European Champions League Women In today’s duels in European Champions League Women only Polish KTS Siarka ZOT Tarnobrzeg prevailed on home soil whilst Linz and Szekszard succeeded as guests. In Group B Linz repeated the October’s success and beat UCAM Cartagena for a second time this season but it did not affected their place in the quarterfinal. Both teams progressed to the knock out phase but still the battle for the top position added some extra flavor to the duel. Spanish club needed at least 3:1 win to reach the top but they failed. LIU Jia returned to the table after she has recovered from the injury. The 2005 European Champion beat Iulia NECULA in the last match. Previously ZHANG Mo and Sofia POLCANOVA secured two more points. Before the match Cartagena organized small celebration in honor of SHEN Yanfei. SHEN lead the team on their way to two titles in ETTU Cup in 2009 and 2010. In Group C Turkish Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor extending their losing streak to four matches. On the home soil they failed to post the first victory in this year’s competition. Hungarian Szekszard beat them for a second time this year. Like in the match in October Polina MIKHAILOVA’s role was pivotal in their success. She secured both points against Alexandra PRIVALOVA and Busra YILDIZ. European champion HU Melek beat Leila IMRE but it was insufficiently. In Group D both Polish KTS Siarka ZOT Tarnobrzeg and French Metz TT secured the place in the quarterfinal but the duel was important for determinate who will finish at the top in the group. Tarnobrzeg showed no mercy and avenged the 1:3 defeat from their first encounter this year. In October Elizabeta SAMARA beat HAN Ying and LI Qian but this time LI Qian prevailed. With always dangerous Victoria PAVLOVICH and World’s no. 8 HAN Ying hosts posted straight matches victory. Group B UCAM Cartagena – Linz AG Froschberg 1:3 Tetiana BILENKO – ZHANG Mo 0:3 (9:11 9:11 6:11) WANG Zhipei: LIU Jia 3:1 (9:11 12:10 11:4 11:6) Maria XIAO – Sophia POLCANOVA 0:3 (9:11 8:11 10:12) Iulia NECULA – Jia LIU 1:3 (12:10 9:11 7:11 3:11) Group C Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor – Szekszard AC 1:3 Alexandra PRIVALOVA – Dora MADARASZ 1:3 (8:11 11:8 15:17 6:11) Busra YILDIZ – Polina MIKHAILOVA 0:3 (3:11 2:11 1:11) HU Melek – Leila IMRE 3:0 (11:4 11:8 11:5) Alexandra PRIVALOVA – Polina MIKHAILOVA 1:3 (10:12 11:8 9:11 7:11) Group D KTS Siarka ZOT Tarnobrzeg -Metz TT 3:0 Victoria PAVLOVICH – Pauline CHASSELIN 3:0 (11:6 11:5 11:9) LI Qian – Elizabeta SAMARA 3:1 (11:5 7:11 11:8 11:5) HAN Ying – FU Yu 3:0 (11:8 11:19 13:11)
Injured Zhang Jike Withdraws from ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Chinese superstar ZHANG Jike has withdrawn from the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals with an ankle injury. The injury is the same one that forced the world number four to pull out from the recent Austrian and Swedish ITTF World Tour events last month. The news has left the London 2012 Olympic Champion’s 7.6 million weibo fans devastated as they were looking forward to seeing their hero in action for the first time since September’s China Open. The reports coming out of China state that the injury occurredwhen the double World Champion was filming for a reality show where he was eventually chased after by his fans who couldn’t contain their excitement upon seeing him. This caused ZHANG to sprain his ankle and was not able to recoverin time for the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. The injury means that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medalist will have to wait another 12 months for the chance to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals title the one major table tennis title eluding him in his decorated career. Japan’s Koki NIWA is the the lucky player who now takes ZHANG Jike’s place at the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals which will take place 8-11 December in Doha Qatar.
Injured Zhang Jike Withdraws from ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Chinese superstar ZHANG Jike has withdrawn from the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals with an ankle injury. The injury is the same one that forced the world number four to pull out from the recent Austrian and Swedish ITTF World Tour events last month. The news has left the London 2012 Olympic Champion’s 7.6 million weibo fans devastated as they were looking forward to seeing their hero in action for the first time since September’s China Open. The reports coming out of China state that the injury occurredwhen the double World Champion was filming for a reality show where he was eventually chased after by his fans who couldn’t contain their excitement upon seeing him. This caused ZHANG to sprain his ankle and was not able to recoverin time for the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. The injury means that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medalist will have to wait another 12 months for the chance to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals title the one major table tennis title eluding him in his decorated career. Japan’s Koki NIWA is the the lucky player who now takes ZHANG Jike’s place at the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals which will take place 8-11 December in Doha Qatar.
GIONIS provides important win to Bogoria
Three out of eight TTCLM Round 5 matches finished Table Tennis Champions League Men Round 5 commenced with three matches held this evening: KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK – ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS 2:3 FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI 2:3 G.V. HENNEBONT TT – TTC OSTRAVA 2016. Current TTCLM runner-up ESLOVS AL BORDTENNIS beat away KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK as XU Hui did his job providing two points to Swedish team. In his first encounter Chinese overcame his former team mate Mattias OVERSJO in four games while in the fourth clash he prevailed against WANG Yang. The fifth duel between OVERSJO and Daniel KOSIBA was very intense and after many upside downs belonged to Eslov`s player. BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI needed victory in Saarbrucken in order to preserve its chances for the quarter-final and they managed it thanks to Panagiotis GIONIS who took two points. Two former players of Borussia Dusseldorf met in the decisive fifth clash as Greek who signed for Bogoria last summer beat Patrick BAUM after full five games. GIONIS overcame Bojan TOKIC in the opening game between two former individual bronze medalists from European championships while Daniel GORAK added third point on Bogoria`s account beating young Russian Andrey SEMENOV. One more match was held in the Group C as G.V. HENNEBONT TT defeated TTC OSTRAVA 2016 3:1. Now it`s clear that the Round 6 game between Bogoria and Hennebont will decide the second quarter-finalist beside Saarbrucken. CHEN Chieh-An was man of the match in Hennebont`s clash. He beat both Tomas TREGLER and Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC who lost to Quentin ROBINOT in the second game. Petr KORBEL won unique point in Ostrava`s side defeating Liam PITCHFORD. The 2016/17 TTCLM Round 5 GROUP B KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK – ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS 2:3 WANG Yang – Daniel KOSIBA 3:0 (11:4 11:7 11:6) Mattias OVERSJO – XU Hui 1:3 (7:11 11:8 2:11 10:12) Mitsuki YOSHIDA – Robert SVENSSON 3:1 (11:9 11:4 10:12 11:9) WANG Yang – XU Hui 1:3 (11:9 4:11 7:11 5:11) Mattias OVERSJO – Daniel KOSIBA 2:3 (9:11 11:8 9:11 11:4 4:11) GROUP C FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI 2:3 Bojan TOKIC – Panagiotis GIONIS 1:3 (4:11 11:6 6:11 8:11) Patrick BAUM – Daniel GORAK 3:0 (12:10 11:9 11:4) Tiago APOLONIA – Artur MICHALCZYK 3:0 (11:3 11:3 11:1) Andrey SEMENOV – Daniel GORAK 0:3 (7:11 6:11 8:11) Patrick BAUM – Panagiotis GIONIS 2:3 (7:11 12:10 6:11 11:5 7:11) G.V. HENNEBONT TT – TTC OSTRAVA 2016 3:1 CHEN Chieh-An – Tomas TREGLER 3:2 (8:11 13:11 7:11 11:8 11:5) Quentin ROBINOT – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 3:2 (9:11 11:9 10:12 12:10 11:8) Liam PITCHFORD – Petr KORBEL 1:3 (10:12 11:6 5:11 8:11) CHEN Chieh-An – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 3:1 (12:10 11:3 6:11 11:8)
GIONIS provides important win to Bogoria
Three out of eight TTCLM Round 5 matches finished Table Tennis Champions League Men Round 5 commenced with three matches held this evening: KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK – ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS 2:3 FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI 2:3 G.V. HENNEBONT TT – TTC OSTRAVA 2016. Current TTCLM runner-up ESLOVS AL BORDTENNIS beat away KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK as XU Hui did his job providing two points to Swedish team. In his first encounter Chinese overcame his former team mate Mattias OVERSJO in four games while in the fourth clash he prevailed against WANG Yang. The fifth duel between OVERSJO and Daniel KOSIBA was very intense and after many upside downs belonged to Eslov`s player. BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI needed victory in Saarbrucken in order to preserve its chances for the quarter-final and they managed it thanks to Panagiotis GIONIS who took two points. Two former players of Borussia Dusseldorf met in the decisive fifth clash as Greek who signed for Bogoria last summer beat Patrick BAUM after full five games. GIONIS overcame Bojan TOKIC in the opening game between two former individual bronze medalists from European championships while Daniel GORAK added third point on Bogoria`s account beating young Russian Andrey SEMENOV. One more match was held in the Group C as G.V. HENNEBONT TT defeated TTC OSTRAVA 2016 3:1. Now it`s clear that the Round 6 game between Bogoria and Hennebont will decide the second quarter-finalist beside Saarbrucken. CHEN Chieh-An was man of the match in Hennebont`s clash. He beat both Tomas TREGLER and Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC who lost to Quentin ROBINOT in the second game. Petr KORBEL won unique point in Ostrava`s side defeating Liam PITCHFORD. The 2016/17 TTCLM Round 5 GROUP B KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK – ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS 2:3 WANG Yang – Daniel KOSIBA 3:0 (11:4 11:7 11:6) Mattias OVERSJO – XU Hui 1:3 (7:11 11:8 2:11 10:12) Mitsuki YOSHIDA – Robert SVENSSON 3:1 (11:9 11:4 10:12 11:9) WANG Yang – XU Hui 1:3 (11:9 4:11 7:11 5:11) Mattias OVERSJO – Daniel KOSIBA 2:3 (9:11 11:8 9:11 11:4 4:11) GROUP C FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI 2:3 Bojan TOKIC – Panagiotis GIONIS 1:3 (4:11 11:6 6:11 8:11) Patrick BAUM – Daniel GORAK 3:0 (12:10 11:9 11:4) Tiago APOLONIA – Artur MICHALCZYK 3:0 (11:3 11:3 11:1) Andrey SEMENOV – Daniel GORAK 0:3 (7:11 6:11 8:11) Patrick BAUM – Panagiotis GIONIS 2:3 (7:11 12:10 6:11 11:5 7:11) G.V. HENNEBONT TT – TTC OSTRAVA 2016 3:1 CHEN Chieh-An – Tomas TREGLER 3:2 (8:11 13:11 7:11 11:8 11:5) Quentin ROBINOT – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 3:2 (9:11 11:9 10:12 12:10 11:8) Liam PITCHFORD – Petr KORBEL 1:3 (10:12 11:6 5:11 8:11) CHEN Chieh-An – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC 3:1 (12:10 11:3 6:11 11:8)
Berlin preserved unbeaten status
Opening match of the ECLW Round 5: TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – TT SAINT QUENTIN 3:1 Reigning ECLW champion confirmed its class in the Group A winning fourth consecutive match: TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – TT SAINT QUENTIN 3:1. It was the ultimate group stage game of German club who continue to the next level with 4-0 score. In the Round 6 December 16th French side (1-2) will fight against Hungarian Postas Sport Egyesulet (0-3) for the second spot of Group A. Georgina POTA provided two points to his side this evening. First she beat former Berlin`s Ran LI KATH after full five games concluding the entire match by the victory against ZENG Jian 3:1 (11:7 11:4 9:11 11:6). Yui HAMAMOTO added one more point on Berlin`s account while Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN took unique Saint-Quentin`s point overcoming Petrissa SOLJA. ECLW Round 5 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – TT SAINT QUENTIN 3:1 Georgina POTA – Ran LI KATH 3:2 (11:7 11:8 14:16 6:11 11:8) Yui HAMAMOTO – ZENG Jian 3:0 (11:7 11:4 11:4) Petrissa SOLJA – Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN 0:3 (9:11 12:14 0:11) Georgina POTA – ZENG Jian 3:1 (11:7 11:4 9:11 11:6)
SHEN Yanfei says goodbye to table tennis
Pregame farewell ceremony will be held before the ECLW Round 5 match UCAM Cartagena – LINZ AG FROSCHBERG (December 2nd 19:00 CET) SHEN Yanfei already announced her retirement from table tennis two months ago during the Seamaster 2016 Women’s World Cup but her club UCAM Cartagena will organize pregame farewell ceremony just before the ECLW Round 5 game against LINZ AG FROSCHBERG this Friday December 2nd (19:00 CET). Chinese-born player has represented Spain at three Olympic Games and she was a hero of historical successes of Spanish club UCAM Cartagena. The 36-year-old SHEN led the team to the two ETTU Cup titles (2009 2010) 10 Spanish leagues and 9 Spanish cups. She is a current ITTF Europe TOP 16 winner and bronze medalist from 2006 Pro Tour Grand Finals in Hong-Kong. She also has three titles from ITTF World Tour events as well as gold medal in Women`s Doubles Event from the 2015 ITTF LIEBHERR European Championships in Ekaterinburg.
SHEN Yanfei says goodbye to table tennis
Pregame farewell ceremony will be held before the ECLW Round 5 match UCAM Cartagena – LINZ AG FROSCHBERG (December 2nd 19:00 CET) SHEN Yanfei already announced her retirement from table tennis two months ago during the Seamaster 2016 Women’s World Cup but her club UCAM Cartagena will organize pregame farewell ceremony just before the ECLW Round 5 game against LINZ AG FROSCHBERG this Friday December 2nd (19:00 CET). Chinese-born player has represented Spain at three Olympic Games and she was a hero of historical successes of Spanish club UCAM Cartagena. The 36-year-old SHEN led the team to the two ETTU Cup titles (2009 2010) 10 Spanish leagues and 9 Spanish cups. She is a current ITTF Europe TOP 16 winner and bronze medalist from 2006 Pro Tour Grand Finals in Hong-Kong. She also has three titles from ITTF World Tour events as well as gold medal in Women`s Doubles Event from the 2015 ITTF LIEBHERR European Championships in Ekaterinburg.
LIU Jia returns to the Linz’s line-up
ECLW Round 5 is scheduled for December 1st and 2nd as double ECLW champion travels to Spain to meet UCAM Cartagena in the Group B clash The upcoming ECLW Round 5 will give some important answers concerning the 2016/17 quarter-finalists. TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE and TT SAINT QUENTIN are opening the round this Thursday December 1st while other three matches will be held on December 2nd. “Although the result of the match in Berlin is not as important as the one on December 16th versus POSTAS SPORT EGYESÜLET SAINT-QUENTIN will play with his best possible team including Singaporean ZENG Jian Romanian Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN and German Ran LI KATH… who lives in Berlin! It is a real honor for us to challenge again the best European team the 2016 ECLW Champion and seeded N°1 this season” emphasized Jean-Louis POLARD TT SAINT-QUENTIN team manager. UCAM Cartagena and LINZ AG FROSCHBERG will fight for the top spot of Group B. Linz President Gunther RENNER explains situation in his club: “First we conquered Cartagena surprisingly by 3:1 then also surprisingly we had big troubles against Bad Driburg. LIU Jia could not play in Germany because she had an inflammation under her shoulder. Now she is back again that might help us to defend the lead in the Group B. After a change in the line up of LINZ AG FROSCHBERG nobody knew what to expect from us but until now Linda BERGSTRÖM ZHANG Mo and last but not least the busy (Men`s Women’s and Youth) Coach ZHANG Jie seems to be a winning selection. Traditionally we followed also this year our philosophy to work with the players in LINZ to find a better team work bring more happiness to the team and help the players to reach their peak performance at the right time”. RENNER believes that his side is able to reach the semi-final at least: “We don’t see us as defending old time records but the tradition of never withdraw of the Champions League before the semifinal is something we try to defend”. SZEKSZARD AC targets its third consecutive win in Group C playing in Turkey while BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR plays for its very first victory. Coach of Hungarian club Gyorgy SZILY stated: “Before Round 5 of ECLW match against Bursa our team feel well prepared and glad about our position in the group. We have great team spirit and in last two matches everything is up to us. If we play our level we should secure first place in the group and get ready for quarter final match in January 2017. This is first time SZEKSZARD AC has made it to next round of Champions League so we feel very excited to fight for high places this season”. Two favorites of Group D will meet in Poland where KTS Siarka-ZOT Tarnobrzeg (2-1 score) awaits METZ TT (2-0). This clash should decide the winner of Group D. French side won their first game 3:1. The 2016/17 ECLW Round 5 (December 1st-2nd) Group A Dec 1 18:30: TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE – TT SAINT QUENTIN Group B Dec 2 19:00: UCAM Cartagena – LINZ AG FROSCHBERG Group C Dec 2 19:00: BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR – SZEKSZARD AC Group D Dec 2 18:00: KTS Siarka-ZOT Tarnobrzeg – METZ TT
Hirano Aims for World Junior Championships Title in Cape Town
Sun International 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Japan’s Miu HIRANO who stunned the world to become the youngest ITTF World Cup Champion earlier this year is back in action to aim for another Gold to add to her collection at the Sun International 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Cape Town from today 30 Nov till 7 Dec 2016. The Sun International 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships which the most prestigious event for under-18 players will see the world’s best junior players from 37 countries battling for Gold in seven categories: Boys’ Team Girls’ Team Boys’ Singles Girls’ Singles Boys’ Doubles Girls’ Doubles & Mixed Doubles. HIRANO who heads the singles seeding will be joined by her teammates including youngest Olympic table tennis medalist Mima Ito to challenge the Chinese team who claimed all 7 Gold medals on offer last year in France. “Even though I won the Women’s World Cup I have to come into this tournament with a fresh mind and put that victory in the past as the players here are also the best in the world ” stated the 16-year-old. “I will be playing in all four events (Girls’ Team Girls’ Singles Girls’ Doubles & Mixed Doubles) here in Cape Town and of course I hope to win all four Gold it is going to be tough especially with the Chinese team who will be our biggest threat but we will give in our best efforts!” HIRANO’s compatriot Tomokazu HARIMOTO who had a breakthrough year in 2016 will lead the seeding in the boy’s category. The 13-year-old will have to fend off not only tough competition from his compatriots but also Korea Republic’s CHO Seungmin and the Chinese team will be fighting hard to retain all their hard earned title from Vendee last year. The local crowd will be cheering for South Africa’s number one Lekeasha JOHNSON who will be leading the South African contingent to challenge the world’s best players on home soil. The 2016 World Junior Championships will kick off with the teams’ events on 30 November with the team Champions determined on 3 December and the battle for the singles and doubles medals starting from 3 till 7 December 2016.
