Knee problems forced Germany’s star to reduce his engagement in Ekaterinburg Bad news for Timo BOLL. The European record Champion is suffering from a strong irritation in his left knee. As a precaution he and the DTTB coaches’ team decided to withdraw him from the Team’s and Doubles Events at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October) in Ekaterinburg. Whether Boll play the singles is currently still open. “Timo’s withdrawal does not change our objective to become European Champion in the Team’s event ” DTTB Sports Director Richard PRAUSE stresses. “His absence is of course weakening us but even without him the team is strong enough”. Boll is replaced by Ruwen FILUS in the Team’s event. The defender would otherwise have played singles and doubles only. Before the 2013 European Championship the situation was similar. When Boll had caught the flu FILUS was added to the list. Together with Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Patrick BAUM Bastian STEGER and Patrick FRANZISKA he won the team’s title with a final victory over Greece. DTTB Sports Director Richard Prause on the withdrawal of Timo Boll in the team and doubles events: “We have a very strong team even without Timo and all are well prepared. Anyway that Germany wins the title will not happen by itself. We saw this fact at the 2014 European Championships. We will see whether we can get around to a revenge match against Portugal. We are very much looking forward to it.” Men’s Head Coach Jörg ROSSKOPF about Boll’s withdrawal and the possible impact on the team: “That does not change our objective. We want to win the tournament. We have to accept the new situation and give 100 per cent in every match. The players are in an well shape and there is also a little more time until the tournament starts.”
Great success for the Women Coaches seminar
Next meeting in Vandee France As a part of the ETTU Development program Women Table Tennis Coaches seminar was held on 7th and 8th September in WSA in Schwechat. Headed by the ETTU-Vice-President Ivo Goran MUNIVRANA and coordinated and organized by the WSA-Women-Head coach Neven CEGNAR who is also ETTU Development Manager not less than 22 coaches from 17 different countries participate at this top-class ETTU seminar. “Some of the coaches are already known and they are very experienced some of them are just on the beginning of their careers. This diversity of knowledge and experience was not an obstacle during the seminar. The coaches showed interest and eagerness to participate and to learn taking part in discussions asking questions” stated Ivo-Goran Munivrana ETTU Deputy President. After a few welcoming words delivered from WSA CEO Martin Soros in accordance with the WCS’s program MUNIVRANA addressed the coaches on behalf of ETTU . “In 20 minutes I explained ETTU Development Program in general underlining the parts of development for players and development for coaches. The reasons for the programs and consequences of not acting upon the program were explained and coaches were invited to take part in the ETTU DP programs. Special attention was drawn to the necessity of coach’s education both theoretical and practical. At the end of presentation present coaches were informed about Coaching Conference in November 2015 and invited to take part.” Presentation and lecturing of Mr. LI Xiaodong were very good and well accepted from coaches. Subject of lecturing was “The importance of footwork in modern table tennis”. Monday afternoon lecture was dedicated to the theory Tuesday morning to the theory combined with video examples and Tuesday afternoon Mr. Li demonstrated practical work at the table. Mrs. Polona Cehovin Susin presented ITTF’s combined program of development and education. Later discussion between ETTU Deputy President Ivo-Goran MUNIVRANA and CEHOVIN SUSIN resulted with repeated mutual standpoints and both side wishes for further cooperation between ITTF and ETTU in the fields of development and education. The further discussion will take place in Yekaterinburg. Next Coaching Conference is scheduled for Vandee France from 26-28th November 2015. In addition there is a possibility of organizing Juniors Camp as part of U21 DP and ETTU contribution to European juniors preparation for WJC. “Neven CEGNAR will urgently investigate possibility to organize junior camp in Saarbrucken from 15th to 20th November ending just a week before WJC in Vandee.Two coaches to lead the camp have already been proposed: Dmitry MAZUNOV and Slobodan GRUJIC. The first one is living in Ochsenhausen and other one in Saarbrucken.” TIS 2015 Final Selection Camp in Otocec Slovenia will be held 4-11th October. Activities are going well prospectus sent entry expected. The selection will be done by Istvan KORPA Joze URH (Slovenia national team coach) and Neven CEGNAR. Until the end of 2015 two development camps for 11 selected TIS players will be organized in Lithuania and Netherlands in period from middle November to middle December.
European champion PLETEA on duty in Varazdin
2015 Croatia Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit European cadet champion Romania’s Cristian PLETEA and Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC head the boys’ list at the 2015 Croatia Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit in Varazdin. Currently Cristian PLETEA only 15 years old is listed at no.26 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings; Darko JORGIC 17 years of age is two places below at no.28. In Varazdin Cristian PLETEA will be making his third appearance on this year’s ITTF Junior Circuit; both have enjoyed notable success both have titles to their names. Cristian PLETEA made the best possible start to the year; he emerged success in the initial tournament on the calendar in Bahrain then he succeeded in the very next in the Czech Republic before having to settle for a semi-final place in France. Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO is the third highest World ranked player on duty next in line is Deni KOZUL. Puerto Rico’s 14 year old Adriana DIAZ is the leading name in the girls’ events. Listed at no.10 (2 186 points) on the most recent edition of the ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Standings the 17 year old Arina SINGEORZAN has eyes focused on a place in the Finals in January and will be making her fifth appearance of the year. Furthermore she will be seeking to rekindle the form of earlier in the year when after reaching the quarter-final stage in Italy she won in Tunisia. Following her success in Tunisia she reached the penultimate round in Belgium. Arina SINGEORZAN in the sixth highest rated player on duty being immediately behind India’s Sreeja AKULA Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU and Germany’s Luisa SAGER. In total 108 boys will compete in Varazdin of which 78 will be on duty in the Junior Boys’ Singles event. A total of 97 girls have entered the Junior and Cadet Open of whom 57 will compete in the Junior Girls’ Singles event. The national associations represented are Austria Belgium Canada Croatia Czech Republic England Finland Germany Greece Hungary Italy Jordan Moldova Montenegro Poland Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Slovenia Serbia the Slovak Republic Wales and the United States. The competition started today with the qualification rounds.
MAZE ready for the international comeback
The 2009 European champion played successfully for Roskilde in the latest round of DBTU League The last round of the Danish League showed that Michael MAZE is ready for the international comeback at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October 2015) which will be held in Ekaterinburg Russia. Danish star the 2009 individual champion of Old Continent have contributed with two points in the Roskilde`s 5:1 victory against OB. “Michael MAZE will primarily participate in the individual competition at the European Championships” said for the DBTU website Danish coach Linus MERNSTEN adding: “He has made great progress during training and it will be interesting to see how far he can go at the event which will be held on the border between Europe and Asia”. Michael MAZE knows very well how it looks like playing in Ekaterinburg as a former member of UMMC. He participated in the TTCLM with this Russian club few seasons ago.
Final preparations in Ekaterinburg-EXPO
LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships from 25 September to 4 October 2015 The preparations in the International Exhibition Center “Ekaterinburg-EXPO” are in the final phase. The forthcoming LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October 2015) is knocking at the door and the venue is almost ready for the gusets from all over the Europe. „ Preparation of the Championships venue is proceeding to completion. During the next several days it will be completely finished. Currently all the stands have been installed changing rooms and showers have been constructed and umpires’ rooms have been equipped. New lighting that meets all the requirements for such tournaments has been made inside the playing hall. All the playing equipment and umpires’ equipment have already been delivered into the EXPO. Currently the floor special floor surface and ad-banners are being installed “ stated the member of the Organizing Committee Dmitry TYUKHTIN. The draw for the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships is already done and most of the players finalized their preparations for the big event. In the Men’s Championships Division – Group A leading name is title holder team of Portugal. Champions’ team will face challenge from the players from France Hungary and Serbia. From this group only France reached round of 8 last year in Portugal. Lisbon’s runner ups team of Germany will face Spain Poland and Ukraine in Group B. Spain also played in the quarterfinal last year. Top seeded team in Group C is Sweden. Bronze medalists will have tough task to face hosts Austria and Romania. Croatia also won bronze in Portugal an din Group D in Russia will meet Belarus Greece and Czech Republic. In Women’s Championships Division – Group A title holders team of Germany will face Belarus Czech Republic and Slovakia. Runners up Austria is in the Group B with Romania France and Serbia. In Group C is Poland will meet Hungary Russia and Luxembourg. Sweden is in the Group D with Netherlands Portugal and Ukraine.
Noshad ALAMIYAN left Belgium with two titles
Iran’s Nima ALAMIAN won the Men’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belgium Open. Occupying the no.23 seed position at the final hurdle he beat Hunor SZOCS the no.18 seed in five games (11-8 11-9 11-7 11-13. 11-4) to conclude matters as arguably the most successful player in the whole tournament. Earlier in the day he had won the Men’s Doubles title in partnership with elder brother Noshad ALAMIYAN and was therefore one of two players to leave de Haan with two titles. The other was Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan who won Women’s Doubles gold in partnership with Lin Ye having one day earlier beaten her doubles partner to secure the Under 21 Women’s Singles title. At the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event results went according to status. Iran’s Nima ALAMIAN the no.23 seed accounted for Hungary’s Adam SZUDI the no.28 seed (7-11 11-7 11-8 11-6 13-11); before Romania’s Hunor SZOCS followed suit; the no.18 seed he beat Sweden’s Hampus NORDBERG (11-8 11-9 11-7 11-13 11-4). Korea’s SEO Hyowon won the Women’s Singles. Occupying the no.2 seeded position the 28 year old who excels in the defensive art accounted for Singapore’s FENG Tianwei the top seed in a gripping final that saw success gained by the minimal two point margin in the deciding game (15-13 8-11 10-12 7-11 11-6 11-7 11-9). In the penultimate stage FENG Tianwei the top seed prevented the possibility of an all-Korean final by overcoming CHOI Hyojoo the no.5 seed by the very narrowest of margins in a full distance seven games duel (11-7 11-8 5-11 11-13 14-12 7-11 11-9) before SEO Hyowon the no.2 seed ended the adventures of Russia’s Yana NOSKOVA the no.10 seed (13-11 11-8 12-10 11-5). Adversaries one day earlier in the Under 21 Women’s Singles final; Singapore’s LIN Ye and ZHOU Yihan combined to win Women’s Doubles title. Occupying the top seeded position in the draw they accounted for the second seeded partnership formed by Serbia’s Anamaria ERDELJI and Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS to secure the title (11-5 13-11 11-2). Nima ALAMIAN and Noshad ALAMIYAN of Iran the no.7 seeds accounted for Hungary’s Nandor ECSEKI and Adam SZUDI to claim gold (11-5 8-11 11-6 11-7). Japan’s Kohei SAMBE and Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan won the respective Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles titles. At the final hurdle Kohei SAMBE accounted for Hungary’s Nandor ECSEKI the no.11 seed (9-11 11-6 11-8 11-5). ZHOU Yihan overcame colleague LIN Ye the no.2 seed and winner two weeks earlier in the Czech Republic at the final hurdle (11-4 1-11 6-11 11-9 11-7).
Buzau gathers European future
ROMSTAL 2015 Europe Youth Top 10 (16th to 18th October) Well known Sport Hall ‘Romeo Iamandi’ in Buzau will once again host ROMSTAL 2015 Europe Youth Top 10. Romania the inexhaustible well of table tennis talents will gather European youth next month from 16th to 18th October. Under the guidance of Tournament Director Mrs. Beatrice ROMANESCU 40 juniors and cadets will compete for four titles. For sure Romania’s players will be under spotlight; not only because they play at the home soli but also because they holds three out of four top seeding positions in their respective categories. Junior boy’s singles category is the only exception. Last year’s winner Fillip ZELJKO entered the World of seniors so he left the door open for the new champion. Last year’s silver and bronze medals winners Alexandre CASSIN and Can AKKUZU of France holds top two spots at the seeding list. Dennis KLEIN of Germany darko JORGIC of Slovenia Konstantin CHERNOV of Russia Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus Bence MAJOROS of Hungary Alexandru MANOLE of Romania Romain RUIZ of France and Andreas LEVENKO of Austria will also play in Buzau. The substitutes are Deni KOZUL of Slovenia Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic Joe SEYFRIED of France Ibrahim GUNDUZ of Turkey. Last year silver medal winner in Cadet Girls Singles Event Adina DIACONU of Romania is the top seed in Junior Girls Singles Event 2015. Remaining 9 positions holds: Natalia BAJOR of Poland Alena LEMMER of Germany WAN Yuan of Germany Maria MALANINA of Russia Tin-Tin HO of England Daria CHERNOVA of Russia Alina NIKITCHANKA of Belarus Daria TRIGOLOS of Belarus and Marie MIGOT of France. The substitutes are Lisa LUNG of Belgium Alina ZAHARIA of Romania Andreea CLAPA of Romania and Diana LUPU of Romania. Cadet Boy’s Singles title holder Cristian PLETEA is at the top seeded position once again. He will face challenge from Irvin BERTRAND of France Rares SIPOS of Romania Medardas STANKEVICIUS of Lihuania Truls MOREGARD of Sweden Cristian CHIRITA of Moldavia Artem DVOYNIKOV of Russia Matteo MUTTI of Italy Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and Damien LLORCA of France. The substitutes are XU Janik of Germany Jules ROLLAND of France Tom EISE of Germany Leo DE NODREST of France Lilian BARDET of France Carlo ROSSI of Italy. In cadet Girls Singles Andreea DRAGOMAN will fight to defend her title won last year in France. On her way she will face Christina KALLBERG of Sweden Anastasia KOLISH of Russia Leili MOSTAFAVI of France Lucie GAUTHIER of France Zdena BLASKOVA Czech republic Elina RUB of Russia Ekaterina ZIRONOVA of Russia Emma MARN of Croatia and Ellen HOLMSTEN of Sweden. The substitutes are: Prithika PAVADE of France Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia Ecaterina SMIGANOVSKAIA of Moldova and Tania PLAIAN of Romania.
50 Day Countdown Until 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup Begins
One of the marque events on the ITTF calendar the 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup is just 50 days away! The 2015 Women’s World Cup will take place from 30 October to 1 November 2015 in Sendai Japan the same city that was devastated by a tsunami in 2011. Only 20 of the world’s best women’s table tennis players are invited to play in the Women’s World Cup. 17 of them have qualified through their respective Continental Cups plus the current World Champion a host country player and a wildcard. Current world champion DING Ning will miss the event to finally get over the ankle sprain she sustained in the dramatic World Championships final this year. This means that the woman she defeated in that historic final LIU Shiwen will be the favorite to win a remarkable fourth Women’s World Cup which would equal the record currently held by ZHANG Yining. The sold-out crowd will be fully behind the local Japanese due of Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Ai FUKUHARA who are world ranked number four and five respectively and will be expected to be pushing for the title on 1 November 2015. Both of the Japanese stars have been the stand out performers on the GAC Group 2015 World Tour so this will give them the confidence to lift the cup in front of their home crowd. The full list of 20 players that have qualified for one of the biggest shows in table tennis are: MESHREF Dina (EGY) – African Cup Winner FENG Tianwei (SIN) – Asian Cup Winner KUMAHARA Caroline (BRA) – Latin American Cup Winner ZHANG Mo (CAN) – North American Cup Winner LAY Jian Fang (AUS) – Oceania Cup Winner LIU Jia (AUT) – Europe Cup Winner LIU Shiwen (CHN) – Asian Cup 2nd place ZHU Yuling (CHN) – Asian Cup 3rd place SOLJA Petrissa (GER) – Europe Cup 2nd place IVANCAN Irene (GER) – Europe Cup 3rd place FUKUHARA Ai (JPN) – Asian Cup 4th place ISHIKAWA Kasumi (JPN) – Asian Cup 5th place SEO Hyowon (KOR) – Asian Cup 6th place DOO Hoi Kem (HKG) – Asian Cup 7th place LI Jiao (NED) – Europe Cup 4th place HU Melek (TUR) – Europe Cup 5th place POTA Georgina (HUN) – Europe Cup 6th place LI Jie (NED) – Europe Cup 9th place CHENG I-Ching (TPE) – Asian Cup 8th place YANG Haeun (KOR) – Wild card
Table Tennis Rio 2016 Test Event Details Revealed
It has been announced that the table tennis test event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games will be held 18-21 November 2015 in the Riocentro which is located in Barra da Tijuca The 2015 Aquece Rio International will host all four table tennis events that will feature at Rio 2016: Men’s Team Women’s Team Men’s Singles Women’s Singles all following the format to be used for the Olympic Games. The event is an opportunity for players coaches and officials to test the venue and the conditions to get ready for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games table tennis event which will be held 6 – 17 August 2016. The seven leading national associations on the May 2015 list plus the host nation Brazil are invited to compete in each of the 2015 Aquece Rio International Men’s Team and Women’s Team events. In addition a further eight men and eight women who are not involved in the team events are invited to compete in the respective Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events. The eight players comprise the leading player from each continent on the May world ranking list (http://bit.ly/1PCUawZ) plus the two highest players who have not qualified by the preceding requisites. Currently and depending on response the invitations are as follows: Men’s Team: 1. China 2. Germany 3. Japan 4. Korea Republic 5. Portugal 6. Hong Kong 7. Chinese Taipei Host. Brazil Women’s Team: 1. China 2. Japan 3. Singapore 4. Korea Republic 5. Hong Kong 6. Korea DPR 7. Netherlands Host. Brazil Men’s Singles:Africa: Omar ASSAR (Egypt) Asia: GAO Ning (Singapore) Vladimir SAMSONOV Marcos MADRID (Mexico) North America: Eugene WANG (Canada) & Oceania: William HENZELL (Australia) Women’s Singles:Africa: Dina MESHREF (Egypt) Asia: CHENG I-Ching (Chinese Taipei) Europe: HAN Ying (Germany) Latin America: Yadira SILVA (Mexico) North America: ZHANG Mo (Canada) & Oceania: JIAN Fang Lay (Australia)
Action moved to De Haan
GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belgium Open A Challenge Series tournament GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belgium Open is staged in De Haan a municipality in West Flanders. It is situated on the country’s northern English channel coastline. Singapore’s FENG Tianwei heads the lists of entries in the Women’s Singles event whilst KIM Minseok of Korea is the leading name in the Men’s Singles Event. Best ranked European player on the seeding list in men’s Event is LI Ahmet of Turkey at the position no. 5 Mattias KARLSSON of Sweden is ranked at the position no. 9. Legendary Jean Michel SAIVE is also on duty seeded no. 11 just one place above his compatriot Cedric NUYTINCK. Bernadette SZOCS of Romania is seeded no. 7 followed by Yana NOSKOVA of Russia at the position no. 10 Anamaria ERDELJI of Serbia seeded no. 15 and Lisa LUNG of Belgium at position no. 16. The main draw starts tomorrow. In qualifications the top eight players recorded victories in opening rounds. Dennis KLEIN of Germany Konstantin CHERNOV of Russia QIU Dang of Germany Gencay MENGE of Turkey Andrea LANDRIEU of France Vidan GADIEV of Russia Luka FUCEC of Croatia Lionel WEBER of Switzerland all concluded the day victoriously.
