The My Hills International Trade Center Asia-Europe All Stars Challenge 2016 will be held on September 10-11th in Chinese city of Dongguan The European stars will do their best in the upcoming weekend in the annual Asia-Europe All Stars Challenge to repeat last year’s historical success in Zhangjiagang when Europe beat Asia 6:4. Three times individual European champion Vladimir SAMSONOV (World no. 9 European no. 2) of Belarus actual 2016 Rio Olympics semi-finalist leads European side composed also by Tiago APOLONIA (World no. 17 European no. 5) of Portugal Andrej GACINA (World no. 20 European no. 6) of Croatia Alexander SHIBAEV (World no. 21 European no. 7) of Russia and CHEN Weixing (World no. 49 European no. 20) of Austria. Former World Champion Ulf “Tickan” CARLSSON from Sweden will be Europe’s coach. Asia will emerge with three world’s Top 10 players FAN Zhendong (World no. 2) of China CHUANG Chih-Yuan (World no. 7) of Taipei WONG Chun Ting (World no. 8) of Hong Kong as well as JOO Saehyuk (World no. 13) of Korea and GAO Ning (World no. 31) of Singapore. Last year when Old Continent upset Asia led by the World Champion China’s MA Long four players in total from current lists participated in Zhangjiagang: Vladimir SAMSONOV Andrej GACINA CHUANG Chih-Yuan and GAO Ning. GACINA and GARDOS contributed with two wins each last summer. The sensational victory in Zhangjiagang was the first ever for European side on Asian soil. Regarding matches in Asia they met three times in Beijing (2009 – 6:4 2010 – 6:5 2011 – 6:4) once in Tianjin (2012 – 7:3) Qingdao (2013 – 7:3) and twice in Zhangjiagang (2014 – 6:4 2015 – 4:6). Since inaugural meeting 2009 in Beijing Europe won twice on its soil: in 2009 Istanbul (6:5) and 2012 Vendée (6:4). For more detailed results of the previous editions please click here… ASIA EUROPE 1 FAN zhendong (CHN) 1 SAMSONOV Vladimir (BLR) 2 CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) 2 APOLONIA Tiago (POR) 3 WONG Chun Ting (HKG) 3 GACINA Andrej (CRO) 4 JOO Saehyuk (KOR) 4 SHIBAEV Alexander (RUS) 5 Gao Ning (SIN) 5 CHEN Weixing (AUT) Sep 10 start 1400 WONG Chun Ting (HKG) v SHIBAEV Alexander (RUS) JOO Saehyuk (KOR) v GACINA Andrej (CRO) FAN zhendong (CHN) v APOLONIA Tiago (POR) CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) v SAMSONOV Vladimir (BLR) Gao Ning (SIN) v CHEN Weixing (AUT) Sep 11 start 1400 WONG Chun Ting (HKG) v CHEN Weixing (AUT) Gao Ning (SIN) v GACINA Andrej (CRO) CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) v APOLONIA Tiago (POR) FAN zhendong (CHN) v SAMSONOV Vladimir (BLR) JOO Saehyuk (KOR) v SHIBAEV Alexander (RUS)
TAPPER and PARTYKA Sets Off for Early Clash in Rio
Poland’s Natalia PARTYKA looks to take home fourth Class 10 Women’s Singles Paralympic Gold in Rio! The draw of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Table Tennis Singles event has concluded today with Rio 2016 Olympian and Paralympians Melissa TAPPER (AUS) and Natalia PARTYKA (POL) heading off for an early clash in the group stage of the Class 10 Women’s Singles event. The Men’s and Women’s Singles events will follow a round robin format in the preliminary rounds with the winner and the runner up of each group progressing to the next phase which will be a knock out format. TAPPER has made history in Rio as Australia’s first ever athlete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games and is only the second athlete to do so after PARTYKA who is the hot favorite for the title in Rio. Rio will be PARTYKA’s fifth Paralympic appearance the legendary Paralympian competed in her first Paralympic Games when she was only 11 years old in Sydney 2000 and had dominated Women’s Class 10 in the past three Paralympic Games taking home Gold in Athens Beijing and London. Drawn into the same group with the 3-time Paralympic Champion world number four TAPPER will be looking at ending PARTYKA’s dominance in Class 10 para table tennis to advance to the semifinals stage to edge closer to her first Paralympic title. Ibrahim HAMADTOU the armless Egyptian player who became an internet sensation after making his guest appearance and playing with the world’s top able-bodied players at the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships will face off world number four David WETHERILL (GBR) and 2011 European Team Champion Thomas RAU (GER) in the group stage for his chance for Paralympic glory in the Men’s Class 6 event in Rio. Men’s Class 11 will see a clash of the titans with current World Champion Pascal PEREIRA-LEAL (FRA) and the reigning Olympic Champion Peter PALOS (HUN) facing off each other early in the group stage. The current world number five PEREIRA-LEAL has lost both his previous two encounters against the two-time Paralympic Champion and will be determined to avenge his London 2012 semifinals loss to PALOS. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Table Tennis action will begin from 8th September till 17th with 29 medal matches from both Singles and Team events. Full draw for the Singles event can be found on http://bit.ly/Rio2016PTTResults The action can be followed live on the website of the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) and on the TV stations and Radio channels of the Paralympic rights holder in respective country. All the rights holders of the Paralympic Games can be found on this link: www.paralympic.org/watch-rio-2016.
Titles for DURAN and ZHIPE in Vic
31th International Open VIC – 12th Adapted Marc Duran and Wang ZHIPEI clinched the titles in their respective Men’s and Women’s Singles Event at the 31th Internacional Open VIC tournament. In Sports Hall VIC in Barcelona Joaquín AZCON triumph in the test adapted category. In the final of the 31 th International Open Marc DURAN beat Diogo Dos Santos PINHO in straight games whilst at the ultimate stage of the Women’s Singles Event Wang ZHIPEI was stretched to full distance in the match against Lea RAKOVAC. At the 11th Adapted tournament Joaquín AZCON succeeded against Ricard PALAU. Absolute Men Marc DURAN (DKV Borges Vall) Spain Diogo Dos SANTOS PINHO (Colina Clinic Burgos) Portugal Alejandro CALVO (Cajasur Priego Córdoba) Spain Carlos VEDRIEL (Colina Clinic Burgos) Spain Absolute Women Wang ZHIPEI (UCAM Cartagena) China Lea RAKOVAC (Girbau Vic TT) Croatia Ana GARCIA (Girbau Vic TT) Spain Yolanda Enríquez (Cajasur Priego Córdoba) Spain
Title for Matilda EKHOLM and Georgina POTA
ITTF World Tour 2016 Czech open Japan’s Yuto MURAMATSU clinched two titles at the ITTF World Tour 2016 Czech open. Yuto MURAMATSU went into the final day’s action already with a trophy to his name following his Under 21 success but he wasn’t ready to stop there; he has won his first Men’s Singles title on the World Tour. In the final MURAMATCU succeeded against Stephane OUAICHE (11-9 11-5 11-7 11-4). In the previous round MURAMATSU beat Korea Republic’s Cho Seungmin while MURAMATSU’S opponent in the final Stephane OUAICHE of France recovered from 2-3 down to defeat Serbia’s Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 4-3. “It is absolutely great that I was able to win the Under 21 and also men’s tournament. For me it is the biggest victory in my life. I feel very tired because it was a very hard and good tournament ” said Muramatsu. YANG Xiaoxin has won Monaco’s second ever ITTF World Tour trophy subsequently adding another title to her name being the microstate’s only previous winner on the tour. Her opponent in the final was Maki SHIOMI as Japan was represented in a Women’s Singles final for the 56th time since the World Tour began back in 1996 (11-9 11-5 12-10 11-6). “I feel very happy because on Monday I came back from China where I was on holiday with my family and I still feel tired. I don’t believe that I will be able to win this tournament. Of course it was very hard (playing three Japanese competitors in the draw) and the matches were the most difficult in whole tournament. Especially the matches against Morizono (last 16) and Mori (quarter-finals)” said YANG Xiaoxin. CHO Eonrae (30) and PARK Jeongwoo (19) faced KIM Minhyeok and PARK Ganghyeon (both 20) in an all-Korean final guaranteeing title number 32 for their country in the Men’s Doubles category. Cho and Park Jeongwoo finished off the match (11-8 11-6 14-12) to win their maiden World Tour Men’s Doubles crown as a partnership. Matilda EKHOLM (Sweden) and Georgina POTA (Hungary) beat the Russian duo of Maria DOLGIKH and Polina MIKHAILOVA in a thrilling final (9-11 3-11 11-9 11-9 11-7). DOLGIKH and MIKHAILOVA of Russia were understandably considered favourites heading into the match having picked up the Women’s Doubles title at the 2016 Slovenia Open (June) and the runners-up award at last week’s World Tour event in Bulgaria. EKHOLM and POTA were no strangers to doubles finals themselves with both players having featured in previous finals with other players. However the 2016 Czech Open was the first occasion that the partnership EKHOLM and POTA had reached a final and they looked in imperious form registering 3-0 victories across all three of the previous round matches.
Big events boost SHIBAEV`s self-confidence
After 2016 Olympics the best ranked Russian player approaches to the 2016 LIEBHERR Men`s World Cup in Saabrucken and 2016 Asia – Euro All Stars Challenge The best ranked Russian player on the ITTF World Ranking list Alexander SHIBAEV has a lot to prove after 2016 Rio Olympics where he lost in the Round 3 to Timo BOLL. World`s no. 24 is now approaching to the 2016 Asia – Euro All Stars Challenge which will be held on September 10-11th in Chinese city of Dongguan. But this is the just one chapter in his tight scheduled September and October. “SHIBAEV had a great period of preparation for the Olympic Games and played good there. Unfortunately he met one of the strongest players of modern table tennis Tim BOLL but however he confidently played except in the end when he I could say had was a little bit afraid that he might win” stated UMMC coach Tatiana KUTERGINA. After the 2016 Asia – Euro All Stars Challenge tall Russian will participate on 2016 LIEBHERR Men`s World Cup in Saabrucken (October 1-3rd). Shortly afterwards he is coming back to Verkhnaya Pyshma to play in the opening round of 2016 TTCLM against KS UNIA AZS AWFiS Gdansk. “This is an honor for Alexander SHIBAEV as well as for any other athlete to play in such prestigious events. It will be for him and invaluable experience. Participations in the World Cup and “Euro-Asia” clash will help him to improve his self confidence to become aware that it`s possible and necessary to beat the best ranked table tennis players on the ITTF World Ranking list.
Stars Named to Attend 2016 Women’s World Cup
World and Olympic champion DING Ning (CHN) heads the invitation list for the Seamaster 2016 ITTF Women’s World Cup to be held in Philadelphia USA on 7-9 October 2016. 18 of the 20 players invited to the prestigious event in the USA competed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and have earned their place at the show piece event through Continental Cup qualification events throughout 2016 plus the current World Champion DING Ning & a wildcard. The state-of-the-art Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University will be the first host of an ITTF World Cup singles event in North America. The United States previously hosted the World Team Cup (1992 – Las Vegas NV) and the World Junior Championship (2007 – Palo Alto CA). Lining up to the Olympic champion in Philadelphia is the most successful player in Women’s World Cup history LIU Shiwen (CHN). The world number one who has won the event four times will have a point to prove after missing out on Olympic singles selection. 2014 Youth Olympic Games bronze medalist and two-time Olympian Lily ZHANG (USA) has been awarded the wildcard and will line up with compatriot WUE Yu on home soil to fight for a medal in front of an expected sellout crowd. 15-year-old Mima ITO (JPN) who is fresh becoming the youngest ever Olympic medalist after leading Japan to the women’s team bronze at Rio 2016 will compete in her first Women’s World Cup. European champion Elizabeta SAMARA (ROU) will lead Europe’s charge in the USA. SAMARA will be looking to repeat her silver medal performance in 2012 which is the best ever finish by a European player. Tickets can be bought here: http://www.liacourascenter.com events or by calling +1 800-298-4200. Phone orders are only accepted from 10:00am – 5:00pm ET Monday – Friday. The full list of invited players for the Seamaster 2016 ITTF Women’s World Cup: Liu Shiwen (CHN) – Asian Cup Winner Ding Ning (CHN) – World Champion Feng Tianwei (SIN) – Asian Cup 3rd place Mima Ito (JPN) – Asian Cup 6th place Yu Mengyu (SIN)- Asian Cup 8th place Miu Hirano (JPN) – Asian Cup 5th place Tie Yana (HKG) – Asian Cup 4th place Melek Hu (TUR) – Europe Cup 2nd place Jia Liu (AUT) – Europe Cup 3th place Haeun Yang (KOR) – Asian Cup 9th place Elizabeta Samara (ROU) – Europe Cup 4th place Huajun Jiang (HKG) – Asian Cup 7th place Sabine Winter (GER) – Europe Cup 6th place Yanfei Shen (ESP) – Europe Cup Winner Sofia Polcanova (AUT) – Europe Cup 5th place Lily Zhang (USA) – Wild Card Dina Meshref (EGY) – African Cup Winner Yue Wu (USA) – North American Cup Winner Zhenhua Dederko (AUS) – Oceania Cup Winner Lady Ruano (COL) – Latin American Cup Winner
Youngsters in Luxembourg again
ETTU / ITTF – Europe Eurotalents Project Talent Identification & Selection As a part of the ETTU / ITTF – Europe Eurotalents Project Talent Identification & Selection the 3rd Development Camp for 2014 & 2015 Eurotalents Players in cooperation with Luxembourg/Chinese TT College started today. “We gathered 17 young players. Their 12 coaches are Also with us” said ETTU Development Manager Neven CEGNAR. The main coaches in the camp are: LI Xiadong FENG Zhe ZHENG Chaoying XIA Cheng and Martin OSTERMANN. “We also have eight top sparing partners from china aged between 18 and 22. This is a great opportunuty for our players to make a step forward in their development. Every evening we analize the trainings with Chinese coaches.”
Tomas KONECNY climbed to new heights.
Asarel 2016 ITTF Bulgaria Open The no. 3 seed at the Asarel 2016 ITTF Bulgaria Open Tomas KONECNY won the Men’s Singles title. By beating Frenchman Quentin ROBINOT the no.8 seed in the final (11-9 11-9 11-3 12-10) not only that he achieve a major milestone in his career but also he etch a landmark in the history of sport in the Czech Republic. No player from the eastern European country had ever won an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title. Tomas KONECNY is only the third player from the Czech Republic ever to reach such a final. At the English Open in Kettering in 1997 Petr KORBEL was beaten in the final by Belgium’s Jean-Michel SAIVE; later in 2004 in Santiago Chile the same fate befell Marek KLASEK. He experienced defeat at the hands of Kalinikos KREANGA of Greece. “I feel really amazing right now. It’s the first time I have won on the ITTF World Tour. It’s amazing I can’t believe it. It was quite hard. Quentin is very good so it was hard.” Tomas KONECNY said after beating Quentin Robinot. Yuka ISHIGAKI used her defensive skills to good effect to win the Women’s Singles title. The no.2 seed at the final hurdle she beat colleague Misaki MORIZONO the no.5 seed to arrest to the title (11-5 11-8 11-4 14-12). The top seeds it was success for Alexey LIVENTSOV and Mikhail PAIKOV it was defeat for Maria DOLGIKH and Polina MIKHAILOVA; that was the verdict for Russia in the respective Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles events. At the final hurdle both faced adversaries who had been required to compete in the preliminary rounds and were thus not seeded. LIVENTSOV and PAIKOV overcame Chinese Taipei’s LIAO Cheng-Ting and SUN Chia-Hung (11-5 12-10 6-11 11-8) after DOLGIKH and MIKHAILOVA had experienced defeat at the hands of Japan’s Miyu KATO and Misaki MORIZONO (11-8 11-5 12-10).
35 talents invited to Slovenia’s Otocec
Eurotalents Selection Camp ETTU Eurotalents (TI&S) invited 35 players selected from Pre-Selection Camps 2016 and Eurominichamp’s tornament 2016 in Schiltingheim to Otočec (October 2nd – 9th 2016). The entries should be sent not later 21st of September 2016 to Mrs. Zita Pidl ETTU Project Co-ordinator (zpidl.ettu@gmail.com). 20 boys and 15 girls from 21 countries are invited to Slovenia and the best of them will join the group of 23 players already selected in 2014 and 2015. All of them are the part of the ETTU Eurotalents Development U-15 project. Ondrej KVETON (CZE) Bakir HUSREMOVIC (BIH) Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU (GRE) Ignas SISANOVAS (LTU) Sophie CHANG (ENG) Anna HURSEY (WAL) Csenge ADAMIK (HUN) Lucas HALLIN (SWE) Luis MACIEL (POR) Wiktoria WRZOSEK (POL) Patricia SANTOS (POR) Bruna MARCELINO (POR) Camara GABRIELIUS (NED) Bence BALOGH (HUN) Idan TROSMAN (ISR) Yenohatan EITAN (ISR) Nomin BAASAN (SWE) Roko METER (CRO) Bogdan BADEA (ROM) Eduard IONESCU (ROM) Andrei TOMICA (ROM) Mikhail BREDNIKOV (RUS) Vladislav MAKAROV (RUS) Iulian CHIRITA (ROM) Vladislav BANNIKOV (RUS) Jakub GOLDIR (SVK) Daniel BERZOSA (ESP) Dennis LARSSON (SWE) Yaroslav OLESKEVYCH (UKR) Laura ABRAVICIUTE (LTU) Anastasia KOVRIGINA (RUS) Sophie EARLEY (IRL) Nicole ARLIA (ITA) Miriam CARNOVALE (ITA) Laura KAIM (GER) COACHES: -Jože URH national coach and Head coach of Slovenian Training center – head coach -Vesna OJSTERŠEK DRNOVŠEK National coach -Andreja OJSTERŠEK URH Assistant Coach of Slovenian Training Center -Mate LEJO Assistant Coach of Slovenian Training Center -Istvan KORPA (ETTU) -Neven CEGNAR (ETTU)
KRAMER and SCRUTON visited Panagyurishste
2016 ITTF World Tour Asarel Bulgaria Open ETTU President Ronald KRAMER and Secretary General Richard SCRUTON were invited to 2016 ITTF World Tour Asarel Bulgaria Open to see how the tournament is organized. The team of organisers lead by the World Tour Director Tsvetozar HRISTOV also wanted to present to the guests the venue and the hotels they have in Panagyurishte. “Both Mr. KRAMER and Mr. SCRUTON were invited and accepted to be present at the celebration of the “Day of the minеr”. This is celebration and a holiday of the general sponsor of the event Asarel Medet JSC. Asarel Medet is a copper mining company. Its headquarters and the mine are situated in Panagyurishte” explained Director HRISTOV. In the second year Bulgaria Open 2016 gathered 136 players from 23 countries. Organisers have hosted 46 players more compared to 2015. This is an increase of more than 50 percent. “This five day tournament is enthusiastically and professionally organised in a stunning and well equipped venue in the very nice city of Panagyurishte. The cooperation between main sponsor Asarel and the Bulgarian TTA has proven to work very well for table tennis. With this facility and the organisational talent Panagyurishste may well turn into a true table tennis centre in Bulgaria in the coming years” said ETTU President Ronald KRAMER.
