The results of the of the European Championships Qualifications second leg play off matches Championships Divison. Men’s Event Poland – Czech Republic 3:0 WANG Zengyi – Tomas KONECNY 3:1 (9:11 11:6 11:9 11:8) Jakub DYJAS – Lubomir JANCARIK 3:0 (11:9 12:10 11:5) Robert FLORAS – Dmitrij PROKOPCOV 3:1 (7:11 11:8 14:12 13:11) Serbia – Russia 2:3 Bojan CREPULJA – Vyacheslav BUROV 3:0 (11:2 12:10 11:8) Ivor KATIC – Grigory VLASOV0:3 (2:11 4:11 5:11) Vladimir RADONJIC – Sadi ISMAILOV 0:3 (11:13 2:11 8:11) Bojan CREPULJA – Grigory VLASOV3:2 (11:6 12:10 9:11 2:11 11:4) Lorencio LUPULESKU – Vyacheslav BUROV 0:3 (6:11 8:11 10:12) Belarus – Hungary 2:3 Vladimir SAMSONOV – Adam SZUDI 3:0 (11:6 11:7 11:3) Pavel PLATONOV – Krisztian NAGY 3:1 (14:12 10:12 11:5 11:2) Aliaksandr KHANIN – Nandor ECSEKI 1:3 (13:11 10:12 12:14 6:11) Gleb SHAMRUK – Krisztian NAGY 1:3 (11:13 10:12 11:8 7:11) Pavel PLATONOV – Adam SZUDI 2:3 (11:8 11:7 6:11 11:13 3:11) Slovakia – England 2:3 Lubomir PISTEJ – Liam PITCHFORD 2:3 (4:11 11:9 11:5 4:11 9:11) Peter SEREDA – Paul DRINKHALL 3:2 (5:11 9:11 11:8 12:10 12:10) WANG Yang – Sam WALKER 3:0 (11:7 11:4 12:10) Lubomir PISTEJ – David MCBEATH 1:3 (9:11 9:11 11:8 8:11) Bai HE – Liam PITCHFORD 0:3 (9:11 9:11 11:13) Ukraine – Italy 2:3 Kou LEI – Niagol STOYANOV 3:2 (11:6 9:11 9:11 11:5 11:6) Viktor YEFIMOV – Mihai BOBOCICA 0:3 (8:11 8:11 8:11) Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO – Marco RECH DALDOSSO 3:1 (7:11 11:3 11:8 15:13) Kou LEI – Mihai BOBOCICA 2:3 (9:11 7:11 14:12 11:8 7:11) Viktor YEFIMOV – Niagol STOYANOV 2:3 (7:11 12:10 9:11 11:9 3:11) Italy – Ukraine 2:3 Mihai BOBOCICA – Yaroslav ZMHDENKO 3:0 (15:13 11:9 11:8) Niagol STOYANOV – Lei KOU 3:1 (11:6 11:13 11:7 11:6) Marco RECH DALDOSSO – IevgenPRYSCHEPA 1:3 (6:11 6:11 12:10 6:11) Mihai BOBOCICA – Viktor EFIMOV 0:3 (6:11 7:11 3:11) Niagol STOYANOV – Yaroslav ZMHDENKO 1:3 (7:11 11:5 8:11 10:12) Women’s Event Slovakia – Sweden 1:3 Eva JURKOVA – LI Fen 0:3 (1:11 5:11 7:11) Lucia TRUKSOVA – Matilda EKHOLM 0:3 (4:11 4:11 1:11) Tatiana KUKULKOVA – Jennifer JONSSON 3:2 (9:11 11:7 11:6 4:11 11:5) Eva JURKOVA – Linda BERGSTRÖM 1:3 (9:11 4:11 11:9 8:11) Netherlands – Turkey 3:0 LI Jie – Betul NUR KAHROMON 3:0 (11:3 11:2 11:4) Britt EERLAND – Ozge YILMAL 3:0 (11:7 11:6 11:6) Kim VERMAAS – Simay KULAKCEKEN 3:1 (11:6 9:11 11:7 11:6) Turkey – Netherlands 0:3 Ozge YILMAL – LI Jie 0:3 (2:11 3:11 2:11) Simay KULAKCEKEN – Britt EERLAND 0:3 (3:11 7:11 3:11) Betul NUR KAHROMON – Riane VAN DUIN 2:3 (11:5 4:11 11:8 5:11 9:11) Croatia – Serbia 3:2 Dorina SREBRNJAK – Dragana VIGNJEVIC 0:3 (7:11 10:12 3:11) Mirela DURAK – Izabela LUPULESKU 1:3 (10:12 6:11 12:10 6:11) TIAN Yuan– Andrea TODOROVIC 3:1 (11:7 10:12 11:8 13:11) Ivana MALOBABIC – Izabela LUPULESKU 3:0 (11:6 11:9 11:3) Mirela DURAK – Aneta MAKSUTI 3:1 (11:5 9:11 11:8 11:8) Spain – England 3:0 Maria XIAO – Maria TSAPTSINOS 3:2 (7:11 9:11 11:9 11:4 11:9) Galia DVORAK – Tin Tin Ho 3:2 (11:8 11:6 12:14 9:11 11:8) Claudia CAYMEL – Karina LE FEVRE 3:2 (7:11 4:11 11:8 11:8 11:7)
Last chance for place among European crème de la creme
European Championships Qualifications The ultimate match of the European Championships Qualifications Division Play off is on the program today. The last five places in both Men’s and Women’s Championships division in Luxembourg will be secured by the overall winers of two matches played in last seven days. In Men’s Event the closest match of the first leg was played in Czech Republic. Poland won 3:2; tomorrow in Bialystok it will give them slight advantage. Slovakia will host England after 3:1 win from last week whilst Belarus also has big advantage after four matches victory in Hungary. Russia is coming to Serbia. Hosts failed to win the match last week. In Women’s Event Slovakia awaits Sweden after last week hosts produced straight matches victory. Spain has won away match against England in straight games. Croatia will host Serbia. In Netherlands Dutch team will meet Turkey. For Wales and Belarus the play off is finished after both Associations agreed to have only one match.
20-year-old Fan Defends Men’s Singles Title at Asian Table Tennis Championships
China’s FAN Zhendong has successfully defended his Men’s Singles title against surprise finalist JEONG Sangeun from Korea Republic at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships that concluded today 16 April 2017 in Wuxi China. This is also the 20-year-old’s third Gold medal from the 2017 Asian Championships having claimed the Men’s Team title on 12 April and the Men’s Doubles crown with his teammate LIN Gaoyuan just yesterday. Earlier in the tournament JEONG challenged reigning World and Olympic Champion MA Long’s dominance in the international table tennis scene shocking the World number one out of the Asian Championships in the third round of the Men’s Singles event. JEONG also accounted for Rio 2016 Olympic Team Silver medalist Koki NIWA (JPN) in the semifinals having to come back from 0-2 games down and saving four match points to win 3-2 (6-11 9-11 11-5 11-7 13-11) and make his entry into the final. In the final showdown JEONG was unable to pull off another hat trick against the 20-year-old FAN losing in three straight games (5-11 5-11 8-11). “It’s been a tiring but happy trip here for the Asian Championships. I’ve never thought if I will win or lose in the matches or who my opponent will be I was just trying to play each and every match to my best ” shared JEONG. Upon his victory FAN stated “I didn’t expect that I would win 3-0 in the final I came into the match mentally prepared for any difficulty and came with the mindset to fight for every point in the match.” Commenting on JEONG’s dream run at the Asian Championships FAN added “JEONG has had a good tournament in both the team & singles event defeating my teammate MA Long and earlier today coming back three straight games to beat Koki NIWA.” In the Women’s Doubles final the gold medal was contested between World Champions CHEN Meng & ZHU Yuling against their younger compatriots CHEN Ke & WANG Manyu. With their experience in major international tournaments CHEN & ZHU eventually prevailed 3-1 (11-8 6-11 11-7 11-9) to win the title. “We are very happy to win this title here ” shared ZHU after the victory. “CHEN Meng and I will be partnering for the Women’s Doubles event for the World Championships next month too and we will aim for the Gold in Dusseldorf as well.” With the conclusion of the Seamaster 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships Asia’s top players will head towards Incheon Korea with the rest of the world’s top stars for the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Korean Open.
European Championships Qualification Team Events – Challenge Division
The results of the European Championships Qualification Team Events – Challenge Division matches final group. Ilias – Bosna and Herzegovina Women’s Event Denmark – Bosnnia and Herzegovina 3:2 Stefanie CHRISTENSEN – Elda SEHIC 3:0 (11:2 11:6 11:5) Sophie WALLOE – Emina HADZIAHMETOVIC 1:3 (13:11 9:11 5:11 15:17) Nicolina KOEFOED – Ivona BASKARAD 3:0 (11:4 11:6 11:4) Stefanie CHRISTENSEN – Emina HADZIAHMETOVIC 0:3 (7;11 12:14 6:11) Sofie EGEHOLT – Sanja MILOJICA 3:0 (11:7 11:7 12:10) Norway – Israel 3:2 Ilka DOVAL – Shelli GELMAN 3:1 (11:7 10:12 11:7 11:6) Sarah MORGEN – Nicole TROSMAN 1:3 (2:11 9:11 11:8 8:11) Maja GJELLE – Elena AGAROUNOV 3:0 (11:5 15:13 11:2) Ilka DOVAL – Nicole TROSMAN 0:3 (9:11 6:11 9:11) Rebekka CARLSEN – Shelli GELMAN 3:0 (18:16 11:4 12:10) Denmark – Norway 3:1 Stefanie CHRISTENSEN – Rebeca CARLSEN 3:1 (11:4 6:11 11:7 11:4) Sofie EGEHOLT – Ilka DOVAL 2:3 (7:11 2:11 11:7 11:9 5:11) Nicolin KOEFOED – Maja GJELLE 3:0 (11:5 11:9 11:2) Stefanie CHRISTENSEN – Ilka DOVAL 3:0 (12:10 13:11 11:5) Israel – Bosnia and Herzegovina 3:1 Nicole TROSMAN – Emina HADZIAHMETOVIC 3:2 (8:11 11:6 10:12 11:9 11:6) Shelli GELMAN – Elda SEHIC 2:3 (11:8 2:11 11:6 8:11 9:11) Elena AGAROUNOV– Sanja MILOJICA 3:2 (11:7 8:11 9:11 8:11 12:10) Nicole TROSMAN – Ivona BASKARAD 3:0 (11:8 11:7 11:3) Israel – Denmark 1:3 Nicole TROSMAN – Nicoline KOEFOED 3:0 (11:6 11:5 11:5) Elena AGAROUNOV– Stefanie CHRISTENSEN 0:3 (6:11 6:11 9:11) Shelli GELMAN – Sophie WALLOE 1:3 (1:11 5:11 11:9 6:11) Nicole TROSMAN – Stefanie CHRISTENSEN 1:3 (2:11 4:11 11:7 8:11) Bosnia and Herzegovina – Norway 3:1 Emina HADZIAHMETOVIC – Maja GJELLE 3:0 (12:10 11:7 11:9) Sanja MILOJICA – Ilka DOVAL 1:3 (13:11 7:11 6:11 10:12) Ivona BASKARAN – Rebeca CARLSEN 3:2 (8:11 11:6 11:7 8:11 13:11) Emina HADZIAHMETOVIC – Ilka DOVAL 3:2 (7:11 7:11 11:1 11:6 11:4) National Indoor Arena Dublin Men’s Event Scotland – Ireland 1:3 Sean DOHERTY – Ashley ROBINSON 2:3 (11:8 11:5 6:11 8:11 5:11) Craig HOWIESON – Paul MC CREERY 3:2 (4:11 11:3 10:12 11:9 11:8) Collin DALGLISH – Gavin MAGUIRE 1:3 (7:11 11:7 8:11 3:11) Sean DOHERTY- Paul MC CREERY 1:3 (11:9 7:11 6:11 2:11) Norway – Scotland 2:3 Marcus WAERSTAD – Collin DALGLISH 3:1 (5:11 11:8 11:7 11:9) Eskil LINDHOLM – Calum MAIN 3:1 (11:9 11:7 7:11 11:5) Sondre BERNER- Sean DOHERTY 2:3 (11:7 5:11 12:10 4:11 10:12) Marcus WAERSTAD – Calum MAIN 1:3 (5:11 11:13 11:9 9:11) Adrian WETZEL- Collin DALGLISH 2:3 (11:9 11:7 5:11 4:11 6:11) Ireland – Norway 3:1 Paul MC CREERY – Sondre BERNER 3:0 (11:5 11:6 11:6) Ashley ROBINSON – Marcus WAERSTAD 3:1 (11:1 11:5 6:11 11:9) Gavin MC GUIRE – Eskil LINDHOLM 1:3 (10:12 11:5 11:13 7:11) Oloen CATCHCART – Adrian WETZEL 3:1 (9:11 11:6 11:5 12:10)
Olympic Champions Ma & Ding Shocked Out of Asian Table Tennis Championships
Reigning World & Rio 2016 Olympic Champions DING Ning & MA Long were both shocked out of the Seamaster 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships in Wuxi yesterday 14 April 2017. MA who has been dominating the international table tennis scene since he won the 2015 World Championships fell in the hands of Korea Republic’s JEONG Sangeun 1-3 (9-11 8-11 11-6 6-11). After winning the match that shocked the local spectators who had came to cheer for the Chinese captain JEONG stated “Today I’m fortunate to have some lucky scores after I won the first game I think Ma Long is a bit nervous. And then 2-0 this time my mental status has been calm and stable. The last game I lost a little bit but I came back.” MA reflected “We had a very tight match during our last encounter as well. I lost the first game when I had the initial lead. After losing that game I wasn’t handling the situation well especially in a best of 5 games situation.” “Actually in the fourth game I started well with a 3-0 lead but then I was penalised for a fault service and that did affected me afterwards. Jeong Sangeun was playing very aggressive and well. On the other hand I made many errors and that gave him more chance.” Grand Slam Champion DING was stunned by newly crowned Women’s World Cup Champion Miu HIRANO who turned 17 on the fateful day. After losing the first two games the Japanese teenager was eager not to let anyone ruin her celebration plans on her birthday. HIRANO eventually staged her comeback to win the next three games to advance to the semifinals of the Women’s Singles contest for Gold (3-11 12-14 11-9 16-14 12-10). “It’s a very memorable birthday for me today. Competing with such a high level player like Ding Ning especially while 0-2 down and 5-9 behind in the third game I feel I had to give my best fight and wasn’t thinking too much at that point ” shared HIRANO who could hardly contain her excitement after her victory. “Initially my goal was just to try and win this match against Ding Ning but now that I have done that I hope to aim for the Gold medal and I hope my good form will continue into the World Championships!” The Chinese team’s spirits were not dampened as they claimed one more Gold to its Gold collection with CHEN Xingtong & ZHOU Yu claiming the Mixed Doubles title on homeland to conclude the day. The pair faced Japanese duo Mima ITO & Masataka MORIZONO who had knocked out their teammates FANG Bo & WANG Manyu just the day earlier in an epic mixed doubles showdown in front of a capacity crowd. With the local spectators cheering for them CHEN & ZHOU quickly raced to a 2-0 lead. Determined for the title ITO & MORIZONO fought their way back into the game forcing the match into a fourth game. The Japanese were however unable to repeat their feat and it was the Chinese who prevailed to take the match 3-1 (11-9 11-7 9-11 11-8) for their title. “I think we came into the match with a good mindset because table tennis is firstly a combination of good skills and mindset. Although we have not paired for long we have trust in each other ” shared ZHOU after the award ceremony. “Yesterday when Ito and Morizono were competing with Fang Bo & Wang Manyu we were observing at the side. They are very aggressive in their play so we have to find problems and solutions in terms of tactics and strategies. They are a very strong and determined pair no matter how much we are leading their desire to come back remains strong just like in their match against Fang Bo & Zhou Yu.” The Seamaster 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships continues tomorrow with 4 more Gold medals for the individual events up for grabs Women’s Singles & Men’s Doubles on 15 April and the Men’s Singles as well as the Women’s Doubles final on 16 April 2017.
UMMC develops table tennis in Russia
In total 17 cities are involved in the project “Support Table Tennis” Russian club UMMC continues its project “Support Table Tennis” launched in 2011 adding five more cities on its map. Now 17 Russian cities are involved in the project financed by UMMC Company. Mission of the project is to involve children in sport on a regular basis creating favorable conditions for table tennis and to find talented young athletes. So far 6 table tennis halls are renovated while 14 got new equipment. Other significant results are about 1 700 children playing table tennis on a regular basis and more than 700 involved in kindergartens programs in the city of Verkhnaya Pyshma.
Orenburg looks forward to playing its 6th TTCLM final in last 7 seasons
Coach Valery SALABAEV speaks on returning semi-final game and upcoming final Triple TTCLM winner Fakel Gazprom Orenburg is looking forward to playing its 6th TTCLM final in last seven seasons. They eliminated Saarbrucken last Thursday in the returning semi-final leg (3:0 after 3:1 away game) and now can start its preparation for the first final match in Germany against ten times champion Borussia Dusseldorf. They will meet on May 4-7th while the second match is scheduled for May 11-14th in Russia. “It is unfortunate that the spectators of the 2nd semi-final match Fakel-Gazprom vs Saarbrücken could not see all the participants of this match as Patrick FRANZISKA was injured before the game and could not reach the table. In his first game (Dimitrij) OVTCHAROV dominated from the beginning to the end of his match. The second game was more intense and it was only in the fifth set that Vladimir (SAMSONOV) could break (Patrick) BAUM’s resistance. As a result our victory with a score of 3-0 and the upcoming final match against Borussia Düsseldorf” stated Orenburg`s coach Valery SALABAEV. Orenburg and Borussia met twice in the TTCLM finals. First time it was in the 2010/11 season when German side celebrated. Last time two years ago Russian champion clinched its third ECLW title.
After ECLW semis Linz focused on Super League`s final
“Of course we are sad that we lost in ECLW semis but we want to clinch the title in Super League again” stressed president of Linz AG Froschberg Gunther RENNER Austrian champion Linz AG Froschberg went through two important games within just four days last week but won just once. First they defeated Hungarian Szekszard 6:2 in the first final leg of Super League and then they were beaten by TTC Berlin Eastside 3:0 in the returning game of the ECLW semis. All three encounters in Germany have been decided by narrow margin. “The season was a good one. We couldn’t succeed in ECLW at the end but we have been a tough opponent for everybody also for Berlin. In table tennis there is no coincidence if you always lose close games like we do against Berlin again and again…” emphasized Linz`s president Gunther RENNER. Froschberg lost first ECLW semi-final leg 3:2 and missed some good chances in the returning match when all three their players led 2:1 but lost 3:2. “Of course we are sad that we lost in semis but we want to clinch the title in Super League again. It’s a prestigious title against the other ECLW semifinalist Szekszard they are also very strong so the league is improving” explained RENNER. Linz overcame Szekszard 6:2 in the first final leg of Super League held in Hungary in spite of playing without LIU Jia. Second game is scheduled for May 9th.
European Championships Qualifications play off matches
Play off matches first leg The results of the first leg matches of the the European Championships Qualifications play off. Men’s play off Russia – Serbia 3:0 Alex SHIBAEV – Lorencio LUPULESKU 3:0 (11:7 11:5 11:5) Vasili LAKEEV – Bojan CREPULJA 3:1 (11:3 10:12 11:8 12:10) Michael PAYKOV – Ivor KATIC 3:1 (12:10 11:9 9:11 11:8) England – Slovakia 1:3 Paul DRINKHALL – Lubomir PISTEJ 1:3 (11:8 7:11 6:11 4:11) Liam PITCHFORD – Yang WANG 3:2 (11:5 7:11 7:11 11:7 11:8) Sam WALKER – Peter SEREDA 1:3 (7:11 11:9 13:15 10:12) Paul DRINKHALL – Yang WANG 0:3 (8:11 8:11 4:11) Czech Republic – Poland 2:3 Lubomír JANCARIK – Jakub DYJAS 0:3 (11:13 8:11 9:11) Tomas POLANSKY – WANG Zeng Yi 1:3 (6:11 4:11 11:4 9:11) Dmitrij PROKOPCOV – Daniel GORAK 3:0 (11:3 11:9 11:1) Lubomir JANCARIK – WANG Zeng Yi 3:0 (11:9 11:7 12:10) Tomas POLANSKY – Jakub DYJAS 1:3 (3:11 8:11 11:7 11:13). Hungary – Belarus 1:3 Adam SZUDI – Pavel PLATONOV 3:1 (11:6 11:6 8:11 11:4) Bence MAJOROS – Vladimir SAMSONOV 0:3 (5:11 10:12 6:11) Tamas LAKATOS – Aliaksandr KHANIN 2:3 (10:12 5:11 11:5 11:9 10:12) Adam SZUDI: Vladimir SAMSONOV 2:3 (4:11 5:11 11:8 12:10 5:11) Women’s play-off Belarus – Wales 3:0 Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Chloe THOMAS 3:0 (11:5 11:3 11:6) Daria TRIGOLOS – Charlotte CAREY 3:1 (11:9 9:11 11:6 12:10) Alina ARLOUSKAYA – Beth ROBERTS 3:0 (11:3 11:2 11:3) Sweden – Slovakia 3:0 Matilda EKHOLM – Eva JURKOVA 3:0 (11:8 11:3 11:6) Li FEN – Eva ODOROVA 3:1 (11:4 9:11 13:11 11:6) Linda BERGSTRÖM – Lucia TRUKSOVA 3:0 (11:2 11:5 11:2) Serbia – Croatia 0:3 Andrea TODOROVIĆ – Dorina SREBRNJAK 1:3 (7:11 9:11 12:10 9:11) Izabela LUPULESCU- Yuan TIAN 0:3 (7:11 5:11 10:12) Aneta MAKSUTI – Mirela ĐURAK 0:3 (6:11 7:11 11:13) England – Spain 0:3 Tin-Tin HO – Maria XIAO 1:3 (4:11 11:8 10:12 7:11) Kelley SIBLEY – Galia DVORAK 1:3 (8:11 7:11 11:9 10:12) Denise PAYET – Sara RAMIREZ 0:3 (9:11 4:11 5:11)
Irina PALINA praises Berlin`s players and fans
German club will defend ECLW title against actual runner-up KTS Sairka ZOT Tarnobrzeg Berlin Eastside broke all its records in last two seasons but their players want more. The best German club was beaten last time in European Champions League Women 26 months ago in the 2014/15 semi-final against Fenerbahce. They won all their matches in the 2015/16 (10-0) and in the 2016/17 (8-0) so far. Last Friday Berlin beat Linz AG Froschberg 3:0 in the returning semi-final clash to secure its fourth ECLW final in last six seasons. Coach Irina PALINA stated that it wasn’t as easy as it looks: “We won 3: 0 but it could be 0:3 and thank very much to the girls that at the most important moment they managed to turn the victory in our direction. Home walls fans and a huge desire of all brought us this victory”! Berlin was unbeaten last season in all competitions (ECLW Bundesliga and German Cup) winning its second triple crown (first one in 2013/14). In the ongoing season they already took German Cup (4-0 score) won all their games in the ECLW (8-0) as well as in the Bundesliga (15-0). Their rival in the ECLW final will be the same like last year: Polish champion KTS Siarka ZOT Tarnobrzeg. First leg will be held in Poland on May 4-7th.
