ITTF’s Marketing Team is boosted by the arrival of Cowan & Necula. On the back of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) taking back in house its commercial & marketing rights two new marketing staff have been added to the team. Jonny COWAN comes on board as the ITTF Partnerships Manager and Iulia NECULA will be the new Event Marketing and Player Service Coordinator. COWAN brings with him an extensive amount of sport marketing experience previously being the Head of Marketing at Everton Football Club and working on various projects with UEFA Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Premiership Rugby. On his new challenge COWAN from Northern Ireland stated: “I’m delighted to be joining ITTF Marketing & Commercial Director Steve DAINTON and the team on the next chapter of developing table tennis around the world with a particular focus on Europe and enhancing the marketing and partnership elements of the sport.” “Having worked in the English Premier Football League and with other rights holders in different sports I’m keen to increase our use of data and insight to build a global picture of our table tennis fans to enhance their experience with table tennis across all touch points and to add even more value to partners and sponsors by connecting their brands with table tennis and its fans in new and innovative ways.” NECULA an MBA trained table tennis Olympian bring a perfect mix of professional table tennis experience mixed with business training to the ITTF. The former Romanian national player stated: “It’s a big pleasure and a challenge at the same time to be working on ‘the other side of the net.’ After more than 20 years competing as a professional player it’s time for me to move forward and do my best in the ITTF Marketing team.” “The main objective is to improve the communication between the ITTF the players and the event organizers. It’s time for table tennis to get more prominent and players to be treated with the level of importance that they deserve. There are many ways that table tennis can develop and I am very excited to be a part of it!” ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT is equally excited with the two new members joining the team: “As the ITTF now has all our rights back in house it is important that we boost our marketing presence in order to maximize all the potential commercial opportunities. Jonny and Iulia are fantastic hires and I am sure they will be perfect assets to our already strong marketing team led by Steve DAINTON.” The duo will begin work immediately to increase ITTF’s marketing presence world wide.
2017 ITTF-Europe Cup in Antibes winner on duty in India
Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open After seven years India is hosting an ITTF World Tour event. In glamorous Thyagraj Sports Complex in the city of New Delhi 80 players will be on duty by the end of the week led by the no. one seeded in Men’s Singles event Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany and no. one seeded in Women’s Singles DOO Hoi Kem of Hong Kong. Leading name in the Men’s Singles Event is in the winning mode. In the last two weeks Dimitrij OVTCHAROV won the Men’s Singles title at the 2017 ITTF-Europe Cup in Antibes France and he was crowned the champion at the DHS 2017 Lausanne Open in Switzerland. The world no.5 will face strong challenge: Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus Koki NIWA Yuto MURAMATSU and Yuya OSHIMA of Japan Paul DRINKHALL of England Benedikt DUDA of Germany Robert GARDOS of Austria as well as host nation representative Sharath Kamal ACHANTA all are listed in India. “I am excited to play in India. I think table tennis there is getting more and more famous. Actually I am really looking forward to playing in front of the Indian table tennis fans “said Dimitrij OVTCHAROV At the list of the seeds in Women’s Singles Event DOO Hoi Kem and her compatriot LEE Ho Ching are at the top followed by Georgina POTA of Hungary and another crowned champion from DHS 2017 Lausanne Open in Switzerland – Matilda EKHOLM. Among top 10 seeds is the name of Manika BATRA of India.
Both HEISTER and SKORIC praise their players
Comments after returning quarter-final leg of Table Tennis Champions League Men The winner of the all-German quarter-final of TTCLM Borussia Dusseldorf continues its way in the best club`s competition but there is no disappointment in the defeated side TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen. Both coaches praised their players after returning leg held in the sold out ARAG CenterCort (1 100) in Dusseldorf where host team won 3:1 (2:3 1st leg) after super tense and exhausted battle. “I am very proud of my team who reached the semi-finals” stressed Borussia`s coach Danny HEISTER. “It was really amazing that every player made his point in two games. That Timo (BOLL) won his match with his injury and Stefan FEGERL who was not planned to play win against GAUZY was unbelievable. I think we have a very good team and they all want to be better from game to game.” Timo BOLL was extended to full distance by Hugo CALDERANO in the opening game but he wasn’t able to play in the fourth match against Simon GAUZY due to injury. Stefan FEGERL replaced him successfully as he beat Frenchman in four games. “That was good for the Borussia because FEGERL was fresh full of energy and played very strong while Simon (GAUZY) was a bit empty and exhausted struggling with light back problems. But that was certainly not decisive” stated Ochsenhausen president Kristijan PEJINOVIC. Ochsenahusen`s coach Dubravko SKORIC added: “We had chances to win this fantastic game but Düsseldorf also had their chances in first leg. We have no reason to be discouraged. Hugo (CALDERANO) was very close to beat Timo (BOLL) FEGERL was fresh in the last match while Simon’s battery was empty.”
Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor on the run for another finalNew news
Women’s ETTU Cup Despite great difficulties Turkey will have two clubs in the Women’s ETTU Cup semifinal. Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor and Tigem SC Ankara will fight for their place in the ultimate stage. Head coach of Bursa BSB Mehmet ASLAN was happy with the overall victory against Budaorsi 2i Sport Club (2:3 3:1) but he reminded us of the situation that preceded the big success. “First of all we would like to state that we have played both matches as guests. We’ve always believed that we will qualify for semifinal. We fully believed in our players. Club seriously conducted the preparations with our rival’s match videos we set our tactics and won. I also would like to emphasize that Alexandra PRIVALOVA win was vital for us. “ Organising the matches in such condition was not an easy task. “We would like to thank Budaorsi for all we had a few problems in second match in terms of hall and meals but they understood such things may happen it’s normal.” CP Lyssois Lille Metropole will be their next adversary. “We know Lille Metropole very well as we played already in the ETTU Cup final against them. We deeply respect this team they have strong players. This match is going to be a really hard duel our chances are 50 – 50. However we have 2016 European Champion Melek HU in our team she’s much better than she was last year and now she is in her top form so this gives extra confidence both to management and to the players. As a full-self-confident team we feel closer to the victory ” stated coach ASLAN. Crowned European champion HU Melek added: “Against Budaorsi we won very difficult and very close match. On the opening leg we lost 2:3. This is what I did not expect. In the next match we changed the positions. After a good start and victory in the first duel everything was different. We were under less pressure. Next match we will play against CP Lyssois Lille Metropole team so it will be something what we already experienced in last year’s final. We know each other but now is the new game. We will forget everything. Will fight for every point and every match. We can beat them and I hope we will prove it ” said HU.
Linz already focused on Berlin
“It was a perfect match of our ladies we are proud to be again in the ECLW semis” stated Linz`s president Gunther RENNER after 3:0 home win against Metz Linz AG Froschberg beat Metz TT in the reprise of the 2015/16 ECLW quarter-finals but now they will face again reigning champion TTC Berlin Eastside determined to avoid last season`s outcome of the semi-final. Last year German club eliminated Linz in the semis (3:2 3:1) while now at the same stage of 2016/17 edition they are going to play one against another on 13th March in Linz and 7th April in Berlin. President of Austrian club Gunther RENNER is very satisfied how his side played against Metz. Linz won 3:0 playing in its best line-up: LIU Jia Sophia POLCANOVA and MO Zhang. “Perfect match of our ladies we are proud to be again in the semis…the day after the match is before the next. We will prepare from now on to be ready for Berlin. Metz is a great club with no luck in the last two years against us but I am sure that some day they will succeed also in Champions League” stated RENNER. On the other side Berlin`s coach Irina PALINA has praised her players for two wins against ALCL Grand-Quevilly. She stressed for the club`s website that each member of the line-up Petrissa SOLJA Georgina POTA and SHAN Xiaona did their job. “I am very satisfied with all what I’ve seen and I am delighted that we were able to book well deserved semi-final in front of our fans”.
Tigem SC Ankara aiming all-Turkish ETTU Cup final
Tigem SC Ankara (3:1 2:3) overcame TuS Bad Driburg to reach the penultimate stage of the Women’s ETTU Cup. In the semis they will meet TTC Kazan of Russia. They came a long way to get to the position to fight for a final. ” This year our team played in the European Club Competitions for the third time. We have qualified through the group matches then eliminated Czech team Moravsky. After we also had a thrilling match with Novi Sad and we managed to beat our rival 3-2 ” explained Tigem’s Club Director Salih İNCE. In the quarter final Tigem SC Ankara played against German club Driburg. “Driburg is a really strong team as they have Chinese players and also Sarah DE NUTTE and Nina MITTELHAM. Moreover this club came to ETTU Cup from Champions League. Our players Fulya Zoya and Cristina were at the top of their games in both matches. We won the first match 3-1 in Ankara and this gave us a huge advantage. In the second match our adversary had 2-1 so the fourth match was crucial. It meant victory or sadness. Zoya performed really wonderful and she led us to victory. We wanted to win this match too yet we had a few little errors. However we managed to qualify to semi-final.” Playing both matches as a guest was not an easy task but team from Ankara overcame it. “As it is known there are many Turkish people living in Germany so at these matches we sometimes feel like we’re at home not away. We thank all our fans who supported us in Germany. This success is a historical one for our club we are proud to have this success both for our club and for Turkish Republic. We also thank to Driburg team and their directors we really felt like we were at home we wish them success in future.” Next in line is Russia’s club. “We will prepare for our next match against T.T.C. Kazan in a highly-disciplined way. We’ve never played against this club however our players know our adversaries. Kazan is a powerful team yet we have always played against powerful teams and we were the one who concluded the match victoriously. We are expecting to win this match and maybe make a Turkish Final on ETTU Cup with Bursa. We know it won’t be easy but we will do our best to do so ” promised Tigem’s Club Director Salih İNCE.
OVTCHAROV and EKHOLM clinched the titles in Lausanne
The winners of the DHS Swiss Open in Lausanne are Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany and Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden. In the final of the Men’s’ Singles Event no. two seed OVTCHAROV beat Marcos FREITAS OF Portugal 4-1 ( 10 8 -7 13 14). On his way to the ultimate stage FREITAS overcame top seed Jun MIZUTANI of Japan in seven games (-10 9 -8 4 9 -6 6) whilst OVTCHAROV prevailed against Andrea LANDRIEU of France 4-2 (6 6 -10 3 -7 6). At the last hurdle in the Women’s Singles Event Matilda EKHOLM also seeded at the position no. two beat her compatriot LI Fen 4-2 (3 8 -7 -12 5 7). In semis LI prevailed against the top seeded Georgina POTA of Hungary 4-0 (6 10 4 6) whilst Matilda beat Eva ODOROVA of Slovakia by same margin (10 5 8 9)
Linz has no problem with Metz this time
Austrian club reached ECLW semi-finals after 3:0 home victory Double ECLW winner Linz AG Froschberg is continuing its presence in the semi-final of this prestigious competition as they beat Metz 3:0 in the returning quarter-final leg held in Austria. Linz won first match 3:2 (12:8). These two sides met in the last season`s quarter-finals too when Linz celebrated thanks to just single point difrenence in total score (5:5 in matches 19:19 in games 347:346 in points). Sophia POLCANOVA defeated Pauline CHASSELIN in four games of the opener in spite of promising start of 19-year-old who recahed first set. Two best players met in the second clash as LIU Jia gain overcame FU Yu this time in four sets (in France it was 3-0). The 2005 European champion LIU had no problem in the first two sets but runner-up of 2016 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships refused to give up. FU easily won third game opened with six consecutive points in her favor. In spite of having excellent start in the fourth set (6:1) LIU was short one point soon (8:9). But Linz`s leading player managed to conclude this clash by her three points in a row. MO Zhang confirmed Froschberg`s victory beating Yunli SCHREINER who again replaced injured 2015 European champion Elizabeta SAMARA. All three sets were tense and close guest saved some set-balls but after all MO deserved win. The 2016/17 ECLW quarter-finals 2nd leg LINZ AG FROSCHBERG – METZ TT 3:0 (1st leg 3:2) Sophia POLCANOVA – Pauline CHASSELIN 3:1 (9:11 11:8 11:3 11:4) LIU Jia – FY Yu 3:1 (11:8 11:7 2:11 11:9) MO Zhang – Yunli SCHREINER 3:0 (11:8 12:10 12:10)
SPG Walter Wels showed no mercy in Dubrovnik
ETTU Cup Men After two straight matches victories Russia’s UMMC booked their place in the semi final of the Men’s ETTU Cup. In the same express way SPG Walter Wels recoreded victory but they are yet to play the second leg match against STK Libertas Marinkolor scheduled for February 26th. In the quarterfinal UMMC overcame Belgium’s Logis Auderghem. Andrei GACINA set the directon of the match in the opening duel against Jean Michel SAIVE and host showed no mercy until the end. UMMC – Logis Auderghem 3:0 (3:0) Andrei GACINA – Jean Michel SAIVE 3:0 (11:3 11:6 11:3) Alexander SHIBAEV – Florent LAMBIENT 3:0 (11:6 11:9 11:9) Grigory VLASOV – Ludovic BIERNY 3:1 (11:5 6:11 11:3 11:7) STK Libertas Marinkolor – SPG Walter Wels 0:3
Borussia Pontoise and Saarbrucken reach semis
TTCLM quarter-finals (2nd leg): Borussia – Ochsenhausen 3:1 Saarbrucken – Chartres 2:3 Pontoise – Hennebont 3:2 Ten times TTCLM winner Borussia Dusseldorf reigning champion AS Pontoise Cergy and 2014 ETTU Cup winner FC Saarbrucken reached TTCLM semi-finals after tonight`s returning matches of the quarter-final stage: BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN 3:1 FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT 2:3 AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT 3:2. Borussia was better than Ochsenhausen in the all-German quarter-final but the match was open until the end. Dubravko SKORIC` s team won the first leg 3:2 (12:9) having one more good fact on its side that Simon GAUZY beat Timo BOLL in their four last meetings including recent 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup. But these two players didn’t meet this time as BOLL suffered an injury during his first match. BOLL beat Hugo CALDERANO in the very tense opener. Six times individual champion of Old Continent was extended to full distance by young Portuguese who won breath taking second set (17:15). At the peak of the drama in late fifth set (8:8) host took three consecutive points to secure an early lead for his side. Best ranked European U21 player Anton KALLBERG and 2016 ITTF LIEBHERR European Championships runner-up Simon GAUZY met in the second clash. Frenchman won in four games after many spectacular points what pushed their bodies to the limits. The score was leveled after two games and GAUZY won third one thanks to his serves in decisive moments. Young Swede opened fourth set in a style (5:0) and had two set balls (10:8) but bronze medalist from recent ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup responded with four consecutive points. Kristian KARLSSON brought new lead to the host side in sold out ARAG CenterCort (1 100 spectators) as he beat Jakub DYJAS 3:2 (9:11 11:5 12:14 11:3 11:3). Guest came from 6:9 to 10:9 in the third set which belonged to him but Swede dominated in the next two. DYJAS had no energy to stay on that level while KARLSSON exploded in the early fourth set (eight points in a row 3:3 11:3) continuing in same way in the forthcoming one. Stefan FEGERL had a hard task to prevent Simon GAUZY to record his fourth victory in two legs. Frenchman managed to recover in the second set (host had four consecutive set-balls) but Austrian won next two games by narrow margin. Reigning TTCLM champion Pontoise defeated again Hennebont in the all-French quarter-final. Marcos FREITAS contributed with two points while Niagol STOYANOV added one. Chartres beat away Saarbrucken 3:2 but German side continues in the semis thanks to better win in France. Robert GARDOS reversed the score (0-2 to 3-2) in the opener against Patrick BAUM giving a chance to his team mates to compensate the 3:1 defeat in the first leg but Bojan TOKIC leveled the score against Joao MONTEIRO after full five games. After Par GERELL`s victory in four games against Tiago APOLONIA German club needed just one set for the semis. However BAUM overcame MONTEIRO in straight games while Sarbrucken repeated its TTCLM success from the 2011/12 season. The 2016/17 TTCLM quarter-finals 2nd leg (Friday February 10th) BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN 3:1 (1st leg 2:3) Timo BOLL – Hugo CALDERANO 3:2 (11:7 15:17 8:11 11:7 11:8) Anton KALLBERG – Simon GAUZY 1:3 (12:10 8:11 9:11 10:12) Kristian KARLSSON – Jakub DYJAS 3:2 (9:11 11:5 12:14 11:3 11:3) Stefan FEGERL – Simon GAUZY 3:1 (11:4 11:13 11:9 11:9) FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT 2:3 (1st leg 3:1) Patrick BAUM – Robert GARDOS 2:3 (11:6 11:4 6:11 8:11 10:12) Bojan TOKIC – Joao MONTEIRO 3:2 (9:11 11:3 4:11 12:10 11:9) Tiago APOLONIA – Par GERELL 1:3 (11:7 8:11 9:11 7:11) Patrick BAUM – Joao MONTEIRO 3:0 (11:7 11:8 11:4) Bojan TOKIC – Joao MONTEIRO 0:3 (6:11 10:12 7:11) AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT 3:2 (1st leg 3:0) Mattias KARLSSON – Liam PITCHFORD 1:3 (11:9 6:11 8:11 8:11) Marcos FREITAS – Quentin ROBINOT 3:0 (11:8 11:7 11:8) Tristan FLORE – Kalinikos KREANGA 2:3 (5:11 8:11 11:9 11:9 8:11) Niagol STOYANOV – Quentin ROBINOT 3:1 (11:7 12:14 12:10 11:7) Marcos FREITAS – Liam PITCHFORD 3:1 (6:11 11:8 11:6 11:5)
