2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open concluded today Romania clinched gold in both Junior Team Events at the 2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open in Varazdin. In the Cadet Girls’ Team competition it was the top prize for Slovenia whilst in the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the top seeded Russian duo. Led by Cristian PLETEA with Rares SIPOS and Alexandru MANOLE Romania A the second seeds at the final hurdle accounted for the German trio of Gerritt ENGEMANN Balazs HUTTER and Jonah SCHLIE the third seeds to claim the title. Cristian PLETEA accounted for both Balazs HUTTER (11-5 11-9 11-6) and Gerritt ENGEMANN (12-10 11-4 11-9. Two days earlier at the quarter-final stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event Cristian PLETEA had been beaten by Balasz HUTTER in four straight games (11-7 11-8 11-6 11-7). Clearly the Romania teenager had learned how to deal with the defensive attributes of a most worthy adversary. Alexandru MANOLE accounted for Jonah SCHLIE (6-11 11-9 11-5). The one win for the Germans came in the second contest when Gerritt ENGEMANN overcame Rares SIPOS (7-11 12-10 14-12 16-14). At the quarter-final stage Romania A accounted for the Croatian combination of Marko VIDACEK Josip ARBANAS and Mitija HRELEC the no.13 seeds by three matches to nil before recording the same margin of victory in opposition to the English trio comprising Tom JARVIS Helshan WEERASINGHE and Luke SAVILL the no.5 seeds. Germany in the round of the last eight teams overcame Hungary’s Istvan MOLNAR Mate BRUCKNER and Gergo TIMAFAVI the no.7 seeds before causing somewhat of a surprise. At the semi-final stage they beat the top seeded Slovenia outfit comprising Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Tom SFILOGOJ. In the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the top seeded Russian duo of Lev KATSMAN and Maksim GREBENEV. At the final hurdle they overcame Poland B the no.6 seeds represented by Artur GRELA and Kamil DZIADEK by three matches to one. Romania’s Mihaela PLAEASU Andreea DRAGOMAN and Andreea HUDUSON in a thrilling full distance five match final beat the top seeded Germany. In the vital fifth and deciding match in the gold medal contest Mihaela PLAEASU beat Julia KAIM by the very narrowest of margins (15-13 7-11 7-11 11-9 14-12) to secure the title. The vital success came after Andreea DRAGOMAN had beaten Julia KAIM in the second match of the contest (11-9 11-8 12-10) and Luisa SAEGER in the fourth (11-4 8-11 11-5 11-5). The wins for Germany came from Luisa SAEGER in the opening engagement in opposition to Mihaela PLAEASU (11-13 15-13 11-6 11-6) and from Caroline HAJOK in the third duel. She accounted for Andreea HUDUSON the give the Germans a two-one advantage. In the Cadet Girls’ Team competition Slovenia’s duo of Alexandra VOVK and Katarina STRAZAR the second seeds accounted for the Russia A outfit formed by Daria AZARENKOVA and Ekaterina BESPALOVA the no.5 seeds by three matches to one.
Dates for 2019 European Games confirmed by EOC
The 2019 European Games will take place in the final two weeks of June the European Olympic Committees (EOC) has announced with five to six sports set to form a core part of the programme for future editions of the event. The dates were confirmed at an EOC Executive Committee meeting in Tirana Albania which came after the organisation held a debrief on Baku 2015 in the Italian capital Rome last week. It has been claimed that staging the 2019 Games which were originally awarded to The Netherlands before the country pulled out due to a lack of support from various sectors of the nation in the last two weeks in June will “allow European Federations and Europe’s National Olympic Committees more time to align their calendars with the European Games than was possible for the inaugural edition in Baku Azerbaijan this summer”. EOC President Patrick Hickey the brainchild behind the European Games concept says the announcement will now allow them to finalise discussions with those cities interested in staging the 2019 Games. A number of nations have been mooted as potential hosts for the 2019 event including Turkey Belarus and Russia with a decision expected to be made in October before being rubber-stamped at the EOC General Assembly in Prague the following month. “Selecting the window for 2019 is a small but symbolic decision ” Hickey said. “After the incredible success of the first edition of the Games it’s important we give all stakeholders the opportunity to build their calendars for 2019 with the Games in mind rather than fitting the Games into their existing calendars as they did for Baku 2015. “Today’s decision also allows us to finalise our discussions with the interested cities for hosting the 2019 Games with concrete dates in mind. “Whilst we are close to concluding our discussions with the potential hosts for 2019 we are also holding conversations with cities about the third edition of the Games in 2023.” EOC President Patrick Hickey says the announcement of the dates for the 2019 event will allow them to finalise discussions with potential host cities. insidethegames has been told that athletics is expected to be included as one of the five to six core sports proposed for future Games by the EOC and it is hoped that these will form the main part of the programme with additional sports chosen at the discretion of the host city. The EOC have also forecasted an average operational budget of $500m (£320m/437m) for each edition of the event going forward which Hickey says he feels is a “sustainable pricetag” compared with the Olympic Games. “Establishing a core number of sports for the European Games is part of the EOC’s long-term vision but we are well ahead of schedule in holding these high-level discussions ” the Irishman added. “Equally establishing an approximate operating budget after only one edition is a confident step forward and we believe $500 million is a realistic figure.When compared with an Olympic Games $500 million represents a reasonable and sustainable pricetag for a pan-continental sporting mega event featuring 50 nations.” By Liam Morgan Published on http://www.insidethegames.biz
Deni KOZUL won the title in Varazdin in superb style
Puerto Rico’s Adriana DIAZ won the Junior Girls’ Singles event Slovenia’s Deni KOZUL won the Junior Boys’ Singles event at the 2015 Croatia Junior and Cadet Open in Varazdin. The no.4 seed at the final hurdle he beat Russia’s Denis IVONIN the no.12 seed (11-6 7-11 11-5 11-5 11-9) having at the quarter-final and semi-final stages ended German hopes. In the round of the last eight he beat Gerrit ENGEMANN the no.5 seed in a full distance seven games duel (11-8 5-11 11-6 4-11 11-9 6-11 11-6) before reserving his place in the final courtesy of success against Balazs HUTTER the no.14 seed (11-6 9-11 13-11 10-12 11-8 12-10). Success against Balzs HUTTER was success against a player in form; at the quarter-final stage he had caused a major upset by beating Romania’s Cristian PLETEA the top seed (11-7 11-8 11-6 11-7). In addition to reaching the semi-final stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event Balzs HUTTER won the Junior Boys’ Doubles title in partnership with Jonah SCHLIE; at the final hurdle the duo accounted for Deni KOZUL and his Slovenian colleague Darko JORGIC (11-4 8-11 6-11 11-6 11-5). Puerto Rico’s Adriana DIAZ won the Junior Girls’ Singles event it was her first ever ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Singles title. At no stage of the proceedings was Adriana Diaz the top seed extended the full distance. The most severe test was at the quarter-final stage when requiring six games to halt the aspirations of the host nation in the guise of Klara CAKOL the no.8 seed (12-10 12-10 8-11 7-11 6-11 11-9). A difficult hurdle negotiated confident the Puerto Rican teenager accounted for Russia’s Kristina KAZANTSEVA the no.14 seed in five games (5-11 11-4 11-9 11-8 11-4) before securing the title at the expense of Romania’s Andreea DRAGOMAN the no.2 seed. Similar to the penultimate round exchanges Adriana DIAZ won in five games (11-9 11-8 11-5 6-11 11-9). No medals gained by the host nation; but that was not the situation in the Junior Girls’ Doubles event where three of the four finalists were from Croatia the interloper being Slovenia’s Tamara PAVCNIK. She partnered Klara CAKOL to success against Ema MARN and Andrea PAVLOVICH the winners earlier this year of the Cadet Girls’ Doubles title at the European Youth Championships in Bratislava. A tense hard fought final Klara CAKOL and Andrea PAVLOVICH resisted a brave recovery to emerge success by the very narrowest of margins (11-8 11-8 7-11 9-11 13-11).
Timo BOLL withdraws from two European Championships events
Knee problems forced Germany’s star to reduce his engagement in Ekaterinburg Bad news for Timo BOLL. The European record Champion is suffering from a strong irritation in his left knee. As a precaution he and the DTTB coaches’ team decided to withdraw him from the Team’s and Doubles Events at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October) in Ekaterinburg. Whether Boll play the singles is currently still open. “Timo’s withdrawal does not change our objective to become European Champion in the Team’s event ” DTTB Sports Director Richard PRAUSE stresses. “His absence is of course weakening us but even without him the team is strong enough”. Boll is replaced by Ruwen FILUS in the Team’s event. The defender would otherwise have played singles and doubles only. Before the 2013 European Championship the situation was similar. When Boll had caught the flu FILUS was added to the list. Together with Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Patrick BAUM Bastian STEGER and Patrick FRANZISKA he won the team’s title with a final victory over Greece. DTTB Sports Director Richard Prause on the withdrawal of Timo Boll in the team and doubles events: “We have a very strong team even without Timo and all are well prepared. Anyway that Germany wins the title will not happen by itself. We saw this fact at the 2014 European Championships. We will see whether we can get around to a revenge match against Portugal. We are very much looking forward to it.” Men’s Head Coach Jörg ROSSKOPF about Boll’s withdrawal and the possible impact on the team: “That does not change our objective. We want to win the tournament. We have to accept the new situation and give 100 per cent in every match. The players are in an well shape and there is also a little more time until the tournament starts.”
Great success for the Women Coaches seminar
Next meeting in Vandee France As a part of the ETTU Development program Women Table Tennis Coaches seminar was held on 7th and 8th September in WSA in Schwechat. Headed by the ETTU-Vice-President Ivo Goran MUNIVRANA and coordinated and organized by the WSA-Women-Head coach Neven CEGNAR who is also ETTU Development Manager not less than 22 coaches from 17 different countries participate at this top-class ETTU seminar. “Some of the coaches are already known and they are very experienced some of them are just on the beginning of their careers. This diversity of knowledge and experience was not an obstacle during the seminar. The coaches showed interest and eagerness to participate and to learn taking part in discussions asking questions” stated Ivo-Goran Munivrana ETTU Deputy President. After a few welcoming words delivered from WSA CEO Martin Soros in accordance with the WCS’s program MUNIVRANA addressed the coaches on behalf of ETTU . “In 20 minutes I explained ETTU Development Program in general underlining the parts of development for players and development for coaches. The reasons for the programs and consequences of not acting upon the program were explained and coaches were invited to take part in the ETTU DP programs. Special attention was drawn to the necessity of coach’s education both theoretical and practical. At the end of presentation present coaches were informed about Coaching Conference in November 2015 and invited to take part.” Presentation and lecturing of Mr. LI Xiaodong were very good and well accepted from coaches. Subject of lecturing was “The importance of footwork in modern table tennis”. Monday afternoon lecture was dedicated to the theory Tuesday morning to the theory combined with video examples and Tuesday afternoon Mr. Li demonstrated practical work at the table. Mrs. Polona Cehovin Susin presented ITTF’s combined program of development and education. Later discussion between ETTU Deputy President Ivo-Goran MUNIVRANA and CEHOVIN SUSIN resulted with repeated mutual standpoints and both side wishes for further cooperation between ITTF and ETTU in the fields of development and education. The further discussion will take place in Yekaterinburg. Next Coaching Conference is scheduled for Vandee France from 26-28th November 2015. In addition there is a possibility of organizing Juniors Camp as part of U21 DP and ETTU contribution to European juniors preparation for WJC. “Neven CEGNAR will urgently investigate possibility to organize junior camp in Saarbrucken from 15th to 20th November ending just a week before WJC in Vandee.Two coaches to lead the camp have already been proposed: Dmitry MAZUNOV and Slobodan GRUJIC. The first one is living in Ochsenhausen and other one in Saarbrucken.” TIS 2015 Final Selection Camp in Otocec Slovenia will be held 4-11th October. Activities are going well prospectus sent entry expected. The selection will be done by Istvan KORPA Joze URH (Slovenia national team coach) and Neven CEGNAR. Until the end of 2015 two development camps for 11 selected TIS players will be organized in Lithuania and Netherlands in period from middle November to middle December.
European champion PLETEA on duty in Varazdin
2015 Croatia Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit European cadet champion Romania’s Cristian PLETEA and Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC head the boys’ list at the 2015 Croatia Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit in Varazdin. Currently Cristian PLETEA only 15 years old is listed at no.26 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings; Darko JORGIC 17 years of age is two places below at no.28. In Varazdin Cristian PLETEA will be making his third appearance on this year’s ITTF Junior Circuit; both have enjoyed notable success both have titles to their names. Cristian PLETEA made the best possible start to the year; he emerged success in the initial tournament on the calendar in Bahrain then he succeeded in the very next in the Czech Republic before having to settle for a semi-final place in France. Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO is the third highest World ranked player on duty next in line is Deni KOZUL. Puerto Rico’s 14 year old Adriana DIAZ is the leading name in the girls’ events. Listed at no.10 (2 186 points) on the most recent edition of the ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Standings the 17 year old Arina SINGEORZAN has eyes focused on a place in the Finals in January and will be making her fifth appearance of the year. Furthermore she will be seeking to rekindle the form of earlier in the year when after reaching the quarter-final stage in Italy she won in Tunisia. Following her success in Tunisia she reached the penultimate round in Belgium. Arina SINGEORZAN in the sixth highest rated player on duty being immediately behind India’s Sreeja AKULA Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU and Germany’s Luisa SAGER. In total 108 boys will compete in Varazdin of which 78 will be on duty in the Junior Boys’ Singles event. A total of 97 girls have entered the Junior and Cadet Open of whom 57 will compete in the Junior Girls’ Singles event. The national associations represented are Austria Belgium Canada Croatia Czech Republic England Finland Germany Greece Hungary Italy Jordan Moldova Montenegro Poland Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Slovenia Serbia the Slovak Republic Wales and the United States. The competition started today with the qualification rounds.
MAZE ready for the international comeback
The 2009 European champion played successfully for Roskilde in the latest round of DBTU League The last round of the Danish League showed that Michael MAZE is ready for the international comeback at the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October 2015) which will be held in Ekaterinburg Russia. Danish star the 2009 individual champion of Old Continent have contributed with two points in the Roskilde`s 5:1 victory against OB. “Michael MAZE will primarily participate in the individual competition at the European Championships” said for the DBTU website Danish coach Linus MERNSTEN adding: “He has made great progress during training and it will be interesting to see how far he can go at the event which will be held on the border between Europe and Asia”. Michael MAZE knows very well how it looks like playing in Ekaterinburg as a former member of UMMC. He participated in the TTCLM with this Russian club few seasons ago.
Final preparations in Ekaterinburg-EXPO
LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships from 25 September to 4 October 2015 The preparations in the International Exhibition Center “Ekaterinburg-EXPO” are in the final phase. The forthcoming LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships (25 September – 4 October 2015) is knocking at the door and the venue is almost ready for the gusets from all over the Europe. „ Preparation of the Championships venue is proceeding to completion. During the next several days it will be completely finished. Currently all the stands have been installed changing rooms and showers have been constructed and umpires’ rooms have been equipped. New lighting that meets all the requirements for such tournaments has been made inside the playing hall. All the playing equipment and umpires’ equipment have already been delivered into the EXPO. Currently the floor special floor surface and ad-banners are being installed “ stated the member of the Organizing Committee Dmitry TYUKHTIN. The draw for the LIEBHERR 2015 ITTF European Championships is already done and most of the players finalized their preparations for the big event. In the Men’s Championships Division – Group A leading name is title holder team of Portugal. Champions’ team will face challenge from the players from France Hungary and Serbia. From this group only France reached round of 8 last year in Portugal. Lisbon’s runner ups team of Germany will face Spain Poland and Ukraine in Group B. Spain also played in the quarterfinal last year. Top seeded team in Group C is Sweden. Bronze medalists will have tough task to face hosts Austria and Romania. Croatia also won bronze in Portugal an din Group D in Russia will meet Belarus Greece and Czech Republic. In Women’s Championships Division – Group A title holders team of Germany will face Belarus Czech Republic and Slovakia. Runners up Austria is in the Group B with Romania France and Serbia. In Group C is Poland will meet Hungary Russia and Luxembourg. Sweden is in the Group D with Netherlands Portugal and Ukraine.
Noshad ALAMIYAN left Belgium with two titles
Iran’s Nima ALAMIAN won the Men’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belgium Open. Occupying the no.23 seed position at the final hurdle he beat Hunor SZOCS the no.18 seed in five games (11-8 11-9 11-7 11-13. 11-4) to conclude matters as arguably the most successful player in the whole tournament. Earlier in the day he had won the Men’s Doubles title in partnership with elder brother Noshad ALAMIYAN and was therefore one of two players to leave de Haan with two titles. The other was Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan who won Women’s Doubles gold in partnership with Lin Ye having one day earlier beaten her doubles partner to secure the Under 21 Women’s Singles title. At the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event results went according to status. Iran’s Nima ALAMIAN the no.23 seed accounted for Hungary’s Adam SZUDI the no.28 seed (7-11 11-7 11-8 11-6 13-11); before Romania’s Hunor SZOCS followed suit; the no.18 seed he beat Sweden’s Hampus NORDBERG (11-8 11-9 11-7 11-13 11-4). Korea’s SEO Hyowon won the Women’s Singles. Occupying the no.2 seeded position the 28 year old who excels in the defensive art accounted for Singapore’s FENG Tianwei the top seed in a gripping final that saw success gained by the minimal two point margin in the deciding game (15-13 8-11 10-12 7-11 11-6 11-7 11-9). In the penultimate stage FENG Tianwei the top seed prevented the possibility of an all-Korean final by overcoming CHOI Hyojoo the no.5 seed by the very narrowest of margins in a full distance seven games duel (11-7 11-8 5-11 11-13 14-12 7-11 11-9) before SEO Hyowon the no.2 seed ended the adventures of Russia’s Yana NOSKOVA the no.10 seed (13-11 11-8 12-10 11-5). Adversaries one day earlier in the Under 21 Women’s Singles final; Singapore’s LIN Ye and ZHOU Yihan combined to win Women’s Doubles title. Occupying the top seeded position in the draw they accounted for the second seeded partnership formed by Serbia’s Anamaria ERDELJI and Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS to secure the title (11-5 13-11 11-2). Nima ALAMIAN and Noshad ALAMIYAN of Iran the no.7 seeds accounted for Hungary’s Nandor ECSEKI and Adam SZUDI to claim gold (11-5 8-11 11-6 11-7). Japan’s Kohei SAMBE and Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan won the respective Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles titles. At the final hurdle Kohei SAMBE accounted for Hungary’s Nandor ECSEKI the no.11 seed (9-11 11-6 11-8 11-5). ZHOU Yihan overcame colleague LIN Ye the no.2 seed and winner two weeks earlier in the Czech Republic at the final hurdle (11-4 1-11 6-11 11-9 11-7).
Buzau gathers European future
ROMSTAL 2015 Europe Youth Top 10 (16th to 18th October) Well known Sport Hall ‘Romeo Iamandi’ in Buzau will once again host ROMSTAL 2015 Europe Youth Top 10. Romania the inexhaustible well of table tennis talents will gather European youth next month from 16th to 18th October. Under the guidance of Tournament Director Mrs. Beatrice ROMANESCU 40 juniors and cadets will compete for four titles. For sure Romania’s players will be under spotlight; not only because they play at the home soli but also because they holds three out of four top seeding positions in their respective categories. Junior boy’s singles category is the only exception. Last year’s winner Fillip ZELJKO entered the World of seniors so he left the door open for the new champion. Last year’s silver and bronze medals winners Alexandre CASSIN and Can AKKUZU of France holds top two spots at the seeding list. Dennis KLEIN of Germany darko JORGIC of Slovenia Konstantin CHERNOV of Russia Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus Bence MAJOROS of Hungary Alexandru MANOLE of Romania Romain RUIZ of France and Andreas LEVENKO of Austria will also play in Buzau. The substitutes are Deni KOZUL of Slovenia Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic Joe SEYFRIED of France Ibrahim GUNDUZ of Turkey. Last year silver medal winner in Cadet Girls Singles Event Adina DIACONU of Romania is the top seed in Junior Girls Singles Event 2015. Remaining 9 positions holds: Natalia BAJOR of Poland Alena LEMMER of Germany WAN Yuan of Germany Maria MALANINA of Russia Tin-Tin HO of England Daria CHERNOVA of Russia Alina NIKITCHANKA of Belarus Daria TRIGOLOS of Belarus and Marie MIGOT of France. The substitutes are Lisa LUNG of Belgium Alina ZAHARIA of Romania Andreea CLAPA of Romania and Diana LUPU of Romania. Cadet Boy’s Singles title holder Cristian PLETEA is at the top seeded position once again. He will face challenge from Irvin BERTRAND of France Rares SIPOS of Romania Medardas STANKEVICIUS of Lihuania Truls MOREGARD of Sweden Cristian CHIRITA of Moldavia Artem DVOYNIKOV of Russia Matteo MUTTI of Italy Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS of Greece and Damien LLORCA of France. The substitutes are XU Janik of Germany Jules ROLLAND of France Tom EISE of Germany Leo DE NODREST of France Lilian BARDET of France Carlo ROSSI of Italy. In cadet Girls Singles Andreea DRAGOMAN will fight to defend her title won last year in France. On her way she will face Christina KALLBERG of Sweden Anastasia KOLISH of Russia Leili MOSTAFAVI of France Lucie GAUTHIER of France Zdena BLASKOVA Czech republic Elina RUB of Russia Ekaterina ZIRONOVA of Russia Emma MARN of Croatia and Ellen HOLMSTEN of Sweden. The substitutes are: Prithika PAVADE of France Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia Ecaterina SMIGANOVSKAIA of Moldova and Tania PLAIAN of Romania.
