European Veterans Championships After the day off the Helsinborg Arena is again fully packed with players and their supporters. The day three of the play started with the clashes in the main draw. One of the matches that caught the eye was between Jonny AKESSON of Sweden and Hans-Juergen SCHADE of Germany in Men’s Singles 50. Like all Group stage matches Helsinborg’s ace won this one in straight games too. “It is little bit tricky to play when you do not practice on regular basis “explained AKESSON. Jonny was one game up when he suddenly found himself 1:8 down. Then the pendulum turned once again and he won that game by 11:8. “I was positive from the start that I am going to win but as I said when you do not have enough matches in your legs it is not easy. I lost my focus for a minute.” Jonny AKESSON is one of Sweden’s most talented players. In 1984 he participated at the European Championships and in 1985 at the World Championships. Twice he played the Nordic Championships and won two gold medals. Totally he played seven International Team Matches for Sweden. Jonny has three gold medals from the Swedish Championships in doubles with Jan-Ove WALDNER in 1982 and 1991 and with Jörgen PERSSON in 1985. At European Youth Championships Jonny won two gold medals in junior teams 1981 and 1982 and three gold in junior doubles with Jan-Ove WALDNER 1980 1981 1982. You were successful as a youngster what happened afterwards? “The competition in the team was fierce. On the other side I never liked too much to practice. I enjoy the game and the competition. That was the reason why I left the field early. I was not motivated. I stay in sport but only by playing League’s matches ” explained AKESSON. In the Group stage he beat Finland’s Alexey KIRICHENKO Germany’s Thilo LEHMANN Greek’s Konstantinos DIMITRAKOPOULOS all three won by straight games. AKESSON owns the shop 200 meters from the venue so he took a break from work to come to play. “Yes I work near by. My club mates are here and that is why I decided to play at the veterans for a first time.”
“Spectacular take-off of T2 Asia-Pacific Table Tennis League”
The honor of playing the first match of this brand new event was given to Vladimir SAMSONOV and Timo BOLL The T2 Asia-Pacific TT League started today in The Pinewood Studios in Johor (MAS). The honor of playing the first match of this brand new event was given to Vladimir SAMSONOV and Timo BOLL. A new team event with new rules – based on connecting to TV audiences – based on time (24 minutes per match). Moreover presented from a studio decorated in a nice ‘Cavern’ atmosphere as never seen before on TV or internet. All matches are broadcasted live in parts of China and worldwide on the internet. A ‘must see’ for table tennis fans and others. For more information see www.t2apac.com. A total of 24 of world`s best table tennis players are competing in 4 teams of three men and three women among which 10 European top players (m/f). All matches can be viewed on YouTube. The first round of matches is on June 28-30. Touted as the richest competition in today’s professional table-tennis calendar the players will be battling for an unprecedented prize purse of more than USD 1.75 million in the inaugural season which will be played across seven match rounds from end of this 28 June to December 2017. All 228 matches in Season 1 will be played and televised live before an invite-only studio audience from the T2CAVERN a purpose-built arena in the Asian location of Hollywood’s iconic Pinewood Studios situated in Johor Malaysia. The four Team Captains JIANG Jialiang a former two-time world champion from China dominated the sport in the 1980s winning multiple medals at the World Championships World Cup and Asian Championships. Jörgen PERSSON was a former world champion and seven-time Olympian who represented Sweden in every Olympic Games when table tennis was introduced into the Olympic program in 1988 until 2012. Jörg ROSSKOPF currently the German men’s national coach won the silver medal in the men’s doubles at the 1992 Olympic Games and the bronze medal in the men’s singles at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Michael MAZE from Denmark was a bronze medal winner at the 2004 Olympic Games in the men’s doubles and widely considered to be one of the best defensive lobbers in the world. Team Jörgen PERSSON Mattias KARLSSON Sweden Jun MIZUTANI Japan JOO Se-Hyuk Korea DING Ning China Suthasini SAWETTABUT Thailand Bernadette SZÕCS Romania Team Michael MAZE Timo BOLL Germany FENG Tianwei Singapore Aleksandr SHIBAEV Russia Hina HIYATA Japan CHEN Chien-An Taiwan YANG Haenun Korea Team JIANG Jialiang Vladimir SAMSONOV Belarus WU Yang China Tomokazu HARIMOTO Japan JEON Jihee Korea CHUANG Chih-Yuan Taiwan Matilda EKHOLM Sweden Team ROSSKOPF Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Germany Paul DRINKHALL England Elisabeta SAMARA Romania Georgina POTA Hungary CHENG I-Ching Taiwan SHANG Kun China
Lithuanian Cadet & Mini Cadet Open: two Ukrainian teams won gold
Host team took gold in the Mini Cadet Girls Team Event Eleven countries – England Holland Sweden Israel Belarus Estonia Finland Latvia Lithuania Russia and Ukraine – participated at the 7th Lithuanian Cadet & Mini Cadet Open in memory of coach Brone BALAISIENE. The competition was held in the capital of Lithuania Vilnius. Winners of Cadet Boys Team competition is Ukraine 1 team with Kiril YURCHENKO and Andriy GREBENIUK. They beat their compatriots Ukraine 2 (Valentin YUNCHYK ir Oleksandr MALOV) by the score 3:2 in the final game. Third place took Belarus 1 (Heorhi KUNATS and Mikhail TSYHANOUSKI) and Belarus 2 (Uladzimir BELAKON and Viachaslau BELAKON). Kiril YUCHENKO from Ukraine also won gold medal in Cadet Boys Singles Event. In the final clash he overcame his team mate Andriy GREBENIUK 3:2. Vilius SAMAKALJEVAS (Lithuania) and Heorhi KUNAT (Belarus) took third place. In Cadet Girls winning team was Ukraine 1 team (Anastasija DYMYTRENKO and Jolanta YEVTODIL). Second place took players from Belarus Darija KISEL and Ulijana ALKHOUSKAYA. Lithuania 1 (Emilija RILISKYTE Kornelija RILISKYTE) and Ukraine 2 (Anna MIKLUKHA Valeria IVAKHIV) finished on the third spot. Anastasija DYMITRENKO won gold in the Cadet Girls Singles Event. Her team mate from Ukraine`s team Iolanta YEVTODII took second place. Lithuanian sisters Kornelija and Emilija RILISKYTES reached bronze medals. In Mini Cadet Girls Team Event the winner is Lithuania 2 (Gabija ABARAVICIUTE Guoda DOVIDAITYTE). Lithuania 1 team (Simona RIMKEVICIUTE Laura GRIGORUKAITE) is the runner-up while teams of Alytus-Riese (Karina IVANAUSKAITE Jorune KOZEMIAKINAITE) and Vilnius (Medeine STANKEVICIUTE Kamile STANKEVICIUTE) finished on the third spot. Anastasija RADZIONOVA from Belarus beat Lithuanian player Gabija ABARAVICIUTE to secure the gold. Bronze medal took Lithuanian players Simona RIMKEVICIUTE and Laura GRIGORUKAITE. England-Netherlands team (Aadil ANAND and Remi CHAMBET-WEIL) won first place in Mini Cadet Boy`s team event. Second place belonged to Russia 2 team (Alexey DYKIN and Miron VASILEV). Third place took teams from Finland (Aleksi RASANEN and Sam KHOSRAVL) and Lithuania (Lukas LAKETCENKO and Gytis KNEZIUS). Aadil ANAND from England won gold medal in Mini Cadet Boy`s Event. He defeated Russia`s Miron VASILEV. Sam KHOSRAVI (Finland) and Matvey GAEV (Russia) are bronze medalists.
The day for doubles at the European Veteran Championship
By some of the older players the 40-year olds are called “juniors” and by some even for “cadets” how ever they called them they feel like kids once again. The second day of the European Veteran Championship is doubles day for all ages except for over 40 year olds who both play singles and doubles this day. Due to their “low” age they are considered to manage this better than older age categories. When the group stage of the over 40 was finished the older players had the opportunity to challenge each other by the table and as usual the fighting spirit was high but with a laughter and a smile nearby. The completion is important for most of the players but other values are also important at the same time. This is proven by all the screams laughter hugs applause selfies groupies and smiles from all corners of the arena. A little bit of both fighting spirit and camaraderie. Wednesday is free for the players and many take the opportunity to see the city or maybe go by boat over to Denmark meanwhile other prepare for the tournament to start again on Friday by training in the arena. On Thursday we go again with either consolation tournament or the main event either way lots of matcher will be played with high spirit. www.evc2017.com
Paris hosts TTCLM draw this Thursday
The draw is scheduled for Jun 29th 15:00 CET The draw and the meeting of the 2017/18 Table Tennis Champions League Men will be held this Thursday Jun 29th in Paris. Again 16 strong clubs will compete for the crown starting from four groups which will be determined by the draw (1500 CEST live streaming on ETTU Facebook). One of the topics will be elections for the TTCLM Management Board. Nominations are accepted until Wednesday 28th June at 1400 CEST. Current club`s representatives are Andreas PREUSS (Borussia Düsseldorf – GER) and Loic BRÉHU (ASTT Chartres – FRA). Reigning TTCLM champion Fakel Gazprom Orenburg is again No. 1 seed followed by record holder ten times winner Borussia Dusseldorf. These two clubs met in the last final as Russian side won its fourth title. Third seed of 2017/18 TTCLM will be Ochsenhausen the 2009 runner-up. The 2011/12 finalist UMMC is posted at the forth starting place followed by 2012 semi-finalist Saarbrucken (No. 5) and two ambitious newcomers K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo from Poland (No. 6) and the actual ETTU Cup winner Stella Sport La Romagne from France (No. 7). Double TTCLM winner AS Pontoise Cergy starts as No. 8 seed. Other eight participants are: GV Hennebont (No. 9) the 2012/13 runner-up Chartres ASTT (No. 10) TTC Ostrava 2016 (No. 11) K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki (No. 12) Sporting Clube de Portugal (No. 13) the 2015/16 runner-up Eslövs AI BTK (No. 14) SPG Walter Wels (No. 15) and Roskilde Berdtennis BTK 61 (No. 16). The 2017/18 TTCLM Seeding list and points 1 Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg (RUS) 8343 2 Borussia Düsseldorf (GER) 7658 3 TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (GER) 7556 4 TTSC UMMC (RUS) 7225 5 FC Saarbrücken TT (GER) 7130 6 K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo (POL) 7036 7 Stella Sport La Romagne (FRA) 6959 8 AS Pontoise Cergy TT (FRA) 6946 9 GV Hennebont TT (FRA) 6908 10 Chartres ASTT (FRA) 6683 11 TTC Ostrava 2016 (CZE) 6552 12 K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki (POL) 6390 13 Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) 6332 14 Eslövs AI BTK (SWE) 6329 15 SPG Walter Wels (AUT) 6100 16 Roskilde Berdtennis BTK 61 (DEN) 5928
More than 250 volunteers helps everything runs smoothly
First day of play at EVC2017 On 87 competition tables so many players played at the European Veterans Championships. All the volunteers and the officials have been really busy making everything work for the first day of the Championships. More than 250 volunteers is making this huge event possible to run smoothly. Lots of work to provide service to all participants and guests but also a lot of pride in helping out at a great event as this. First day includes group stage matches for all age groups except the over 40 year old who will begin to play today. First game of the day started at 09.00 and the last has been played after 22.00. One of the first players to enter the playing fields was one of the stars of the tournament Ding Yi from Austria. Ding Yi had few problems winning his group and by that advancing to the play offs of the Men’s singles over 50. Will the former World and European champion win again? In a few days we will have the answer. Sweat laughter wins losses will create great memories for all participants. We have a couple of exiting days ahead of us with lots of great table tennis but most of all lots of great friendship between players from all nations. Table tennis for life for all at the European Veteran Championships.
Walbrzych clinched three medals BLAZHKO repeated success from Geneva
8th European Universities Table Tennis Championship in Olomuc Walbrzych clinched three medals BLAZHKO repeated success from Geneva 8th European Universities Table Tennis Championship in Olomuc The 8th European Universities Table Tennis Championship in Olomouc came to its final phase. Three titles were gained by students from Polish universities one title was going to Russian Kazan thanks to Anna BLAZHKO. The men´s single final match was an all-Polish battle between Piotrem CHODORSKI and Robert FLORAS (both The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych). On the way to the final CHODORSKI had a difficult task. He managed to eliminate the tournament´s no. 1 Kirill GERASSIMENKO. In the semifinal he could beat the English Daniel REED the surprise of the tournament. But the battle for gold was directed by Robert FLORAS who has known CHODORSKI since his youth. He beat his one year older team mate from Poland easily 3:0. „It was a great tournament. I had a great week here in Olomouc. I´m very happy I really enjoyed it here. And the final against Piotr? The matches against him are always hard we know each other very well. Today the first two sets were close the end was in my direction. I´m happy I succeeded at this tournament in Olomouc. Three gold medals that´s simply great“ said Robert Floras after the final match. The bronze medals from this year´s European Universities Table Tennis Championship were gained by Daniel REED (University of Nottingham) and Gencay MENGE (Marmara University). In the women ´s singles the complete set of medals was clinched by table tennis players from Kazan Innovative University. Anna BLAZHKOVA and Ekaterina GUSEVA were fighting for the gold. Finally 22 years old Anna BLAZHKO has more success. She won 3:0 and repeated her victory from the previous championship in Geneva 2015. Bronze medals were gained by another student from Kazan Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA and Paulina NOWACKA (Dlugosz University in Czestochowa). Anna BLAZHKO cruised through the whole tournament without any problems even in the final she faced no pressure with her school mate from Kazan university. “The final was going quite smooth “ admitted Anna BLAZHKO and added: “At the previous championship in Geneva it was harder for me to get the title. Here in Olomouc I won everything without being under pressure“ said Anna BLAZHKO who can even at the next championship in Italy get the gold hattrick. The men´s double was dominated by Pawel FERTIKOWSKI and Robert FLORAS who beat the strong Russian pair Kirill GERASSIMENKO – Ilya ZHIDKOV in five sets. FERTIKOWSKI with FLORAS followed their triumph in doubles at Czech Open in 2013. The bronze medals were gained by Piotr CHODORSKI – Boguslaw KOSZYK (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) and Gencay MENGE – Selim GÜLER (Marmara University). The women´s double was won by Polish girls from Dlugosz University in Czestochowa Paulina NOWACKA and Sandra WABIK. They succeeded against LIU Haoyu – Maria TSAPTSINOS (University of Nottingham) 3:2. At the third position were placed Anna BLAZHKO – Ekaterina GUSEVA (Kazan Innovative University) and Karolina LALAK – Natalia BAK (Kozminski University). The Czech students have not reached for the medals. Closest were Ondrej BAJGER with Michal BENES in the double. The players from Technical University of Ostrava lost in the quarter final against the Polish pair Piotr CHODORSKI – Boguslaw KOSZYK in the decisive fifth set 9:11. Also Aneta KUCEROVA and Karolina MYNAROVA lost in the quarterfinal against Paulina NOWACKA and Sandra WABIK from Dlugosz University in Czestochowa. In the women´s singles two table tennis players from hosting Palacký University introduced themselves. Karolina MYNAROVA and Aneta KUCEROVA kept bravely but they both finally lost 1:3. KUCEROVA had even seven set balls against the seeded no. 1 of the tournament Anna BLAZHKKO in the third set but still didn´t manage it to a success. Mynarova lost against Paulina NOWACKA. European Universities Table Tennis Championship 2017 Single and Doubles events Men’s Singles Quarterfinal Kirill GERASIMENKO (Magnitogorsk State technical University) – Pior CHODORSKI (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) 2:3 (8 -4 -6 5 -9) Daniel REED (University of Nottingham) – Boguslaw KOSZYK (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) 3:2 (-12 -8 8 8 7) Gencay MENGE (Marmara University) – Piotr CYRNEK (Rzeszow University of Technology) 3:2 (-13 5 -13 7 6) Ilya ZHIDKOV (Magnitogorsk State technical University) – Robert FLORAS (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) 1:3 (-3 -4 9 -6). Semifinal Pior CHODORSKI – Daniel REED 1:3 (-9 6 6 7) Gencay MENGE – Robert FLORAS 1:3 (-7 10 -6 -4). Final Pior CHODORSKI – Robert FLORAS 0:3 (-9 -9 -1). Women’s Singles Quarterfinal Anna BLAZHKO (Kazan Innovative University) – Aneta KUCEROVA (University Palacky Olomouc) Yolanda KING (University of Nottingham) – Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA (Kazan Innovative University 3:1 (8 -11 10 6) Karolina MYNAROVA (University Palacky Olomouc) – Paulina NOWACKA (Dlugosz University in Czestochowa) 1:3 (-4 -11 9 -7) Qiwen XIAO (University of Paris 13) – Ekaterina GUSEVA (Kazan Innovative University) 2:3 (-8 12 -5 10 -7). Semifinal Anna BLAZHKO – Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA 3:0 (w.o.) Paulina NOWACKA – Ekaterina GUSEVA 0:3 (-9 -8 -7). Final Anna BLAZHKO – Ekaterina GUSEVA 3:0 (8 8 8). Men’s Doubles Quarterfinal Boguslaw KOSZYK Piotr CHODORSKI (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) – Ondrej BAJGER Michal BENES (Technická univerzita Ostrava) 3:2 (5 -10 8 -10 9). Semifinal Kirill GERASIMENKO Ilya ZHIDKOV (Magnitogorsk State technical University) – Pior CHODORSKI Boguslaw KOSZYK (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) 3:2 -9 -6 2 12 9) Gencay MENGE Selim GÜLER (Marmara University) – Pawel FERTIKOWSKI Robert FLORAS (The Angelus Silesius State School of Higher Vocational Education in Walbrzych) 0:3 (-9 -5 -1). Final Kirill GERASIMENKO Ilya ZHIDKOV – Pawel FERTIKOWSKI Robert FLORAS 2:3 (6 -8 -8 8 -8). Women’s Doubles Quarterfinal Aneta KUCEROVA Karolina MYNAROVA
European Veteran Championship opened for 2.100 participants
Mrs. Petra SÖRLING President of the STTA declared the Championship opened On Sunday the 25th of June the European Veteran Championship was opened. Helsingborg Arena is fully dressed for some intense table tennis during the week. Over 2.100 participants will take part in thousands of matches and most of them took the chance to take part of the opening ceremony inside the arena. Conferencier and singer Mrs. Ulrika SKOGLUND entertained the audience in a very appreciated way. Seldom or maybe never (?) before has an artist been called back for an extra number at the opening ceremony of a European Veteran Championships. Participants visitors and all other guests where welcomed to Helsingborg and the European Veteran Championship by the vice mayor of Helsingborg Mrs. Inger NILSSON and Chairman of the ETTU Veteran Committee Dr. Zdenko KRIZ. Great music and singing plus a video clip from the city of Helsingborg and fun facts about the tournament was followed by the last speech for the day by Mrs. Petra SÖRLING President of the STTA declaring the Championship opened.
Memorandum of Understanding between ETTU and EUSA
During the European Universities Table Tennis Championships in Olomouc in Czech Republic on behalf of ETTU Nikolas ENDAL member of the ETTU Executive Board signed important agreament. It is the Memorandum of Understanding between ETTU and European University Sport Association (EUSA). On behalf of EUSA the document was signed by President Adam Roczek. Among other things Memorandum defines the close cooperation in promotion of EUSA events publishing results coordination and inclusion EUSA events to ETTU calendars.
Ovtcharov Claims Germany’s First ITTF China Open Title Since 2006
World number four Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) has claimed Germany’s first China Open title in 11 years at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open that concluded today 25 June 2017 in Chengdu China. The last time Germany ever won the prestigious title was in 2006 where Timo BOLL defeated China’s WANG Liqin to win Gold. OVTCHAROV faced off with BOLL in an all-German final showdown in the Men’s Singles event after the top three players in the world MA Long FAN Zhendong & XU Xin forfeited their matches at the China Open. ITTF’s statement on the issue can be found here. The German duo engaged in a full distanced battle for Gold. Despite taking a 3-1 lead in the intense final OVTCHAROV was unable to close the match as 36-year-old BOLL catching up to level the game score 3-3 and push into a seventh game for a chance to repeat his 2006 success. OVTCHAROV had to recover from 6-10 down in the decider to save four match points before taking the match & the Gold medal 4-3 (17-15 7-11 12-10 11-9 7-11 6-11 12-10) over BOLL. “In the seventh game I was leading 5-2 at the start lost few easy balls and my whole game broke apart. Timo took over and played really smart with placement. At 6-10 I didn’t believe I could win anymore but at the relaxation of that feeling I won six point straight to win this Gold. I think luck was on my side for me today for this victory.” In the Women’s Singles final reigning World Champion DING Ning (CHN) ended surprise finalist SUN Yingsha (CHN)’s dream run on the ITTF World Tour to claim her third China Open title. SUN had shocked the world to win the Japan Open Women’s Singles title on senior debut last week in Tokyo. Playing only her second senior tournament here in Chengdu the 16-year-old SUN continued her amazing performance enroute to eliminate world number four FENG Tianwei (SGP) & world number two LIU Shiwen (CHN) to make the final. In the all-Chinese fight for the Women’s Singles Gold SUN was unable to keep with the power of DING as the Grand Slam Champion dominated the match over SUN to win 4-1 (8-11 11-9 11-4 11-7 11-6) to show why she’s the number one on the Women’s world ranking. In a rematch of the Liebherr 2017 World Championships final DING partnered with world number two LIU to take the Women’s Doubles title from defending Champions CHEN Meng (CHN) & ZHU Yuling (CHN) with a 3-1 (9-11 11-7 11-4 12-10) victory. The Men’s Doubles event was an all-Japanese affair battled between Jin UEDA / Maharu YOSHIMURA against 13-year-old Tomokazu HARIMOTO & his partner Yuto KIZUKURI for the Gold. Experience prevailed eventually as the more experienced pair UEDA / YOSHIMURA took home the title winning 3-1 (12-10 9-1 11-8 11-9). With the conclusion of the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open the world’s top table tennis stars will head to Gold Coast Australia for the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australia Open that begins action from 4-7 July 2017. The Australia Open will be the fourth platinum event of the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour which features 12 events across the world in 2017 plus a World Tour Grand Finals which only the top 16 male and female players from the 12 World Tour events qualify for.
