Belgian National Championships Belgian National Championships will be held this weekend March 3-4 in Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. Final games are scheduled for Sunday 16:00. Eline LOYEN will fight to defend three medals after her very successful campaign last year when she won two gold – Women`s Singles and Doubles (with Margo DEGRAEF) – and one silver in Mixed Doubles (with Tim JANSSENS). Last year she overcame 3-time winner Nathalie MARCHETTI in the gold medal contest of Women`s Singles. Cedric NUYTINCK beat Florent LAMBIET in the 2017 Men`s Singles final to clinch his very first title after two silver medals (2013 2015). Belgian legend Jean-Michel SAIVE is the record holder with 25 titles.
FEGERL and POLCANOVA eager to defend their titles
Austrian National Championships Austrian National Championships will take place in Wolfsberg in Carinthia this weekend March 3-4. Finals will start at 16.00 on Sunday. The draw will be made straight before the Championships on Friday evening. The favorites for Men’s Singles are Stefan FEGERL together with Daniel HABESOHN and for Women’s Singles Sofia POLCANOVA. Last year`s winners are FEGERL and POLCANOVA.
Hosts not in the mood for charity
ITTF European Team Championships Stage 1 The official start of the ITTF European Team Championships Stage 1 was today. Beside Russia and Belarus in Women’s Event the remaining 24 matches were played today. In A Groups in Men’s Event Slovenia secured home win against Belgium in Otocec. Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Bojan TOKIC needed only three matches against Cedric NUYTINCK Robin DEVOS and Florent LAMBIET. In Athens Panagiotis GIONIS lead Greece to victory over Luxembourg. He beat Traian CIOCIU before Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS and Georgios KONSTANTINOPOULOS prevailed against Eric CLOD and Marc DIELISSEN in three straight matches. Michael MAZE returned to the International scene but Denmark failed to beat Sweden in Halmstad. Kristian KARLSSON overcame MAZE and Jonathan GROTH whilst Anton KÄLLBERG prevailed against LIND Anders. GROTH scored one point in the match against Jon PERSSON. Turkey create the upset and beat Croatia in Varazdin. In the decisive match LI Ahmet beat Tomislav PUCAR. Andrej GACINA won both his matches but Ibrahim GUNDUZ also prevailed against PUCAR and Abdullah YIGENLER overcame Frane KOJIC. Ukraine lost on home soil against Belarus. Guests lead by Vladimir SAMSONOV and very good PLATONOV and KHANIN beat KOU Lei EFIMOV and PRYSHCHEPA. Portugal’s João MONTEIRO Joao GERALDO and Diogo CARVALHO had very difficult match against Hungary’s Adam SZUDI Bence MAJOROS and Tamas LAKATOS but eventually prevailed in four matches. LAKATOS was the only player in guest’s team to score. He overcame CARVALHO. João MONTEIRO in the fourth match was two games in reverse before he recovered to win the duel. 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. Czech Republic continued the winning series of host with the victory over Cyprus. Tomas TREGLER Tomas KONECNY and Tomas POLANSKY beat Hristo HRISTONOV and brothers Marios and Yiangos YIANGOU. In Terni Italy with Jordy PICCOLIN Mihai BOBOCICA and Antonio AMATO prevailed against Norway’s Marcus WAERSTAD Frederik MERINGDAL and Borgar HAUG. England was not under pressure at any stage. Against Bosnia and Herzegovina Tom JARVIS Sam WALKER and Liam PITCHFORD recorded three 3:0 wins. Admir DURANSPAHIC Edin KONJIC and Armin ALICIC had no game for World Cup bronze winners. Netherlands beat Montenegro by narrow margin. Laurens TROMER beat Filip RADULOVIC but suffered by the hands of Luka BAKIC Rajko GOMMERS also had one victory over Filip RADULOVIC but lost against Luka BAKIC. Ewout OOSTWOUDER overcame Filip RADOVIC. Ireland beat San Marino 3:0. Owen CATHCART Gavin MAGUIRE and Ryan FARREL overcame Federico GIARDI Mattia BERNARDI and Marco VANNUCCI. In Women’s Event in A Groups Spain beat Hungary in Budapest. They needed four matches to secure the opening win. XUAN Zhang gave guests dream start against Szandra PERGEL and Galia DVORAK continued in same pace. Dora MADARASZ was the only player to score for Hungary. She beat Sara RAMIREZ before Galia DVORAK sealed the match. Germany needed only three matches to please home crowd. HAN Ying Sabine WINTER and WAN Yuan beat Azerbaijan’s Nazakat GARAYEVA Billura EMINOVA and Maryam IMANOVA. For Poland it was easy 3:0 win and it was only Alex GALIC who put Natalia PARTYKA under pressure. LI Qian and Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA overcame Manca FAJMUT and Ana TOFANT in straight games. Austria gained points in match against Switzerland. Sophia POLCANOVA Karoline MISCHEK Amelie SOLJA all won their matches in straight games against Salome SIMONET Celine REUST and Mireille KROON. Netherlands was forced to go full distance against Italy. LAURENTI and PICCOLIN scored for guests whilst LI Jie was the back bone of Dutch success. She won both matches before Kim VERMAAS sealed the match. In Groups B Turkey prevailed against Estonia. HU Melek Sibel ALTINKAYA and Özge YILMAZ showed no mercy against Valeria PETROVA Airi AVAMERİ and liidia ANDREEVA. Represented by Andrea TODOROVIC Aneta MAKSUTI and Sabina SURJAN Serbia overcame Scotland with Rebecca PLAISTOW Gillian EDWARDS and Lucy Elliott. By same 3:0 margin Belgium beat Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lisa LUNG Nathalie MARCHETTI and Margo DEGRAEF accounted for Snezana MARKOVIC Sanja MILOJICA and Elda SEHIC. England’s Tintin HO Kelly SIBLEY Maria TSAPTSINOS and overcame Norway’s Rebekka CARLSEN Maja GJELLE and Ilka DOVAL in four matches.
Draw Concluded for Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships
The draw for the Liebherr 2018 Team World Championships has taken place today 27 February 2018 in Halmstad Sweden with the help of Swedish table tennis legends Jörgen Persson and Asa Carlsson (formally Svensson). The top 24 Men’s and Women’s Teams on earth were drawn into the four groups of six for the first stage of the biggest table tennis event in the world which will take place 29 April to 6 May 2018. The Swedish Men’s Team were placed in the number one seeds Germany’s group together with Hong Kong Egypt Romania and Slovenia. Upon the conclusion of the draw ceremony Swedish Men’s Coach Ulf CARLSSON shared “The draw looks good for Sweden but no draw at a World Championships will be easy. It is good to avoid China but then it is more likely we will play them in the second round so it does not make much of a difference. I am looking forward to my team playing in front of a packed house in Halmstad to support us to win as many matches as possible!” Defending Champions China will be looking to repeat their success at the last edition of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The top seeded Chinese Women’s Team will take the lead in Group A comprising of Singapore Russia India Belarus and host Swedish team whereas the Chinese Men’s Team were placed in Group B with Portugal Brazil Russia Czech Republic and DPR Korea. Fans will be in for another England – Japan epic clash early in the Men’ Team group stage in Halmstad. The last two encounters between the two teams have both ended with Japan winning narrowly in dramatic fashion at the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships and at the recently concluded 2018 ITTF Team World Cup. The top finishing teams from the four groups progress directly to the quarter finals with the second and third teams playing off to join them in the final eight. The 8-days Liebherr 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships will take place at the Halmstad Arena is set to be one of the biggest World Championships of all time with the world’s best table tennis teams battling it out for the Men’s & Women’s World Team Championship titles.
Timo Boll Becomes the Oldest Ever World Number One
Timo BOLL (GER) will become the oldest ever world number one on 1 March when the new March 2018 ITTF World Ranking is released. BOLL who will be 36 years 11 months and 21 days on 1 March easily eclipse the previous record of the legendary Jan-Ove WALDNER (SWE) who was 32 years and 28 days when he was last world number one in October in 1997. It has been 6 years and 11 months ago back in March 2011 since BOLL was number one. The German also held the top position between January-May 2003 and August-September 2003. BOLL who won the ITTF-Europe Top 16 to become number one replaces his compatriot Dimitrij OVTCHAROV on the top of the rankings who moves down to number three in the world after two months in the top position. FAN Zhendong (CHN) stays at number two with LIN Gaoyuan (CHN) and XU Xin (CHN) ranked at four and five respectively. When receiving the news the 36-year-old stated: “I am very joyful. It’s confirmation of my hard work over the past few months. It is also a confirmation of my constancy as I was the number one for the first time 15 years ago and now just a few days before my 37th birthday I am certainly the oldest number one of all time.” ZHU Yuling (CHN) moves back to number one in the women’s world rankings last having the position in December 2017. The Chinese star overtakes CHEN Meng (CHN) who goes back to number two position ahead of Kasumi ISHIKAWA (JPN) FENG Tianwei (SGP) and Mima ITO (JPN) who rounds out the top five. Olympic and World Champions MA Long (CHN) and DING Ning (CHN) are back in ninth and 14th respectively after not being active at the end of 2017. This comes under the effect of the newly developed ITTF World Ranking which will present a more accurate measure and realistic representation of the playing level of athlete’s current performance as well as to ensure that the World Ranking better supports ITTF events. Check out the full rankings here: https://www.ittf.com/rankings/.
Irina PALINA ready to play in Seamaster ECLW semis
Berlin`s Coach explains actual situation in the reigning Seamaster ECLW champion Actual Seamaster ECLW champion and four-time winner TTC Berlin Eastside couldn`t compose their powerful line-up this season – SHAN Xiaona Georgina POTA Petrissa SOLJA – but they still have a chance to reach third consecutive “Triple Crown”. They already won German Cup fifth in a row since 2014 then booked their place for the Seamaster ECLW and standing on the third spot in Bundesliga after ten rounds behind TTG Bingen/Münster-Sarmsh and SV DJK Kolbermoor. “The fact that we are playing in the Champions League semi-final this year I think is not a lesser achievement than the victory in the previous two seasons. We can only thank the players and especially Georgina (POTA) for the fantastic motivation and desire to play in the semifinals! Special thanks to Nana (SHAN Xiaona) who is getting ready to become a mother. She played till now and won important matches” stated Berlin`s Coach Irina PALINA who is forced to play more matches than she expected this season. Petrissa SOLJA missed all Seamaster ECLW matches so far and PALINA didn’t want to comment SOLJA`s contribution to the team’s results this season. Two more players will be absent until the end of season because of pregnancy. But their coach expects to see them stronger after pregnancy break…. “So for Seamaster ECLW semifinal we have Georgina POTA Shiho MATSUDAIRA and … Irina PALINA. We wish a healthy happy baby pause for Kathrin MÜHLLBACH and SHAN Xiaona their quickly comeback to be ready and happy to greet next year in our team Matilda EKHOLM!” SHAN Xiaona has ended her season last week due to pregnancy but sent strong message to Berlin`s fans: “I’ll be back! My goal is to play even better in the new season and get back titles with my TTC Berlin!” Actual Seamaster ECLW champion faces current ETTU Cup Women winner in the ECLW semis: TTC Berlin Eastside – Bursa Buyuksehir Belediyespor. First leg will be held in mid-March. Berlin beat Szekszard in the quarter-final whilst Turkish side overcame TT Saint-Quentinois.
China Defends ITTF Team World Cup Titles in London
China has once again proved itself as the table tennis superpower defending their Team World Cup title in dominating fashion in two epic China – Japan clashes at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup today 25 February 2018 at the Coper Box Arena in London. The Chinese women’s trio of DING Ning LIU Shiwen and ZHU Yuling proved too strong for the Japanese young team of Kasumi ISHIKAWA Mima ITO and Hina HAYATA in the Women’s Team Gold medal match claiming their eighth consecutive title 3-0. 2017 Women’s Doubles World Champions DING Ning and LIU Shiwen faced 17-year-olds Mima ITO and Hina HAYATA in the first match of the day. Despite the Japanese putting up a good fight against the World Champions it was the experienced Chinese pair who took a 3-1 (11-7 11-6 6-11 11-8 ) victory to give China the first point lead. World number two ZHU Yuling determined to giver China the 2-0 lead dominated her match against Japan’s number one Kasumi ISHIKAWA claiming a 3-0 (11-5 11-7 11-7) victory. Returning back to the table from her doubles win DING Ning ended matters quickly with Mima ITO in the third match defeating the Japanese youngster 3-0 (11-7 11-9 11-8) to seal the deal for China. After claiming the final victory for her team DING Ning stated: “I am very happy that we won in this arena and I want to thank the fans here who cheered for us throughout the encounter.” Then Chinese Men’s Team were determined to prove to the world they are still the best male table tennis nation on earth after they several losses late 2017 and their individual rankings taking a dive. Led by World and Olympic champion Ma Long Team China dismantled Japan 3-0 in the final. Japan who were making their first ever Team World Cup final appearance fought hard but were unable to stop the Chinese juggernaut from making a huge statement ahead of April’s World Team Table Tennis Championships in Sweden. The eagerly anticipated final started off with MA Long and XU Xin defeating Jin UEDA and Koki NIWA 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-7) to get the ball rolling for China. The defending champions then showed no mercy as FAN Zhendong won the battle of former Junior World Champions against 14-year-old Tomokazu HARIMOTO 3-0 (11-7 11-4 11-8). Playing the Japanese sensation who is the youngest ever World Tour Champion FAN Zhendong shared “This is the first time we play against each other so I prepared very well prior to the games and I ensure that I fought each for each point to win the match.” MA Long ensured that China will lifted the cup for a ninth time by beating Koki NIWA 3-1 (11-8 3-11 11-5 11-3). The 2018 ITTF Team World Cup has seen 12 of the world’s best teams battle in four groups of three in the qualifications group stage in a round robin from 22-23 February followed a knockout system by the winner and runners-up of each group until the Champions are determined today. The 2018 ITTF Team World Cup tested the new playing system for the Olympic Team event that will be used at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where the doubles match will be played first followed by the singles matches. The benefit is that the best players are ensured to play against each other as well as fans and media knowing all the five upcoming matches before the match starts which was not the case with the previous system. With the conclusion of the Team World Cup the top players will focus on the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour platinum Qatar Open in Doha from 8-11 March 2018.
Quarterfinal of the Men’s and Women’s ETTU Cup completed
In the Women’s ETTU Cup semi final French Metz TT will play against Russia’s TMK-TAGMET TAGANROG and Spanish GIRBAU-VIC TT will meet French ETIVAL Clairefontaine ASRTT. In Men’s ETTU Cup K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo will meet Vaillante Sports Angers TT whilst in other semi final Istres Tennis de Table will play against Chartres ASTT. In the last match of the Women’s quarterfinal stage GIRBAU-VIC TT overcame UCAM Cartagena TM. They prevailed by sam margin like in the opening leg – 3:1. K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo prevailed against SF SKK El Nino Praha again.
Belarus recorded victory in the first match of the ITTF EC Qualifications
The first match in the ITTF European Championships Stage 1 was played today in Russia. In women’s Group A in front of 130 spectators guests took away the points. Belarus succeded in straight three matches. Russia – Belarus 0:3 MIKHAILOVA –PAVLOVICH 0:3 (6:11 9:11 2:11) VOROBEVA – PRIVALOVA 0:3 (6:11 9:11 8:11) NOSKOVA – BOGDANOVA 2:3 (10:12 11:3 11:5 10:12 7:11) First Round of the ITTF European Championships Stage 1 Tuesday 27th February Women’s Event Germany – Azarbaijan Netherlands – Italy Hungary – Spain Austria – Switzerland Poland – Slovenia Serbia – Scotland Turkey – Estonia England – Norway Lithuania – Finland Men’s Event Portugal – Hungary Slovenia – Belgium Sweden – Denmark Croatia – Turkey Ukraine – Belarus Greece – Luxemburg Belgium – Bosnia and Hercegovina Czech Republic – Cyprus Italy – Norway Israel – Kosovo Netherland – Montenegro Lithuania – Azerbaijan Ireland – San Marino England – Bosnia and Hercegovina Finland – Scotland
Istres Tennis de Table and Etival Clairefontaine asrtt in semis by narrow margin
Two French teams progressed to the semifinal of the Men’s and Women’s ETTU Cup by narrow margin. In addition ETIVAL Clairefontaine ASRTT and Istres Tennis de Table both played against French clubs. In Men’s ETTU CUP Istres Tennis de Table lost against AS Pontoise Cergy 2:3 but their home win last week 3:1 helped them on their way to the penultimate stage. However chances of their adversaries without Marcos FREITAS were slim. ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly lost by game difference against ETIVAL CLAIREFONTAINE ASRTT 17:19 after two legs. Both matches concluded with 3:2 victories for guests.
