In the opening match of Stage two in the Women’s Champions League the reigning champions KTS ENEA SIARKOPOL Tarnobrzeg defeated Joue Les Tours TT in straight matches. The Polish club showed no mercy and embarked on their quest for a third consecutive title with their strongest lineup. Europe’s number one player HAN Ying of Germany opened the duel with a victory over HE Li. YANG Xiaoxin of Monaco ranked eighth in Europe pushed the team further forward with a hard-fought victory over Audrey ZARIF. YANG was two games down before she made a remarkable comeback to win. Europe’s fifth-ranked player Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania sealed the match with a victory over Nolwenn FORT. Once again FORT forced SAMARA to go the distance before the match was resolved in favor of Romania’s star. “We had a challenging start but we achieved a great result. YANG Xiaoxin’s match and my duel were very close but in the end it’s important that we won. Maybe we had a bit of luck but overall we are happy with our performance ” said SAMARA. The next duel is scheduled for Saturday. “We have a Polish league match tomorrow and then a day off. It will give us some more time to prepare for Novi Sad ” concluded Elizabeta.TT Joué les Tours had to go through Stage one where Audrey ZARIF HE Li and Nolwenn FORT overcame SH-ITB Budaörsi Sport Club TT Moravsky Krumlov from Czechia Spanish Tecnigen Linares and HB Ostrov z.s. from Czechia. KTS ENEA SIARKOPOL Tarnobrzeg – Joue Les Tours TT 3-0 HAN Ying – HE Li 3-1 (5-11 11-4 11-5 11-3) YANG Xiaoxin – Audrey ZARIF 3-2 (7-11 9-11 11-2 11-5 6-5) Elizabeta SAMARA – Nolwenn FORT 3-2 (14-12 4-11 11-6 12-14 6-3)
European Youth Enjoyed an Action-Packed Day in Plzen
The Europe Youth Series 2023 Czech Open in Plzen kicked off today with team events for players in the Under 15 and Under 13 categories. Teams from Austria Belgium Czechia Germany Hungary Ireland Switzerland and Sweden competed in the group stage matches. In the Under 15 event Austria 1 represented by Benjamin GIRLINGER and Tobias TISCHBERGER achieved four wins in as many matches all concluding in straight games. Hungary 1 secured the second spot. “We arrived in Pilsen with a fairly large team. We have teams in three categories: girls Under 15 boys Under 15 and boys Under 13. Despite the current financial situation and the fact that we are nearing the end of the season we managed to secure funding for our participation in this tournament and I am very pleased about that. The tournament’s playing format is excellent for these age groups. Young players get to play numerous matches throughout the day. They may be tired but they need not fear elimination after just two losses and that’s the biggest advantage. Players can improve with every game without the worry of heading home early ” said Jarek KOLODZIEJCZYK the coach of Team Austria. When discussing the opening day Coach KOLODZIEJCZYK remarked “The Austrian teams performed well on the first day. I had slightly higher expectations for our girls but I’m not disappointed. The U15 boys have yet to suffer a defeat and the U13 boys’ team is also performing admirably. Nevertheless I believe that the final results are not the most critical aspect here. It’s a means to earn points for the European ranking and assess your abilities. I genuinely appreciate the environment in Pilsen. The brand-new hall with ten tables in a row is also quite intriguing. With this in mind I believe everyone will leave very satisfied.” You can see the results here Pictures here
KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg Aiming for a Third Consecutive Title
The second stage of the European Club competition kicks off this week with the action in the Champions League Women Group A. The reigning champions Poland’s KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg have their sights set on winning their third consecutive title. They are represented by Europe’s number one player HAN Ying of Germany number five Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania number eight YANG Xiaoxin of Monaco Poland’s top-ranked player Natalija BAJOR who holds the number 10 position and Europe’s number 11 YU Fu of Portugal. Both of their opening matches will be played on home soil. Their first match of the competition this season is against French team TT Joué les Tours on Wednesday followed by a clash against Serbia’s TTC Novi Sad on Saturday. The French team is led by Europe’s number 48 player Audrey ZARIF and China’s LI He. In Novi Sad the Serbian team led by Aneta MAKSUTI and Tijana JOKIC is reinforced with Hong Kong’s LAM Yee Lok and China’s RUI QI Xia. “We will not underestimate them. We played against Novi Sad last year but this season they have a new team so we will see. France is also a strong opponent. We will approach every match carefully. We are all in good shape and defending our title would be amazing ” said SAMARA. In the Extra Liga the 31-time Polish champions KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg defeated Fibrain KU AZS Politechnika Rzeszów in the opening match last Friday. Over the course of this marathon-like month they will play against Polish Vice-Champions Bebetto AZS UJD Częstochowa today. In between the two matches in the Champions League they will face SKTS Sochaczew. The away games for the Tarnobrzeg team in Group A will take place on November 23rd in France and on December 4th in Serbia. In Group B Stage two will kick off in Spain with UCAM Cartagena hosting SKST Plus Hodonin on October 24th. Meanwhile in Group D Metz TT is scheduled to play two matches in two days: on the 26th they will face Hungary’s SH-ITB Budaörsi Sport Club and the following day they will compete against Italy’s ASD Quattro Mori.
European Rankings Update: October 2023
The European October Rankings are now available. While the senior rankings remained relatively stable with the top players maintaining their positions there have been more changes in the younger categories. In the Men’s Rankings the top eight players – Darko JORGIC of Slovenia QIU Dang and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany Marcos FREITAS of Portugal Felix and Alexis LEBRUN of France Kristian KARLSSON and Truls MOREGARDH of Sweden – have retained their positions from the previous month. Anders LIND of Denmark has moved up one spot to ninth swapping positions with Andrej GACINA of Croatia. In Women’s singles the list begins with HAN Ying of Germany followed by Bernadette SZOCS of Romania Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria Nina MITTELHAM of Germany YUAN Jia Nan of France and Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania. SHAO Jieni of Portugal has advanced one position to seventh while YANG Xiaoxin of Monaco has dropped one place. SHAN Xiaona of Germany has entered the top ten now at position nine followed by Natalia BAJOR of Poland who has remained in tenth place like the previous month. In Under 21 Men’s the LEBRUN brothers top the Rankings with Felix being in first place. MOREGARDH is third and Adrien RASSENFOSSE of Belgium and Eduard IONESCU of Romania are fourth and fifth. In Under 21 Women Prithika PAVADE of France Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia Camille LUTZ of France and Annett KAUFMANN of Germany are the top 5 players. In Under 19 Eduard IONESCU has remained at the top but his teammates Iulian CHIRITA and Darius MOVILEANU have both moved up two places to be second and third respectively. Hugo DESCHAMPS of France has also moved up two positions from his previous ranking now in fourth place followed by Teodor ISTRATE of Romania who has dropped two positions. Romanian duo Elena ZAHARIA and Ioana SINGEORZAN top the Under 19 list as they did the previous month. Mia GRIESEL of Germany Zezanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA of Poland have all advanced two positions. In the Under 15 category Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal has maintained his top position followed by Poland’s Patryk ZYWORONEK Slovakia’s Damian FLORO Austria’s Petr HODINA and Julian RZIHAUSCHEK. In this category Danilo FASO of Italy has climbed seven positions to seventh on the list. In the Under 15 Girls category Leana HOCHART has moved up one spot to the top of the list. Her teammate Nina GUO ZHENG has also moved up one place followed by Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia and Germany’s Koharu ITAGAKI. Italian FASO leads the Under 13 Boys Rankings followed by Kacper PIWOWAR of England who has jumped five positions up. Lizett FAZEKAS of Hungary has also made a four-place improvement to be the first in the Under 13 girls’ rankings. You cane see all rankings here
European Youth Series’ Next Stop – Plzen
Next week the new sports hall Krašovská in Pilsen will serve as the hub for youth table tennis players from across Europe. The inaugural Europe Youth Series Czech Open Plzen 2023 is scheduled to take place from October 11th to 15th. This tournament is part of the European circuit for players in the U13 and U15 categories. Since the event will contribute to the European youth rankings the organizers anticipate the participation of representative teams from twelve European countries. Currently one hundred and fifty players are registered to compete. An event of this magnitude can only be organized with the support of strong partners. The Czech Table Tennis Association with its extensive experience in hosting similar competitions particularly in Moravia is at the forefront. “Thanks to the backing of the Pilsen region the city of Pilsen and local sponsors we decided to host the selection process in Pilsen as well. The European Table Tennis Union has approved our plan and we are thrilled that such an important tournament will take place in the Czech Republic. This will further enhance the prestige of Czech table tennis and provide young players with valuable international experience ” stated Nikolas ENDAL Chairman of the Czech Table Tennis Association. The organizational efforts have been in progress for several months and everything is now in place largely thanks to the excellent cooperation between the Czech Table Tennis Association the city which owns the halls and the organizing team. “We believe that we will execute the tournament at the highest level possible and that Pilsen will become a recurring fixture on the European youth tournament calendar ” concluded tournament director Roman ČECH. The Europe Youth Series tournament features an engaging format with both the U13 and U15 categories participating in a five-day team competition. Additionally there will be singles doubles and mixed doubles competitions.
Club Aréna Hosts International Competition ‘Cup of Hopes’ for Young Table Tennis Players
In the city of Győr Hungary Club Aréna is organizing an International Competition called the “Cup of Hopes” for boys in the Under 11 Under 12 and Under 13 age groups. The competition is scheduled to take place from November 24th to November 26th. Club Aréna is recognized as one of ETTU’s Network and Training Centers and holds an ETTU Certificate for the 2022/2023 season. Players have the option to participate in their respective age groups and those in the U11 age group are also eligible to compete in the U12 and U13 age groups. Similarly participants in the U12 age group may also play in the U13 age group. The competition consists of two stages: 1st stage: Qualification group matches using a round-robin system with groups of 4 or 5 players. 2nd stage: Main draw with a knockout system. All matches will be played in a best-of-five games format. The closing date for entries is November 12 2023 and interested participants should send their entries to gyac@arenagyor.hu.
Tiago ABIODUN Secures Another European Title
Crowned European champion in Gliwice earlier this year Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal claimed another title in Bucharest emerging as the winner of the Under 15 event at the 2023 HEIDELBERG MATERIALS Europe Youth Top 10. As the top-seeded player from Portugal ABIODUN lived up to his status by remaining unbeaten throughout three days of matches. “I am so happy and proud especially since I won the tournament without any defeats in nine rounds. It was hard to play over the past three days in such fierce competition. I think I played my best table tennis. If I have to rate it – I will give it a 10 ” said ABIODUN. Damian FLORO of Slovakia finished second with two defeats. Apart from ABIODUN FLORO also suffered a loss at the hands of Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria. Patryk ZYWORONEK of Poland who lost to Tiago in the final in Gliwice secured the third position. He lost to ABIODUN FLORO and Robert ISTRATE of Romania. Under 13 European champion Danilo FASO of Italy created a few upsets in Bucharest which propelled him to the fourth position. Tiago ABIODUN Portugal 9/0 Damian FLORO Slovakia 7/2 Patryk ZYWORONEK Poland 6/3 Danilo FASO Italy 5/4 Petr HODINA Austria 5/4 Botond VARGA Hungary 4/5 Robert ISTRATE Romania 4/5 Julian RZIHAUSCHEK Austria 2/7 Nathan PILARD France 2/7 Sandro CAVAILLE France 1/8
Iulian CHIRITA Crowned Champion in Bucharest
Iulian CHIRITA of Romania emerged as the champion in the Under 19 Boys’ event at the 2023 HEIDELBERG MATERIALS Europe Youth Top 10 in Bucharest successfully defending his title won in France last year. “I did it again and I am so happy that I won the title two times in a row. It was very difficult to play especially because the competition from my teammates was fierce. I felt like I lost my strength before the last duel against Mateusz ZALEWSKI; I had to dig deep to find the power to beat him in order to retain my title ” said CHIRITA. Quarterfinalist at the European Youth Championships he climbed to the top of the medal podium in Romania with only one defeat in nine matches. CHIRITA suffered his sole loss to the second seed Hugo DESCHAMPS of France. The top-seeded player European Under 19 champion in singles and quarterfinalist at the European Games in Krakow Eduard IONESCU of Romania lost to CHIRITA and finished in second place. The medal podium is dominated by Romanian players as Darius MOVILEANU finished in third place. Darius faced defeat at the hands of his three teammates CHIRITA IONESCU and Dragos BUJOR as well as Simon BELIK of Czechia. Iulian CHIRITA Romania 8/1 Eduard IONESCU Romania 8/1 Darius MOVILEANU Romnia 5/4 Hugo DESCHAMPS France 5/4 David SZANTOSI Hungary 4/5 Dragos BUJOR Romania 4/5 Teodor ISTRATE Romnia 4/5 Simon BELIK Czechia 4/5 Mateusz ZALEWSKI Poland 2/7 Tom CLOSET Belgium 8/1
Leana HOCHART Climbs to the Top in Under 15 Girls’ Event
The winner of the Under 15 Girls’ event at the 2023 HEIDELBERG MATERIALS Europe Youth Top 10 is Leana HOCHART. The French player improved her status from last year moving from the second position to the top spot in Bucharest with a clear record. In four matches against Koharu ITAGAKI of Germany Hanka KODETOVA of Czechia Maria BERZOSA of Spain and Josephina NEUMANN of Germany Leana was pushed to go the full distance but she emerged victorious. “It feels so good to finish the tournament unbeaten. It was very hard but this medal made it worth it. It will help me forget how tired I am now ” said Leana HOCHART. Koharu ITAGAKI is second with three defeats. Besides HOCHART she also lost to KODETOVA and NEUMANN. European champion KODETOVA also suffered three losses falling to EYC silver medalists Nina GUO ZHENG of France HOCHART and Julia LEAL of Portugal. Leana HOCHART France 9/0 Koharu ITAGAKI Germany 6/3 Hanka KODETOVA Czechia 6/3 Nina GUO ZHENG France 6/3 Josephina NEUMANN Germany 5/4 Gaetane BLED France 3/6 Andrea JIFCU Romania 3/6 Nora DOHOCZKI Hungary 3/6 Julia LEAL Portugal 2/7 Maria BERZOSA Spain 2/7
Elena ZAHARIA Reigns Supreme in Bucharest
As the top-seeded player in the Under 19 event European champion Elena ZAHARIA dominated in Bucharest at the 2023 HEIDELBERG MATERIALS Europe Youth Top 10. Over three days of competition in Romania’s capital Elena remained undefeated after nine rounds. Elena ZAHARIA of Romania previously won the Under 15 event in 2019 in Dutch Noordwijk. However since then she came close but hadn’t secured the Under 19 title finishing third in Berlin 2020 and second in 2021 and 2022 in Tours. Now she has achieved that goal. “I already have the title in Under 15 and I was so close last year to win in Under 19. Now I made it. This is my last year and from the beginning of the tournament I was determined to win all the matches. Now I am focused on the forthcoming World Championships because last year I was close to the medal podium there too and now I want to reach it ” said ZAHARIA. Mia GRIESEL of Germany secured the second position. She suffered losses to ZAHARIA and Clea DE STOPPELEIRE of France. Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland finished third with the same match ratio but she lost to Mia. Elena ZAHARIA Romania 9/0 Mia GRIESEL Germany 7/2 Zuzanna WIELGOS Poland 7/2 Ioana SINGEORZAN Romania 5/4 Clea DE STOPPELEIRE France 5/4 Anna BRZYSKA Poland 3/6 Bianca MEI ROSU Romania 3/6 Ines MATOS Portugal 2/7 Natalia BOGDANOWICZ Poland 2/7 by Agathe AVEZOU France 0/9
