2015 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships started today Reigning champions team of Portugal started their journey at the 2015 LIEBHERR ITTF European Championships in Russian city of Ekaterinburg in victorious way. In their opening match in Group Stage of the Team’s Event Portugal overcame Hungary. It was straight matches victory but there were no lack of excitement. “The outcome is the same like last year but it is different situation. We won 3:0 and it was hard earned victory. We went full distance in two matches. Of course we expect that; knowing Hungary has two very strong players ” explained FREITAS. In the opening duel Tiago APOLONIA beat Adam PATTANTYS. “PATTANTYS defensive skills could made a great damage so that victory was important for us. APOLONIA opened the door for the overall win with his triumph and certainly helped me to start my match with some sort of advantage.” Marcos FREITAS overcame Daniel KOSIBA to wide the gap. “KOSIBA was very good today in long rallies put a many balls on the table; it was very open game. The third match between Joao MONTEIRO and Tamas LAKATOS also went full distance. LAKATOS risked a lot and at some point it proved as a good tactics. However at the end MONTEIRO had a better touch and better finish.” In Group A France was severely tested against Serbia but eventually prevailed in full distance contest. Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC proved too strong for Antoine HACHARD. Zolt PETE taste the same medicine in the duel against Simon GAUZY so after 1:1 the real battle started. Marko JEVTOVIC went full distance against Emmanuel LEBESSON to give Serbia the lead again. GAUZY was at the top of the game once again against KARAKASEVIC and PETE and OUAICHE entered the field at the decisive match. After 2:0 and 4:1 in third game PETE missed the opportunity to give Serbia victory. OUAICHE embraced the opportunity and with extraordinary backhand from the ring saved the match ball and soon after scored to win the match. “If he would play 10 times this same stroke there is no way he could repeat this and win the point like he did against me ” Pete was desperate after the defeat.
VLASOV: We should not let fans down
Quotes from LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships press conference Day before the official kick off of the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships in Ekaterinburg all the tables in the International Exhibition Center “Ekaterinburg-EXPO” are already occupied. Players are warming up for the first challenges. Some of them reveailed their thoughts at the press conference at the done of the team’s Event. Team of Russia will be under great pressure here: “We are going to play at home soil; of course it is a great responsibility because we should not let fans down as well as people who have organized this big tennis holiday. We have been training during many months there is competitive spirit in the team and our team is motivated for fight and victory. That is why I am sure we will show our best table tennis “ said Grigory VLASOV. Three times European champion Vladimir SAMSONOV added: “Everything looks well here in “Ekaterinburg-EXPO” I am sure that we will not have any problems here. Big events are always very well organized in Russia I like everything here. Before the start of the tournament we will still have time for trainings and I hope we will not disappoint our sports fans. The best ranked European player at the ITTF rankings no. 5 Dimitrij OVCHAROV of Germany came to Russia as a big favorire and the leader of the team with great aspiration to the throne. “ I have been preparing in China during the whole summer. Last two weeks I have decreased the training load in order to be in the peak competition form in the tournament. It’s difficult to say in which form I am. I think that the Championships will show. Everything can change very quickly: one-two successful games and I will be among the favourites and vice versa something may go wrong and I will tumble out from the favourites. Last two weeks I have been training much. I may say that I have done everything to show here my good skills and I think I can outplay others. The member of the team of Portugal reigning champions Marcos FREITAS stated: “First we need to get to the quarter final and then we need to show everything we are capable of and of course we would like to win as we did it a year ago in Portugal but it will be difficult we have serious competitors serious teams but we will do our best for the victory. “ In Women’s Team’s Event Russia count on strong team. “Of course we will strive for victory. We are expecting the good result. We have a good group in team events. It’s good we don’t have dangerous competitors as German tennis players because it’s difficult to fight against them. I consider them the favourites. Four teams are all different; it is possible to become both the first and the last ones. We will try to become the first ones of course “said Polina MIKHAILOVA. Speaking in the name of favorites member of Team’s Champions Petrissa SOLJA stated: “I hope we will be able to show a good game at the European Championships. We would like to win both in team events and doubles. Besides this year I think we have a strong and well-trained team. And the time will show if we can execute our plans. “
Ekaterinburg-EXPO ready for the European stars
LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships starts on Friday On Friday September 25th at 10 AM European Champions team of Portugal will start defending their title at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships. The opening contest against Hungary at the table no 1 in the International Exhibition Center “Ekaterinburg-EXPO” will kick off the Team’s Event. In the Men’s Teams Event Vice champions team of Germany will play at the same time as Portugal at table no. two against Poland. Unfortunately once again they will be weakened. At the last moment Timo BOLL was forced to withdraw. Women’s Team champions from Lisbon 2014 Germany will play against Czech Republic their opening duel in Group Stages. Their rounds start at 1 PM on Friday. The matches in groups stage will be played for two days – knock out phase starts on Sunday whilst Individual Events starts from Wednesday 30th September. For the first time ever the European Table Tennis Hall of Fame will be presented at the European Championships in Ekaterinburg. This is a new project of the European Table Tennis Union. It is already known that 19 male and 17 female athletes will be the first to become part of the Hall of Fame among them there are Zoya RUDNOVA Valentina POPOVA and Flura BULATOVA – legendary Soviet athletes. Certainly the European Table Tennis Championships will arouse much interest not only among citizens of Ekaterinburg but also the whole Russia. Participants and guests will be able to get to know the legends of our sport. The exposition will be open for visitors from the first day of the Championships and the official opening with the participation of the authorities of the European Table Tennis Union will take place on September 28th. According to the plan the number of participants of the project will be increasing year by year. Later players will be joined by outstanding coaches as well as those who have made a considerable contribution to the development of table tennis in Europe. For the first time the individual and team European Table Tennis Championships will be held in the capital of Urals. It is the second European Championships to be held in Russia in its contemporary history. Before that Saint Petersburg hosted the European Championships in 2008. Also Moscow hosted the European Table Tennis Championships twice in 1970 and 1986 at that time women’s teams of the USSR won golden medals. In Ekaterinburg more than 800 participants and their representatives will come to the EXPO. The matches will be judged by 130 international referees and umpires. Results page here hashtag: #ITTFEuroChamps
Schwechat sends the biggest team to the European Championships in Russia
The international training – group of the Werner SCHLAGER Academy is present at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships in Russian Ekaterinburg from 25th September to the 4th of October with a bombastic contingent. Not less than 24 players from 15 different countries who permanently or to a predominant part live in Schwechat will compete in the continental title-matches. Some of the “Schwechater” travel to Russia with large (medal-) aspirations. Led by the the Portuguese World – Ranking no. 9 Marcos FREITAS who will be seeded as number 2 in the singles event and on top has to defend the gold medal in the teams event from last year (together with another Schwechater: Joao MONTEIRO). Chances for a medal are also good for the Austrian Men the WSA – player Tetyana BILENKO (from WSA partner club SVNÖ Ströck) and Daniela DODEAN – Monteiro who lives in Schwechat since 5 years already and together with her Romanian team is counted to the favorites. The WSA contingent in Ekaterinburg: Men: PORTUGAL: Marcos FREITAS Joao MONTEIRO AUSTRIA: CHEN Weixing Robert GARDOS Daniel HABESOHN Dominik Habesohn Stefan FEGERL ITALY: Mihai BOBOCICA Niagol STOYANOV CZECH REPUBLIC: Tomas KONECNY Lubomir JANCARIK BULGARIA: Stanislay GOLOVANOV LUXEMBOURG: Eric GLOD ENGLAND: Daniel REED Women: AUSTRIA: LI Qianbing CROATIA: Lea RAKOVAC (SVNÖ Ströck) UKRAINE: Tetyana BILENKO (SVNÖ Ströck) SWEDEN: Matilda EKHOLM (SVNÖ Ströck) SLOVENIA: Alex GALIC ISRAEL: Nicole TROSMAN SWIZERLAND: Rahel ASCHWANDEN SERBIA: Andrea TODOROVIC LUXEMBOURG: Sarah de NUTTE ROMANIA: Daniela DODEAN-MONTEIRO
Portugal defends the title with new coach
KONG Guoping leads the 2014 gold medalist at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships The 2014 Team`s champion of Old Continent will defend its crown with new coach as KONG Guoping replaced Pedro RUFINO on the bench. Portugal`s Table Tennis Federation FPTM announced also men`s and women`s rosters for the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships which will be held in Ekaterinburg Russia from September 25th to October 4th. Born in China in 1963 KONG had a successful career as an athlete. He has worked in Germany and after that spent ten years as a coach of Mirandela. KONG counts on next six players: Marcos FREITAS (Pontoise-Cergy world`s no.9) Tiago APOLÓNIA (FC Saarbrucken 21) João MONTEIRO (Chartres ASTT 39) João GERALDO (ASV Grünwettersbach 90) Diogo CHEN (Sporting CP 224). Women`s team contains FU Yu (Metz TT no. 39) Jieni Shao (Ala Nun’Alvares 78) Leila OLIVEIRA (CP Madalena 330) Rita FINS (CTM Mirandela 395).
Timo BOLL forced to cancel the European Championships
With Olympic Games in focus BOLL made hard decision Timo BOLL was forced to withdraw from all Events at the forthcoming LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships in Ekaterinburg (25 Sep – 4 Oct). Despite the hopes he will be able to play at Singles Event today he reviled he will miss this year’s European Championships. After extensive research BOLL’S medical officer Dr. Johannes PEIL diagnosed the thickening of a “Mocous fold” below the kneecap. “Almost ten months before the start of the Olympic Games in Rio I will have to undergo a surgery on Thursday in order to preserve the chances of my 5th Olympic participation. If this problem is not solved in time the cartilage may be affected ” explains Boll. “In recent weeks I’ve mostly been playing under pain. This has nothing to do with a surcharge. Now I have to act even if I have to cancel the European Championships and also will some time be not available for my club Borussia Dusseldorf. How long the break will take is not clear at the moment.”
OVTCHAROV: I am the hunted one
For Germany the goal is always the same – top of Europe The withdrawal of Timo BOLL from Teams and Doubles Events was a great setback for the German team before the start of the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships in Ekaterinburg (25 Sep – 4 Oct 2015) but European vice-champions are still great contenders to the throne. Germany’s lineup also includes names of Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Patrick BAUM Patrick FRANZISKA Ruwen FILUS and Ricardo WALTHER the players who will be very hard to beat in Russia. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV suffered from serious back pain at the Baku European Games and during his Chinese Super League Season but the current situation is much better. “The back is currently much much better than compared to the European Games in Baku or to China during the Super League. I am working very hard on it do a lot of strengthening exercises for the back to move the issue out of the way. I’m on the right track. Sometimes it pinches a bit but overall I’m quite alright ” explained OVTCHAROV.OVTCHAROV talked about the absence of Timo Boll in the team event and about his own goals in Ekaterinburg: “The fact that Timo won’t be present is of course a disadvantage for our team. When Timo is with us and none of us suffers from injuries we cannot be beaten in Europe. We had the situation before: When Timo wasn’t with us in 2013 we could win the title anyway. We are not the clear favorite in Ekaterinburg but winning the title is still possible for our team. I won all the top events in Europe. I am the hunted one everyone wants to beat me. I’m not in the same shape as in 2013 when I played tremendously strong. But already at the European Games in Baku I have won the singles competition without being in top shape.” In the women’s team are: HAN Ying SHAN Xiaona Petrissa SOLJA Irene IVANCAN and Sabine WINTER. Sports Director Richard PRAUSE talked on the objectives of the women’s team: “We have a great generation of players who twice won the European title in a row and additionally the European Games. We want to be as successful again but I must also stress the same thing as for our men’s team: The victory for the ladies is again not a self-selling item. The final in Baku was already on a knife edge. On this level very often nuances decide about who wins and who loses. All other teams are chasing us in Ekaterinburg. Our coaches are preparing our team well before this situation. We are ready.” Women’s Head Coach Jie SCHÖPP on the question of whether something else than the title counts for her: “No nothing else counts. We go out there to win the title. When I look at the world rankings it is even a kind our duty to win. Anyway it’s clear that giving 80 percent would not be enough. If we act like a team and give everything then we are the best. “ SCHÖPP was satisfied with the the current shape of her players:“Technically they are all in very good shape. My task now is to let them gain the necessary ‘freshness’. As we played so many tournaments this year we had to adapt our preparation to it. Currently the second training session of a day is a voluntary one for the ladies. I want them all to be mentally and physically fit for the start of the European Championships.” HAN Ying talked about her experience at the European Games – losing as the top-seed before time – and her current shape “The European Games were a necessary experience for me. Since then I have improved significantly – especially mentally. In Baku I was under huge pressure as the number 1 seeded. Now I’m also placed on 1 but I do not care. I’ll fight until the end in every match and don’t care whether I’m number 1 or number 40.I hope that my shape remains stable – I was very pleased with my performance at the Austrian Open of course – and I can possibly even play a little better. “
Two gold medals for Romania in Varazdin
2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open concluded today Romania clinched gold in both Junior Team Events at the 2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open in Varazdin. In the Cadet Girls’ Team competition it was the top prize for Slovenia whilst in the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the top seeded Russian duo. Led by Cristian PLETEA with Rares SIPOS and Alexandru MANOLE Romania A the second seeds at the final hurdle accounted for the German trio of Gerritt ENGEMANN Balazs HUTTER and Jonah SCHLIE the third seeds to claim the title. Cristian PLETEA accounted for both Balazs HUTTER (11-5 11-9 11-6) and Gerritt ENGEMANN (12-10 11-4 11-9. Two days earlier at the quarter-final stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event Cristian PLETEA had been beaten by Balasz HUTTER in four straight games (11-7 11-8 11-6 11-7). Clearly the Romania teenager had learned how to deal with the defensive attributes of a most worthy adversary. Alexandru MANOLE accounted for Jonah SCHLIE (6-11 11-9 11-5). The one win for the Germans came in the second contest when Gerritt ENGEMANN overcame Rares SIPOS (7-11 12-10 14-12 16-14). At the quarter-final stage Romania A accounted for the Croatian combination of Marko VIDACEK Josip ARBANAS and Mitija HRELEC the no.13 seeds by three matches to nil before recording the same margin of victory in opposition to the English trio comprising Tom JARVIS Helshan WEERASINGHE and Luke SAVILL the no.5 seeds. Germany in the round of the last eight teams overcame Hungary’s Istvan MOLNAR Mate BRUCKNER and Gergo TIMAFAVI the no.7 seeds before causing somewhat of a surprise. At the semi-final stage they beat the top seeded Slovenia outfit comprising Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Tom SFILOGOJ. In the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the top seeded Russian duo of Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBENEV. At the final hurdle they overcame Poland B the no.6 seeds represented by Artur GRELA and Kamil DZIADEK by three matches to one. Romania’s Mihaela PLAEASU Andreea DRAGOMAN and Andreea HUDUSON in a thrilling full distance five match final beat the top seeded Germany. In the vital fifth and deciding match in the gold medal contest Mihaela PLAEASU beat Julia KAIM by the very narrowest of margins (15-13 7-11 7-11 11-9 14-12) to secure the title. The vital success came after Andreea DRAGOMAN had beaten Julia KAIM in the second match of the contest (11-9 11-8 12-10) and Luisa SAEGER in the fourth (11-4 8-11 11-5 11-5). The wins for Germany came from Luisa SAEGER in the opening engagement in opposition to Mihaela PLAEASU (11-13 15-13 11-6 11-6) and from Caroline HAJOK in the third duel. She accounted for Andreea HUDUSON the give the Germans a two-one advantage. In the Cadet Girls’ Team competition Slovenia’s duo of Alexandra VOVK and Katarina STRAZAR the second seeds accounted for the Russia A outfit formed by Daria AZARENKOVA and Ekaterina BESPALOVA the no.5 seeds by three matches to one.
Dates for 2019 European Games confirmed by EOC
The 2019 European Games will take place in the final two weeks of June the European Olympic Committees (EOC) has announced with five to six sports set to form a core part of the programme for future editions of the event. The dates were confirmed at an EOC Executive Committee meeting in Tirana Albania which came after the organisation held a debrief on Baku 2015 in the Italian capital Rome last week. It has been claimed that staging the 2019 Games which were originally awarded to The Netherlands before the country pulled out due to a lack of support from various sectors of the nation in the last two weeks in June will “allow European Federations and Europe’s National Olympic Committees more time to align their calendars with the European Games than was possible for the inaugural edition in Baku Azerbaijan this summer”. EOC President Patrick Hickey the brainchild behind the European Games concept says the announcement will now allow them to finalise discussions with those cities interested in staging the 2019 Games. A number of nations have been mooted as potential hosts for the 2019 event including Turkey Belarus and Russia with a decision expected to be made in October before being rubber-stamped at the EOC General Assembly in Prague the following month. “Selecting the window for 2019 is a small but symbolic decision ” Hickey said. “After the incredible success of the first edition of the Games it’s important we give all stakeholders the opportunity to build their calendars for 2019 with the Games in mind rather than fitting the Games into their existing calendars as they did for Baku 2015. “Today’s decision also allows us to finalise our discussions with the interested cities for hosting the 2019 Games with concrete dates in mind. “Whilst we are close to concluding our discussions with the potential hosts for 2019 we are also holding conversations with cities about the third edition of the Games in 2023.” EOC President Patrick Hickey says the announcement of the dates for the 2019 event will allow them to finalise discussions with potential host cities. insidethegames has been told that athletics is expected to be included as one of the five to six core sports proposed for future Games by the EOC and it is hoped that these will form the main part of the programme with additional sports chosen at the discretion of the host city. The EOC have also forecasted an average operational budget of $500m (£320m/437m) for each edition of the event going forward which Hickey says he feels is a “sustainable pricetag” compared with the Olympic Games. “Establishing a core number of sports for the European Games is part of the EOC’s long-term vision but we are well ahead of schedule in holding these high-level discussions ” the Irishman added. “Equally establishing an approximate operating budget after only one edition is a confident step forward and we believe $500 million is a realistic figure.When compared with an Olympic Games $500 million represents a reasonable and sustainable pricetag for a pan-continental sporting mega event featuring 50 nations.” By Liam Morgan Published on http://www.insidethegames.biz
Deni KOZUL won the title in Varazdin in superb style
Puerto Rico’s Adriana DIAZ won the Junior Girls’ Singles event Slovenia’s Deni KOZUL won the Junior Boys’ Singles event at the 2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open in Varazdin. The no.4 seed at the final hurdle he beat Russia’s Denis IVONIN the no.12 seed (11-6 7-11 11-5 11-5 11-9) having at the quarter-final and semi-final stages ended German hopes. In the round of the last eight he beat Gerrit ENGEMANN the no.5 seed in a full distance seven games duel (11-8 5-11 11-6 4-11 11-9 6-11 11-6) before reserving his place in the final courtesy of success against Balazs HUTTER the no.14 seed (11-6 9-11 13-11 10-12 11-8 12-10). Success against Balzs HUTTER was success against a player in form; at the quarter-final stage he had caused a major upset by beating Romania’s Cristian PLETEA the top seed (11-7 11-8 11-6 11-7). In addition to reaching the semi-final stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event Balzs HUTTER won the Junior Boys’ Doubles title in partnership with Jonah SCHLIE; at the final hurdle the duo accounted for Deni KOZUL and his Slovenian colleague Darko JORGIC (11-4 8-11 6-11 11-6 11-5). Puerto Rico’s Adriana DIAZ won the Junior Girls’ Singles event it was her first ever ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Singles title. At no stage of the proceedings was Adriana Diaz the top seed extended the full distance. The most severe test was at the quarter-final stage when requiring six games to halt the aspirations of the host nation in the guise of Klara CAKOL the no.8 seed (12-10 12-10 8-11 7-11 6-11 11-9). A difficult hurdle negotiated confident the Puerto Rican teenager accounted for Russia’s Kristina KAZANTSEVA the no.14 seed in five games (5-11 11-4 11-9 11-8 11-4) before securing the title at the expense of Romania’s Andreea DRAGOMAN the no.2 seed. Similar to the penultimate round exchanges Adriana DIAZ won in five games (11-9 11-8 11-5 6-11 11-9). No medals gained by the host nation; but that was not the situation in the Junior Girls’ Doubles event where three of the four finalists were from Croatia the interloper being Slovenia’s Tamara PAVCNIK. She partnered Klara CAKOL to success against Ema MARN and Andrea PAVLOVICH the winners earlier this year of the Cadet Girls’ Doubles title at the European Youth Championships in Bratislava. A tense hard fought final Klara CAKOL and Andrea PAVLOVICH resisted a brave recovery to emerge success by the very narrowest of margins (11-8 11-8 7-11 9-11 13-11).
