Round 1 will be held this Thursday and Friday as defending champion AS PONTOISE CERGY hosts current runner-up ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS. Andreas PREUSS (BORUSSIA) Slobodan GRUJIC (SAARBRUCKEN) and Allan BENTSEN (ROSKLIDE) present their expectations about opening round… The 2016/17 Table Tennis Champions League Men commences this Thursday and Friday by the Round 1 which offers reprise of the latest TTCLM final between defending champion AS PONTOISE CERGY and runner-up ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS (Group B October 6th 20:00 CET). As in last few seasons 16 clubs divided in four groups will play six rounds within group stage as two best will reach the TTCLM quarter-finals while third placed are going to play in the ETTU Cup Men quarter-finals. Top seeded triple TTCLM champion FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG (Russia) will meet VAILLANTE SPORTS ANGERS TT (France) in the Group A clash. Russian giant is considered as huge favorite for the title having three Top 10 players at the ITTF World Ranking list: current Olympic bronze medalist in Singles Event Jun MIZUTANI (Japan No. 5) actual individual European champion Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Germany World No. 6) and 2016 Olympic semi-finalist Vladimir SAMSONOV (Byelorussia No. 9). Japanese signed this summer after two season spent in other Russian club UMMC Verkhnaya Pyshma. ROSKILDE BORDTENNIS BTK 61 (Denmark) goes to Germany to face the 2009 TTCLM finalist TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN which coach Dubravko SKORIC counts on five young players (all five born from 1994 to 1996): Simon GAUZY Jakub DYJAS Joao GERALDO Hugo CALDERANO and Yuto MURAMATSU. Most experienced player of Danish side as well as its sport director Allan BENTSEN is looking forward to the opening match: „Our first match in Ochsenhausen will be very hard. They have a very strong team with players from both Olympic and just finished World Cup in Germany. We are happy to be in the Champions League again and hope to surprise some off the teams in our group. Our players are ready Chinese ZHAI Yulia are real happy to be tested in TTCLM then we have some young “guns” in Claus NIELSEN from Denmark and Ewout OOSTWOUDER from Netherlands they will have to get some experience from the matches there and with there young fighter hearts they will for sure be hard for some of the players”. BENTSEN added that his team also has some experienced players like himself and Michael MAZE: „We’ll see how to put the team from match to match. If we can disturb some teams and maybe take the third position we will be very happy”. Beside the game in Pontoise one more clash will be held in the Group B between the 2012 TTCLM runner-up UMMC and 2015 ETTU Cup finalist KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK. Coach of Russian club Tatiana KUTERGINA stated: „We will play the 1st round TTCLM match against Polish team which we are very good familiar with – last year because of this team we finished group stage on the second place. The team is strong they were semi-finalists of the TTCLM last year. Our group is very strong this year. The first match will be examination of our readiness for the season”. Fourth seed and 1985/86 Champions League winner and 3 times ETTU Cup winner 1.FC SAARBRUCKEN Tischtennis (Germany) hosts four times Pro A League winner G.V. HENNEBONT TT (France) leaded again by Kalinikos KREANGA. Other Group C match will be held in Poland: BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI – TTC OSTRAVA 2016. „We are expecting very tough team from France thus we need to show our best in order to win. We are focused on our side having some players which are not yet in their best shape after 2016 Rio Olympics. The group is really hard but our aim remains quarter-final what is realistic I think” stressed Saarbrucken`s coach Slobodan GRUJIC. In the Group D No. 2 seed and ten times TTCLM champion Timo BOLL`s BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF (Germany) plays on its soil against SPG WALTER WELS while the 2012 runner-up CHARTES ASTT (France) welcomes KST ENERGA – MANEKIN TORUŃ (Poland). BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF`s manager Andreas PREUSS hopes that his side can be better than last year taking some fresh energy from their newcomers (Kristian KARLSSON Stefan FEGERL Anton KALLBERG): “It feels great to start in TTCL 2016/17 now. We would like to reach the quarter finals and to finish first in our group. So we have to win against Wels on Thursday to be in a good position for it. We are favorite with our team but we know that it will be a close match.” The 2016/17 TTCLM Round 1 (October 6-7th) GROUP A TTC FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG – VAILLANTE SPORTS ANGERS TT (October 6th 14:00 CET) TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN – ROSKILDE BORDTENNIS BTK61 (October 7th 18:00 CET) GROUP B AS PONTOISE CERGY – ESLOVS AI BORDTENNIS (October 6th 20:00 CET) UMMC – KS UNIA AZS AWFiS GDANSK (October 7th 16:00 CET) GROUP C BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI – TTC OSTRAVA 2016 (October 7th 19:30 CET) FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – G. V. HENNEBONT TT (October 7th 20:00 CET) GROUP D BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – SPG WALTER WELS (October 6th 19:00 CET) CHARTRES ASTT – KST ENERGA-MANEKIN TORUN (October 7th 19:00 CET)
Tomas POLANSKY lead the elite in Prague
JOOLA 2016 Europe Youth Top 10 The JOOLA 2016 Europe Youth Top 10 commences on Friday October 7th and after three days of fierce battles in Prague the winners will be crowned on Sunday evening. Entries list reveils the fact that only in Junior Girls Event we might see the player defending her title from the last edition in Buzau; in all other Events “new names” will enter the record books. Top seeded player in Junior Boy’s Event is Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic. Tomas won bronze medal at the European Youth Championships earlier this year in Zagreb. He will face very strong opposition from the no. two seed from France Joe SEYFRIED. In Both Boys categories France has maximum of three players and against Joe Irvin BERTRAND and Nolan GIVONE POLANSKY can expect very tough joureny. The winner of the Cadet Boys event last year in Buzau Cristian PLETEA will play in junior category. Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus is also on duty alongside Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO Carlos VEDRIEL of Spain Tobias HIPPLER of Germany and Anders LIND of Denmark. Top seeded player in Junior Girls Event is Adina DIACONU of Romania followed by last year’s winner in Cadet Category compatriot Andreea DRAGOMAN. Audrey ZARIF of France and NING Jing of Azerbaijan are seeded no. three and four. They are in front of last year’s winner Marie MIGOT of France. ZHANG Xuan of Spain Daria TRIGOLOS of Belarus Maria MALANINA of Russia Tin-Tin HO of England and Nikita PETROVOVA of Czech Republic complets the list. In Cadet Boys Event will play Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia Truls MOREGARD of Sweden Carlo ROSSI of Italy Maksim GREBNEV of Russia Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK of Austria WANG Chenxi of Azerbaijan Lilian BARDET and Vincent PICARD of France Jan VALENTA of Czech Republic and Bilal HAMACHE of France. In Cadet Girls Singles Event will play last year’s silver medalist Anastasia KOLISH of Russia CHEN Xingtai of Azerbaijan host nation reperesentative Zdena BLASKOVA Romania’s Tania PLAIAN Croatia’s Marta VUKELIC Prithika PAVADE of France Anna WEGRZYN of Poland Ekaterina ZIRONOVA of Russia Laura TIEFENBRUNNER of Germany and ZHOU Chuyi of Azerbaijan. The first edition was in 1985. Until 2007 it was played as a Youth Top 12. From 2008 the event changed to Youth Top 10 with cadet boys and girls too.
KORBEL believes that TTC Ostrava 2016 can beat favorites
Team manager and player of Czech team is looking forward to the opening game of the 2016/17 TTCLM season against Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki (October 7th 19h30) The 2016/17 Table Tennis Champions League Men will be opened by the Round 1 this Thursday and Friday as one of eight matches will be held in Poland between 5th seed Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki and 14th seed TTC Ostrava 2016 (October 7th 19h30). We asked player and team manager of Czech team Petr KORBEL to say his expectations from that match and Group C in general (other Round 1 match is FC Saarbrucken Tischtennis – G.V. Hennebont TT) “Our team will face Polish team Grodzisk Mazowiecki which we already met twice in the last season (as HB Ostrov Havlickuv Brod). Last two matches we were successful and we would like to be it again. We know that Polish team is very strong and favorite in this match but we will fight as usually” stated legendary Czech player KORBEL semi-finalist of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. TTC Ostrava 2016 tops the Czech Republic`s Super League with all five victories after five rounds. Newcomer from Serbia Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC (World No. 84) brought new strenght to his side as well as Taipei`s CHIANG Hung-Chieh (No. 78). KARAKASEVIC and Tomas TREGLER (No. 163) contributed with two wins each in the latest victory against DencoHappel Liberec 4:2. Ostrava`s ranking is not so high on the TTCLM seeding list but they have a lot of experience and two former individual bronze medalist from European championships (KORBEL in 2000 KARAKASEVIC in 2011). “Our group with two more teams from Saarbrucken and Hennebont gives an opportunity to all of teams to advance into play-off round. It can count every match set ball…” concluded KORBEL.
LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF Men’s World Cup: FAN new champion KARLSSON finished 4th
Last year’s runner-up beat 2013 champion XU Xin in five games to clinch his first ever title FAN Zhendong did one more big achievement after his recent victory against World and Olympic champion MA Long at China Open taking the title of LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF Men’s World Cup in Saarbrucken. The 19-year-old Chinese last year’s runner-up in Halmstad Sweden now beat his compatriot and 2013 winner XU Xin in five games of the final. Newly crowned champion easily took first three sets of the final clash but XU won fourth one and led 4:0 in the fifth game. FAN managed to reverse the game at 6:5 and lift the trophy after his second match ball (12:10). Kristian KARLSSON from Sweden finished on the fourth spot as he lost both his today’s matches in five games: in the semi-final he was beaten by FAN and finally in the bronze medal contest by Hong Kong’s WONG Chun Ting. Swede actual World No. 29 missed a set ball for 2:0 lead. WONG responded by three points in a row in the decisive moments of the game. However KARLSSON did a nice job in Saarbrucken bearing in mind that he beat 2015 bronze medalist and one of favorites Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. Semi-finals FAN Zhendong (CHN) – Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) 4:1 (11:4 11:8 7:11 11:9 11:7) WONG Chun Ting (HKG) – XU Xin (CHN) 1:4 (9:11 15:13 7:11 3:11 6:11) 3rd place match Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) – WONG Chun Ting (HKG) 1:4 (11:8 10:12 6:11 9:11 7:11) Final FAN Zhendong (CHN) – XU Xin (CHN) 4:1 (11:5 11:6 11:8 7:11 12:10)
WEIKERT Announces his ITTF Presidential Candidacy
Current ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT (GER) has announced today 2 October 2016 his candidacy for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Presidential elections to be held on 31 May 2017 in Dusseldorf Germany. The lawyer from Limburg took over the presidency in September 2014 as Deputy President when then ITTF President Adham SHARARA (CAN) stepped down from the position he held for 15 years and this will be the first time the German will stand for election as ITTF President. During the announcement at a press conference organised by the German Table Tennis Association at the LIEBHERR 2016 Men’s World Cup Mr WEIKERT stated: “In 2014 I did not have to go through an election to become the ITTF President so I am delighted that I can now also stand for the delegates’ vote for the first time in Dusseldorf in 2017.” Mr WEIKERT announced in Saarbrucken Germany five key central themes as the focal points of his campaign: TTX: The new version of table tennis ‘Anytime Anywhere Anyhow’ shall be developed and promoted globally. The aim is to gain new fans and active participants for table tennis. Table Tennis Marketing: The ITTF will make a greater effort to market table tennis in the future through working with existing partners and finding new ones. One World – One Game – One Level: Further implementation and development of existing ITTF development programmes. Both establishing and further developing table tennis in ‘small’ nations with the help of the federation’s development programs and pushing high performance across the world. The joint project between China and the ITTF ‘Made by China’ has already been initiated to help develop more international stars across the globe to compete with China. Table Tennis Digital: Using new digital platforms to achieve an even stronger connection between fans and the sport and tap into additional markets and the younger generation. Table Tennis Future: The ITTF is firmly committed to keeping table tennis attractive for players spectators and the media to further improve its appeal through a variety of methods. The 54-year-old concluded: “We need to take some important and necessary decisions in our sport in the next four years. My goal is not only to secure an excellent position for table tennis within Olympic sports but also further develop it.” The deadline for National Associations to submit nominations for Presidential candidates is 30 April 2017.
LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF Men`s World Cup: KARLSSON – FAN in the semis
Kristian KARLSSON from Sweden beat all odds to defeat Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the Round of 16 while in the quarter-final he overcame Simon GAUZY. Both German players lost in front of their fans in Saarbrucken After Day 2 of the LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF Men`s World Cup in Saarbrucken Sweden`s Kristian KARLSSON is unique European player in the semi-finals which will be held on Monday October 3rd. Today he beat both Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Simon GAUZY to set the clash with the top seeded FAN Zhendong beside his compatriot XU Xin hot favorite for the title. Dima OVTCHAROV was considered as main threat to Chinese duo but he lost to Swede in five games at the beginning of the main draw. KARLSSON lost opening set but fully controlled next three and after all took the fifth game very intense and close. One of the most exciting Round of 16 matches was one between Simon GAUZY and Bastian STEGER. Frenchman beat second host player after full seven games (last two he won by a narrow margin). In one more all-European clash Par GERELL from Sweden eliminated Portugal`s Tiago APOLONIA in five sets. Triple champion Vladimir SAMSONOV from Byelorussia lost to Korean LEE Sangsu which compatriot JEOUNG Youngsik overcame Austrian Stefan FEGERL. Two top seeds were confident in the quarter-finals: last year`s runner-up FAN Zhendong beat JEOUNG Youngsik in five games while XU Xin was better than Par GERELL. Kristian KARLSSON and Simon GAUZY showed impressive skills in the seven-game long thriller as Swede won 4:3 (5:11 11:8 11:4 10:12 11:7 8:11 12:10). Frenchman played 14 sets in total in five hours. Round of 16 FAN Zhendong (CHN) – GAO Ning (SGP) 4:0 (11:3 11:3 11:6 11:3) Stefan FEGERL (AUT) – JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR) 2:4 (6:11 9:11 3:11 13:11 11:7 13:15) Simon GAUZY (FRA) – Bastian STEGER (GER) 4:3 (11:3 14:16 15:13 3:11 8:11 12:10 12:10) Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) 4:1 (6:11 11:7 11:5 11:5 13:11) WONG Chun Ting (HKG) – Joao MONTEIRO (POR) 4:2 (11:9 7:11 11:6 11:5 3:11 11:4) LEE Sangsu (KOR) – Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) 4:1 (11:9 7:11 12:10 16:14 11:6) Tiago APOLONIA (POR) – Par GERELL (SWE) 1:4 (8:11 12:10 9:11 9:11 4:11) Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) – XU Xin (CHN) 0:4 (8:11 5:11 6:11 7:11) Quarter-finals FAN Zhendong (CHN) – JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR) 4:1 (6:11 11:5 11:9 12:10 11:9) Simon GAUZY (FRA) – Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) 3:4 (11:5 8:11 4:11 12:10 7:11 11:8 10:12) WONG Chun Ting (HKG) – LEE Sangsu (KOR) 4:0 (11:9 11:5 11:7 11:5) Par GERELL (SWE) – XU Xin (CHN) 1:4 (11:7 7:11 8:11 4:11 7:11) Semi-finals (October 3rd) FAN Zhendong (CHN) – Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) 11:00 WONG Chun Ting (HKG) – XU Xin (CHN) 11:45
New Father Ovtcharov aiming to become Men’s World Cup Champion
Nearly two months on from his agonising defeat at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinal Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) is now a father and is ready for a tilt at becoming the champion at the Liebherr 2016 Men’s World Cup which starts tomorrow 1 October 2016 in Saarbrucken Germany. The world number six who won bronze in the team’s event at Rio 2016 to make up for his singles heartbreak became a father just one week after the Olympic Games to a baby girl named Emma. Speaking about his newborn daughter the German’s face beams: “I am always so excited to come home after practice. I miss her when I am away so I always FaceTime with her so that I can see her as much as possible. It is a unique and special feeling andfulfilsme with just happiness.” Despite the challenges of fatherhood 28 year old OVTCHAROV is prepared for the prestigious event and expects good results “I have been practicing intensively in the last two weeks I feel ready and I really want to post some good victories. I would love a win against a Chinese player to show my standing in world table tennis.” The Chinese players OVTCHAROV is speaking about is none other than FAN Zhendong and XU Xin world number two and three respectively who are hot favorites for the title here in Germany. FAN who is coming off a career defining win against Olympic champion MA Long at the China Open two weeks ago stated: “I am very excited about playing here at the Men’s World Cup. I really want to win my first big senior world title event. I hope I can do it. Other top contenders for glory in Saarbrucken are three times champion Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) who will be taking part in his 16th Men’s World Cup just two shy off the record world number seven WONG Chun Ting (HKG) and world number 10 JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR). Kicking off the event are seeds nine to 20 who will play round robin in four groups of three players (two matches each). The top two players from each group progresses to the second round of the competition. This first round draw can be found here:http://bit.ly/2d1WYXg. The second round which starts on Saturday is a straight knockout with the eight players that progressed from the first round facing off against the top eight seeded players. The players play the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Sunday with the semifinals and final on Monday. The Liebherr 2016 ITTF Men’s World Cup only consists of 20 of the world’s best players. 17 of the players competing here had to qualify through their respective Continental Cups which means only the best of the best can compete.
ECLW Round 1: Three wins of host sides
All four matches finished 3:1 but just one belonged to the visitors as ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly upset BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR Three out of four top seeds were successful in the opening round of the 2016/17 European Champions League Women: TTC Berlin Eastside – Postas Sport Egyesulet 3:1 UCAM Cartagena – TuS bad Driburg 3:1 BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly 1:3 KTS Siarka-ZOT Tarnobrzeg – SKST Stavoimpex Hodonin 3:1. Berlin beat Postas in Group A as Yui HAMAMOTO won two matches. The 18-year-old from Japan played just one game in the last season as team`s no. 3 in the line-up (beat Bursa`s Maria DOLGIKH) but tonight started as no. 1 and beat two former individual European champions. First she overcame LI Jiao in five games of the opener and then Ruta PASKAUSKIENE in four sets. Newcomer in Postas`s team PASKAUSKIENE took unique point for her side beating SHAN Xiaona. Georgina POTA was better than Rita KERTAI in the third match. UCAM Cartagena presented all three its newcomers against TuS bad Driburg. World No. 8 CHENG I Ching who played 2014 ECLW final in Fenerbahce`s jersey defeated SHI Qi and Nina MITTELHAM in the first and fourth match respectively. Matilda EKHOLM provided one more point for the host against 19-year-old MITTELHAM while Sara DE NUTTE was unique winner in the team which plays its very first ECLW season. DE NUTTE was better than Tetyana BILENKO after full five games. ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly managed to upset Bursa in the Group C clash in which two leading players were absent: YU Mengyu (Bursa) and LI Fen (Grand Quevilly). Host side put 17-year-old Simay KULAKSEKEN as team`s no. 1 and she lost both her encounters against TIAN Yuan and Shihi ONO who brought one more point to her side defeating Aleksandra PRIVALOVA. Second seed and actual ECLW runner-up KTS Siarka-ZOT Tarnobrzeg was confident against SKST Stavoimpex Hodonin thanks to the best ranked ECLW player HAN Ying (World No. 7) who beat both Lenka HARABASZOVA and Renata STRBIKOVA in straight games. STRBIKOVA leveled the score in the second match beating former individual European champion Viktoria PAVLOVICH. The most exciting game was one between LI Qian and Natalia PARTYKA which belonged to the host after full five games. Group A: TTC Berlin Eastside – Postas Sport Egyesulet 3:1 Yui HAMAMOTO – LI Jiao 3:2 (11:6 11:13 11:6 4:11 11:9) SHAN Xioana – Ruta PASKAUSKIENE 2:3 (11:4 11:8 3:11 7:11 9:11) Georgina POTA – Rita KERTAI 3:0 (12:10 11:7 11:7) Yui HAMAMOTO – Ruta PASKAUSKIENE 3:1 (11:8 5:11 14:12 11:6) Group B: UCAM Cartagena – TuS bad Driburg 3:1 CHENG I Ching – SHI Qi 3:2 (8:11 7:11 11:4 11:7 11:3) Matilda EKHOLM – Nina MITTELHAM 3:0 (11:6 11:0 11:5) Tetyana BILENKO – Sarah DE NUTTE 2:3 (10:12 11:9 11:9 6:11 6:11) CHENG I Ching – Nina MITTELHAM 3:1 (10:12 15:13 11:7 11:5) Group C: BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly 1:3 Simay KULAKCEKEN – TIAN Yuan 0:3 (2:11 4:11 5:11) Aleksandra PRIVALOVA – Shiho ONO 1:3 (3:11 11:8 7:11 10:`12) HU Melek – Galia DVORAK 3:1 (14:12 9:11 11:7 11:8) Simay KULAKCEKEN – Shiho ONO 2:3 (9:11 11:9 11:9 7:11 7:11) Group D: KTS Siarka-ZOT Tarnobrzeg – SKST Stavoimpex Hodonin 3:1 HAN Ying – Lenka HARABASZOVA 3:0 (11:9 11:6 11:8) Viktoria PAVLOVICH – Renata STRBIKOVA 0:3 (9:11 8:11 9:11) LI Qian – Natalia PARTYKA 3:2 (14:12 11:3 4:11 13:15 11:5) HAN Ying – Renata STRBIKOVA 3:0 (11:9 11:9 11:8)
San-Ei Continue to Tokyo 2020 after Successful Rio 2016 Table Partnership
After the massive success of the table tennis event at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games San-Ei has signed up as the official table supplier for Tokyo 2020. San-Ei was responsible for the picturesque Infinity table that millions of people around the world admired and watched table tennis history being created on at Rio 2016. Commenting continuing the Olympic Games partnership with the ITTF San-Ei President Shin MIURA stated: “All of us at San-Ei are proud to be selected as the official table supplier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games after the success of the Rio 2016 Games. As was the case in Rio 2016 the table that we will supply in Tokyo 2020 will be highly tuned for performance and be visually spectacular. We promise to go past infinity!” Tokyo 2020 will be even more significant for the Japanese company San-Ei as they get to show off their table and brand at their home Olympic Games. ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT added on about the deal that was brokered by TMS International: “San-Ei will forever be part of table history after the iconic table at Rio 2016 which we love. The ITTF is very pleased to be continuing this fruitful partnership and I can’t wait to see the table that San-Ei will create for Tokyo 2020 to again portray our sport in the best possible light to the world.”
Postas Sport Egyesulet ready for the biggest challenge
President of Hungarian side Rostas GABOR speaks about ECLW Round 1 game against TTC Berlin Eastside (September 30th 19:00) Hungarian club Postas Sport Egyesulet lost all four group stage matches in the 2015/16 European Champions League Women but continued in the ETTU Cup Women and reached the semi-final. This time they have ambition to reach at least ECLW quarter-final starting from the hardest possible place Berlin. Their first opponent is the 2016/17 ECLW top seed and actual champion TTC Berlin Eastside. “It is an honor to play among the best teams in Europe” stated Postas` president Rostas GABOR. “Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals but we know that all the players each participants an international class and top player. Of course not only one single match should provide a good position and we know that the first match is perhaps the biggest challenge for us. We’ll do the best to achieve a close and a good result and a good Introduction for the first game of a difficult season.” Hungarian side signed this summer former individual European champion Ruta PASKAUSKIENE who played in UCAM Cartagena in the previous season. She joined well experienced LI Jiao (also former ECH gold medalist) and Rita KERTAI.
