MA Long (CHN) has capped a year to remember by becoming the year end world number one for a fifth time which equals his compatriot WANG Liqin’s (CHN) record. The 28-year-old who finished 2016 as world number one also earned his 53rd month as world number one just two months’ shy of WANG Liqin’s remarkable 55 months as the king of table tennis. This is an extraordinary run as the Rio 2016 Olympic champion is now top of the world for a consecutive 23 months two months away from the 25 months record set by WANG. “2016 has been a very memorable and rewarding year for me so I’m thankful to all who have helped me this year and to myself. Thanks also to everyone in the table tennis family who has worked hard to contribute to the sport. I will continue to work hard in the new year” stated the best table tennis player on earth. 2016 Men’s World Cup champion 19-year-old FAN Zhendong (CHN) finished the year second in the rankings ahead of his team mates XU Xin and ZHANG Jike who are third and fourth respectively. Rio 2016 bronze medalist Jun MIZUTANI (JPN) finished the year in the fifth position with Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) trailing closely behind. Fellow Olympic Champion DING Ning (CHN) topped the women’s end of year ranking for a fourth time just one year short from the women’s record by her idol ZHANG Yining. DING who had another dominant year finished ahead of team mates LIU Shiwen and ZHU Yuling as well as Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Singapore’s FENG Tianwei. 16-year-old Japanese sensations Mima ITO & Women’s World Cup Champion Miu HIRANO who claimed the team title at the 2016 World Junior Championships capped off a dream year by finishing the year at eight and nine respectively to show that the new generation is now here. After enjoying a festive break the world’s best table tennis players will return to action at the 2017 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open on 19 January 2017 in Budapest.
2017 European Youth Championships in Guimarães this year
The great successes of Portugal’s players in recent years were followed by the very good organization of the biggest table tennis events. In recent past FPTM (Federação Portuguesa de Tenis de Mesa) hosted 2014 European Teams Championships in Lisbon and 2016 ITTF Europe Top 16 in Gondomar. They will be also the hosts of the 2017 European Youth Championships in July. Following discussions with FPTM officials the ETTU Executive Board has agreed to a request to hold the 2017 European Youth Championships at the Multiusos de Guimarães in the city of Guimarães a venue located 40 minutes from the Oporto Airport. This facility offers excellent playing conditions with the possibility to make a layout of maximum 26 tables for all the matches in one hall. Following the inspection by the Competition Manager Dimosthenis MESSINIS ETTU Executive Board were informed that the venue in Guimarães fully meets all the requirements having everything under one roof. “In our ambition to keep improving the quality of our events and after the excellently organised Youth Championships 2016 in Zagreb FPTM informed us of the opportunity to relocate the 2017 EYC to Guimarães. Although I had no doubts about Gondomar we are very happy with the quality of the Guimarães facilities which from our table tennis point of view appears to be even more adapted to our needs and wishes. We are looking forward to a great event!” stated ETTU President Ronald KRAMER.
Berlin determined to continue its winning streak
German club is on its way to defend all three titles taken last season The ongoing month is one of crucial moments of the year for TTC Berlin Eastside in its attempt to defend remarkable achievements from the 2015/16 season. Irina PALINA`s side won all three possible titles last season – ECLW German League and German Cup – and soon they will defend first out of three German Cup on January 8th in Hanover. January 2017 brings one more important game – ECLW quarterfinal leg no. 1 against ALCL TT Grand Quevilly. “From now there are no easy opponents. We are definitely looking forward to the challenge. One thing is already clear: the decision will come in the rematch on our soil in Berlin” stated coach of reigning ECLW champion Irina PALINA speaking about upcoming encounters with French club. First quarter-final match will be held on January 26-29th while returning clash is scheduled for February 10th. Berlin won all its games so far counting all three competitions.
Timo BOLL tops individual TTCLM scores
Borussia Dusseldorf`s leading player has 7-0 score after group stage The best eight TTCLM clubs are continuing their battles for the crown whilst their leading players will fight to improve their individual scores. There are six unbeaten players so far but Timo BOLL among them has most wins 7. Orenburg`s duo Jun MIZUTANI Vladimir SAMSONOV combined together 11-0 score as well as Borussia Dusseldorf`s Timo BOLL and Kristian KARLSSON. Two best Saarurbucken`s members Tiago APOLONIA and Patrick FRANZISKA stand together at 9-0. As usual Eslovs Chinese XU Hui is busiest man in the game having 10-2 score. Pontiose`s leading star Marcos FREITAS stands at 7-2. First quarter-final legs will be held on January 26/27th: Hennebont – Pontoise Ochsenhausen – Borussia Eslovs – Orenburg Chartres – Saarbrucken. Here you can see all individual scores so far in all eight clubs… FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG: Jun MIZUTANI 6-0 Vladimir SAMSONOV 5-0 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 4-1 Alexey SMIRNOV 1-1 Denis IVONIN 0-1 Fedor KUZMIN 0-1. TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN: Simon GAUZY 4-2 Yuto MURAMATSU 3-3 Jakub DYJAS 2-1 Hugo CALDERANO 2-3 Joao GERALDO 2-1. AS PONTOISE CERGY: Marcos FREITAS 7-2 Mattias KARLSSSON 4-3 Tristan FLORE 3-2 Niagol STOYANOV 2-1. ESLOVS Al BORDTENNIS: XU Hui 10-2 Robert SVENSSON 2-1 Daniel KOSIBA 3-5 Truls MOREGARDH 0-5. FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS: Tiago APOLINIA 5-0 Patrick FRANZISKA 4-0 Patrick BAUM 3-2 Bojan TOKIC 2-2 Andrey SEMENOV 1-1 Leonardo MUTTI 0-1 Dennis KLEIN 0-2 G.V. HENNEBONT: Quentin ROBINOT 5-1 CHEN Chien-An 4-2 Liam PITCHFORD 4-5 Kalinikos KREANGA 0-3. BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF: Timo BOLL 7-0 Kristian KARLSSON 4-0 Stefan FEGERL 5-2 Anton KALLBERG 2-1. CHARTRES ASTT: Par GERELL 6-2 Joao MONTEIRO 3-1 Alexandre ROBINOT 3-2 Robert GARDOS 3-3.
MBEs for Will BAYLEY and Rob DAVIES
Paralympic table tennis gold medallists Will BAYLEY and Rob DAVIES have received MBEs in the Queen’s New Year Honours List. Kent athlete Bayley won the Class 7 Singles title in Rio while Welshman Davies was on the top step of the podium in Class 1. Both are made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to table tennis. BAYLEY 28 from Tunbridge Wells said: “I’m so delighted to be given an MBE. It is a huge honour and means so much to me. I’m proud every day to represent Great Britain and I feel privileged to have been able to represent my country in three Paralympic Games already. I’m still hungry for more medals and my long term goal is retaining my title in Tokyo 2020 where I will hopefully be at my peak. I would like to say thanks my coach Gorazd Vecko and to all my GB team-mates and support staff; without them I would not be the player I am today. Thanks also to Gary HOWES at Byng HALL – my first table tennis club – and to all my sponsors and supporters over the last 10 years who have believed in me and have made it possible for me to compete at this level. I hope to continue to repay your trust and belief in the years to come. I couldn’t have achieved anything without the support of my family – my mum step-dad and my brother – the amazing team at Great Ormond Street Hospital and a dear family friend Linda SLADE who sadly passed away last year and did so much to help me.” DAVIES 32 said: “I feel absolutely ecstatic that I’ve been named in this year’s honours list to receive an MBE. My face just lit up when I read the letter – I was just so overwhelmed and happy. I just couldn’t believe it. I feel so privileged and proud and would just like to thank everybody who’s been part of this amazing journey I’ve been on. I can’t wait to make 2017 special!”
Al-Mohannadi Announces Candidacy for the ITTF Presidential Election
ITTF Deputy President Khalil AL-MOHANNADI has announced his candidacy to become the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) President where elections will be held on 31 May 2017 in Dusseldorf Germany Mr AL-MOHANNADI from Qatar has an array of international experience being the Qatar Table Tennis Association President since 1995 and serving as ITTF Deputy President from 2005-2006 and 2015-present and as ITTF Executive Vice President between 2007 and 2014. “I am proud that the Qatar Table Tennis Association has made huge progress during my years of office and has become one of the leading and most successful organizers of high level world table tennis events.” Under Mr AL-MOHANNADI’s leadership Qatar have organized the following international events: The Liebherr 2004 World Team Championships; Commencing in 1994 highly successful ITTF World Tour tournaments which continue to attract the very best players in the world. Almost US$ 4 000 000 has been distributed in prize money at ITTF World Tour Qatar Open; ITTF World Junior Circuit Qatar Open tournaments; The 2011 Peace and Sport set an example to the world and was universally acclaimed; The 2012 Olympic Games World Qualification tournament; Most recently the ITTF Star Award and Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. If Mr AL-MOHANNADI is elected President his proposals are: Ensuring major marketing improvement with title sponsors for all World title events; in particular the ITTF World Tour; Increasing the popularity of table tennis worldwide gaining the recognition of all major television channels; Promoting ITTF Development Programmes in all aspects; Unifying the eligibility rule for all international events to be the same as the regulations required for the Olympic Games; Transparency in all ITTF financial transactions. There are now two official candidates for the ITTF President position with current ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT announcing in October that he will run for this highest position in table tennis. The deadline for National Associations to submit nominations for Presidential candidates is 30 April 2017.
Linz against Metz reprise of breathtaking 2015/16 quarter-final
Post draw comments of European cups We present some comments on recent draw European cups quarter-finals held last week in Luxembourg. One of most exciting clashes should be one between double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg and 2015 ETTU Cup finalist bearing in mind what happened in their quarter-final encounter last season: Linz won with 1 point difference (5:5 in matches 19:19 in sets 347:346 in points)! “It`s the same draw like last year and last year it was a very difficult challenge to go up to the semi finals. We hope this time it won`t lead to a thriller like last year because that was too nerve-stretching for everybody involved. Our Team is in a exceptional good shape this year so we are positive with any opponent we get” stated Linz`s President Günther RENNER. TT Saint Quentin will meet Hungarian Szekszard. Manager of French side Jean-Louis POLARD speaks: “After our matches against seeded N°1 Berlin Eastside in group A we wanted to avoid seeded N°2 Tarnobrzeg in the quarter-final round. Actually our opponent will be group winner Szekszard another Hungarian team after Postas Sport Egyesület… and Hungarian Georgina POTA (for Berlin). We already know Russian Polina MIKHAILOVA who played against us last season with Bursa B.B. and young YE Lin of Singapore who is a colleague of ZENG Jian’s while Petra LOVAS and Dora MADARASZ complete the team. They played another French club in group C Grand-Quevilly which will face the European Champion… The first leg in Saint-Quentin should be crucial for both teams in January.” Regarding TTCLM quarter-finals Saarbrucken will play against 2013 finalist Chartres. Coach of German club Slobodan GRUJIC comments: “We expect two very hard matches in the quarter-final. We have to give our maximum in order to win. We believe in our quality but we must to take an advantage of each opportunity”.
Sochi European U21 Championships launched official web site
56 men and 56 women from 35 countries will participate in first-ever European Youth Table Tennis Championships which will be hosted in Sochi from 2nd to 5th February of 2017. All the preparetions goes on schedule and from yesterday the official web site is on line here. Athletes under the age of 22 will compete in singles and doubles. One member association will be allowed to have no more than 3 men and 3 women participants. The top seed in the men`s singles is Anton KALLBERG from Sweden who is currently ranked at position no. 10 in ETTU U22 Ranking. The other Top 10 players are: Tomislav PUCAR (Croatia) Can AKKUZU (France) Darko JORGIC (Slovenia) Alexandre CASSIN (France) Adam SZUDI (Hungary) Sadi ISMAILOV (Russia) Tomas POLANSKY (Czech Republic) Andrea LANDRIEU (France) and Kilian ORT (Germany). Russian national team will be also represented by the youngest player of the tournament 14-years old Vladimir SIDORENKO ( No. 28) and 15th-seeded Konstantin CHERNOV. There are also 7 players in reserve including Denis IVONIN who will be first to step up if needed. Nina MITTELHAM (Germany) is the top seed in the women`s singles competition. The other top players are: Adina DIACONU (Roumania) Chantal MANTZ (Germany) Lea RAKOVAC (Croatia) Audrey ZARIF (France) Pauline CHASSELIN (FRA) Andreea DRAGOMAN (Roumania) Natalia BAJOR (Poland) WAN Yuan (Germany) Maria MALANINA (RUS). Russian national team roster will consist of 14 players including No.11 Ekaterina GUSEVA and No. 12 Maria TAILAKOVA. The top junior players are Daria CHERNORAY Valeria SHCHERBATYKH and Anastasia KOLISH.
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. Prices Price per night : 108€ (27€ per person for 4 persons) From 2 nights booked : 3 days pass offered
International Veterans Table Tennis Tournament Costa Daurada
Early birds registration until 31 December After the success of the World Veterans Championships in Alicante/Elche on May 2016 a new event for table tennis veteran players is planned in Spain for May 2017. At the Olympic Sports Venue of Reus from 2nd to 7th May 2017 a new International Veterans Table Tennis Tournament will be held with the idea of combining table tennis with some touristic activities enjoying the services and the nice weather of this area. The registration for the Tournament is now open and players from 10 different Associations have already registered. The website with all the information about the Tournament and the registration procedures is now available: www vetterans.com Veterans with the 2t of table tennis of course!
