From Friday night the chairman of the Hellenic Table Tennis Federation Manolis KOLIMBADIS continues his work as Secretary General of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. He had taken this very honorary position for the first time in February 2017 but in July the elections in the H.O.C. were annulled by court order and for more than three months there was no administration. The elections were held again on October 20 and Manolis Kolymbadis was elected as General Secretary for the period 2017-2020. In a total of 22 sports federations that voted they got 21 votes and there was a white one. The president was re-elected for the third consecutive four-year term by Spyros Kapralos with 22-0 votes. There were 5 federations absent. “Reelection is solemn and this is again a great honor which primarily reflects on table tennis and then on my face. It also demonstrates that the sport is highly valued in the field of the sports movement» said the secretary general of the H.O.C. «In all these months from July to the present day where H.O.C. did not have the administration the positive energy of the world of the table tennis urged me to re-nominate and to be honest. It is now time for work starting on Tuesday we have the flame of Ancient Olympia for the Winter Olympics. Even the flame delivery to the Korean organizers on the 30th of the month at the Panathenaic Stadium we want to demonstrate to all the leadership of the International Olympic Committee which will be present in Athens in that time that the sports movement is united and leaves behind of all the introversion of about 9 months that preceded it. As far as I personally concerned as I did in my five-month term in my first term at IOC I will do my utmost to meet my duties without of course neglecting the duty I am facing the sport world as president of the federation. I would like to thank all the fellow representatives of the sports federations who honored me with their vote and in particular President Spyros Kapralos who since February has surrounded me with his trust and love» added Manolis KOLIMBADIS who is in Ancient Olympia and will receive on Sunday together with Spyros KAPRALOS the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas BACH from Andravida Air Base.
2017/18 Seamaster ECLW: French teams win away
Round 3 – Group A: TuS Bad Driburg – CP Lyssois Lille Metropole 1:3 Group D: SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex – TT Saint Quentinois 2:3 Two French teams secured their first wins in the 2017/18 Seamaster ECLW playing away their Round 3 matches: TuS Bad Driburg – CP Lyssois Lille Metropole 1:3 SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex – TT Saint Quentinois 2:3. Bernadete SZOCS brought two points for Lille Metropole beating both Sarah DE NUTTE and Nina MITTELHAM who defeated Maria XIAO in the opener. Agnes LE LANNIC provided third win for guests as she overcame Sophia KLEE in straight games. The 22-year-old Romania`s SZOCS 2012 European junior champion improved her individual score in this season to 3-0. Germany`s MITTELHAM was 2013 European junior champion. Hodonin had strong GUO Lin but Saint Quentinois showed good team work to get first win in the ongoing ECLW season. Chinese player beat Chinese Taipei`s CHENG Hsieh Tzu in the opening clash and overcame Daniela DODEAN-MONTEIRO to level the score in the game at 2:2. Fifth deciding encounter was very exciting and tense and belonged to CHENG Hsieh Tzu who was extended to full distance by Natalia PARTYKA. 2017/18 Seamaster ECLW Round 3 GROUP A TuS Bad Driburg – CP Lyssois Lille Metropole 1:3 Nina MITTELHAM – Maria XIAO 3:1 (10:12 11:8 11:7 14:12) Sarah DE NUTTE – Bernadette SZOCS 1:3 (3:11 11:8 10:12 8:11) Sophia KLEE – Agnes LE LANNIC 0:3 (10:12 7:11 4:11) Nina MITTELHAM – Bernadette SZOCS 0:3 (6:11 7:11 6:11) GROUP B Linz AG Froschberg – UCAM Cartagena TM (October 21st 16:00) GROUP C ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly – Szekszard AC (October 20th 19:30) GROUP D SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex – TT Saint Quentinois 2:3 GUO Lin – CHENG Hsieh Tzu 3:1 (5:11 11:8 11:8 11:5) Natalia PARTYKA – Daniela DODEAN-MONTEIRO 0:3 (4:11 9:11 8:11) Renata STRBIKOVA – Britt EERLAND 2:3 (6:11 12:10 11:7 3:11 5:11) GUO Lin – Daniela DODEAN-MONTEIRO 3:0 (11:8 11:8 11:2) Natalia PARTYKA – CHENG Hsieh Tzu 2:3 (3:11 11:6 11:6 6:11 1:11)
Star Studded ITTF Men’s World Cup Begins Action in Liège
20 of the world best male table tennis stars have gathered in the Belgian city of Liège for the Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup at the Country hall de Liège. Reigning World Champion MA Long (CHN) will be heading the seeding to fight for the prestigious title alongside Continental Cup Champions who had all fought hard in their respective regions to qualify for the annual major tournament that counts to the Grand Slam title (Olympic Games World Championships World Cup). MA who will be celebrating his 29th tomorrow looks at putting on another strong performance to claim a career third World Cup title stated “After my first visit to Belgium in 2008 I am happy returning and I am looking forward to a good performance after my last outing at the Chinese National Games.” “I feel challenged in all competition particularly with the presence of young players coming through from China and that is what makes the Chinese team very strong. I am ready for the challenge and I am ready to adapt to it and take each match as they come.” MA’s younger teammate LIN Gaoyuan (CHN) will pose one major challenge to MA aiming for the title. LIN was the surprise qualifier to the World Cup after he shocked 2016 World Cup Champion FAN Zhendong at the 2017 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup earlier in September to secure his ticket to Liège and will be determined to repeat his success again to make his World Cup debut a memorable one. 12 years since his last World Cup title in 2005 Germany’s Timo BOLL returns to the fateful city of Liège to eye for a third title. BOLL is joined by his teammate world number four Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) who will be looking at fending off all challenges for a career first World Cup title in Belgium. For the first time in World Cup history the ITTF Men’s World Cup welcomes two African representatives Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA qualifying as the African Cup Champion and Egypt’s Omar ASSAR becoming the first ever African to qualify for the World Cup through world ranking. Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup action starts today with stage one qualification rounds where seeds nine to 20 will play round robin in four groups of three players (two matches each). The top two players from each group will progress to join the top eight seeds in the second stage. The draw for stage one of the tournament can be found here: http://bit.ly/2xRcBdD. The second round will see the eight qualifiers facing off with the top eight seeds in a knockout. Round of 16 and the quarterfinals action will be live on Saturday 21 October while semifinals and the final battle for Gold will be played on Sunday 22 October.
Linz considers Cartagena as its milestone
2017/18 Seamaster ECLW Round 3 will be held this Friday and Saturday (October 20-21st) Round 3 of the 2017/18 Seamaster European Champions League Women will be held this Friday and Saturday (October 20-21st) as double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg hosts two times ETTU Cup winner UCAM Cartagena (Group B Oct 21 Saturday 16:00). Both sides were beaten by Bursa in their first Group B matches. “We are absolutely not the favourite now but we have a young team with a new spirit” stated Linz`s President Günther RENNER. “Like always we fight against the odds…until now we always go up to the quarter-final but this year it will be difficult. The game against Cartagena is an important milestone this year we expect a close game…and that small things will decide it at the end.” Actual World no. 37 Sofia POLCANOVA took leading role from 2005 individual European champion LIU Jia who left the club after many seasons winning 2009 and 2013 ECLW titles. The 23-year-old member of Austrian National Team won both her games in the opening round against Bursa (Turkish club beat them 3:2) against actual European champion HU Melek and LEE Ho Ching. Other two names in the Linz`s lineup were ZHANG Mo (no. 59) and HO Tin-Tin (no. 205) but new head coach Zsolt HARCZI can count also on Linda BERGSTROM (no. 165) and Lucia TRUKSOVA (no. 387). “Linz always reached the semi-finals in WECL for 12 years in a row I hope I`m not the first to lose before even though the this year`s lineup has the priority on developing players for the future. We will give our best we will attack and try to be the group first at the end doesn’t matter what the odds are in table tennis everything is possible” stressed Zsolt HARCZI former Head Coach of Hungarian Men`s National Team Men who was for 7 years no. 1 of the men’s team of Linz AG Froschberg). Last Friday (Oct 13) Cartagena lost from Bursa 3:1 playing with Matilda EKHOLM WANG Zhipei and Tetyana BILENKO in their lineup. Other three Round 3 matches will be held this Friday (October 20th). 2017/18 Seamaster ECLW Round 3 GROUP A: TuS Bad Driburg – CP LYSSOIS LILLE METROPOLE (Oct 20 19:00) GROUP B: Linz AG Froschberg – UCAM Cartagena TM (Oct 21 16:00) GROUP C: ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly – Szekszard AC (Oct 20 19:30) GROUP D: SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex – TT SAINT QUENTINOIS (Oct 20 18:00)
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV leads the Europe’s challenge
2017 Men’s World Cup The Liebherr 2017 Men’s World Cup will be held in the Country hall de Liège. It is the fourth time that Belgium has hosted the tournament; the previous occasions being in Verviers in 2013 and in Liège in 2005 & 2008. The 20 players taking part at the Liebherr 2017 Men’s World Cup qualified through their Continental Cups apart from World Champion MA Long (CHN) host representative Cedric NUYTINCK (BEL) and wildcard entry Marcos Freitas (POR). The 20 players who contest the Liebherr 2017 Men’s World Cup comprise: The current World Champion 17 players who qualified through their respective Continental Cups. If no players qualify from the host association through the above the host association may nominate a player The final player is chosen by the ITTF as a wildcard. How the 17 places are determined through the Continental Cup: The winner of each Continental Cup plus the second and third highest finishers from Asia and Europe qualify; a total of 10 players. Seven additional players are selected from the Continental Cups based on their order of finishing and their World Ranking. The highest ranked player amongst players finishing second in Africa Latin America North America Oceania and fourth in Asia and Europe are selected. The highest ranked next player from the remaining players in the top most places on the qualifying positions from each Continental Cup are selected and so on until the seven places are filled. # WR – Oct 2017 Player Qualification Method 1 1 MA Long (CHN 1) World Champion 2 36 Quadri ARUNA (NGR) African Cup Winner 3 9 LIN Gaoyuan (CHN2) Asian Cup Winner 4 112 Gustavo TSUBOI (BRA) Pan American Cup Winner 5 228 Kanak JHA (USA) Pan American Cup (2nd player) 6 339 David POWELL (AUS) Oceania Cup Winner 7 4 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER 1) Europe Cup Winner 8 16 LEE Sangsu (KOR 1) Asian Cup 3rd place (2nd Qualifier) 9 33 CHEN Chien-An (TPE 1) Asian Cup 4th place (3rd Qualifier) 10 41 Alexander SHIBAEV (RUS) Europe Cup 2nd place (2nd Qualifier) 11 13 Simon GAUZY (FRA) Europe Cup 3rd place (3rd Qualifier) 12 7 Jun MIZUTANI (JPN 1) Continental Cup Qualifier 1 13 34 KOU Lei (UKR) Continental Cup Qualifier 2 14 5 Timo BOLL (GER 2) Continental Cup Qualifier 3 15 21 Omar ASSAR (EGY) Continental Cup Qualifier 4 16 36 JEONG Sangeun (KOR 2) Continental Cup Qualifier 5 17 15 CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE 2) Continental Cup Qualifier 6 18 8 Koki NIWA (JPN 2) Continental Cup Qualifier 7 19 7 Cedric NUYTINCK (BEL) Host 20 19 Marcos FREITAS (POR) Wild card Prize Money Winner: US$45 000 Runner up: US$25 000 3rd place: US$15 000 4th place: US$10 000 5th – 8th place: US$6 000 9th – 16th place: US$3 250 17th – 20th place: US$1 250 Total: US$150 000 Most Successful Men’s World Cup Players Ma Lin (CHN) 4 (2006 2004 2003 2000) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 3 (2009 2001 1999) Wang Hao (CHN) 3 (2010 2008 2007) MA Long (CHN) 2 (2015 2012) Most Men’s World Cup Appearances Jean-Michel Saive (BEL) 18 Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 18 Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 17 Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE) 14
Excitements grows in Lisbon after two historic TTCLM wins
Sporting Clube de Portugal debuted in the TTCLM with two victories in two rounds Portugal`s champion Sporting Clube de Portugal has 2-0 score in the Group A of 2017/18 Table Tennis Champions League Men debuting in this prestigious competition. First they beat away double TTCLM winner AS Pontoise Cergy 3:1 while in the Round 2 Joao MONTEIRO & Co. celebrated in front of their fans after 3:1 win against Poland`s Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazoqiecki. We asked coach CHEN Shi Chao and his players to explain how they feel after these two wins… “It was very important to win these first two days so that we can have less pressure now. We are happy. We will continue to work to fight in the next games.” (CHEN Shi Chao) “Although surprising for some we started the competition with the results we wanted. Our amazing team consists of the athletes we choose – with effort dedication and devotion the glory will easily appear. But we want more …” (Gonçalo CASTANHEIRA) “I am enjoying my first participation in the Champions League much more having achieved these two historic victories. It really is a dream come true.” (Bode ABIODUN) “In France I was a bit nervous because it was my debut but in the last match in Lisbon I got one of the best victories of my career so I’m already adapted and motivated to help the team.” (Diogo CARVALHO) “I am feeling very good to be able to help the team succeed and be part of the history of this fantastic club in this event that is the most important at European level. I will continue to train to improve and improve …” (Aruna QUADRI) “I returned to Sporting to play for Champions and I dedicate this victory to our fans. I have played on big stages with a lot of public but it was special to play before the members and fans of the club of my heart in this fabulous hall.” (João MONTEIRO)
ITTF Appoints Frank Ji as Special Adviser to ITTF President
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Executive Committee has appointed Mr. Frank JI as the Special Advisor to the ITTF President for Commercial and Business. Mr. JI has been a major commercial supporter to the ITTF in the last 24 months through a strategic investment partnership with the new form of table tennis Table Tennis X (TTX) as well as having his company Seamaster as the title sponsor of the ITTF World Tour. Mr. JI has also been instrumental in creating additional commercial table tennis products to promote table tennis globally with the Chinese national being the visionary behind the new T2 APAC table tennis league which was launched this year. On his new position Mr. JI stated: “I am honoured to be appointed as the Special Advisor to the ITTF President. Together with my company Seamaster I would try my utmost to contribute on the development of table tennis and make our sport more energetic and exciting to draw more younger generation into the game. I am happy to work with the ITTF who are capable enough to create a better environment for table tennis.” “I hope Seamaster could strengthen the collaborations with the ITTF in different aspects including with T2 in a more commercial way.” ITTF’s President Mr. Thomas WEIKERT added: “I would like to personally thank Frank for his commitment passion and belief in table tennis and the ITTF over our fruitful relationship over the last 24 months. Frank is a business visionary and I could not think of a better person to be advising me on how to develop ITTF’s commercial and business interests in his new position. I look forward to our relationship flourishing more and together taking table tennis to new heights.” Mr. WEIKERT and Mr. JI will hold their first meeting to discuss new strategies to develop the commercial aspects of table tennis during the Seamaster 2017 World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Astana Kazakhstan on 14-17 December 2017.
Eight more players joined U13 program for 2018
The final ETTU Selection camp for 2017 concluded in Slovenia’s town of Otocec. Players from 18 countries 30 in all were part of the evaluation U13 program for 2018. Istvan KORPA Joze URH Michael FUCHS Adrain ALEXANDRU Miran KONDRIC and Neven CEGNAR selected 8 players after this final camp. Boys: Darius MOVILEANU (ROU) 171 points Nikolaosz KIZAKISZ (HUN) 166 points Rafael KONG (POR) 165 points David BJORKRYD (SWE) 163 points Alessi MASSART (BEL) 159 points Girls: Julie Van HAUWAERT (BEL) 169 points Evelin UNGVARI (ROU) 168 points Veranika VARABYOVA (BLR) 159 points From 2016 selection there are futher 19 names already at the list Eduard IONESCU (ROU) Bogdan BADEA (ROU) Andrei TOMICA (ROU) Iulian CHIRITA (ROU) Dragos BUJOR (ROU) Elena ZAHARIA (ROU) Hana ARAPOVIC (CRO) Jamie LIU (ENG) Luiz MACIEL (POR) Simon BELIK (CZE) Ignas SISANOVAS (LTU) Sophie EARLEY (IRL) Gabrielius CAMARA (NED) Daniel BERSOZA (ESP) Jakub GOLDIR (SVK) Tayler FOX (GER) Laura KAIM (GER) Anna HURSEY (WAL) Miriam CARNOVALE (ITA)
ECLW Round 2: Favorites prove their class
Three top seeded teams – Tarnobrzeg Berlin and Dr. CASL – won their games Favorites of the 2017/18 Seamaster Champions League Women proved their class in the Round 2: CP Lyssois Lille Metropole – KTS Tarnobrzeg 1:3 Szekszard AC – Dr. CASL 0:3 TT Saint Quentinois – TTC Berlin Eastside 0:3. All winning teams improved their score in the group stage to 2-0. No. 1 seed Tarnobrzeg showed good team work as each their player won one game in France. HAN Ying continued her winning streak in the new ECLW edition beating World no. 108 Tamolwan KHETKHUAN in straight games. Thailand`s player suffered also at the hands of Tarnobrzeg`s newcomer Elizabeta SAMARA playing fourth match. LI Qian added third point to guest side beating Agnes LE LANNIC Dr. CASL won in Hungary without losing any set against Szekszard AC. ZHOU Xintong LI Jie 0:3 and YU Fu demonstrated their power. Defending ECLW champion had an easy job in France. Berlin beat TT Saint Quentinois fifth time in last three seasons in group stage. . 2017/18 Seamaster ECLW Round 2 (October 13th) GROUP A CP Lyssois Lille Metropole – KTS Tarnobrzeg 1:3 Tamolwan KHETKHUAN – HAN Ying 0:3 (3:11 7:11 4:11) Bernadette SZOCS – Elizabeta SAMARA 3:1 (12:10 8:11 16:14 11:7) Agnes LE LANNIC – LI Qian 0:3 (8:11 1:11 4:11) Tamolwan KHETKHUAN – Elizabeta SAMARA 1:3 (9:11 8:11 11:9 6:11) GROUP B UCAM Cartagena TM – Bursa Buyuksehir Belediyespor GROUP C Szekszard AC – Dr. CASL 0:3 Polina MIKHAILOVA – ZHOU Xintong 0:3 (6:11 9:11 3:11) Dora MADARASZ – LI Jie 0:3 (9:11 6:11 11:13) Ruta PASKAUSKIENE – YU Fu 0:3 (6:11 7:11 5:11) GROUP D TT Saint Quentinois – TTC Berlin Eastside 0:3 Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN – Georgina POTA 1:3 (7:11 11:8 5:11 8:11) Britt EERLAND – SHAN Xiaona 1:3 (11:5 10:12 6:11 3:11) Aurore LE MANSEC – Irina PALINA 1:3 (11:4 9:11 13:15 5:11)
KARLSSON keeps Borrussia in right course
TTCLM Round 2: Winners are Orenburg Saarbrucken Chartres Borussia and Hennebont Four out of five tonight`s matches (Oct 13) of TTCLM Round 2 belonged to the guest`s teams. Saarbrucken is unique side who managed to celebrate on its soil. Two clubs which took last six TTCLM titles met in France as four times champion Fakel Gazprom beat double TTCLM winner AS Pontoise Cergy 3:0. The opening match was of highest importance bearing in mind that the two best ranked players met. Current World no. 4 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV paved the way for Orenburg`s victory beating World no. 19 Marcos FREITAS in four games. In other two matches Jun MIZUTANI and Vladimir SAMSONOV overcame Niagol STOYANOV and Can AKKUZY respectively Patrick FRANZISKA was a key man in the reprise of the 2012 TTCLM semi-final between Saarbrucken and UMMC. German side won 3:1 thanks to actual World. No 55 who provided two wins in straight games against Andrej GACINA and Alexander SHIBAEV who was also beaten by Tiago APOLONIA. Japanese Maharu YOSHIMURA got unique points for Russian team overcoming Bojan TOKIC in the clash between no. 3 players in the team`s line-ups. Austrian`s Robert GARDOS showed one of his best games in last two seasons leading Chartres to its first victory in Group B. French side 2013 TTCLM runner-up defeated 2016 runner-up Sweden`s Eslovs 3:2. GARDOS beat XU Hui in the opening encounter and Robert SVENSSON in the decisive fifth match. Par GERELL prevailed against SVENSSON too while XU Hui and 15-year-old Truls MOREGARDH secured one point each for the host side. Guests were successful in Group D: Borussia beat Dzialdovo 3:2 while Hennebont defeated Roskilde 3:0 to continue on the top of that group with 2-0 score. World no. 23 Kristian KARLSSON was Borussia`s hero as he managed to beat both World no. 10 WONG Chun Ting and WANG Yang. German club ten times TTCLM winner led 2:0 in Poland but host team leveled the score after WONG`s win against Timo BOLL. Sweden`s player decided the winner defeating WANG in straight games. Hennebont proved in Denmark that their win against Borussia in the opening round wasn’t a coincidence. French side beat away Roskilde 3:0. Liam PITCHFORD paved the way for Hennebont`s success when he overcame ZHAI Yujia in the opener. Michael MAZE this time had no energy to push his side to the victory. Cedric NUYTINCK deserved clear victory. 2017/18 TTCLM Round 2 GROUP A AS Pontoise Cergy – TTC Fakel Gazprom 0:3 Marcos FREITAS – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 1:3 (10:12 11:9 5:11 8:11) Niagol STOYANOV – Jun MIZUTANI 0:3 (5:11 10:12 9:11) Can AKKUZU – Vladimir SAMSONOV 1:3 (7:11 10:12 15:13 9:11) GROUP B FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis – TTSC UMMC 3:1 Patrick FRANZISKA – Andrej GACINA 3:0 (11:8 11:7 11:6) Tiago APOLONIA – Alexander SHIBAEV 3:0 (13:11 11:2 11:7) Bojan TOKIC – Maharu YOSHIMURA 0:3 (3:11 12:14 10:12) Patrick FRANZISKA – Alexander SHIBAEV 3:0 (11:7 11:7 9) Eslovs Ai Bordtennis – Chartres ASTT 2:3 XU Hui – Robert GARDOS 1:3 (5:11 11:5 6:11 7:11) Robert SVENSSON – Par GERELL 1:3 (7:11 11:5 5:11 7:11) Truls MOREGARDH – Romain LORENTZ 3:2 (7:11 11:3 6:11 11:6 11:8) XU Hui – Par GERELL 3:2 (7:11 7:11 11:3 11:8 11:6) Robert SVENSSON – Robert GARDOS 0:3 (9:11 12:14 3:11) GROUP D K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo – Borussia Düsseldorf 2:3 WONG Chun Ting – Kristian KARLSSON 1:3 (11:13 11:8 7:11 3:11) WANG Yang – Timo BOLL 0:3 (9:11 7:11 8:11) Jiri VRABLIK – Anton KALLBERG 3:2 (11:4 7:11 7:11 11:7 11:4) WONG Chun Ting – Timo BOLL 3:2 (14:12 3:11 1:11 11:9 11:8) WANG Yang – Kristian KARLSSON 0:3 (8:11 9:11 11:13) Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 – G.V. Hennebont T.T. 0:3 ZHAI Yujia – Liam PITCHFORD 1:3 (9:11 4:11 11:6 9:11) Laurens TROMER – Quentin ROBINOT 2:3 (11:7 12:14 7:11 11:8 6:11) Michael MAZE – Cedric NUYTINCK 0:3 (8:11 11:13 6:11)
