National Championships In Norway Geir ERLANDSEN clinched his 13th title in Men’s Singles whilst Ilka DOVAL reached the highest step at the medal rostrum for a first time in Women’s SIngles. Men single 1. Geir-Andre ERLANDSEN Stord BTK 2. Marcus WÆRSTAD Fokus BTK 3. Lars RØNNEBERG Notodden BTK 3. Roger ANDERSSON Stord BTK Women single 1. Ilka DOVAL Eiker BTK 2. Marte Grutle AASEBØ Fokus BTK 3. Nora Bagner NILSEN B-72 3. Rebekka CARLSEN B-72
Egle STUCKYTE and Alfredas UDRA Lithuanian champions
National Championships 86th Lithuanian championship took place in the capital of Lithuania Vilnius. The champion titles were defended by last year winners Egle STUCKYTE and Alfredas UDRA. Both players won champions titles for the third time. The matches were very emotional and dramatic. Young and talented Lithuanian players performed very well in the championship. One of the youngest participant 13 year-old Kornelija RILISKYTE sensationally made it through to the finals. 2015 World Cadet Challenge 3rd place winner Medardas STANKEVICIUS also reached the final stage. In the final game Egle STUCKYTE 4:1 (11:8 7:11 11:7 11:8 11:4) won against Kornelija RILISKYTE. 3rd place winners are Ugne BASKUTYTE and Vitalija VENCKUTE. The winner of men’s singles event is Alfredas UDRA who after dramatic match 4:3 (11:9 11:8 6:11 11:9 5:11 9:11 11:4) overcame Medardas STANKEVICIUS. 3rd place winners are Arnoldas DOMEIKA and Matas VILKAS. Ugne BASKUTYTE and Vitalija VENCKUTE won the champions title in women’s doubles event after they beat 3:0 (13:11 11:5 11:9) Aukse GECEVICIUTE and Andzelika PETRAUSKIENE. 3rd place winners: Egle STUCKYTE and Kornelija RILISKYTE; Jolita SOKOLOVSKYTE and Egle ORLOVAITE. The gold medalists in men’s doubles event became Matas SKUCAS and Matas VILKAS. Silver medal winners are Alfredas UDRA and Kestutis ZEIMYS. 3rd place winners: Benas SKIRMANTAS and Rimas LESIV; Ignas NAVICKAS and Karolis KASPARAITIS. The mixed doubles champions: Aiste MACAITE and Alfredas UDRA in the final 3:0 (11:8 11:4 11:7) won against Egle ORLOVAITE and Arnoldas DOMEIKA. 3rd place winners: Ingrida PREIDZIUTE and Matas VILKAS; Vitalija Venckute and Medardas Stankevicius.
CHEN and CHRAMKO won the title in Portugal
National Championships Diogo CHEN (Sporting CP) is the newly crowned Portuguese Champion after beating former champion Diogo CARVALHO (SL Benfica) by 4-0 (11-9 11-5 11-8 e 12-10). Chen conquers his first title after beeing on the loosing side of the last three finals. Olga CHRAMKO (ACD São João) Clinchedle after beating reigning chamion Rita FINS (CTM Mirandela) by 4-1 (11-6 11-2 11-9 5-11 11-7). Olga natural born in Russia moved to Portugal 18 years ago and has already played for Portugal won her fitle Portuguese national title. In Men’s Singles bronze medal winners are Rafael PEDRA and Jose MONTEIRO whilst Patricia MACIEL and Alexandra PISCO reached the medal rostrum in the Women’s Singles Event. In Mixed Doubles Joao SEDUVEM and Patrici MACEL won gold. They overcame Jose Pedro FRANCISCO and Rita VAREJAO in the final. In Men’s Doubles Duarte MENDONCA and Vitor HUGO clinched the title. Finalists are Antonio MALHEIRO and Rafael GONCALVES. In Women’s Doubles Olga CHRAMKO and Mariana GONCAVLES beat Ana Joao SANTOS and Vitoria SANTOS at the last hurdle.
European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament away from Istanbul
The Executive Board (EB) of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has conveyed its condolences to the Turkish people after the recent terrorist attacks in Ankara and Istanbul. In agreement with the International Table Tennis Federation ETTU’s EB came to a conclusion that the event cannot take place in Istanbul (Turkey) and decided to re-allocate the organisation of the European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament (EOSQ) scheduled 6-10th of April 2016. Under the present circumstances the EB does not think it is possible to have a proper Olympic qualification tournament in Istanbul. President Ronald Kramer said: “It is with great reluctance that the ETTU Executive Board – in full cooperation with the ITTF – had to take this decision. But under the current circumstances in Istanbul many of the European member associations players coaches and others have informed us of their great concern in this period of time to travel to Istanbul. ETTU understands these concerns and also holds the opinion that from a human point of view it may even be unfair to ask our Turkish colleagues to continue preparing the event”. ETTU is currently in cooperation with some national associations looking for an alternative location and will provide further information very soon hopefully even today or tomorrow.
Lionel WEBER and Rachel MORET won the national titles
Swiss National Championships Lionel WEBER and Rachel MORET won the national titles at the Swiss national table tennis championship in Tenero. That’s the second title for WEBER and the fourth for MORET. Lionel WEBER was the defending champion and won the final against Elia SCHMID his partner in the national Swiss team 4-1. His most difficult match was in quarter final against the young Dimitri BRUNNER 4-2 14-12 in the sixth game. Bronze medals go to Samy ZMIROU and Christian HOTZ. The young Gaël VENDE and Yoan REBETEZ are the new swiss champions in double. They won 3-0 against Elia SCHMID and Christian HOTZ. Lionel WEBER – Cédric TSCHANZ and Nicolas CHAMPOD – Daniel MEMMI complete the podium. Rachel MORET won her fourth title after 2009 2012 and 2014. She beated Rahel ASCHWANDEN in final in five games. Bronze medals go to Céline REUST and Jacqueline WEISS. MORET and ASCHWANDEN won the double together against Jacqueline WEISS and Laura SCHARRER in final. Alexandra TCHALAKIAN – Katerina REHOREK and Liza SCHEMPP – Nurit Ehrismann go to the third step. Elia SCHMID and Rahel ASCHWANDEN won for the first time the title in Mixed Double. Salome SIMONET and Gaël VENDE are second. Yoan REBETEZ – Rachel MORET and Lars POSCH – Laura SCHARRER are third. By L. Langel
OLAH and LUNDSTROM champions of Finland
Benedek OLAH took the show with style in Finnish championships in Helsinki. The former champion Roope KANTOLA managed to take one set in the final while OLAH was correcting his last year’s mistake. In overall the 5th title for OLAH was pretty easy. In semis OLAH still strongly aiming to Rio Olympic tables defeated veteran Pasi VALASTI 4-0 which made Valasti thoughtful. “For me there was absolutely no chance for victory. Now we may have a situation that the gap between the country’s number one player and the next level is greater than ever before in the whole Finnish table tennis history” VALASTI thought. Olah in turn said that the victory finally came through difficulties. With knee problems he even planned not to play the final at all. Outsiders did not even notice the situation. The audience believed that the champion took a point whenever he wished against every opponent. OLAH´s second title came in men’s doubles with Otto TENNILÄ. In mixed the audience got a bit of a surprise when OLAH and women’s champion Annika LUNDSTROM lost their semifinal. It barely created a lot of disappointment for only 15 year old LUNDSTROM who snatched the women’s singles title for the first time in her career. The surprising finalist was Jannika OKSANEN who still in Saturday’s qualifying defeated the becoming champion clearly 3-0. “I played more aggressively my own game and anyway much better than on Saturday LUNDSTROM said. After the competition she hurried immediately to the airport and a training camp with Tommy DANIELSSON in Luxembourg. The timetable was tough and the new champion still had to give her doping sample. In the end however all went happily.” By Esko HEIKKINEN Results:MS1. Pentti OLAH 11-4 11-5 11-13 11- 5 11-42. Roope KANTOLA3. Pasi VALASTI & Samuli SOINE WS1. Annika LUNDSTROM 11-4 12-10 7-11 11- 4 11-72. Jannika OKSANEN3. Anna KIRICHENKO & LUO Yumo MD1. Pentti OLAH / Otto TENNILÄ2. Mika RÄSÄNEN / Manu KARJALAINEN3. Samuli SOINE / Roope KANTOLA & Aki KONTALA / Miikka O’CONNOR WD1. Sofie ERIKSSON / LUO Yumo2. Annika LUNDSTROM / Pihla ERIKSSON3. Jannika OKSANEN / Anna KIRICHENKO MD1. Lauri LAANE / LUO Yumo2. Samuli SOINE / Jannika OKSANEN3. Pentti OLAH / Annika LUNDSTROM & Alex NAUMI / Pihla ERIKSSON
Danish championships decided by two points in both men´s and women´s singles
23 years old Jonathan GROTH won his fifth title in a row in the Danish championships in men´s singles. But he got more problems than he wanted. In the final he beat the 19 year old Tobias RASMUSEN with 11-9 in the seventh game. GROTH lost the first set but was leading 3-1 and 7-1 in the fifth game. However the young fighter fought back and won the game 11-9 and even the sixth set 11-9. In the decisive set GROTH led 8-4. It was 8-8 10-8. An edge point to Tobias RASMUSSEN made it 10-9 but finally GROTH won 11-9 . In the semifinals Tobias RASMUSSEN beat the 47 year old Allan BENTSEN 4-3 after 0-3. In the final set Bentsen led 5-2 but lost 11-5 ! Jonathan GROTH overcame Claus S NIELSEN in the semifinal. The women´s single final was also dramatic. Finally Pernille AGERHOLM won her second title by winning 4-3 against Stefanie CHRISTENSEN. Pernille AGERHOLM had advantage 9-7 even faced a match points against her at 9-10 but won 12-10. Finals Men´s single: Jonathan GROTH-Tobias RASMUSSEN 7-11 11-8 11-4 11-5 9-11 9-11 11-9 Women´s single: Pernille AGERHOLM-Stefanie CHRISTENSEN 2-11 11-5 11-9 10-12 11-5 8-11 12-10 Men´s doubles: Morten hyrup RASMUSSEN/Christian KONGSGAARD-Allan BENTSEN/Claus S NIELSEN 9-11 11-9 11-5 11-7 Women´s double: Pernille AGERHOLM/Pernille SØNDERGAARD-Sofie Egeholt BANG/Mie BINNERUP JACOBSEN 11-4 8-11 11-3 7-11 11-8 Mixed double: Stefinaie Christensen/Morten Hyrup Rasmussen-Mie Binnerup Jacobsen/Kasper Rasmussen 11-7 11-4 11-7 By A. Madsen
Olympic Champions Claim Single Titles in Kuwait
Grand Slam Champions Zhang Jike and Li Xiaoxia finds form to win titles at the 2016 Kuwait Open! Grand Slam Champions ZHANG Jike and LI Xiaoxia of China came back to reclaim the Men’s and Women’s Singles title here at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open held from 16 – 20 March 2016. ZHANG who won the title back in 2013 has been suffering several defeats on the international table tennis in 2015 was on fire and determined to prove himself here in Kuwait. The highly anticipated men’s singles final saw the reigning Olympic champion face off with current world number one MA Long who has had a great year in 2015 claiming all 3 major titles available in 2015 – World Champion Men’s World Cup Champion and World Tour Grand Finals Champion. ZHANG eventually prevailed 4-1 (11-9 11-9 5-11 13-11 11-9) to break MA’s dominance. After his victory the 28-year-old whose last international singles title was at the 2014 Men’s World Cup stated: “Throughout the tournament I was in form both physically and mentally especially as the tournament progressed things just went better. We know each other very well so it’s normal that it was a close match. Even though I won 4-1 those 4 games were just by a 2-point margin.” “I won because of my mindset. Ma Long is in top form lately and has been winning many major titles in the past year so I was ready to go all out to fight tonight. I think the most important aspect of competition is when both parties give their best to fight in the match that’s most respectable.” ZHANG also won the men’s doubles title together with team mate XU Xin whom he won the 2015 men’s doubles world championships title with. The duo defeated Hong Kong’s HO Kwan Kit and TANG Peng 3-1 (6-11 11-9 11-8 11-5) to strike gold in Kuwait. In the women’s singles event LI Xiaoxia became the first female player to successfully defend her title after beating 2015 World Champion DING Ning 4-1 (11-6 2-11 11-9 11-9 11-8). “I haven’t been having systematic training for quite some time due to my injuries so I have never thought that I could win ” stated the surprised champion. “I think my mentality helped in my victory because I came here without any expectations.” In an all-Chinese women’s doubles final DING joined forces with world number one LIU Shiwen to overcome teammates LI and ZHU Yuling 3-0 (11-4 11-6 11-5) to avenge both their losses against the Grand Slam Champion in the singles event to take home the title. The under-21 men’s and women’s titles were won by Brazil’s Hugo CALDERANO and Japan’s Hina HAYATA respectively. The 2016 ITTF World Tour Super Series continues in Qatar from 23 – 27 March 2016 with the world’s top table tennis all gathering in the city Doha.
KONECNY and CECHOVA claimed the titles in Jablonec
Czech national championships Tomas KONECNY and Dana CECHOVA won the national titles at the Czech national table tennis championships which were held in Jablonec nad Nisou for the first time. Both players the members of Czech national team were top seeded and claimed the national titles for the second time in their careers. But it was the first time they won as parents – they both have small daughters. Tomas KONECNY (3S Polonia Bytom) won his second title after 2014 – this time by beating Radek KOSŤAL (SKST Svijany Liberec) in the final. Thirty-years-old table tennis player have overcame couple of obstacles during the tournament: as he beat the former Czech champion Josef SIMONCÍK in the second round Michal OBESLO in the quaterfinals and Jiří VRABLÍK in the semifinals. “To get the national title is always a magic and this year it was really a difficult to win as I had number of strong opponents in my half od the field. But I managed it really well ” said KONECNY a father of 9-months-old daughter Agnes . Bronze medals go to Jiri VRABLÍK (KS Dekorglass Dzialdowo) and Ondrej BAJGER (DTJ Hradec Kralove). Dana CECHOVA (TTG Bingen/Münster-Sarmsheim) claimed her second title of Czech champion after winning in 2008. 32-year-old player beat a surprising finalist Tamara TOMANOVA. Afterwards she compared her two titles: “Surely I am more mature as a player. I improved my tactics a lot and I am more flexible in choosing the right shots.” But mostly – she won her second title as a mother of a daughter Gabriela (born 2015). “My first title was unexpected so I was really happy but this is a completely different feeling. One thousand percent better!” The bronze medals go to Lenka HARABASZOVA (SKST Hodonín) and Kristyna MIKULCOVA (MK Reznovice). The doubles title goes to Pavel SIRUCEK Tomas TREGLER (STEN Marketing HB Ostrov) as they gave more consistent performance in the final against Tomas KONECNY Petr DAVID (3S Polonia Bytom TV 1879 Hilpolstein). The bronze medals go to Jakub CRHA Michal LEBEDA ml. (TJ Sokol PP Hradec Kralove 2) and Frantisek PLACEK Antonín GAVLAS (SV Brackwede KST Cheb). A couple Aneta KUCEROVA Karin ADAMKOVA (MSK Gumotex Břeclav) dominated women´s singles by beating Kateřina CECHOVA Nikita PETROVOVA (Hannover 96 SKST Baník Havířov). The third place belongs to Kristyna MIKULCOVA Simona SLEHOBROVA (MK Řeznovice) and Marketa SEVCÍKOVA Stanislava SLEZAKOVA (SKST Hodonín KST Hluk). The mixed doubles title was won by “young generation” and successful Czech junior´s couple Tomas POLANSKY Zdenka BLASKOVA who is just 15-year-old (Slavoj Severotuk Usti nad Labem/TJ Libín 1096 Prachatice) won the competition. They beat Petr KAUCKY Dana CECHOVA (SF SKK El Niňo Praha TTG Bingen/Münster-Sarmsheim). The bronze medals were presented to Michal BENES Lenka HARABASZOVA (SKST Baník Havířov SKST Hodonín) and Ondřej BAJGER Tamara TOMANOVA (DTJ Hradec Kralove TTC Rödinghausen). By F. ZALEWSKY
PAPAGEORGIOU clinched 7th consecutive title two gold medals for ZAVITSANOU
Greek National Championship 2016 Κostas PAPAGEORGIOU in men’s singles and Georgia ZAVITSANOU in women’s singles are the Greek champions for the season 2015-2016. The athlete of Olympiakos was again unbeatable! He clinched seventh consecutive title in the event and eighth in total. Furthermore he lost just first game after 6 finals during which he constantly prevailed in straight games. He has again a different adversary this time his teammate from Olympiakos Tasos RINIOTIS who created very good progress. ZAVITSANOU the 23 year old player of Olympiakos from Patras after the first final in her career won the trophy. Georgia stole all the lime light at the tournament since she became champion of Greece in women’s doubles also with Christina FILI. Christina was her adversary in the match for the first place in singles. In men’s doubles gold medal clinched George KONSTANTINOPOULOS and Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS. It was their first title at the National Championship in absolute category that the brothers celebrated together. The event was organized with success the weekend on STIGA Hall of Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus. About 300 fans filled the stands enjoyed spectacular and ambiguous matches and new champions. By I. FAKAROS The results of finals: Men’s singles: PAPAGEORGIOU-RINIOTIS 4-1 (11-2 11-7 7-11 11-4 11-5) Women’s singles: ZAVITSANOU-FILI 4-0 (11-9 13-11 11-5 11-2) Men’s doubles: George KONSTANTINOPOULOS/Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS-PAPADIMITRIOU/SGOUROPOULOS 3-1 (11-8 11-5 8-11 14-12) Women’s doubles: ZAVITSANOU/FILI-PARIDI/FISER 3-2 (11-5 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-6) MEN’S SINGLES: 1. Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU (Olympiakos S.F.P.) 2. Tasos RINIOTIS (Olympiakos S.F.P.) 3. George KONSTANTINOPOULOS (A.S. Pera Athens) -. Kostas LAGOGIANNIS (A.S. Pera Athens) WOMEN’S SINGLES: 1. Georgia ZAVITSANOU (Olympiakos S.F.P.) 2. Christina FILI (Sarises Florina) 3. Katerina TOLIOU (D.A.O. Taurus) -. Alice KIOUFI (D.A.O. Taurus) MEN’S DOUBLES: 1. Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS/George KONSTANTINOPOULOS (A.S. Pera Athens) 2. Dimitris PAPADIMITRIOU/John SGOUROPOULOS (A.O. Tatavla/Olympiakos S.F.P.) 3. Antonis MALINAKIS/Lefteris MAKRAS (Panathinaikos A.O.) -. Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU/Tasos RINIOTIS (Olympiakos S.F.P.) WOMEN’S DOUBLES: 1. Christina FILI/Georgia ZAVITSANOU (Sarises Florina/Olympiakos) 2. Konstantina PARIDI/ELLI FISCHER (Phoenix Piraeus/Aris 2006) 3. Olga GEORGOPOULOU/Dimitra-THOMAIS TSEKOURA (A.S. Pera Athens) -. Maria CHRISTOFORAKI/Filareti EXARCHOU (Olympiakos/Sarises Florinas)
