Eurotalents Development Camp Eurotalents Developments Camp I was held from 13th – 19th of March in Otočec (Slovenia). Out of 23 players nominated from the 2014/2015 Eurotalents selection and 3 players nominated from the Hopes selection a total of 17 female and male players and 14 of their coaches attended the camp. The overall camp program was managed by the head coach Jože URH (SVN) assistant coach Vesna OJSTERŠEK fitness coach Mate LELO and ETTU Development Manager prof Neven CEGNAR. “We had truly supreme training conditions and the accommodation food and not to mention kindness of our hosts – the Slovenian Table Tennis Association. The Sport Hotel in Otočec contributed to the joint conclusion reached by all of our players and their coaches that this was the best camp in the Eurotalent series so far. We held 15 training sessions including three fitness-training sessions as well as an individual tournament in two sessions” reported CEGNAR. Trainings were divided every day in three sessions: the morning session from 9:15 to 11:45 the afternoon session from 16:00 to 18:15 and the evening session from 20:00 to 21:30. “During the camp two meetings were held with the coaches during which we jointly analysed future Eurotalents Development activities and heard a very successful practical overview of corrective and compensatory exercises for young players going through puberty and their development period (presented by Mate Lelo). Furthermore we dedicated a lot of time to individual work with all the players who were given some main individual pointers for their future work.”
Jean LAURIC and Daria MITYUKOVA champions in Belgium
National Championships Jean LAURIC and Daria MITYUKOVA lifted the trophies at the National Championships of Belgium. LAURIC who repeated last year`s achievement beat Lambiet FLORENT in six games of the Men`s Single Final. In the previous stage he overcame Vostes YANNICK in straight games. Daria MUTYUKOVA is new women`s event winner as she beat In the gold medal clash Lisa LUNG. Earlier in the semis she overcame defending champion Nathalie MARCHETTI in straight sets. Other champions are Florent LAMBIET/Jean LAURIC (Men`s Doubles) Eline LOYEN/Marco DEGRAEF (Women`s Doubles) and Tim JANSSEN/Eline LOYEN (Mixed Pairs). Men`s Singles Semi-final: Jean LAURIC – Vostes YANNICK 4:0 (11:6 12:10 11:5 11:8) Labiet FLORENT – Merchez CEDRIC 4:0 (11:9 11:9 11:5 11:8). Final: Jean LAURIC – Lambiet FLORENT 4:2 (11:7 11:9 9:11 11:9 10:12 12:10). Women`s Singles Semi-final: Daria MITYUKOVA – Nathalie MARCHETTI 4:0 (11:4 11:9 11:9 11:9) Lisa LUNG – Eline LOYEN 4:0 (11:8 11:9 11:8 11:7). Final: Daria MITYUKOVA – Lisa LUNG 4:1 (11:13 11:4 11:7 13:11 12:10).
KOJIC secures the 2016 title PETEK celebrates dual victory
Croatian National Championships Frane KOJIĆ is the new Croatian champion. The title at the National Championship played in Varaždin comes as a culmination of his great form in the recent months. After beating Filip ZELJKO in the semifinals in a tight match that ended 4:3 in the finals he outplayed Tomislav PUCAR with a seemingly easy 4:0 which earned him his first title as the National champion. Andrej GAĆINA who dominated the National Championship for the past seven years missed the tournament due to ITTF’s Super series tournament in Kuwait. Further on the hard work of TTC Zagreb (GSTK Zagreb) paid off and they had six of their current or former players compete in the quarterfinals of the tournament while the semifinals was completely dominated by their players. In the men’s doubles category Tomislav PUCAR and Filip ZELJKO managed to defend their last year title after beating Frane KOJIĆ and Filip ČIPIN in the finals with 3:1. „Considering the absence of GAĆINA this was a huge opportunity for us the younger players and I took advantage of it. I have been playing really well in the past three months and all the efforts and hard work that I invested while playing in Germany started to bear fruit“ said KOJIĆ.”This was the tenth time I played with ZELJKO this season we know each other really well. The final match with PUCAR seemed like a breeze but there is more to it. Especially because he had Neven KARKOVIĆ coaching him who is my former coach that shaped my table tennis beginnings and knows me to the core. I am really proud of this achievement“. Regarding the title in doubles that escaped him he commented: „we failed to win the title five years ago and also this year. We have an agreement that we will keep on playing together until we win it. I was surprised how well he played I didn’t see it coming. Basically I was the weaker link in that final. I am sorry but there will be more opportunities to win finals in the future.” Varaždin as the host had plenty of reason to celebrate seeing how the local Petra PETEK managed to secure a dual victory. In the singles category she made an amazing twist; in the semifinals it seemed that Lea RAKOVAC was heading towards a safe victory by leading 3:1 but PETEK managed to turn it around. The final was much less nerve-racking for Petek’s supporters she managed to secure a swift win against Ivana TUBIKANEC with 4:0. Then she topped it off with a win in the doubles category. For the past four years Mirela ĐURAK and Mateja JEGER held the title but this year they were stopped in semifinals by Andrea PAVLOVIĆ and Ema MAN (3:2). The pair currently holding the European champion title in the category of Cadet Girls Doubles was defeated in the semifinals by Klara CAKOL and Dorina SREBRNJAK (3:2). Coming from the other end of the draw Petek and Poljak defeated Ivana Tubikanec and Paula MARKATI with 3:0 in the semifinals and repeated the same result against CAKOL and SREBRNJAK in the finals. PETEK commented: „The seminfinals was my most challenging match after I got through it I was much more confident in the finals. “ She has been in great form leading up to the tournament at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur she managed to win all five matches she played. „The performance in Kuala Lumpur boosted my confidence. Last year at the National Championship I lost from Ivana and this year the tables have turned“ said Petra. Playing in Varaždin was added motivation that led her to the title. „I always wished for the National Championship to be played in Varaždin. I want to thank everyone who came to support me I managed to pay them back by winning in both categories“ concluded Petra. Men’s Singles Semifinals: Pucar – Maglić 4:1 (9 4 6 -7 7) F. Zeljko – Kojić 3:4 (-7 5 9 -4 -10 7 -4); Finals: Pucar – Kojić 0:4 (-10 -5 -8 -11) Men’s Doubles Semifinals: Pucar/F. Zeljko – Simović/Zubčić 3:2 (3 12 -11 -5 9) Ređep/Japec – Čipin/Kojić 0:3 (-6 -13 -7); Finals: Pucar/F. Zeljko – Čipin/Kojić 3:1 (8 9 -9 7) Women’s Singles Semifinals: Rakovac – Petek 3:4 (-9 8 8 9 -6 -8 -7) Srebrnjak – Tubikanec 2:4 (-9 -6 9 8 -6 -6); Finals: Petek – Tubikanec 4:0 (5 8 9 9) Women’s Doubles Semifinals: Tubikanec/Markati – Petek/Poljak 0:3 (-5 -6 -9) Pavlović/Marn – Srebrnjak/Cakol 2:3 (10 -8 -7 8 -9); Finals:Petek/Poljak – Srebrnjak/Cakol 3:0 (8 9 7)
Deni KOŽUL wins two national titles Manca FAJMUT reaches a new stepping stone
Slovenian National Championships The first spring Sunday saw the 25th Slovenian national championships for seniors in Radlje Ob Dravi organized by the Muta table tennis club in the far North (-East) of Slovenia. Last year’s men’s winner and Slovenia’s most prominent player Bojan TOKIĆ did not attend this year making the competition even more dramatic and interesting. All the favourites made it to the quarter-finals the one positive surprise was the young Peter HRIBAR who took advantage of a favourable draw. In close duels Jan ŽIBRAT then won against the 2014 champion Uroš SLATINŠEK and the three-time (2008-2010) victor Mitja HORVAT against Ludvik PERŠOLJA. The semi-final involving ŽIBRAT and HORVAT was quickly over with 4:0 and Žibrat reached the final. The other semi-final featured last-year’s junior European champions in doubles: Darko JORGIĆ and Deni KOŽUL. The top seeded JORGIĆ started better but was defeated in a thrilling match by 2:4. It took Deni KOŽUL seven games in the final but in the end he managed to secure his first national championships title proving he is a force to be reckoned with in the future. The women’s competition was slightly weakened this year due to the absence of two national team members Alex GALIČ and Tamara PAVČNIK. Ana TOFANT and Alexandra VOVK took best advantage of their opportunities for advancement and reached semi-finals and bronze medals. TOFANT was defeated by Manca FAJMUT in six games and VOVK played a close six-game (the last one ending in 19:21!) match against Zala VERONIK. In the final FAJMUT secured her victory by 4:1 becoming the first woman since Slovenia’s independence with four consecutive titles. The singles finalists ŽIBRAT and KOŽUL also won the men’s doubles title. They won against Dominik ŠKRABAN-Tomaž PELCAR in the semi-final (the other bronze went to Peter HRIBAR-Tilen CVETKO) and beat Mitja HORVAT-Bojan REPOŠA in the final match thus securing KOŽUL’S double crown. Women’s double title went to the VERONIK twins Zala and Niika representing the championships hosting club. They managed to beat TOFANT-VOVK by 3:1 in the semi-final (the second bronze went to Melita VERHNJAK and Vesna ROJKO) and won against the surprising finalist double of Kristina RAHOTIN-Lea PAULIN by 3:0. The mixed-doubles title went to Uroš SLATINŠEK-Manca FAJMUT. This was the second such victory for both of them but for the first time they won the title together. They won against Bojan REPOŠA-Nika VERONIK in the final while the bronze medals went to the Matic SLODEJ-Ivana ZERA and Andraž NOVAK-Lara OPEKA.
Fourth title for Gilles MICHELY
National Championships In Luxembourg the national championships are organized every year on the weekend of Carnival. The winners on the weekend of the 6th and 7th February in the “Coque” in Luxembourg-Kirchberg are: Men singles: Gilles Michely (Diddeleng) won his 4th title after his victory against Christian Kill (Diddeleng): 4-2 (-6 5 5 -6 8 3). Woman singles: Sarah de Nutte (Ettelbreck) holds her title after her victory against Danielle Konsbruck (Rued): 4-1 (4 -4 4 6 4). It’s the 4th title too for Sarah de Nutte. Men doubles: Carlo Felten (Rued) an Eric Glod (Wëntger) won their first title. They won the final against Marc Dielissen/Eric Gonderinger (Houwald) 3-0 (2 9 7). Women doubles: Sarah de Nutte/Tessy Gonderinger (Ettelbreck/Houwald) hold their double-champions-title after a 3-0-victory against Danielle Konsbruck/Martine Simon (Rued/Wëntger): 3 12 8. Mixed: Champions are Eric Gonderinger/Tessy Gonderinger (Houwald).They won the final against Eric Glod/Martine Simon (Wëntger) 3-0 (7 4 8). Jeroen van der Hoef FLTT
2016 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Smash All Social & Digital Records
The Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships was the most social & digital of all time smashing all the records set in 2015. #ITTFWorlds2016 which was held in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in the start of March reached over 48.5 million people across ITTF’s social & digital platform. ITTF’s Promotion & Media Manager Matt POUND stated: “It is satisfying seeing that our carefully laid out strategies resulted in figures that exceeded all our expectations across all of our social & digital media platforms. This proves the incredible global appetite for international table tennis and we will now think of new and innovate ways to engage our fans and increase these figures even more.” ITTF’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/ITTFWorld) was the star performer achieving 19 756 881 total reach and close to 34 million impressions on the ITTF Facebook page doubling the feat recorded in Suzhou. Event posts on the ITTF twitter account (@ITTFWorld) left over 2 million twitter impressions while on the ITTF’s Sina Weibo the Chinese hybrid between Facebook and Twitter relevant posts using the official hashtag alone reached over 5.4 million people. With 248 videos created for the 8 days of competition viewers from 144 countries tuned in to followed the world’s biggest table tennis event on the ITTF Youtube channel (YouTube.com/ITTFChannel) resulting in 3 million views on the platform. ITTF.com/itTV ITTF’s free online streaming platform which lived streamed eight tables from Kuala Lumpur saw 735 500 unique visitors accessing the platform to watch the world’s best teams battle for the Championships title live and on demand. Over the 8 days of the Championships 351.44 million hits were recorded on the ITTF.com where 3 717 648 unique visitors accessed the ITTF page for results and updates about the World Championships. Other than breakthroughs on the ITTF’s social media platforms which now has 1.3 million fans the 2016 World Championships also broke TV ratings in China and Japan on the last day where the final showdown between Team China and Team Japan happened. The 2016 World Championships once again proved that table tennis remains a massive sport in China where a total of 190 million people in China alone tuned in to watch the event live on CCTV5. An average of 22 million people tuned into CCTV5 to watch the Men’s Final between China & Japan and 60 million people watched at least 1 minute of the match that China won to become the World Team Champions. In Japan rights holder TV Tokyo received a record 15% market share for TV viewers in Japan for the Women’s Final which is close to a record for the network for Sunday night viewing. With the 500 accredited media working on site to spread news about the World Championships to the rest of the world over 15 000 articles were written on the event reaching millions of readers worldwide. Breaking these media figures will be the target for next year’s World Table Tennis Championships to be held in Dusseldorf Germany from 29 May to 5 June 2017. #ITTFWorlds2016 Media Stats: Countries that broadcasted the event live on TV: 90 CCTV viewers: 190 million ITTF.com unique visitors over 8 days: 3 717 648 ITF.com hits: 351 440 511 itTV unique visitors over 8 days: 735 500 728 matches on itTV People who saw content on ITTF’s Facebook: 19 756 881 Youtube views: 3 million Countries that watched content on ITTF’s Youtube: 144 Minutes watched on Youtube: 14 031 654 minutes Accredited media: 500 Media articles: 15 000
LI Fen and Jon PERSSON won gold in Sweden
National Championships LI Fen won her third title while Jon PERSSON clinched his very first crown at the National Championships held in Eslov. The winning doubles are Li Fen/Caroline TANSKA and Kristian KARLSSON/Mattias KARLSSON. The 2013 individual European champion LI Fen was ruthless in the Women Singles Event in Eslov. She won all her games with full distance having 20-0 set ratio in total. Her final opponent has been Sara RASK who lost 4:0 (11:2 11:9 11:4 11:2). Jon PERSSON succeeded Kristian KARLSSON at the Men`s top while the finalist was the same like in the 2015 final – Jens LUNDQUIST. PERSSON defeated Par GERELL in six games of the semi-final. LUNDQUIST reached opening set of the final clash but PERSSON replied by four in a row. Men Singles Semi-final: Jon PERSSON – Par GERELL 4:2 (11:7 11:8 8:11 11:8 9:11 11:6) Jens LUNDQUIST – Kristian KARLSSON 4:1 (11:5 12:10 11:2 2:11 11:5). Final: Jon PERSSON – Jens LUNDQUIST 4:1 (9:11 11:5 11:9 11:6 11:8). Women Singles semi-final: LI Fen-Filippa BERGAND 4:0 (11:6 11:7 11:4 11:5) Sara RASK-Ellen HOLMSTEN 4:3 (11:13 11:7 8:11 13:11 7:11 11:7 11:8).Final: LI Fen – Sara RASK 4:0 (11:2 11:9 11:4 11:2) Men Doubles Semi-final: Kristian KARLSSON/Mattias KARLSSON – Viktor BRODD/Hampus NORDBERG 3:1 (11:9 11:13 11:8 11:4) Par GERELL/Jens LUNDQUIST – Robert SVENSSON/Mattias ÖVERSJÖ 3:1 (8:11 11:6 11:8 11:7).Final: Kristian KARLSSON/Mattias KARLSSON – Pär GERELL/Jens LUNDQUIST 3:1 (11:5 9:11 11:8 11:8). Women Doubles Semi-final: Linda BERGSTRÖM/Jennifer JONSSON – Sannamari BÖLENIUS/Michaela KARLSSON 3:1 (11:9 11:2 9:11 11:5) LI Fen/Caroline TANSKA-Sara RASK/Lisa RYDÉN 3:1 (11:9 11:6 9:11 11:9).Final: LI Fen/Caroline TANSKA – Linda BERGSTRÖM/Jennifer JONSSON 3:2 ( 5:11 12:10 3:11 11:7 11:7)
European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament 12-16th April in Halmstad
President Ronald KRAMER:”We can only be grateful that our Swedish colleagues have taken up the glove and have worked very hard in the past few days…” After the ETTU Executive Board decided to reallocate the EOSQ from Istanbul the Swedish Table Tennis Association has immediately started preparing for an alternative. In very short time they have succeeded in preparing this important event with great support from the city of Halmstad. The European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament will be held from Tuesday April 12th to Saturday April 16th. ETTU’s President Ronald KRAMER has informed the national associations of the new host of the European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament (EOSQ). ”In these very hard times for Europe when violence dominates the media we can only be grateful that our Swedish colleagues have taken up the glove and have worked very hard in the past few days to prepare for this very important tournament. We had to change the dates in order to make this possible. I am also thankful to other associations that showed interest in hosting this event under the present circumstances. And I continue to feel sorry for our Turkish friends for the situation that we are in.” During the tournament the Swedish organisers will be supported by the Danish Table Tennis Association.
Two titles for Lubomir PISTEJ
Last weekend at the Slovak National Championships in Bratislava Lubomir PISTEJ won the title for the sixth time in men’s single after he beat Peter Sereda in the final 4:2. „ For several years I have struggled at the Slovak Championships whether of injuries or other factors. This year I really wanted to confirm my ranking position and long-term performance and that is why I am glad that I am able to clinch the title after several failures “ said PISTEJ. In the women single dominated Tatiana KUKULKOVÁ. She beated Dijana HOLOKOVA 4:3 in final match to claim first title. Second title for Lubomír PISTEJ with Peter SEREDA was in men doubles. They overcame Kristian KOBES and BAI He. Eva JURKOVA with Dijana HOLOKOVA beat Nikoleta PUCHOVANOVA and Simona HORVATHOVA. In the mixed doubles Samuel NOVOTA with Eva JURKOVA won the title. They defeated Dijana HOLOKOVA and Jakub FIGEL. By Lucia ČOLOVIČKOVÁ Results: MS 1.Pistej Lubomir 2.Sereda Tomas 3.Kobes Kristian Bai He WS 1. Kukulkova Tatiana 2. Holokova Dijana 3. Jurkova Eva Daubnerova Andrea MD 1. Pistej/Sereda 2. Kobes/Bai He 3. Kaluzny/Peter Figel/Illas WD 1. Jurkova/Holokova 2. Horvathova/Puchovanova 3. Kukulkova/Labosova Urikova/Furkova XD 1. Notovta/Jurkova 2. Figel/Holokiova 3. Slovacik/Daubnerova Spanik/Kukulkova
Another crown for LI Qian
Polish National Championships Tomasz LEWANDOWSKI and Qian LI won the national titles at the Polish national table tennis championships in Walbrzych. That’s the first title for LEWANDOWSKI and the fourth for LI. Tomasz LEWANDOWSKI won the final against Patryk CHOJNOWSKI 4-1. In the semi-final matches LEWANDOWSKI won 4-1 against defending champion Daniel GORAK and CHOJNOWSKI beat also 4-1 Patryk ZATOWKA. Patryk CHOJNOWSKI is the Paralympic champion 2012 in class 10 and is playing in Polish Superleague (KS DEKORGLASS Dzialdowo). Tomasz LEWANDOWSKI (31 year old) is playing also in Polish Superleague (KU AZS POLITECHNIKA Rzeszow). Three years ago he lost 3-4 in the final against GORAK. Wang Zengyi lost unexpected 3-4 in the 1/8 final against Filip SZYMANSKI and another favorite to a gold medal Jakub Dyjas lost 2-4 in quarterfinal against CHOJNOWSKI. There were no great upsets in the women tournament. Qian LI (KTS Tarnobrzeg) won the final against Natalia PARTYKA (KTS Tarnobrzeg) 4-0. In the semi-final matches LI won 4-0 against Klaudia KUSINSKA and PARTYKA beat 4-1 Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA. LI was already a Polish champion in singles in years 2009 2011 and 2012. PARTYKA lost her third final. Previously she lost twice (2007 and 2008) against XU Jie. Daniel GORAK and Jakub DYJAS are the new polish champions in doubles. They won 3-1 against Daniel BAK and Robert FLORAS. Jakub KOSOWSKI – Szymon MALICKI and Piotr CYRNEK – Krzysztof MARCINOWSKI complete the podium. PARTYKA and GRZYBOWSKA won against Joanna KIEDROWSKA and Aleksandra FALARZ in final. Paulina KNYSZEWSKA – Marta SMETEK and Katarzyna SLIFIRCZYK – Roksana ZALOMSKA went to the third step. Konrad KULPA and Natalia BAJOR won for the first time the title in Mixed Double. Jakub PEREK and Magdalena SIKORSKA were second. Tomasz LEWANDOWSKI – Anna Monika ZIELINSKA and Boguslaw KOSZYK – Katarzyna SLIFIRCZYK finished third. Stefan DRYSZEL
