Tarnobrzeg managed to surpass Cartagena`s 3:0 (9:4) first leg victory. Berlin and Szekszard also won their games KTS SIARKA ZOT TARNOBRZEG SZEKSZARD AC and TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE reached the 2016/17 ECLW semi-finals as they won 3:0 their returning quarter-final duels. Polish champion managed to surpass UCAM Cartagena`s big advantage from Spain (3:0 9:4) losing just two sets tonight while reigning champion and the best Hungarian club just confirmed their supremacy from the first clashes against TT SAINT QUENTIN and ALCL GRAND-QUEVILLY respectively. Super defensive line-up of Tarnobrzeg recorded a spectacular victory against Spanish team in spite of poor start of HAN Ying against Tetyana BILENKO. Guest led 2:0 after just few minutes (11:5 11:2) what meant that Cartagena needs just three more sets in the entire clash. But HAN responded by three sets in a row. Former individual European champion Viktoria PAVLOVICH showed her season`s best play so far defeating Iulia NECULA in straight games and LI Qian did the same against Matilda EKHOLM. Encounter between World No. 33 LI and World No. 32 EKHOLM (few days ago entered European top 10 ranking list) was very tense as all three games have been decided by narrow margin. Host saved two set balls in the opener (8:6 8:10 12:10) having open way to 2-0 at the end of the second set – 10:7. But LI missed all three consecutive set-balls and soon saved four in a row (from 10:11 to 13:14). After many upside downs on both sides Tarnobrzeg`s player reached that set (16:14). Hungarian Szekszard will play its very first ECLW semi-final after new victory against Saint Quentin. Host players won their encounters in four games. Dora MADARASZ recorded one more important win against Daniela DODEAN MONTEIRO in the second match to imrpove her individual score on 3-0 in the quarter-final stage. Unexpectedly Sant Quentin`s ZENG Jian has 0-3. Reigning champion and triple ECLW winner Berlin confirmed its class against Grand-Quevilly. Runner-up of the recent 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup Petrissa SOLJA wasn’t able to compete because of an injury which she suffered in Antibes but Yui HAMAMOTO Georgina POTA and SHAN Xiaona did their job against French side. The 2016/17 ECLW quarter-finals 2nd leg KTS SIARKA ZOT TARNOBRZEG – UCAM CARTAGENA 3:0 HAN Ying – Tetyana BILENKO 3:2 (5:11 2:11 11:4 13:11 11:7) Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Iulia NECULA 3:0 (11:8 13:11 11:5) LI Qian – Matilda EKHOLM 3:0 (12:10 16:14 11:9) SZEKSZARD AC – TT SAINT QUENTIN 3:0 Polina MIKHAILOVA – Ran LI KATH 3:1 (11:9 13:11 6:11 11:4) Dora MADARASZ – Daniela DODEAN MONTEIRO 3:1 (10:12 11:7 11:6 11:5) YE Lin – ZENG Jian 3:1 (4:11 11:6 11:7 11:3) TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – ALCL TT GRAND QUEVILLY 3:0 Yui HAMAMOTO – TIAN Yuan 3:1 (12:14 11:6 11:6 11:0) Georgina POTA – Galia DVORAK 3:0 (12:10 11:6 13:11) SHAN Xiaona – SHINI Ono 3:1 (11:6 14:12 9:11 11:7) LINZ AG FROSCHBERG – METZ TT (Feb 12 16:00 CET 1st leg 3:2)
Russia’s Kazan left Hungary victoriously
Women’s and Men’s ETTU Cup After victory over Postas Sport Egyesulet in Hungary in the semifinal of the ETTU Women Cup will play TTC Kazan. Russia’s club will meet Tigem Sports Club from Turkey. Club from Ankara lost against Germany’s TuS Bad Driburg but overall it is 5:4. They joined top seeds in ETTU Cup French CP Lyssois Lille Metropole after last week’s victory over Hodonin. Earlier Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor succeeded against Hungarian Budaorsi 2i Sport Club to reach the penultimate phase. Bursa will play against Lille. No. two seed TTC Kazan avenged their defeat at the end of the January and beat Hungarian Postas Sport Egyesulet on their home soil. In the opening leg Postas won 3:1 but today guests concluded the round in straight matches. Both Postas Sport Egyesulet and Hodonin played ETTU Cup after they finished third in their respective groups in European Champions League. TuS Bad Driburg fought hard in front of the supporters but Tigem’s advantage from the opening leg gave their adversaries ticket to the next round. On the opening matches of the second leg of the Men’s ETTU Cup two French representatives secured their places in the semifinal. Vaillante Sports Angers TT beat Halmstad BTK and Stella Sport La Romagne overcame Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki. After full five matches duel in Halmstad and defeat Vaillante Sports Angers today achieved the victory at home soil in three matches. Jens LUNDQVIST was under severe pressure at the beginning of the match but he beat Fabian KERSTRUM in five games to give his club a dream start. In Poland in the second leg of the quarterfinal Stella Sport La Romagne was stretched to full five matches. Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki lost the opening leg in straight matches but at home soil they made adversaries fight much harder. Women’s ETTU Cup quarterfinal Postas Sport Egyesulet – TTC Kazan 0:3 (3:1) LI Jiao – Anna BLAZHKO 0:3 (9:11 10:12 9:11) Ruta PASKAUSKIENE – Antonina SAVELYEVA 2:3 (3:11 12:10 12:10 6:11 4:11) Rita KERTAI – Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA 2:3 (1:11 11:6 11:9 7:11 5:11) TuS Bad Driburg – Tigem Sports Club 3:2 (1:3) Sarah de NUTTE – Cristina HIRICI 2:3 (10:12 11:2 11:7 6:11 7:11) SHI Chi – Zoia NAVIKOVA 3:2 (9:11 13:11 9:11 12:10 11:4) Katharina MICHAILOVA Fulya YILDIRIM 3:0 (11:6 11:2 11:6) Sarah de NUTTE – Zoia NAVIKOVA 1:3 (9:11 11:4 8:11 4:11) SHI Chi — Cristina HIRICI 3:0 (11:6 11:9 11:6) Men’s ETTU Cup quarterfinal Vaillante Sports Angers TT – Halmstad BTK 3:0 (2:3) Jens LUNDQVIST – Fabian KERSTRUM 3:2 (11:8 9:11 4:11 12:10 11:7) Jon PERSSON – Harold ANDERSSON 3:1 (11:5 5:11 11:7 11:5) Emmanuel LEBESSON – Anders ERIKSSON 3:1 (11:6 7:11 12:10 11:5) Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki – Stella Sport La Romagne 2:3 (0:3)
TTCLM top seed eliminates last season`s runner-up
TTC Fakel Gazprom Orenburg – Eslovs Al Bordtennis 3:1 (1st match 3:1). Jun MIZUTANI again won two points Top-seeded Russian club TTC Fakel Gazprom Orenburg will play seventh time in a row in the Table Tennis Champions League Men semi-final as they eliminated current runner-up from Sweden Eslovs Al Bordtennis in the clash held in Russian TT Center in Orenburg. Triple TTCLM champion beat Swedish side 3:1 in the returning quarter-final match like it did in the first leg in Sweden. More than 1 000 fans cheered for host club and huge favorite for the crown in the ongoing season. Like two weeks ago Jun MIZUTANI provided two points for his side. Japanese actual World No. 4 defeated both Daniel KOSIBA and XU Hui in the opening and fourth match respectively while World No. 5 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV overcame XU in four games of the second encounter. Recently crowned 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup champion OVTCHAROV saved a set ball in the third game against Chinese who missed a chance for 2:1 lead. Robert SVENSSON upset World No. 8 Vladimir SAMSONOV in the third clash being extended to full distance. Belarus reached fourth set 11:1 to level the score at 2:2 but Swede responded in same style losing just four points in the fifth game. TTCLM quarter-finals 2nd leg TTC FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG – ESLOVS Al BORDTENNIS 3:1 (1st leg 3:1) Jun MIZUTANI – Daniel KOSIBA 3:1 (9:11 11:9 11:8 11:8) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV – XU Hui 3:1 (9:11 11:7 12:10 11:8) Vladimir SAMSONOV – Robert SVENSSON 2:3 (11:4 9:11 8:11 11:1 4:11) Jun MIZUTANI – XU Hui 3:0 (11:3 15:13 11:2)
Three host sides await returning ECLW quarter-finals with advantage
Returning games will be held this Friday and Sunday as two out of them will be live streamed on LAOLA1.tv Three out of four favorites (according to the seeding list) won away their first quarter-final matches of 2016/17 ECLW held two weeks ago while UCAM Cartagena upset at home no. 2 seed and current ECLW runner-up KTS Siarka ZOT Tarnobrzeg. Returning matches this Friday and Sunday will decide semi-finalists. Cartagena had a big advantage as they beat Tarnobrzeg 3:0 (9:4). Crucial moments came in the second match when Tetyana BILENKO upset HAN Ying after full five games. “We are very satisfied with the result and very satisfied with the performance of our players” stated Cartagena’s team manager Enrique PEREZ MIRAS. “It was a very tough match against a great rival. We are sure that it will be very difficult to win the tie but it is true that we are going to Poland with the best result we could imagine. Now we have more options than before the first match. In Cartagena we were lucky to live a great show the public enjoyed much with the rule of acceleration that was applied in the match between BILENKO and HANN”. Recent 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup boosted self confidence to Cartagena’s Matilda EKHOLM who finished on the 7th place playing very well in the quarter-final where she was beaten by eventual winner LI Jie in six games. Szekszard and and Saint Quentin played close match in France and now both sides expect one more thrilling clash. Head coach of Hungarian side Gyorgy SZILY commented: “Game was a huge thriller and more then 600 fans were supporting us in Saint-Quentin so atmosphere felt electric. Players gave all they had and it was special match with many twists of fortune for both teams. Dora MADARASZ played some spectacular table tennis and was biggest part of our close victory. Never the less nothing is finished and French side is still in the game. Now our focus is on second leg back home and we will be prepared for this upcoming challenge.” Hungarian team won 3:2 thanks to MADARASZ who beat both ZENG Jian and Daniela DODEAN-MONTEIRO (8th placed at Euro Top 16 last weekend). Saint Quentin`s manager Jean-Louis POLARD is aware that his side will not have any chance if Singaporean player is not in her best shape: “The first leg was expected to be very tight and it was true nearly unbelievable: a 4-hour match (2:2 10:11) with 18 thrilling games out of 21. One of the most dramatic matches in Saint-Quentin ever! Because of Szekszard N°3 Hungarian Dora MADARASZ who was ‘on fire’ and won twice Saint-Quentin led 2/1 but lost in the end. Unfortunately our N°1 player Singaporean ZENG Jian failed and it’s impossible to win when the leader can’t get at least 1 point. We just hope she will be better for the 2nd leg in Hungary on February 10th. Anything can happen.” Reigning champion and triple ECLW winner Berlin hosts ALCL Grand Quevilly with 3:1 advantage. Two players of German club finished among the best five of 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Antibes France but bad news for coach Irina PALINA was the fact that silver Petrissa SOLJA was forced to retire in the final match against LI Jie because of an injury. Georgina POTA played very well in Antibes and finished on the fifth spot. Double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg and 2015 ETTU Cup Women runner-up Metz TT promised one more breathtaking showdown in Austria. Two weeks ago Linz won 3:2 (12:8) but as its president Gunther RENNER stressed few days ago everything is possible in the clash between these two clubs. Especially bearing in mind their last season’s quarter-finals when Austrian side won with just one point in its favor 347:346. The 2016/17 ECLW quarter-finals 2nd leg KTS SIARKA ZOT TARNOBRZEG – UCAM CARTAGENA (Feb 10 17:00 CET 1st leg 0:3 live on LAOLA1.tv) SZEKSZARD AC – TT SAINT QUENTIN (Feb 10 18:00 CET 1st leg 3:2 live on LAOLA1.tv) TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – ALCL TT GRAND QUEVILLY (Feb 10 19:00 CET 3:1) LINZ AG FROSCHBERG – METZ TT (Feb 12 16:00 CET 3:2)
ETTU Development Programs Announcement Copy
Based on 11 applications submitted and on the fulfilment of all the necessary requirements in 2017 ETTU is going to co-finance the following seven programs within the ETTU project NA’s Assistance Program: – Lithuania (Cadet Training Camp 2500 €) – Scotland (Coaching Conference 2000€) – Estonia (Cadet Training Camp 2000 €) – Ireland (Coaching Conference 2000 €) – Norway (National Referee Seminar 1500 €) – Israel (Cadet players support for Pre-selection Camp 1500 €) – Iceland (Coaching Conference / Cadet Training Camp 1500 €) ETTU will consider all the other submitted programs for co-financing under the same project in 2018. ETTU hereby announces the lists of young male and female players in two projects: Eurotalents U-14 and Eurotalents U-18.We wish to point out that the U-18 list includes only 6 players and all other potential young participants from the list will be invited depending on the results of their work and progress. EUROTALENTS U-18: 1. Tailakova Mariia (RUS) 2. Sidorenko Vladimir (RUS) 3. Pletea Cristian (ROU) 4. Diaconu Adina (ROU) 5. Dragoman Andreea (ROU)6. Moregardh Truls (SWE) Status of potential U-18 participants: 1. Kolish Anastasiia (RUS)2. Grebnev Maksim (RUS)3. Sipos Rares (ROU)4. Kallberg Christina (SWE) 5. Li Tiago (POR) 6. Rassenfosse Adrien (BEL)7. Stumper Kay (GER) 8. Kubik Maciej (POL) 9. Kulczycki Samuel (POL) EUROTALENTS U-14 1. Ionescu Eduard (ROU) 2. Tomica Andrei (ROU) 3. Badea Bogdan (ROU) 4. Oleskevych Jaroslav (UKR) 5. Papadimitriou Malammatenia (GRE) 6. Santos Patricia (POR) 7. Carnovale Miriam (ITA)8. Arapovic Hana (CRO)9. Muskantor Rebecca (SWE)10. Zaharia Elena (ROU) 11. Weatherby Joshua (ENG)12. Liu Jamie (ENG)13. Hollo Mike (GER) 14. Karkusova Daniela (SRB)15. Klee Sophia (GER) 16. Belik Simon (CZE)17. Abramian Elizabet (RUS) 18. Riliskyte Kornelija (LTU) 19. Riliskyte Emilija (LTU) 20. Zaderova Linda (CZE) 21. Kas Van Oost (NED) 22. Israeli Tal (ISR)
Borussia and Ochsenhausen promise one more TTCLM thriller
Returning matches of the TTCLM quarter-finals will be held this Friday February 10th with a live streaming on LAOLA1.tv Semi-finalists of the 2016/17 Table Tennis Champions League Men will be decided this Friday when the returning quarter-final games are scheduled: TTC FAKEL GAZPROM – ESLOVS Al BORDTENNIS (1st leg 3:1 for Russian team) BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN (2:3) FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT (3:1) AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT (3:0). Five out of eight best players from the recent 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Antibes France will participate: winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Orenburg) bronze medalist Simon GAUZY (Ochsenhausen) 5th placed Timo BOLL (Borussia) 7th Tiago APOLONIA (Saarbrucken) and 8th Stefan FEGERL (Borussia). Most exciting clash in the first quarter-finals was one between two German clubs. Their last two meetings (one in Bundesliga) were extended to full distance of five games: Borussia won in domestic league while Ochsenhausen prevailed in the TTCLM 3:2 (12:9) as World No. 15 Simon GAUZY got two points. Ochsenhausen`s president Kristijan PEJINOVIC emphasized Frenchman role: “Simon showed excellent table tennis playing with a really good tactics. He plays well against BOLL and can read his game well. Simon proved his class and that he deserves his place on the ITTF World ranking list”. The 22-year-old Simon GAUZY beat six times individual European champion Timo BOLL in last four occasions including ITTF 2017 Europe Top 16 Cup quarter-final match four days ago – 4:2 (11:8 3:11 4:11 11:7 11:8 11:7). GAUZY defeated German legend and leveled the score (1:1) in the first quarter-final clash while Jakub DYJAS in the next encounter recorded probably decisive win against Stefan FEGERL. Austrian led 1:0 (10:6) but host saved five set balls and won three sets in a row. “We certainly had our chances. FEGERL was a really good but had a bit of a bad luck with his set-balls. Our chances are not high as we wanted but with our own spectators in the back we can still do it” stated Borussia`s manager Andreas PREUSS speaking for the club`s website. Actual No. 1 TTCLM seed Orenburg hosts current runner-up Eslovs leading by new-old Europe Top 16 Cup winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. Russian side had 3:1 advantage. Its vice-president Victor ANDREEV stressed: “In the first quarter-final match the Russian TTC Fakel Gazprom won a very important victory – 3:1. Breathtaking match Jun MIZUTANI – XU Hui ended with the victory of the Japanese player. Although the result in Sweden is a cause for certain optimism the upcoming match will be a very difficult and stressful. This means that Orenburg and the whole world will see again table tennis of the highest level”. Saarbrucken did a nice job in France defeating 2013 TTCLM runner-up Chartres 3:1. Coach of German club Slobodan GRUJIC double TTCLM winner as a player is aware that French side is very dangerous: “We couldn’t play in our best line-up in the first leg but we managed to secure optimal result for the returning game. One more hard match is in front of us but I hope that we’ll have our best three players in the line-up”. Reigning TTCLM champion Pontoise hosts G.V Hennebont in all-French quarter-final. Marcos FREITAS & Co. have a big advantage from the first duel – 3:0 (9:4). The 2016/17 TTCLM quarter-finals 2nd leg (Friday February 10th) TTC FAKEL GAZPROM – ESLOVS Al BORDTENNIS (13:30 CET 1st leg 3:1) BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN (18:30 CET 1st leg 2:3) FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT (19:30 CET 1st leg 3:1) AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT (20 CET 1st leg 3:0)
Arben MECE reelected President of Albanian Association.
At the Election Assembly held January 29th in Vlora Arben MECE is reelected as a President of Albanian Table Tennis Association. This is fourth mandate for President MECE – he is a President since 2004. Mr. Tonin BINOSHAJ is re-elected as a Secretary General of Albanian TTA. This is his second mandate. The new members of Albanian TTA executive board for period 2016-2020 are: Dritan KRUJA Jetmir SHPUZA Kujtim MACUKULLI Jonida LUNDRA (Haka) Kostandin CEREKJA Shkelqim HOXHA.
Manolis KOLYMPADIS General Secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee
The president of Hellenic Table Tennis Federation Manolis KOLYMPADIS received another great honor in his long career in sport yesterday. KOLYMPADIS was elected general secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee for the period 2017-2020. In the elections of H.O.C. he received 14 votes in total of 14 votes cast and became General Secretary in the administration of Spiros KAPRALOS who was re-elected to the presidency continuing his tenure which began in 2009. In a statement 64 year old head of the board of E.F.O.Ep.A. sent warm thanks to various people and in particular to the President of the Greek Basketball Federation George VASSILAKOPOULOS whom he described as his mentor. He also assured the people of table tennis that his new duties in the H.O.C. will not affect the work of the president of H.T.T.F.. Manolis KOLYMPADIS said: “I thank my colleagues for the honor they gave me. And those who honored me with their vote and those who withdrew from the process. I feel that this is the culmination and reward of my long road in sports and this is directly reflected in the table tennis sport. Thanks also sincerely welcome friends from all over Greece who yesterday and today telephoned and gave me my courage and strength but especially want to thank my athletic father George VASSILAKOPOULOS who in 1982 helped me and encouraged me to be involved with sport. He is my mentor and whether it did not attend the vote for me it was like to be present. I want to assure the world of table tennis that my increased responsibilities as the Hellenic Olympic Committee general secretary will no way affect my presence as president of the federation.”
Three days of table tennis magic in Antibes
The review of the 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup The 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup competition hosted in the town of Antibes on the French Riviera took place over the weekend beginning Friday 3rd and ending Sunday 5th February as some of Europe’s strongest table tennis players went head-to-head at the Azur Arena. 16 male and 16 female players were invited to the event with each player aiming to guarantee an invitation for the respective LIEBHERR 2016 Men’s World Cup and 2016 Women’s World Cup a feat that would be achieved for the top three finishing positions in both the Men’s and Women’s Singles competitions. Before the 2017 Europe Top 16 had even seen any action there were two withdrawals from the Women’s Singles event: Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA cancelled her trip to Antibes early due to a knee injury which required surgery while Kristin SILBEREISEN of Germany also withdrew due to illness. Drafted in as replacements were Bernadette SZOCS and Barbora BALAZOVA. SZOCS headed into the 2017 tournament having made appearances at previous Europe Top 16 competitions but having never before managed to progress beyond the group stage. In Antibes however SZOCS not only managed to move through her group but also went on to finish in sixth position overall. While SZOCS made the headlines for all the right reasons there was one high profile name who will leave Antibes disappointed with her finish and that is Turkey’s HU Melek. Crowned Women’s Singles champion at the LIEBHERR 2016 European Championships in Budapest Hungary’s HU Melek went into the 2017 Europe Top 16 event as one of the favourites for the title and as the top seed. However defeats to Hungary’s Georgina POTA and Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA saw HU fail to advance from her group. One of the standout players in the group stage of the Men’s Singles competition was Ukraine’s KOU Lei who was making his debut at the tournament. KOU who was seeded 14th for the Men’s Singles category lost his opening match in Group B to Tiago APOLONIA but went on to claim victories over Emmanuel LEBESSON and the no.2 seed Vladimir SAMSONOV to progress to the last eight. SAMSONOV left Antibes without a single win to his name and rather shockingly finished fourth in the group. There were also unexpected group stage exits for the fourth seed Marcos FREITAS and the runner up of the 2016 competition in Gondomar Portugal Joao MONTEIRO in Groups D and A respectively. With the group stages concluded day two of the tournament focused on deciding which four players in both the Men’s and Women’s events would progress to the semi-finals and three players in particular surprised the spectators in Antibes: Simon GAUZY Alexander SHIBAEV and Sabine WINTER. Germany’s WINTER left the no.5 seed Georgina POTA frustrated after the Hungarian lost out in seven games (11-9 8-11 11-2 6-11 11-5 7-11 11-8) to move into the Women’s Singles last four. GAUZY of France stunned the five time Men’s champion Timo BOLL across six games (11-8 3-11 4-11 11-7 11-8 11-7) to set up a tie with Russia’s Alexander SHIBAEV in the last four following his seventh game success against Tiago APOLONIA (11-5 5-11 9-11 11-8 11-7 10-12 11-5). Much to the disappointment of the home fans GAUZY missed out on reaching the final on the last day of action after he was subject to a 2-4 defeat to SHIBAEV (7-11 9-11 11-8 10-12 11-8 9-11) – but the Frenchman finished in third position overall and ultimately ended his campaign with a smile on his face. “I am really happy to have performed quite well in Antibes and it means a lot to me to play in front of my family my friends and in front of this great crowd so I’m really happy that I could do this here. This performance here gives me a lot of confidence and I’m really looking forward to the World Championships in Dusseldorf” Simon GAUZY. Comeback victories are always very special moments in sport: the determination and the commitment required of the players in pulling off a recovery always make for an exciting match. LI Jie of the Netherlands was very much the queen of comebacks in Antibes after she managed to survive her group campaign with an important recovery win from two games down against LI Qian. LI Jie then went on to work her magic again in the next round when she fell 0-2 behind to Sweden’s Matilda EKHOLM before going on to triumph 4-2 (7-11 11-13 11-5 11-7 11-8 11-9). Many would argue that it was rather fitting that the Dutch representative LI would go on to achieve the ultimate goal as she went on to claim the title. The final saw LI take on SOLJA for the crown but rather disappointingly the match was cut short with SOLJA withdrawing after four games due to injury problems (11-7 7-11 11-3 11-6). After picking up the trophy at the Azur Arena LI Jie said that she was happy to have won the title for the first time but that she isn’t thinking too far ahead and wants time to reflect on her achievement in Antibes. “I’m very happy but I’m also very sorry for SOLJA. This was my third time in the final and finally I’ve won so I’m very happy. For my career and my future the title is important for self-confidence… I don’t think so fast about future tournaments. I want to first enjoy this title and then I will concentrate on future tournaments” LI Jie. With the Women’s Singles tournament closed there was just one more match to play out as the no.1 seed Dimitrij OVTCHAROV faced the no.14 seed Alexander SHIBAEV in the Men’s Singles final. OVTCHAROV entered the match having won the title on the two previous occasions at the tournament and on paper he
Linz against Metz is always special…
Froschberg`s president Gunther RENNER speaks about upcoming returning quarter-final match of ECLW The 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup in Antibes France is closed and some of the best women’s players from Old Continent switch their focus on the returning leg of the 2016/17 ECLW quarter-finals. Double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg was represented by two players in Antibes LIU Jia and Sophia POLCANOVA. LIU finished fourth being defeated by Sabine WINTER in the game for the 3rd spot while POLCANOVA had 1-2 score in the group stage. Linz beat away Metz 3:2 (12:8) in the first quarter-final match but its president Gunther RENNER is aware that everything is possible in the clash between these two clubs (Austrian side won last year’s quarter-final with just one point in its favor 347:346). “If you look at the result sheet you will find out our post-game thoughts… We could already be with 99% casualty in the semifinals if we close the game after 2:0 lead but MO Zhang had to face Pauline CHASSELINE and Pauline made a perfect game against MO. At the end we were again lucky against Metz because SAMARA could not finish her first game without knee problems and could not play her second match at all. After all we are and have to be happy with the result it will be a tough fight in LINZ ON February 12th because LINZ against METZ is always special…” stated RENNER.
