LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships The European Championships returns to the origins of the Event. First staged in 1958 in Budapest; the Hungarian capital city is the host for the LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships. The city also hosted the event in 1982 and during almost six decades Hungarian team made the history with 73 gold 61 silver and 77 bronze medals at the World Championships as well as 38 gold 30 silver and 44 bronze medals at the Continental gatherings. The play will commence on Tuesday 18th October and will conclude on Sunday 23rd October. The singles qualifications open the week that will end with the crowning of the new champions in Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles Events. Explanation of the Group System Only 32 top players secured their places in the main draw of the Singles Event; the rest will have to find their way through the qualifications. In the Men’s Singles the 23 group winners will qualify. After that 9 main event places are left. The draw 18 of the 23 runners-up of the groups randomly. These 18 players play one match the winners of these 9 matches qualify. The remaining 5 group runners-up are out. In the women’s singles event the 19 group winners will qualify. After the matches in qualification groups we draw 7 lucky losers from the runners-up of the groups who will qualify as well. That makes 26. The remaining 12 runners-up play one match the winners of these 6 matches qualify and then we have 32 qualifiers. Mixed Doubles Event For the first time after 2007 Mixed Doubles Event is again the part of the Championships. Laola1.tv and Eurosport coverage Laola1.tv will cover the live action from four tables during the whole Championships. Eurosport will broadcast the matches from semi-finals and finals for the Men’s and Women’s Singles Events as well as matches in the Doubles Events.
OVTCHAROV and SAMARA defend their titles in Budapest
LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships commences on Tuesday 18th October and will be concluded on Sunday 23rd October LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships will be opened on Tuesday 18th October as German Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Elizabeta SAMARA from Romania defend most prestigious titles in Budapest`s Tüskecsarnok Hall. Hungarian capital city host tournament third time in its history after inaugural one in 1958 as well as in 1982. This time Budapest will see 132 Men`s players from 43 countries and 112 Women`s players from 40 countries. Last year in Ekaterunburg some important changes were adopted. Starting from 2016 the Individual European Championships will be played in even numbered years. In addition to the men’s singles the women’s singles the men’s doubles the women’s doubles will be the mixed doubles events. It will be first Mixed Doubles appearance since Serbia’s Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC and Lithuania’s Ruta PASKAUSKIENE won gold in Belgrade in 2007. Beside Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Elizabeta SAMARA the 2015 champions were also Men´s Doubles Stefan FEGERL Joao MONTEIRO (AUT/POR) and Women´s Doubles HU Melek SHEN Yanfei (TUR/ESP). OVTCHAROV will be again top seeded player at the Men Singles Event fighting for his third title the score which his team mate from Orenburg Vladimir SAMSONOV actual No. 2 seed already owns. If 28-year-old German takes new gold he will repeat feat of his compatriot Timo BOLL who took three consecutive crowns from 2010 to 2012. But BOLL holds the impressive record of six individual gold medals in total. Last year`s runner-up Marcos FREITAS is No. 3 seed followed by Timo BOLL (No. 4) Tiago APOLONIA (No. 5) Simon GAUZY (No. 6) Stefan FEGERL (No. 7) Andrej GACINA (No.8) Alexander SHIBAEV (No. 9) and 2013 individual bronze medalist Panagiotis GIONIS (No. 10) among the Top 10 seeds. Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania upset favorites in Ekaterinburg playing her best table tennis in the amazing final clash against LI Jie of Netherlands – 4:3 (11:6 9:11 3:11 11:7 12:14 11:4 11:4). She will defend her title as No. 7 seed while LI is No. 5. The 2013 bronze medalist HAN Ying (Germany) tops seeding list followed by two her team mates from silver Olympic team Petrissa SOLJA (No. 2) and SHAN Xiaona (No. 3). Other Top 10 seeds are 2005 European champion LIU Jia (No. 4). from Austria Turkey`s HU Melek (No. 6) biggest hope of host nation Georgina POTA (No. 8) Portugal`s FU Yu (No. 9) and the 2013 winner LI Fen from Sweden (No. 10). In singles events 32 seeded players shall be directly placed in the first round proper. All remaining players shall play in a qualification stage played in groups of not less than 4 players.
LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships live on Eurosport
The Eurosport will bring the top class table tennis programming to the viewers next week. We will be able to follow the action from the LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships. Eurosport will broadcast the matches from semi-finals and finals for the Men’s and Women’s Singles Events as well as matches in the Doubles Events. The play will commence on Tuesday 18th October and will conclude on Sunday 23rd October. It will be the third time that the tournament has been staged in Budapest; last time in 1982 and it was in 1958 when the Hungarian capital city organised the first ever Championships. It is on the individual events that the focus is centred in 2016; there are no team events on the schedule. Notably for the first time since Serbia’s Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC and Lithuania’s Ruta PASKAUSKIENE won in Belgrade in 2007 alongside Men’s Singles Women’s Singles Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles Mixed Doubles is once again on the schedule. Channel Date Brdcast Dur.(min) Start End Leg EUROSPORT 1 21/10/2016 Live 85 10:00 11:25 Round 3 Double EUROSPORT 2 22/10/2016 Live 105 10:00 11:45 Quarter-finals – doubles EUROSPORT 2 22/10/2016 Live 120 11:45 13:45 Round 3 Women EUROSPORT 2 22/10/2016 Live 180 16:15 19:15 1/4 F EUROSPORT 1 23/10/2016 Live 90 11:00 12:30 Women’s semi-finals EUROSPORT 2 23/10/2016 Live 60 12:30 13:30 Men’s semi-finals EUROSPORT 2 23/10/2016 Live 90 18:00 19:30 Finals EUROSPORT 1 24/10/2016 Delayed 90 11:30 13:00 Finals The Congress of the European Table Tennis Union will be held on Wednesday 19th October 2016 in the Danubius Hotel Flamenco in Budapest.
ITTF Europe Top 16 Antibes – Ticketing opening
France will host the ITTF Europe Top 16 from 3 to 5 February 2017 at the Azur Arena of Antibes. Online ticketing service is now available on the organizer’s website : http://www.top16antibes2017.com/ The organizer has negotiated an attractive price for those who are interested by renting an apartment near the venue of the competition. From 2 nights booked the 3 days pass is free. Price per night : 108€ (27€ per person for 4 persons) From 2 nights booked : 3 days pass offered.
HUNGARIAN TTA SEARCHING FOR NATIONAL TEAM COACH FOR WOMEN TEAM
The Hungarian Table Tennis Association is searching for its new national coach for the Hungarian women national team. The Hungarian TTA wants to continue its previous traditions in the senior women table tennis and wants to integrate the new generation of U21 and junior players into the senior team. The improvement of the financial conditions of the national teams in the recent years resulted in a stable operational environment for the national teams. This tendency will be continued also in the forthcoming years. One of the main goals of the Hungarian TTA is to establish a separated women table tennis centre in Budapest which will be the main basis of the Hungarian senior and youth national teams functioning as an academy. The new coach will have a dominant role to build up the academy’s operational mechanisms and she/he has to build a young and ambitious team for the World Table Tennis Championship in 2019 that will be held in Budapest. The Hungarian TTA is looking for a new open minded coach who can give new impressions innovative approaches for the Hungarian women table tennis. The main tasks of the new national coach: coordinate and manage the full year program of the senior and U21 national team perform the daily trainings of the national team cooperation with the coaches of the junior and cadet national teams and other national team coaching team members participation in the international competitions events and training camps with the national team being in continuous and cooperative communication with the main Hungarian clubs and with the foreign clubs of the Hungarian national players contribution to the coach development program of Hungarian TTA. Requirements for the new national coach: previous international experiences on the field of women table tennis excellent leadership skills and experience in coordination of senior teams ability for teamwork and for coordination of the team members’ workflow ability to plan for a long term development program for the current and future senior national players co-working with the HTTA administrative staff in the field of the national team’s budget planning high level communication skills in English (written and oral) If you are interested in the national team coach position please send your CV (with detailed sport experiences) motivation letter and your yearly compensation package expectations for the General Secretary Dr. Miklós Stocker (stocker.miklos@moatsz.hu) until the 7th November 2016. Please write your long term plans how you would organise the daily work of the national team and how you think about the improvement and involvement of the current youth players into the trainings of the senior team.
VLASOV: I was able to overcome the opponent and myself
UMMC player explains how he managed to keep his side in the game playing TTCLM Round 1 match against Mattias OVERSJO from KS UNIA AZS AWFIS GDANSK Russian club TTSC UMMC actual No. 3 seed of 2016/17 Table Tennis Champions League Men was faced with a huge challenge in the opening round being two matches down against No. 11 seed KS UNIA AZS AWFIS GDANSK. But Tatiana KUTERGINA`s side managed to recover and win mostly thanks to Grigory VLASOV who beat Mattias OVERSJO in the third clash. “When you come out to the table of course you fight to the end knowing that the result of the entire team depends on your game” stated VLASOV. “We all should have a little patience; I was able to overcome the opponent and myself. I want to say thank you to the fans: the energy in the hall was extraordinary. My victory set the team off because we understood that we did not have the right to step back. This victory is an excellent foundation for the new season we are very happy. As for me the game turned out to be a little nervous probably because it was the season starter and because two games were lost before my game. Later I played out and so to say the game got rolling.” TTSC UMMC Coach Tatiana KUTERGINA stressed: “I want to congratulate all fans with the first victory of the season! I want to specially thank Grigory VLASOV. I must say it is not the first time he gets into hot water and goes out a winner. He has proved it many times that he is a real fighter. I was almost sure that we would win.” Player of KS UNIA AZS AWFIS GDANSK WANG Yang had a nice beginning as he beat Andrej GACINA in five games but he lost to Alexander SHIBAEV in the decider. “It was a very long 4-hours match plus 4-hours difference with Poland. We are very tired. Yes we lost the match but we did our best” said WANG Yang.
MURAMATSU enjoyed in his TTCLM debut
TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen`s player had 1-1 score against ROSKILDE BORDTENNIS BTK61 winning decisive point for the 3:2 victory This Friday October 14th TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen`s player Yuto MURAMATSU will turn 20. Last Friday he debuted in the Table Tennis Champions League Men having 1-1 score. Japanese lost his first match from ZHAI Yujia in straight games but beat in the fifth one Allan BENTSEN to secure 3:2 to his side against ROSKILED BORDTENNIS BTK61. “I lost my first match against Chinese player. He is a good player but I played so bad. I am happy that I made a victory for my team in my second match. After all I enjoyed in my debut in the Champions League’ stated World No. 33 Yuto MURAMATSU from Japan MURAMATSU is one of the youngest players at the Top 50 on ITTF World Ranking list. Two years ago he lost to nowadays World No. 2 FEN Zhendong in six games of gold match contest at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing China. He was also second youngest in the TTCLM Round 1 behind Tomasz KOTOWSKI from KTS ENERGA-MANEKIN TOURN.
Table tennis in the sky in Greece
The sport club ALPHA Kallithea had the idea to organize unique event in Athens with a captain of the national team and champion of Greece Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU in main role Delightful impressive scenery projected and advertised table tennis in Greece with a different manner. The sport club ALPHA Kallithea had the idea to organize event for the sport “in the sky” and made it a reality in the best way. In cooperation with the Dinner in the Sky made event for three hours in Athens and a special platform that handles the crane placed a ping pong table that stood 30 meters high! It was something completely new for the Greek data. Chosen one guest was the captain of the national team and champion of Greece Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU who gave a mini show with today’s athlete of ALPHA and former champion of Greece Archontoula VOLAKAKI. The platform rose a total of 20 people from the club. They took pictures and have the opportunity to play in different conditions while about 100 friends of the sport passed by the area. The small celebration had charity and amount concentrated on strengthening the organization “The child’s smile”. “It was very nice experience an event properly organized and enjoyed it. The weather helped and blew little. The view was beautiful and the sense of playing table tennis at 30 meters height truly unique” said PAPAGEORGIOU.
More than 70 coaches in Prague
ETTU / ITTF –Europe Development Program Well attended ETTU 2016 Coaching Conference in Prague gathered 71 coaches from 18 counties in past three days. Interesting subjects attracted the huge attention of the Continental experts. On Monday Dr. Med. Danijel BORKOVIC (SLO) opened the Conference with the lecture “Nutrition in Table Tennis”. He talked about the basic anatomy and physiology of digestive system basis of healthy nutrition and food supplements. Ph.D. Makis CHAMALIDIS (FRA) had the lecture named “Coaching is a Mental Game”. Among various subjects Consultant for the French Tennis Federation since 1997 explained why Coach should be much more of a Mental Coach. Today Anders JOHANSSON (SWE) at he closing session will highligt the problem that changes might bring. During three days Conference organizers CTTA offered perfect conditions.
16-Year-Old Hirano Makes History in Philadelphia as Youngest World Cup Champion
16-year-old Japanese sensation Miu HIRANO has made history at the Seamaster 2016 ITTF Women’s World Cup in Philadelphia USA as the youngest ever World Cup Champion. In front of a capacity crowd at the Liacouras Center at the Temple University HIRANO stunned the world as she beat world number eight CHENG-I- Ching (TPE) 4-0 in the final (11-9 11-5 11-4 11-8) to be crowned the Champion of the Seamaster 2016 Women’s World Cup on her maiden trip. After missing out on the Japanese Rio 2016 line-up the Japanese teenager was determined to prove herself on the international stage beating teammate Mima ITO who was chosen as the third player for the Rio 2016 Japanese team and won Bronze in the Olympic team event. After her quarterfinal win over ITO HIRANO proceed to defeat top seeded and 2010 World Team Champion FENG Tianwei (SGP) before overcoming CHENG the second seed to become the first Japanese player to become the Women’s World Cup champion. “I am very happy with the victory it all felt like a dream to me ” shared an elated HIRANO after her historic victory.”I’m doing to do some shopping for my family coaches and friends with the prize money that I just won!” In its 20th edition the prestigious Women’s World Cup title has only been won historically by the Chinese National Women’s Team since its inauguration in 1996. With her win in Philadelphia HIRANO is also the first non-Chinese player to ever lift the Women’s World Cup after the world number one and two respectively DING Ning and LIU Shiwen pulled out with injury. Missing on the chance to reach the final after losing to HIRANO world number six FENG had to face off Hong Kong’s TIE Yana to fight for the Bronze medal. The match was a repeat of their encounter at the 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup third place playoff being familiar with each other’s strengths and playing styles the duo pulled off their best performance against each other. Eventually it was the higher seeded FENG who prevailed to win 4-1 (12-10 7-11 11-6 11-8 11-9) and take home the Bronze medal.
