonia failed to produce the victory on home soil as well. Netherlands concluded the round in wining mode. Switzerland overcame Finland. Benedeh OLAH beat Cédric TSCHANZ but failed to halt Lionel WEBER who also beat Alex NAUMI. Lars POSCH overcame Otto TENNILÄ. Azerbaijan overcame San Marino. YANG Xinyu was the backbone of guest’s success. First to secure the win in Men’s Groups B was Israel. In Tel Aviv Israel easily prevailed against Kosovo. Omri BEN-ARI Shimon RABINOVICH Matan SIMON proved too strong for Baton CITAKU Mentor SHABANI and Yilli MALOKU. Finland followed same path. Benedek OLAH Alex NAUMI and Toni SOINE overcame Sean DOHERTY Colin DALGLEISH and Niall CAMERON. Norway succeeded in Kosovo after last round’s defeat in Italy. This time Eskil LINDFOLM Marcus NAERSTAD and Bogar HAUG recorded 3:0 win. Czech Republic beat Bulgaria in Arena Asarel. SIRUCEK KONECNY and TREGLER succeeded in straight matches against GOLOVANOV KRASTEV and ALEXANDROV. In Women’s Event in A Groups Ukraine overcame Poland in Sport Hall Khimic. All three matches concluded by same 3:0 margin. Margaryta PESOTSKA Solomiya BRATENKO and Ganna GAPONOVA showed no mercy against Julia SLAZAK Klaudia KUSINSKA and Natalia BAJOR. In previous round Poland beat Slovenia. Portugal stretched guests from Austria to full distance before Amelie SOLJA Sophia POLCANOVA and Karoline MISCHEK secured the victory. Jieni SHAO won both her matches for hosts. Netherlands also clinched the victory in away match. They overcame Croatia in another five matches duel in Pula. Ivana MALOBABIC overcame Britt EERLAND and Mateja JEGER beat Kim VERMAAS but LI Jie was not in the mood for charity. Sweden beat Russia 3:1 whilst Germany prevailed against Luxembourg. NI Xia Lian overcame HAN Ying and that was the only point for hosts. Sabine WINTER Nina MITTELHAM and in the second exit to the table HAN all scored for Germany. In Groups B Serbia overcame Bulgaria 3:1. Maria YOVKOVA scored for hosts. She overcame Izabela LUPULESKU in the opening match. Aneta MAKSUTI and Andrea TODOROVIC scored for Serbia. Turkey’s HU Melek Sibel ALTINKAYA and Özge YILMAZ overcame Denmark’s Stefanie CHRISTENSEN Sophie WALLOE and Izabell NORLEM. Slovakia needed four matches to prevailed against Belgium. Barbora BALAZOVA won both her matches and Eva ODOROVA added another point to the score line. Natasha KOSZULAP beat Tatiana KUKULKOVA. Lithuania beat Israel in Tel Aviv 3:1. Nicole TROSMAN gave hosts good start but with Ruta PASKAUSKIENE in good shape it was hard for Israel to keep in the same pace.
President Ronald KRAMER attends EU Sport Forum in Sofia
ETTU President Ronald KRAMER attended the EU Sport Forum which was held on March 22-23 in Sofia (BUL). He seized the occasion to meet with the President of the Bulgarian Table Tennis Federation Stefan KITOV. President KRAMER visited a school table tennis tournament and discussed with tournament director Tsvetozar HRISTOV the opportunity to add mixed doubles in the ‘Bulgarian Open’ starting from August 2018. Stefan KITOV and Ronald KRAMER further constructively discussed actual ETTU matters and BTTF’s wish to stage ETTU events in Bulgaria in the near future.
MA Long Wins Record Fifth ITTF German Open Title in Bremen
Reigning World & Olympic Champion MA Long (CHN) has continued to make table tennis history this time at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open claiming a record fifth German Open title today 25 March 2018 at the ÖVB Arena in Bremen Germany! The former world number one whose world ranking fell due to inactivity in 2017 was determined to make a strong return in the international stage. Seeded fifth at the 2018 ITTF German Open MA was in dominant form throughout the tournament eliminating other world top stars including Jun MIZUTANI (JPN) and home favourite Timo BOLL (GER) en-route to the Final. The 29-year-old faced off compatriot XU Xin in the Men’s Singles final showdown for Gold. The duo was both on fire pulling off world class table tennis action in front of the capacity crowd in the arena. It was MA who was able to hold his nerve in the tightly contest encounter to prevail 4-1 (11-9 9-11 11-9 11-9 11-6). “I’m very happy with this victory especially after missing out on the World Tour for nine months. Germany is a lucky country for me and Bremen a lucky city. I’m happy to be back and thank you everyone for supporting me here ” stated MA after the historic win. “Both of us played at a very high level today especially in the first 4 games where it all ended with 11-9. Overall I think I handled the crucial moments better to gold on to the opportunity.” With his victory MA is now another step closer to table tennis evergreen Vladimir SAMSONOV’s 27 ITTF World Tour record with a total of 25 World Tour titles under his belt. In a classic attack vs defense battle in the Women’s Singles Final second seeded Kasumi ISHIKAWA (JPN) faced Korea Republic’s SUH Hyowon who shocked top seed FENG Tianwei to make her appearance in the final showdown. SUH was unable to repeat her success against ISHIKAWA to create another upset as the world number three smashed her way through the final to take home the prestigious title for the first time in her career winning 4-1 (11-9 10-12 11-6 11-7 11-6). An elated ISHIKAWA shared “I didn’t expect that I could win the title. It was really a surprise. Last year I won the Mixed Doubles at the World Championships in Germany this is really my lucky place. This victory gave me confidence for the World Championships coming up in Sweden next month.” Japan was successful in the Women’s Doubles event as well with 17-year-olds Mima ITO and Hina HAYATA defeating Korea Republic pair JEON Jihee and YANG Haeun 3-1 (11-3 11-5 10-12 11-6). Rivals in the Men’s Singles Final MA and XU joined forces to claim the Men’s Doubles title beating defending Champions LEE Sangsu and JEOUNG Youngsik from Korea Republic 3-0 (11-7 11-8 11-9). With the conclusion of the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open the world’s best players now turn their attention to the Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships that will be held in Halmstad Sweden from 29 April to 6 May 2018.
Sabina SURJAN goes to Buenos Aires
Winners of the second day of the 2018 Road to Buenos Aires 2018 YOG series – Africa are Serbia`s Sabina SURJAN and Iran`s Amin AHMADIAN Serbia`s Sabina SURJAN and Iran`s Amin AHMADIAN won second knock-out tournaments held today March 25th in the Tunisian city of Rades as a part of the Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Series – Africa. They joined Azerbaijan`s YU Khinhang and Slovakia`s Tatiana KUKULKOVA first tournament`s winners. Women`s Singles top seed SURJAN prevailed against Turkey`s Ozge YILMAZ in the semi-finals while Croatia`s Andrea PAVLOVIC no. 3 seed beat ZHANG Wanling. Both encounters took five sets each. The final clash was a reprise of the gold medal contest at the 2018 Tunisia Junior & Cadet Open held two days ago in the same place and again SURJAN won. This time in straight games. Belgian player Laurens DEVOS lost to Amin AHMADIAN in the Men`s Singles semis. Singapore`s PANG Yew En Koen reached the ultimate stage second consecutive day but again was beaten. Yesterday he suffered at the hands of Azerbaijan`s YU Khinhang whilst tonight it was Iranian player. Men`s Singles Semi-finals Amin AHMADIAN (IRI) – Laurens DEVOS (BEL) 4:2 (7:11 5:11 11:9 11:7 13:11 11:8) PANG Yew En Koen (SGP) – Jeremy HAZIN (CAN) 4:1 (11:6 11:5 11:9 8:11 11:2) Final Amin AHMADIAN (IRI) – PANG Yew En Koen (SGP) 4:2 (4:11 11:5 6:11 11:7 11:9 14:12) Women`s Singles Semi-finals Sabina SURJAN (SRB) – Ozge YILMAZ (TUR) 4:1 (11:8 11:8 11:8 11:13) Andrea PAVLOVIC (CRO) – ZHANG Wanling (SGP) 4:1 (11:3 11:8 11:5 9:11 11:6) Final Sabina SURJAN (SRB) – Andrea PAVLOVIC (CRO) 4:0 (11:1 11:9 11:6 12:10) Continental Tournaments – Qualifiers (as on Sunday 17th December) Men Africa: Youssef Abdel AZIZ (Egypt) Nathael HAMDOUN (Tunisia) Asia: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan) LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) WANG Chuqin (China) CHO Daeseong (Korea) Europe: Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS (Greece) Vladimir SIDORENKO (Russia) Medardas STANKIEVICIUS (Lithuania) Vladislav URDU (Moldova) Latin America: Nicolas BURGOS (Chile) Guillerme TEODORO (Brazil) North America: Kanak JHA (United States) Oceania: Nathan XU (New Zealand) Women Africa: Esther ORIBAMISE (Nigeria) Marwa ALHODABY (Egypt) Asia: Miu HIRANO (Japan) SUN Yingsha (China) JINNIPA Sawettabut (Thailand) SU Pei-Ling (Chinese Taipei) Europe: Lucie GAUTHIER (France) Mariia TAILAKOVA (Russia) NING Jing (Azerbaijan) Nadezhda BOGDANOVA (Belarus) Latin America: Adriana DIAZ (Puerto Rico) Bruna TAKAHASHI (Brazil) North America: Amy WANG (United States) Oceania: VONG Hui Ling (New Zealand) Road to Buenos Series (as on Sunday 25th March) Men Europe: Bastian REMBERT (France) Cristian PLETEA (Romania) Europe: YU Khinhang (Azerbaijan) Amin AHMADIAN (Iran) Women Europe: Andreea DRAGOMAN (Romania) LEE Ka Yee (Hong Kong) Africa: Tatiana KUKULKOVA (Slovakia) Sabina SURJAN (Serbia)
YU Khinhang and Tatiana KUKULKOVA book tickets for Buenos Aires
2018 Road to Buenos Aires 2018 YOG series – Africa First day of the Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Series – Africa tournament has been concluded by the wins of Azerbaijan`s YU Khinhang in the Men`s Singles and Slovakia`s Tatiana KUKULKOVA in the Women`s Singles. Tomorrow March 25th second knock-out tournament will provide two more tickets for Buenos Aires. Both tournaments are staged in Rades the host city of just concluded 2018 Tunisia Junior and Cadet Open. Two top seeds of the Men’s Singles event India’s Manav Vikash THAKKAR and Austria’s Maciej KOLODZIEJCZK were upset in the Round 2 by future finalists Singapore`s PANG Yee En Koen and Azerbaijan`s YU Khinhang respectively. YU Khinhang prevailed against no. 2 seed Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK in five games of the Round 2 while in the semis he overcame Hungary`s Csaba ANDRAS 4:1 (7:11 11:8 11:3 11:5 11:5) to secure the final clash against PANG. YU needed five games against Singapore`s player to clinch the title. Women`s no. 1 seed Serbia`s Sabina SURJAN the winner of the Junior Girls’ Singles at the Tunisia Junior and Cadet Open was upset by Slovakia`s Tatiana KUKULKOVA in the quarter-final stage. KUKULKOVA created one more upset in the semis by defeating no. 3 seed Croatia`s Andrea PAVLOVIC. Against SURJAN she reversed the score from 1:3 to 4:3. Slovakia`s player overcame Italy`s Jamila LAURENTI in straight games of the final. LAURENTI beat Singapore`s ZHANG Wanling in five games of the semi-final. Two places are available in each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events at the Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Series – Africa tournament. Players must be born between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2003. Men`s Singles Semi-finals PANG Yew En Koen (SGP) – Jose Pedro FRANCISCO (POR) 4:0 (11:8 11:7 13:11 11:7) YU Khinhang (AZE) – Csaba ANDRAS (HUN) 4:1 (7:11 11:8 11:3 11:5 11:5) Final YU Khinhang (AZE) – PANG Yew En Koen (SGP) 4:1 (12:10 5:11 11:9 11:2 11:6) Women`s Singles Semi-finals Tatiana KUKULKOVA (SVK) – Andrea PAVLOVIC (CRO) 4:2 (11:6 11:6 10:12 8:11 11:5 11:8) Jamila LAURENTI (ITA) – ZHANG Wanling (SGP) 4:1 (11:5 11:5 5:11 13:11 11:7) Final Tatiana KUKULKOVA (SVK) – Jamila LAURENTI (ITA) 4:0 (11:9 11:9 11:6 11:6)
Tunisia hosts one more event: ITTF Junior Circuit ends 2018 YOG Qualification starts
Two gold medals for Serbian girls at the 2018 Tunisia Junior & Cadet Open. Nearly 140 players and over 37 countries comprise both events; the World Junior Circuit tournament (19-23 March) and the Youth Olympic Games qualifier (24-25 March) Tunisian city of Soliman continues to be an important table tennis destination. This town hosted 2018 Tunisia Junior and Cadet Open in last five days while Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Series starts immediately. “Nearly 140 players and over 37 countries comprise both events; the World Junior Circuit tournament and the Youth Olympic Games qualifier. Our place in the sports’ scene in Tunisia is growing from year to year. We are gaining recognition through our work dedication and results.There are several challenges. We want to return Tunisia to the place it had on the Arab and African scene participate again in World Championships organize in Tunisia important tournaments and events. Also to make table tennis more popular and give the sport the place it deserves. Our main target is to simply make table tennis Tunisia’s number one sport” explained Lotfi GUERFEL President of the Tunisian Table Tennis Federation. 2018 ITTF World Junior Circuit Tunisia Junior & Cadet Open has been concluded today March 23rd by individual semi-finals and finals. Serbian girls clinched two gold Sabina SURJAN in Junior Girls Singles event and Radmila TOMINJAK in Cadet Girls Singles. They beat Croatia`s Andrea PAVLOVIC and Germany`s Sophia KLEE respectively. Iran`s Amin AHMADIAN is crowned Junior Boy Singles winner whilst the best Cadet Boy is China`s LIU MENGLONG. Junior Girls Singles Semi-finals: Sabina SURJAN (Serbia) – Lucie GAUTHIER (France) 4:1 (8:11 11:6 12:10 11:6 11:9) Andrea PAVLOVIC (Croatia) – Tijana JOKIC (Serbia) 4:3 (8:11 6:11 6:11 11:8 11:4 11:7 12:10). Final: Sabina SURJAN (Serbia) – Andrea PAVLOVIC (Croatia) 4:1 (11:8 8:11 11:7 13:11 11:5). Junior Boys Singles Semi-finals: Amin AHMADIAN (Iran) – Csaba ANDRAS (Hungary) 4:3 (7:11 11:4 4:11 5:11 11:9 11:9 11:8) Manush Utpalbhai SHAH (India) – Amirreza ABBASI 4:0 (11:7 11:2 11:7 11:9). Final: Amin AHMADIAN (Iran) – Manush Utpalbhai SHAH (India) 4:2 (11:7 5:11 9:11 11:8 12:10 11:9). Cadet Girls Singles Semi-finals: Radmila TOMINJAK (Serbia) – Estelle DUVIVIER (Belgium) 3:2 (11:6 7:11 11:9 11:13 12:10) Sophia KLEE (Germany) – Farida BADAWY (Egypt) 3:0 (11:3 11:7 11:7). Final: Radmila TOMINJAK (Serbia) – Sophia KLEE (Germany) 3:2 (9:11 8:11 11:5 11:8 11:9). Cadet Boys Singles Semi-finals: Payas JAIN (India) – Louis LAFFINEUR (Belgium) 3:1 (5:11 11:7 11:4 11:6) LIU Menglong (China) – Omar ALLAM (Egypt) 3:0 (11:6 11:6 11:5). Final: LIU Menglong (China) – Payas JAIN (India) 3:1 (6:11 13:11 11:9 11:7) Junior Boys Doubles final: Csaba ANDRAS (HUN)/Jeremy HAZIN (CAN) – WANG Yihao/ZHANG Shangzheng (CHN) 3:1 (11:5 11:9 8:11 11:8). Junior Girls Doubles final: Lucie GAUTHIER/Leili MOSTAFAVI (FRA) – Fanni HARASZTOVICH (HUN)/Andrea PAVLOVIC (CRO) 3:2 (7:11 8:11 11:8 11:6 11:7) Cadet Boys Doubles final: Aadil ANAND/Payas JAIN (IND) – Aziz JERBI/M. Amine OUESLATI (TUN) 3:0 (11:9 11:7 11:8) Cadet Girls Doubles final: Roa AMRO/Farida BADAWY (EGY)- Sondous AMIN/Toka WAEL (EGY) 3:0 (11:6 11:5 11:7)
Ma Long & Timo Boll Fights to Make ITTF German Open History
Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open in Bremen Germany Table Tennis legends MA Long (CHN) and Timo BOLL (GER) aims for fifth German Open title to make history at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open from today 23 March till 25 March 2018 at the ÖVB Arena in Bremen Germany. After three days of intense action in the qualification rounds the 16 men & women qualifiers has been determined to join the top seeds as main draw action begin. Reigning World & Olympic Champion MA who was in dominant form to help China win Gold at the 2018 Team World Cup in London in February will be looking at claiming his fifth German Open and 25th overall ITTF World Tour Open titles to edge closer to the record 27 titles by Belarussian evergreen Vladimir SAMSONOV. MA will face 2017 Mixed Doubles World Champion Maharu YOSHIMURA (JPN) in his opening round encounter. Recently rolling the years to reclaim the top spot on the ITTF World Ranking as the oldest ever world number one at 36 years 11 months and 21 days on 1 March local hero BOLL will be hoping to take a fifth German Open title in front of the home crowd starting his journey against Korea Republic’s AN Jaehyun. Top seed and former world number one Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) who faces compatriot Patrick FRANZISKA in his opening match will join BOLL’s quest to keep the Gold from leaving German soil and looks to reach the Men’s Singles final in order to surpass Qatar Open Champion FAN Zhendong’s current world ranking points to become the world number one next month. FAN had pulled out from the tournament due to injury. Women’s top seed Singapore’s FENG Tianwei will meet 13-year-old Satsuki ODO (JPN) who has shocked reigning European Cup Champion Bernadette SZOCS (ROU) and Pan American Champion Adriana DIAZ (PUR) to make her way to the main draw. China’s WU Yang and WEN Jia together with Japan’s Mima ITO will all have their eyes on the prize to become the first female player to win the German Open twice. All eyes will be on local stars HAN Ying (GER) and Sabine WINTER (GER) to keep German hopes for the title alive. The duo will be facing Canada’s ZHANG Mo and Korea Republic’s JEON Jihee respectively in the first round of the main draw. China’s top women’s stars including DING Ning LIU Shiwen and world number one ZHU Yuling are missing out from the action in Bremen due to preparations for the upcoming Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships to be held in Halmstad from 29 April to 6 May. The Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open is the second of six ITTF World Tour Platinum events in 2018 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 to be one of top 16 to qualify for the one-million-dollar World Tour Grand Finals in December.
Opatija Milenij Open invites players in Croatia
Croatian Table Tennis Association together with Table Tennis Club Opatija 08 invits to the 3rd Opatija Milenij Open that will be held from 6 until 8 April 2018 at the beautiful Croatian coastal City of Opatija. A total amount of $6.550 00 in prize money will be distributed among the most successful individuals in men’s and women’s categories. Cadet and junior categories will be played according to the ITTF ranking system. The City of Opatija is situated 150km from Zagreb (approx. 45 minutes from Zagreb) and transportation can be arranged for players who will participate at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Croatia (Zagreb) Open. All information can be found at milenijopen.com and for additional information contact is tabletennis.opatija@gmail.com
Opatija Milenij Open invites players in Croatia
Croatian Table Tennis Association together with Table Tennis Club Opatija 08 invits to the 3rd Opatija Milenij Open that will be held from 6 until 8 April 2018 at the beautiful Croatian coastal City of Opatija. A total amount of $6.550 00 in prize money will be distributed among the most successful individuals in men’s and women’s categories. Cadet and junior categories will be played according to the ITTF ranking system. The City of Opatija is situated 150km from Zagreb (approx. 45 minutes from Zagreb) and transportation can be arranged for players who will participate at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Croatia (Zagreb) Open. All information can be found at milenijopen.com and for additional information contact is tabletennis.opatija@gmail.com
