Sweden and France unbeaten in Bratislava At the end of the day one at the European Youth Championships in Bratislava in Cadet Girls Teams Event only Serbia failed to justify their rankings. Belgium beat them to finish the day at position no. two in Group C. Top seeded team in Group A Russia easily prevailed in both their matches. Anastasia KOLISH Maria TAYLAKOVA and Kristina KAZANTSEVA recorded two straight matches victories over Czech Republic and Poland. Both Czech Republic and Poland beat Hungary so they will play against each other tomorrow for the position no. two that leads directly to the top 16. In Group B Leili MOSTAFAVI and Lucie GAUTHIER from team of France beat Belarus and Germany also in straight matches. Like in Group A Belarus and Germany accounted for Austria who is seeded at position no. four in their Group; they will play against each other on the second day for the position no. two. In Group C Sweden’s Stina KALLBERG and Ellen HOLMSTEN overcame Serbia and Belgium However Jana BERNARD Natacha KOSZULAP from team of Belgium accounted for Spain to secure the second position in their Group. Spain seeded at the last position in Group C also beat Serbia to move one place up. In Group D Romania showed no weak points. Andrea DRAGOMAN and Tania PLAIAN beat Slovakia and Turkey in straight matches. Gui Pembe OZKAYA of Turkey stretched PLAINA to full distance in singles whilst Slovakia’s Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Natalia GRIGELOVA played five games in doubles against Romania’s representatives before group leaders justified their rankings. Ukraine failed to post a victory despite very good performance against Turkey.
Bronze medal for the French team at the Universiade
Quentin ROBINOT Tristan FLORE Romain LORENTZ and Benjamin BROSSIER clinched the medal in Gwangju Team of France clinched the bronze medal at the 2015 Universiade in the Korean city of Gwangju. In the final China beat Japan whilst Chinese Taipei also won bronze. In the Women’s Teams Event China also reached the top place at the medal rostrum Chinese Taipei won silver whilst Japan and Korea won bronze. Quentin ROBINOT Tristan FLORE Romain LORENTZ and Benjamin BROSSIER beat Latvia Romania Cambodia Estonia and Belgium on their way to the semifinal. At the penultimate stage they lost against China. “We are very happy to reach the bronze medal. Against China in the semi final we had very difficult match; they were stronger then us. we have to accept it and to learn from these games ” said Tristan FLORE.
The media accreditation period is now open for the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Championships
Stay connected in the build up to the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Championships by using the official hashtag #ITTFEuros2015 LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships will be held in Ekaterinburg Russia from 25 September 4 to October 2015. After the 2013 edition held in Schwechat once again in Russia we will see both Team’s and Individual events at the same competition. The 10-days Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships will take place at the International Exhibition Centre “Ekaterinburg Expo” with six gold medals up on offer: men’s team women’s team men’s singles women’s singles men’s doubles and women’s doubles. The media accreditation period is open. The interested media who are registered with AIPS or their national press associations need to register here by 25 August 2015. Applications received after 25 August 2015 will not be considered. Meanwhile stay connected in the build up to the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships by using the official hashtag #ITTFEuros2015.
19 clubs from 11 countries in the ETTU Cup opening round
The draw will be conducted on July 15th in Bratislava The total of 35 clubs will be included in the ETTU Cup Men draw which comes on July 15th in Bratislava Slovakia during the 58th European Youth Championships. The opening round will gathered 19 clubs from 11 countries. Eight participants are qualified for the second round as well as for the third one. In the second are: Enjoy & Deploy Taverzo (Netherlands) El Nino EHW (Czech Republic) DT Diddeleng (Luxembourg) STK Libertas Marinkolor (Croatia) TTC Sokah Hoboken (Belgium) Fortune Kyiv (Ukraine) Yroni Givatayim (Israel) and Irun Leka Enea (Spain). In third round following club will join them: VS Angers TT (France) Stella Sport La Romagne (France) Istres TT (France) Roskilde Bordtennis (Denmark) DVK Borges Vall (Spain) Halmstad BTK (Sweden) Trade Alliance Kiev (Ukraine) and Logis Auderghem TT (Belgium).Two TTCLM members played in the latest ETTU Cup final when Eslovs Al from Sweden beat Polish Olimpia Unia Grudziadz. As usual the third ranked clubs in the TTCLM group stage (there are four groups) will continue in the ultimate ETTU Cup chapter.
SLOVNAFT Arena awaits future of Continental table tennis
The 58th edition of the European Youth Championships starts on Friday We are counting hours before the start of the 58th edition of the European Youth Championships. From July 10th until 19th Slovak Republic will host the future of Continental table tennis in the SLOVNAFT Arena in Bratislava. As we used to the first part of the competition will be reserved for the teams events until the next Tuesday; whilst from next Wednesday the competitors in singles doubles and mixed doubles will take the stage. Most crowded event is the Cadet Boys Team’s event with 41 nation on entries list. Junior Boys has one less whilst for Junior and Cadet Girls Teams Event 34 nation sent their teams. They all will fight for 14 titles. The title holder in Junior Boys Team in Junior Girls Team and in Cadet Boys Team is France. Only Team’s Event won by other nation was Cadet Girls Team. Romania clinched the title in that category. In Junior Boys Singles the 2014 winner was Alexandre CASSIN of France; in Junior Girls Singles Chantal MANTZ of Germany clinched the title. CASSIN will be on duty in Bratislava whilst Germany counts on team without last year’s winner. In Junior Boys Doubles Adam SZUDI and Nandor ECSEKI of Hungary stood at the top of Europe; whilst in Junior Girls Doubles Portugal’s Rita FINS and Patricia MACIEL reached the gold. In Junior Mixed Doubles Tomislav PUCAR and Lea RAKOVAC brought gold to Croatia. In Cadet Boys and Girls Singles Romania’s Rares SIPOS and Adina DIACONU succeeded to the top in Italy last year. In Cadet Boys Doubles Nolan GIVONE and Ivan BERTRAND of France and in Cadet Girls Doubles Adina DIACONU of Romania and Lisa LUNG of Belgium made it to the top place at the medal rostrum. In Cadet Mixed Doubles Romani had another gold won by Cristian PLETEA and Adina DIACONU. Both players are present in Bratislava. In top Division top seeds last year’s winners team of France will play against Hungary Spain and Croatia. In Group B Sweden will meet Germany Slovakia and Denmark. In Group C 2014 runners up Poland will meet Czech Republic Belarus and Portugal. In Group D Russia will face the opposition from Slovenia Austria and Ukraine. In Juniors Girls Team’s Event as in Group A France will start their journey with matches in the first phase against Hungary Serbia and Estonia. In Group B are Romania at the top followed by Spain Portugal and Croatia. In Group C Germany will face Poland Czech Republic and Israel. In Group D Russia is the leader followed by Belarus Slovenia and Italy. Romania’s cadets are on the top of the Group A. They will meet Poland Hungary and Czech Republic. France is the leading nation in the Group B. Russia Turkey and Denmark are also there. In Group C Italy is at the top followed by Lithuania Sweden and Slovenia whilst in Group D Germany at the top will play against Moldova Belgium and Serbia. In Cadet girls Event Russia is in the Group A. They will meet Czech Republic Poland and Hungary. In Group B France will play against Belarus Germany and Austria. At the top of the Group C is Sweden. Serbia Belgium and Spain will try to halt their progress. In Group D Romania is with Slovakia Turkey and Ukraine.
Berlin new ECLW top seed
European Champions League Women draw will be held in Slovakia on July 13. Reigning champion Fenerbahce is the no. 4 The reigning ECLW champion Fenerbahce is posted on the fourth place on the drawing for the 2015/16 season which will be held next Monday in Bratislava Slovakia during the 58th European Youth Championships. Twelve clubs will participate four more than last year. Two times ECLW winner TTC Berlin Eastide starts as new no. 1 in the draw the spot which was reserved for Fenerbahce in previous two seasons. After many years one more double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg is not among the top four seeds and now is no. 5. Fenerbahce was unbeatable last year having Top 10 ITTF WR player WU Yang but this time it could say that there is no such clear favorite for the crown. Of course the drawing list says that Berlin should have small advantage continuing with same trio Berlin Georgina POTA Petrissa SOLJA SHAN Xiaona who all participated in the 2013/14 title. They will be backed now with Japanese Miyu KATO. Actual ETTU Cup winner Zamek Tarnobrzeg leading by top ranked ECLW player HAN Ying (world`s no. 12) is able to beat every opponent. Counting also on good experience LI Qian as well as Natalia PARTYKA. The seed no. 3 SVNO STROCK the 2011/12 finalist keeps its usual course mixing experience and youth in its squad (Sayaka HIRANO Tetyana BILENKO Matilda EKHOLM Lea RAKOVAC…) Fenerbahce will have its new attempt without Chinese players (Elizabeta SAMARA Irene IVANCAN Yana NOSKOVA…). For sure they will target again the highest possible goal. As always Linz AG Froschberg must be considered as one of the title pretenders bearing in mind not just players (LIU Jia Sofia POLCANOVA Iveta VACENOVSKA LIU Ying…) but tradition and all trophies as well. ECLW newcomer from Turkey Bursa counts on experience of HU Melek and Polina MIKHAILOVA who have been playing many years in this competition. French Metz has two well know names FU Yu and former European Champion WU Jiaduo… The 2015/16 ECLW seeding list 1 TTC Berlin Eastside (Germany) 7934 2 KTS Spar Zamek Tarnobezeg (Poland) 7757 3 SVNO STROCK (Austria) 7606 4 Fenerbahce Sport Club (Turkey) 7570 5 Linz AG Froschberg (Austria) 7552 6 Metz TT (France) 7541 7 Bursa Belediyespor (Turkey) 7328 8 Szekszard AC (Hungary) 7118 9 UCAM Cartagena (Spain) 7072 10 Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille (France) 6876 11 TT Saint Quentin (France) 6837 12 Postas Sport Egyesulet (Hungary) 6456
Lily ZHANG reinforces SVNÖ Ströck
For Austria’s club will play: HIRANO (JAP) BILENKO (UKR) EKHOLM (SWE) RAKOVAC (CRO) KHETKUEN (THA) MIGOT (FRA) and ZHANG (USA) SVNÖ Ströck champion of the Austrian Women Table Tennis League in 2014 and Champions League semifinalist in the season 2014/15 was able to entice the 19 year old Californian Lily ZHANG to Austria. The undertaking of the US-Team-player presents a fairly huge coup for many reasons. Besides the fact that Lily ZHANG is the first US-American in history that made her way to one of the top leagues in Europe she represents in many other ways what is called a “colorful bird”. At the Olympic Youth Games in Nanjing 2014 she won the bronze medal and therefore plays a big part in the enormous popularity boost of table tennis in the US.The pretty sports-student represents perfectly the “American way of Life” and wrote sports history also besides her bronze medal in Nanjing. At the age of 12 she managed as the youngest player of all times to be drafted in the US-national team and in the cadet world ranking she even reached position two.Now Lily ZHANG (who is currently on position 94 in the World Ranking after she played very few tournaments in the last months) wants to make the next step on her way to a world-class-player. This leads her to the Werner SCHLAGER Academy in Schwechat where she will be (beginning in September) a permanent training guest. From the WSA it is only a small step to the WSA-partner club SVNÖ Ströck. In the upcoming season the US-girl will play in the supranational Superleague and the national championships. With Lily ZHANG the squad of SVNÖ Ströck for the season 2015/16 is complete: Sayaka HIRANO (JAP) Tetyana BILENKO (UKR) Matilda EKHOLM (SWE) Lea RAKOVAC (CRO) Tamolwan KHETKUEN (THA) Marie MIGOT (FRA) and Lily ZHANG (USA).
Orenburg 6th time TTCLM top seed
The 2014/15 finalists Fakel Gazproma and Borussia Dussldorf are approaching to the draw for the 2015/16 season as two top seeds The reigning TTCLM champion Fakel Gazproma Orenburg will be again the top seed in the draw which will be held on May 13th in Bratislava during the 58th European Youth Championships. Again top 16 European clubs will compete. Since Russian club entered the most prestigious club`s competition in 2010/11 it have always been no. 1 on the seeding list followed all this time by Borussia Dusseldorf. These two clubs met in the latest final as Russians won their third TTCLM title despite they lost 3:1 first away leg. It looks almost impossible in the world of professional sport but Orenburg all its TTCLM years plays in the same-line up Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Vladimir SAMSONOV Alexey SMIRNOV and they continue together. Borussia can count on all their staff from previous season: Timo BOLL Panagiotis GIONIS Patrick FRANZISKA and Sharat Kamal ACHANTA. The 2013/14 champion Pontoise is the 3th seed (GAO Ning continues) the 2011/12 finalist UMMC is no. 4 (Jun MIZUTANI stays as team`s no. 1) the 2012/13 finalist Chartres is no. 5 while no. 6 occupies newcomer from Poland KST Energa Manekin Torun who hired long time player of Niederosterreich CHEN Weixing who won TTCLM in 2008 playing forthis Austrian club. The crucial KTS Energa`s player should be the strong Chinese ZHANG Chao the world champion in mixed doubles in 2011 with ZHEN Cao. One more TTCLM champions are on the seeding list: the 2008 winner Wienviertel Niederosterreich (no. 7). It will be the very first time that TTCLM in the moment of the drawing has five top 10 players on the ITTF World ranking list: Jun MIZUTANI (no. 5 UMMC) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (no. 6 Orenburg) Timo BOLL (no. 7 Borussia) Vladimir SAMSONOV (Orenburg) and Marcos FREITAS (no. 10 Pontoise). The seeding list is: 1 Fakel Gazproma Orenburg (Russia) 75017 2 Borussia Dusseldorf (Germany) 7438 3 AS Pontoise Cergy (France) 7425 4 UMMC (Russia) 7228 5 Chartres ASTT (France) 7158 6 KST Energa Manekin Torun (Poland) 7012 7 Wienviertel Niederosterreich (Austria) 6840 8 1.FC Saarbrucken TT (Germany) 6762 9 GV Hennebont TT (France) 6465 10 SV Werder Bremen (Germany) 6450 11 K.S. Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki (Poland) 6422 12 SPG Walter Wels (Austria) 6417 13 ASTS Olimpia Unia Grudziadz (Poland) 6342 14 Eslovs AL Bordtennis (Sweden) 6335 15 Angers (France) 6305 16 STEN Marketing HB Ostrov Havlickuv Brod (Czech Republic) 6065
Spectacular finish of the great event
Tampere celebrates European champions in 32 events The temperature in already extremely worm Tampere reached the unbelievable heights on the ultimate day at the European Veterans Championships. The battles for top places at the medal rostrum brought the best from already inspired competitors and we witnessed great matches before the curtain came down. Main favorites in Men’s Singles 40 and 50 events clinched their titles. Dimitry MAZUNOV of Russia and YI Ding of Austria won gold. Of course the final day produced few upsets. Claus PEDERSEN of Denmark had to surrender the crown to Nosratallah SAFAI of Sweden. Branka BATINIC won silver in Doubles but she reached the highest place at the medal rostrum in Singles. In Men’s Doubles 50 event Yury ILLARIONOV and Igor ROLDUGIN of Russia exceeded the seedings and beat Austria’s YI Ding and Russia’s Aleksei RODIN. The Men’s Doubles 40 category also concluded with surprise. Russia’s Georgii RUBINSHTEIN and Aleksandr SAVELEV beat Henrik VENDELBO of Denmark and Marcus WANEK of Germany. In Women’s 50 Event in Doubles Maria VINTILA TIFACHI of Spain and Maria GAFTEA of Romania succeeded against Branka BATINIC of Croatia and Marion KLUSSMANN of Germany. ALL MEDALISTS AT A GLANCE Men’s 40 Singles – Gold: Dimitry MAZUNOV (RUS). Silver: Saim POLATKIN (TUR). Bronze: Leonid IVANOV (RUS) Henrik VENDELBO (DEN).Final Singles Dimitry MAZUNOV (RUS) – Saim POLATKIN (TUR) 3:1 (2 -9 4 9).Doubles – Gold: Georgii RUBINSHTEIN Aleksandr SAVELEV (RUS). Silver: Henrik VENDELBO (DEN) Marcus WANEK (GER). Bronze: Thomas OTT (GER) Vahidin OKIC (SWE) Lorestas TRUMPASKUAS (ENG) Dimitry ABRAMENKO (ISR). Final DoublesGeorgii RUBINSHTEIN Aleksandr SAVELEV (RUS) – Henrik VENDELBO (DEN) Marcus WANEK (GER) 3:1 (4 6 -7 4). Women’s 40 Singles – Gold: Cecile OZER (BEL). Silver: Elena CHUNIKHINA (RUS). Bronze: Magali CHARLIER (BEL) Larisa LAVRAKHINA (RUS).Final Singles Cecile OZER (BEL) – Elena CHUNIKHINA (RUS) 3:1 (9 -12 6 4)Doubles – Gold: Elena CHUNIKHINA Larisa LAVRAKHINA (RUS). Silver: Petronela BADUROVA Iveta KUCKOVA (SVK). Bronze: Isabelle GUILBAULT (FRA) Fulya DIKER (TUR) Lena JOHNSSON Katarina AMARK (SWE).Final Doubles Elena CHUNIKHINA Larisa LAVRAKHINA (RUS) – Petronela BADUROVA Iveta KUCKOVA (SVK) 3:2 (8 -11 -9 11 8) Men’s 50 Singles – Gold: YI Ding (AUT). Silver: Carsten EGEHOLT (DEN). Bronze: Miroslav CECAVA (CZE) Matthias BLUHM (GER).Final Singles YI Ding (AUT) – Carsten EGEHOLT (DEN) 3:1 (-9 1 5 9).Doubles – Gold: Yury ILLARIONOV Igor ROLDUGIN (RUS). Silver: YI Ding (AUT) Aleksei RODIN (RUS). Bronze: Carsten EGEHOLT (DEN) Rainer JUNGBLUT (GER) Denis FORBAULT Jean Louis LAMARRE (FRA).Final Doubles Yury ILLARIONOV Igor ROLDUGIN (RUS) – YI Ding (AUT) Aleksei RODIN (RUS) 3:2 (-4 11 -3 7 10). Women’s 50 Singles – Gold: Branka BATINIC (CRO). Silver: Inna TIKHOMIROVA (RUS). Bronze: Maria VINTILA TIFACHI (ESP) Marta DAUBNEROVA (SVK).Final Singles Branka BATINIC (CRO) – Inna TIKHOMIROVA (RUS) 3:0 (8 13 11)Doubles – Gold: Maria VINTILA TIFACHI (ESP) Maria GAFTEA (ROU). Silver: Branka BATINIC (CRO) Marion KLUSSMANN (GER). Bronze: Tatiana KULIEVA Inna TIKHOMIROVA (RUS) Heike BORCHARDT Anka MUTKE (GER).Final Doubles Maria VINTILA TIFACHI (ESP) Maria GAFTEA (ROU) – Branka BATINIC (CRO) Marion KLUSSMANN (GER) 3:1 (-7 4 7 11). Men’s 60 Singles – Gold: Bela FRANK (HUN). Silver: Rein LINDMAE (EST). Bronze: Rolf EBERHARDT (GER) Petr POLAK (CZE) Final Singles Bela FRANK (HUN) – Rein LINDMAE (EST) 3:2 (9 9 -6 -8 14)Doubles – Gold: Rein LINDMAE (EST) Leonid SEGAL (UKR). Silver: Jurgen HECHT Manfred NIESWAND (GER). Bronze: Eduard KOZLOVSKI Vladimir TUDESOV (RUS) Dieter JURGENS Gerd WERNER (GER).Final Doubles Rein LINDMAE (EST) Leonid SEGAL (UKR) – Jurgen HECHT Manfred NIESWAND (GER) 3:2 (-7 5 -7 9 5). Women’s 60 Singles – Gold: Elle OUN (EST). Silver: Nella MAMLINA (ISR). Bronze: Eliane CHARBONNEAU Hildegard GEORGI (GER).Final Singles Nella MAMLINA (ISR) – Elle OUN (EST) 3:0 (0 0 0)Doubles – Gold: Monika HUSSMANN Gerda KUX SIEBERATH (GER). Silver: Eliane CHARBONNEAU Michelle SEVIN (FRA). Bronze: Christa GEIST Carmen PETRY (GER) Lidija KALININA (LAT) Elena LIVEROVA (RUS).Final Doubles Monika HUSSMANN Gerda KUX SIEBERATH (GER)- Eliane CHARBONNEAU Michelle SEVIN (FRA) 3:2 (9 -7 -8 8 9). Men’s 65 Singles – Gold: Nosratallah SAFAI (SWE). Silver: Goran SKOKSBERG (SWE). Bronze : Claus PEDERSEN (DEN) Milos MATEJICEK (CZE)Final Singles Nosratallah SAFAI (SWE) – Goran SKOKSBERG (SWE) 3:2 (-5 8 -3 9 10)Doubles – Gold: Claus PEDERSEN Nils RAMBERG (DEN). Silver: Matti LAPPALAINEN (FIN) Goran SKOGSBERG (SWE). Bronze: John CLARKE (ENG) Geoff SALTER (SCO) Jaroslav KUCERA Zdenek REMES (CZE).Final Doubles Claus PEDERSEN Nils RAMBERG (DEN) – Matti LAPPALAINEN (FIN) Goran SKOGSBERG (SWE) 3:1 (-10 3 9 6). Women’s 65 Singles – Gold: Istvanee JONYER (HUN). Silver: Larisa ILINSKAIA (RUS). Bronze: Karin FLEMKE (GER) Carol COWIE (ENG). Final SinglesIstvanee JONYER (HUN)- Larisa ILINSKAIA (RUS) 3:2 (-7 -7 10 13 8).Doubles – Gold: Marina KERWAT Ursula KRUGER (GER). Silver: Marjorie DAWSON (ENG) Elke RICHTER (GER). Bronze: Carol COWIE Linda HALES (ENG) Karin FLEMKE Christine LUBBE (GER).Final Doubles Marina KERWAT Ursula KRUGER (GER) – Marjorie DAWSON (ENG) Elke RICHTER (GER) 3:0 (8 4 0) Men’s 70 Singles – Gold: Wolfgang SCHMIDT (GER). Silver: Dimitrije BILIC (GER). Bronze: Istvan SZALAI (HUN) Zdenek SENOHRABEK (CZE).Final SinglesDimitrije BILIC (GER)- Wolfgang SCHMIDT (GER) 3:2 (7 -9 – 8 9 10).Doubles – Gold: Herbert NEUBAUER Wolfgang SCHMIDT (GER). Silver: Roy NORTON Kenneth STONEBRIDGE (ENG). Bronze: Josef MERK Rene THEILLOUT (GER) Leif APPLSKOG Sven Olof KRATZ (SWE).Final Doubles Herbert NEUBAUER Wolfgang SCHMIDT (GER) – Roy NORTON Kenneth STONEBRIDGE (ENG) 3:0 (5 7 9). Women’s 70 Singles – Gold: Jutta BARON (GER). Silver: Ursula KRUGER (GER). Bronze: Karin RAUSCHER (GER) Gizella ZACHER (HUN). Final Singles Jutta BARON (GER) – Ursula KRUGER (GER) 3:2 (13 -5 9 -10 8).Doubles – Gold: Rosi BERG Karin RAUSCHER (GER). Silver: Jutta BARON Gudrun ENGEL (GER). Bronze: Mare KABRITS (EST) Nicole PILLIERE (FRA) Waltraut SANDER (GER) Christa LUBKE (NED).Final Doubles Rosi BERG Karin RAUSCHER (GER) – Jutta BARON Gudrun ENGEL (GER) 3:1 (12 -8 4 9). Men’s 75 Singles – Gold: Horst IFFLAND (SUI). Silver: Dieter LIPPELT (GER). Bronze: Sven Olof KRATZ (SWE) Uwe WIENPRECHT (GER).Final Singles Horst IFFLAND (SUI) – Dieter LIPPELT (GER) 3:2 (-8 8 -8 7 8)Doubles – Gold: Siegfrird LEMKE Uwe WIENPRECHT (GER). Silver: Jan Eric OLOFSSON Bo TORINSSON (SWE). Bronze: Keith POWEL (ENG) Hans WESTLING (SWE) Bernd WITTHAUS (GER) Horst IFFLAND
The action is where YI Ding is playing
Crowd just love to watch YI’s matches It is always easy to find where Austria’s YI Ding is playing. In large Expo Center filled with 80 tables and hundred of players on duty at the same time the most crowded area around the box is around the place where Austrian is fighting for points. Player who competed at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and he was also in Sydney in 2000 came in Tampere as crowned World’s Men’s Singles Over 50 champion and winner of the silver medal at the previous edition of the European Championships. “I am very happy that I have the opportunity to play in Tampere. Finland has special place in my heart. People are very nice here. I used to play many time at the Finlandia open ” said YI Ding. On his way to the semis YI beat ALDVIK of Sweden ZUEV of Russia LINDMARK and HUSS of Sweden. He lost very few points but said it was not that easy as the results predicts. “The competition in my category is fierce. Swedes and Germas are very strong here.” In the semi final Austrian will play against Miroslav CECAVA of Czech Republic Dane Carsten EGEHOLT meets Matthias BLUHM of Germany. With Aleksei RODIN of Russia YI is aiming another title in Doubles. In Bremen they clinched bronze whilst in New Zealand at World’s veterans Championships they succeeded to silver.
