The draw will be held in Luxembourg Friday 11 AM watch it live on Laola1 TV The draw for the 2017 ITTF European Championships Qualification Team Events will be held in Luxembourg at 11 AM on Friday. The total of 42 Associations with men’s teams and 39 with women’s teams entered. In Championships Division there are 10 groups of 3 three pots to draw and the seedeing is according to the results of the Team Events at the European Championships 2015. N pot one are: Austria Germany Belarus France Sweden Portugal Greece Poland Russia Czech Republic. In pot no. two are: Hungary Poland Serbia Croatia Spain Romania Ukraine Belgium Slovakia Italy and England. In Pot no. 3 are: Denmark Lithuania Israel Turkey Slovenia Bulgaria Switzerland Finland Estonia Netherlands. In Women’s teams Championships Division in pot no. one are top seeds: Germany Romania Russia Ukraine Poland Austria Czech Republic Portugal France Hungary. In pot no. two are: Serbia Netherlands Luxembourg Sweden Belarus Slovakia Spain Turkey Slovenia Croatia. In pot no. three: Lithuania England Italy Greece Belgium Switzerland Bulgaria Finland Azerbaijan Kosovo.
Michael MAZE’s comeback in big style
Danish star will play against MA Lin in Copenhagen in the Ansgar Church On the August 17th a very special table tennis event will take place in Copenhagen in the Ansgar Church. The church was closed and sold last year to a big table tennis fan. He will open it for local activities including table tennis . The first event will be a clash between Michael MAZE and MA Lin. MAZE will try to avenge his defeat against Chinese star. They met last time in Shanghai 2005 in the semifinal of the World Championships. It will be the first match for Michael MAZE since his knee surgery last year. For sure it will be the highlight of the night but it will not be all. There will be other matches. The Danish champion Jonathan GROTH will play against ZUO Huarong and European Veterans champion in doubles Niels RAMBERG will play against LIU Mao; in addition there will be an exhibition match between GUE Yue Hua and CHENG Yinghaio.The umpire will be the Korean ambassador in Denmark Young Sam Ma (blue badge umpire). Two days later there will be a similar event in the Town Hall of Odense as a part of the Festival in name of the fairy tale writer H.C. ANDERSEN who was born in Odense. Michael MAZE is ambassador for ANDERSEN who is very famous in China. At that event Jonathan GROTH will be replaced by the local national player Morten Hyrup RASMUSSEN . “In a week I’ll be playing Tsingtao Table Tennis Tour in Absalon on Vesterbro Copenhagen. I can’t wait to get a World Championship rematch against the Chinese legend MA Lin. Also Jonathan GROTH ZUO Hua GUO Yuehua CHENG Yinghua Niels RAMBERG and LIU Mao will be playing. It’s a private event but you can watch it live on TV 2 SPORT from 7.30pm ” stated MAZE on his Facebook aaccount.
TTCLM Round 4: Orenburg seeks revenge in Austria
From Thursday to Saturday TTCLM Round 4 will be held as defending champion are fully motivated against Walter Wels who upset the odds in the opening round Two leading clubs in the Group A will meet in the Round 4 in Austria. Defending TTCLM champion Orenburg are determined to revenge over 2014 Austrian champion for 3:1 home defeat in the Round 1. Japanese Yuya OSHIMA beat both Orenburg stars Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Vladimir SAMSONOV and Zolt PETE added one point for the biggest TTCLM upset so far in the ongoing season. Russian champion spent last few days in Germany as Coach Viktor ANDREEV stressed that all his players are in full strength. Angers and Saarbrucken are the opponents in the other Group A clash. Both recorded one victory and two defeats hence the upcoming game should be decisive for them. In the Group B UMMC went to France without Zoran PRIMORAC who continues his recovery from injury. Hennebont is forced to play without CHUANG Chih-Yuan who still waits for permission of Taiwanese Table Tennis Association . Hennebont`s coach Boris ABRAHAM stated on club`s website that he can count on KREANGA PROKOPCOV and ROBINOT in the upcoming matches. Olimpia Unia will try to improve its chances for the quarter-final playing at home against 2008 TTCLM winner Niederosterreich. If Polish club overcome Austrians both sides would have two victories after four rounds. The 2014 TTCLM champion AS Pontoise Cergy has no right for mistake against Werder Bremen. After 3:2 home defeat from Eslovs French club put itself in a bad situation. Leading club in Group C Eslovs has a chance to book its place for the next stage fighting for the fourth victory in a row against KTS Energa Manekin Torun. Ten times European champion Borussia targets its new quarter-final while Bogoria seeks its first victory in the upcoming game which will be held in Poland. German club showed remarkable team spirit in the Round 8 of Bundesliga as they overcame away Bergneustadt 3:2 in the crucial game for the play-of spot. Dusseldorf side was struck by several injuries in the last few months (Timo BOLL is out of the action since September) but Kamal ACHANTA and Patrick FRANZISKA managed to recover. Indian player lead the squad against Bergneustadt securing two points against MENGEL and DUDA. The 2013 TTCLM finalist Chartres is unique unbeaten team in the Group D but STEN Ostrov is not afraid by that fact. Manager of Czech team Jan HRNCIRIK stated: “We are preparing for a revenge for match in Chartres in which we had very good start but at the end lost 3:1. It is our last chance to fight for quarter-final as well”. TTCLM Round 4 GROUP A Vaillante Sports Angers TT – FC Saarbrucken (November 27th 19:30 CET) SPG Walter Wels – Fakel Gazproma Orenburg (November 28th 18:15 CET) GROUP B Olimpia Unia Grudziadz – Wienviertel Niederosterreich (November 27th 18:00 CET) GV Hennebont TT – UMMC Verknaya Pyshma (November 27th 19:30 CET) GROUP C AS Pontoise Cergy – SV Werder Bremen (November 26th 19:45 CET) Eslovs Ai Bordtennis – KTS Energa Manekin Torun (November 27th 20:00 CET) GROUP D STEN Ostrov Havlickuv Brod – Chartres ASTT (November 27th 18:00 CET) Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki – Borussia Dusseldorf (November 27th 18:30 CET)
Decisive clash in Angers
One of TTCLM Round 4 games will be held between Angers and Saarbrucken (November 27th 19:30 CET) Two semi-finalists of TTCLM in the last four seasons will meet in France in the game which could predestine their final position in the Group A: Vaillante Sports Angers – FC Saarbrucken (November 27th 19:30 CET Round 4). In the opening round French club won 3:2 in Germany thanks to excellent play of Jon PERSSON who beat two individual bronze medalists on European Championships in the last four years Bojan TOKIC and Tiago APOLONIA. After three rounds both sides have the same 1-2 score. “In the first match Angers made an exploit to win 3:2 in Saarbrucken. Upcoming match is very important for the two teams because in case of victory it is quite sure to continue in ETTU Cup from the third place” stated Angers President Gerard SARAZIN. Angers has 2-3 score in the domestic Pro A League while Saarbrucken suffered its very first defeat in the recent Round 8 of Bundesliga. Coach of German club Slobodan GRUJIC stressed that his team targets TTCLM quarter-final hence they need victory this Friday: “This is the crucial match for us thus we have to give our best to win. We are fully prepared and we believe that we are able to achieve that.”
Hugo Calderano Mima Ito and Jang Woojin contends for the 2015 Breakthrough Star
ITTF Announces Breakthrough Star & Star Coach Nominations For 2015 ITTF Star Awards The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has announced the nominees for the 2015 Breakthrough Star & 2015 Star Coach awards for the 2015 ITTF Star Awards that will be held on 9 December 2015 in Lisbon Portugal. The 2015 ITTF Star Awards will be the third edition of the ITTF’s year-ending extravaganza to celebrate the achievements of athletes and coaches in 2015 this time in Lisbon’s emblematic city landmark ofPátio da Galé. A new addition to the Star Awards the “Breakthrough Star” award will show recognition to the rising stars in the sport and celebrate their spectacular performance on the international stage. Nominees in the running for the 2015 Breakthrough Star & Star Coach are: Breakthrough Star presented by TMS International: Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) – Became the 2015 Pan American Champion at just 19 years of age to book his place at the Rio 2016 Olympic games. Calderano is the leader of a fantastic new generation of Latin American players. Mima ITO (JPN) – Won two World Tour titles made the World Championships quarter finals and has made it to the Japanese team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at just 14 years of age. JANG Woojin (KOR) – Impressive results at the 2015 Asian Championships and has risen rapidly in the World Ranking in 2015. Progressing well since he became the Junior World Champion in 2013. Nomination Video: https://youtu.be/EeeaOuraWmk Star Coach presented by Butterfly: Viorel FILIMON (Romanian National Coach) – Guided Elizabeta Samara from a mini cadet to become the 2015 European Champion coaching her every step of the way. LIU Guoliang (Chinese National Coach) – Oversaw China win every possible major title in 2015 as well being responsible for bringing the new batch of young Chinese table tennis players through the system. QIAN Qianli (Austria National Coach) – In his first act as Austria’s National coach he guided the Men’s team to become the European Team Champions for the first time in history in 2015 as well as having 3 Austrian players in the European Championships men’s doubles final. Nomination Video: https://youtu.be/Z5MeG36-Nv0 Fans are now able to vote for their Male & Female Star players as well as for the Star Point of the year on ITTFStarAwards.com! Voting closes on 25 November 2015. The winners of the 2015 Male & Female Table Tennis Star will based on 50% on fans’ votes and 50% on results from the expert panel judging made up of their peers and media experts while the Star Point will be fully based onfans’ choice. The remaining awards (Star Coach Breakthrough Star Male & Female Para Table Tennis Star and the Fair Play Star) will be dependent on expert judging.
CTT Balageur Villart Logistic by narrow margin
Women’s ETTU Cup The closest match in the Third round of the Women’s ETTU Cup was played in Ankara. After full five matches CTT Balaguer Villart Logistic earned his place in the next round. Zoya NOVIKAVA gave hosts dream start but WANG Tingting was not in the mood for charity today. She overcame Cristina HIRICI to level the score and also add another point to the score board after Fulya YILDRIM gave her team a hope at 2:1. Unlike the match in Turkey the one between Tecnigen LINARES – ALCL TT Grand Quevilly finished without great suspense. French side played in fast line at home to secure the straight matches and straight games victory. Budaorsi 2i Sport Club also left GDDCSD Juncal without any chance. In the Fourth Round ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly will meet Budaorsi 2i Sport Club SKST Mart Hodonin will play against Novi Sad CTT Balaguer Villart Logistic will play against AZS UMCS Optima Lublin and GDCGP Madalenavs. TTC Kazan. Tigem Spor Kulubu – CTT Balaguer Villart Logistic 2:3 Zoya NOVIKOVA – WANG Yanlan Li 3:2 (8:11 11:7 12:10 7:11 12:10) Cristina HIRICI – WANG Tingting 0:3 (5:11 6:11 4:11) Fulya YILDRIM – Anna BISCCARRI 3:0 (11:5 11:5 11:4) Zoya NOVIKOVA – WANG Tingting 1:3 (9:11 3:11 16:14 3:11) Cristina HIRICI – WANG Yanlan 1:3 (5:11 6:11 11:7 8:11) Tecnigen LINARES – ALCL TT Grand Quevilly 0:3 Melinda CIURCUI – TIAN Yuan 0:3 (7:11 5:11 6:11) Gloria PANADERO – Shiho ONO 0:3 (5:11 7:11 6:11) Marta PAJARES – Stephanie LOEUILLETTE 0:3 (4:11 3:11 4:11) GDDCSD Juncal – Budaorsi 2i Sport Club CHOI Moonyoung – Maria FAZEKAS 0:3 (8:11 9:11 8:11) Anna ROSSIKHINA – Szandra PERGEL 1:3 (3:11 11:5 6:11 4:11) Patricia MACIEL – Timea VARGA 1:3 (4:11 3:11 11:9 5:11)
WEIKERT :We are pleased with the progress in RioCentro
Table Tennis Olympic Test Event Concluded in Rio The Rio 2016 Olympic Table Tennis test event the Aquece Rio Eventos-Teste concluded on 21 November 2015 at the RioCentro in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. The event provided valuable testing opportunities for both the Rio 2016 organizing committee and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to evaluate all aspects of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Table Tennis event which will take place on 6-17 August 2016. Overall the ITTF was pleased with what they saw during the invitational event which took place 18-21 November 2015 as explained by the ITTF President Mr Thomas WEIKERT: “During the past four days my colleagues and I have gone through all aspects of the Olympic Games event with the Rio 2016 team. We are pleased with the progress and the conditions here in RioCentro and we are confident that we will have an amazing Olympic Games next year. We just need to work with our Rio colleagues to improve the lighting and to install proper air-condition for the Games time.” By request of Rio 2016 the Olympic Games will be using a green sports floor for the first time at the Olympic Games. The ITTF Marketing Director Mr Steve DAINTON was positive with the new innovation in the sport which is designed to fit in with the Brazilian national colours: “The new green floor from supplier company Tinsue looked great on TV and worked well with the table colour from San Ei as well as the look of the Games and got positive feedback from the players.” The winner of the men’s singles Paul DRINKHALL (GBR) said: “It was very good for me to come and see the conditions in Rio which were great and I can’t wait for the Games next year!” As will be in Rio 2016 there were four gold medals handed out here at the test event. Paul DRINKHALL (GBR) won the men’s single title and local hero GUI Lin took the women’s singles gold while Brazil finished first in both the men’s and women’s team event.
Kazan and Optima Lublin showed no mercy
Women’s ETTU Cup Two more clubs progressed to the Fourth round of the Women’s ETTU Cup tonight. In Kazan hosts showed no mercy; Polish representatives emerged victoriously in similar style. TTC Kazan overcame the guests from Spain – Cajasur Priego TM in straight matches. In addition Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA Antonina SAVELYEVA and Victoria LEBEDEVA concluded all three matches in straight games. In Poland AZS UMCS Optima Lublin’s Antonina SZYMANSKA was under pressure in the opening match against Elena ABAIMOVA. She was stretched to full distance. After that it was one way track for the hosts. TTC Kazan – Cajasur Priego TM 3:0 Svetlana MOKHNACHEVA – Yolanda ENRIQUEZ 3:0 (11:7 11:8 11:6)Antonina SAVELYEVA – Marija GALONJA 3:0 (11:8 11:4 11:7)Victoria LEBEDEVA – Belen HENARES 3:0 (11:3 11:4 13:11) AZS UMCS Optima Lublin – SKNT Luch Vladimir 3:0 Antonina SZYMANSKA – Elena ABAIMOVA 3:2 (12:10 7:11 11:8 9:11 11:7) LIU Wennen – Svetlana KREKINA 3:1 (11:6 7:11 11:6 11:2)Natalia ALEKSYEYENKO – Irina ERMAKOVA 3:0 (11:8 13:11 11:9)
Novi Sad booked the place among top 8 clubs
Women’s ETTU Club First three matches in the Third Round of the Women’s ETTU Cup concluded in favor of hosts in two occasions. Only Linz LZ easy Therm Linz Froschberg suffered on home soil. In Linz LZ easy Therm Linz Froschberg suffered by the hands of Portugal’s players. Karoline MISCHEK was the only player to score whilst LI Jiao Lila OLIVEIRA and Maria LUIS all gave their contribution to the guest team win. SKST Mart Hodonin showed no mercy in Czech Republic. Renata STRBIKOVA was the instrumental in host’s success. Katerina PENKAVOVA secured the third point for Hodonin whilst Sanem Ezgi SAHIN scored for Istanbul’s club. In Serbia Novi Sad overcame Romania’s ACS Dumbravita. Aneta MAKSUTI proved she is in good shape by beating Andrea ZANFIR and Adina DIACONU. European youth champion also suffered by the hands of Viktoria TRUZINSKI. Women’s ETTU Cup GDCGP Madalena – Linz LZ easy Therm Linz Froschberg 3:1 LI Jiao – Sophie KELLER MANN 3:0 (11:4 11:5 11:4). Maria LUIS – Karoline MISCHEK 0:3 (3:11 3:11 4:11)Lila OLIVEIRA – Kristyna STEFCOVA 3:0 (11:7 11:5 11:8)LI Jiao – Karoline MISCHEK 3:1 (11:5 6:11 11:9 11:4) SKST Mart Hodonin – Istanbul BBSK 3:1 Renata STRBIKOVA – Wang MENG LI 3:0 (12:10 11:7 12:10)Katerina PENKAVOVA – Kubra TAN 3:0 (12:10 11:8 11:5)Lenka HARABASZOVA – Sanem Ezgi SAHIN 0:3 (4:11 8:11 7:11)Renata STRBIKOVA – Kubra TAN 3:0 (11:4 11:3 11:8) Novi Sad – ACS Dumbravita 3:1 Aneta MAKSUTI – Andrea ZANFIR 3:2 (13:15 11:8 12:14 11:8 11:6)Viktoria TRUZINSKI – Adina DIACONU 3:1 (11:6 11:8 8:11 11:4)Anna Zsófia FENYVESI – Mihaela DUSPINA 2:3 (11:6 6:11 11:7 10:12 9:11)Aneta MAKSUTI – Adina DIACONU 3:1 (10:12 11:9 11:6 11:8)
France Spain and Sweden secures quarters
Men’s ETTU Cup Stella Sport La Romagne DKV Borges Vall Halmstads BTK and Istres Tennis de Table secured their place in the quarterfinal of the Men’s ETTU Cup. In mid January next year they will meet the clubs finishing on third positions in their respective Groups in the Table Tennis Champions league Men. In France Stella Sport La Romagne withstood the spirited start of the team from Belgium. At the opening Jean-Michael SAIVE overcame Romania’s Adrian CRISAN to secure first point to guests but in the proceedings CHEN Tian Yuan took the match under control. He beat both SAVE and Ludovic BIERNY. Abdel-Kader SALIFOU joined him on the scoreboard with the victory over Christophe GERARD. Led by Mattias KARLSSON Halmstads BTK brought the points home from Caen. KARLSSON beat Jakub KLEPRLIK and Romain LORENTZ in decisive match whilst Harald ANDERSSON joined him with the victory over LORENTZ. Only in Denmark the match went full distance. DKV Borges Vall was stretched to five matches but at the end the points went to Spain. Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 was forced from the beginning to run after the Spanish club. Michael MAZE overcame Marc DURAN to help his team but it was not enough GUI Chengkai was man in form tonight. Stella Sport La Romagne – Logis Auderghem 3:1 Adrian CRISAN – Jean-Michael SAIVE 1:3 (4:11 9:11 11:8 5:11)CHEN Tian Yuan – Ludovic BIERNY 3:1 (11:5 10:12 11:8 11:8)Abdel-Kader SALIFOU – Christophe GERARD 3:1 (11:7 8:11 11:3 11:4)CHEN Tian Yuan – Jean-Michael SAIVE 3:2 (11:7 11:5 9:11 4:11 11:2) Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 -DKV Borges Vall 2:3 ZHAI Yujia – GUI Chengkai 2:3 (11:9 4:11 11:7 9:11 10:12)Michael MAZE – Marc DURAN 3:2 (10:12 7:11 11:3 11:9 12:10)Claus NIELSEN – Oriol MONZO 1:3 (9:11 11:7 8:11 10:12)ZHAI Yujia- Marc DURAN 3:1 (11:13 12:10 11:4 11:5)Michael MAZE – GUI Chengkai 1:3 (6:11 11:9 8:11 5:11) Caen TTC -Halmstads BTK 1:3 Romain LORENTZ – Harald ANDERSSON 0:3 (8:11 8:11 3:11)Jakub KLEPRLIK – Mattias KARLSSON 2:3 (8:11 11:7 7:11 11:6 9:11)Marcos MADRID – Fabian AKERSTROM 3:2 (7:11 11:9 10:12 11:3 12:10)Romain LORENTZ – Mattias KARLSSON 1:3 (3:11 5:11 11:6 5:11)
