The ITTF announced the 2015 ITTF Star Awards in Lisbon Portugal on 9 December 2015 The 2015 ITTF Star Awards is the third edition of the annual year-ending table tennis awards and it promises to build on the immense success of the two previous editions. The 2015 ITTF Star Awards will be held prior to the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals and will recognize and celebrate the stars of table tennis the players and coaches. The evening of glitz and glamour will take place in the centre of Lisbon in the historic Patio de Gale Lisbon as the table tennis stars dress up in their finest to attend. ITTF Marketing Director Steve DAINTON stated: “The ITTF Star Awards has grown into a yearly event with great stature and an important date on the calendar for all of the world’s top table tennis players. This year we head to the beautiful city of Lisbon in conjunction with the World Tour Grand Finals to recognize the Stars of our sport for what will be a classical and elegant evening!” Portuguese interest in table tennis is at an all time high on the back of their National Team’s gold medal feats at the TMS 2014 European Team Table Tennis Championships and the 2015 European Games. A record of eight ITTF Star Awards will be handed out in Lisbon with the ITTF Star Breakthrough being the new addition in Lisbon. The full list of eight ITTF Star Awards that will be on offer in Lisbon are: Male Table Tennis Star Female Table Tennis Star presented by Nittaku Para Male Table Tennis Star presented by Tinsue Para Female Table Tennis Star presented by Stag International Table Tennis Star Point presented by DHS Table Tennis Star Coach presented by Butterfly Table Tennis Breakthrough Star Fair Play Star The nominees for the awards will be announced shortly so make sure you keep an eye onITTFStarAwards.comand not miss out.
37th Flanders ITT & 17th Flanders Ostend Masters
37th Flanders ITT & 17th Flanders Ostend Masters gathered players from 43 countries The 37th Flanders ITT & 17th Flanders Ostend Masters brought something for everyone last week. From top table tennis with Jean Michel SAIVE as a host player and a lot of top players in the Ostend Master 2015 to the competition with the 6 years old to 85+ at the Flanders ITT Belgium opened the door for 1.669 players from 43 countries. Bojan TOKIC of Slovenia clinched the top prize at the 17th Flanders Ostend Masters. In the final he beat KOU Lei of Ukraine 4:2. In the semi final KOU overcame Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal whilst TOKIC prevailed against Alexander SHIBAEV of Russia. .Germany’s Bastian STEGER Steffen MENGEL Patrick FRANZISKA and SAIVE also played at the tournament.
Stefan LABITZKE from Berlin won three titles in Austria
1st Championships for Table Tennis Match Officials The 1 st Championships for Match Officials concluded this Saturday in Austria. Umpires and Referees from Russia Sweden Germany Hungary Czech Republic Poland and Austria played two days. Germany Poland and Austria won the first titles. In the team’s event Sweden and Germany faced no big difficulties on their way to the finals. The German Team (Lothar JANDER Hans-Peter WÖRNER Stefan LABITZKE and Jörg BAUMGART) won 3:0 against Liam SCHOUG his brother Lukas and Anders NILSSON from Sweden. Czech Republic finished third. In Women Individual Events Poland and Austria met in the final matches. The Austrian players Renate BURG and Pia STRAUSS won the Women Doubles but the Single Event was in control of Poland. Malgorzata FIDALA won 3:0 against her teammate Agata BIESAGA. In the Men´s Double Event Hans-Peter WÖRNER and Stefan LABITZKE won against Jan BENES and Emanuel VOTIPKA from Czech Republic. In Men Individual Events Sweden and Germany met again in the semifinals. Stefan LABITZKE who already won the gold medal in the team event and the Men´s Double title halted the progress of the SCHOUG brothers from Sweden. He beat Liam in the Semifinal and Lukas in the Final. During the official dinner on Friday the president of the Austrian Table Tennis Association Hans FRIEDINGER and the mayor from Haid/Ansfelden congratulated the players for their dedication to table tennis as match officials but also for their performance as players. At the same time the Austrian umpires Erich and Norbert TRAXLER finished their career as umpires after 30 years and both of them received the silver badge of honour for his work for the Austrian Table Tennis Association.
SVNO STROCK faces new challenges
WSA Women Head Coach Neven CEGNAR reveals the aims of Austrian club in the 2015/16 ECLW season The 2011/12 ECLW runner-up SVNO STROCK is ready to improve itself by one step in the upcoming season which starts on Friday but Schwechat side will play their first game next Monday against UCAM Cartagena (August 24th 19.00 CET). Basic strategy remains the same to combine wunderkinds with experienced players. This time they will be supported by world`s no. 18 Sayaka HIRANO from Japan. „Our team is composed by three experienced players (HIRANO BILENKO and EKHOLM) and four youngsters (ZHANG RAKOVAC KHETKHUAN and MIGOT) who need to fight for their places in the matches against the best ones” stressed WSA Women Head Coach Neven CEGNAR who has won 32 medals with his players at both World and European Championships. „Our goals in the upcoming season is not a good result „at any price” but to promote our basic work: development of both women`s and men`s players who train and work in the WSA. Regarding that we will try to reach as much as best possible result respecting help and investment of our actual and future potential sponsors.” The 2015/16 European Champions League Women season gathered 12 clubs divided in four groups. Maybe first time there is no clear favorite. SVNO STROCK will play in the Group B with UCAM Cartagena (Spain) and Szekszard AC (Hungary). Neven CEGNAR speaks: “We also wish to continue our work on affirmation of our Head Coach Tamara BOROS who has been working excellent more than three years in both WSA and SVNO STROCK. All of us from our CEO Martin SOROS to all other coaches are focused to help on this path. We are looking forward new challenges in the ECLW impatiently expecting our opening game against UCAM Cartagena. Our wish is to show part of everything I mentioned regarding our long term aims.”
Torun ready for its very first TTCLM
KTS Energa-Manekin plays its very first game in this prestigious competition next Thursday (August 20th 18h00 CET) against Eslovs Al Bordtennis Next Thursday will be a very special day for KTS Energa-Manekin Torun because this Polish club plays on that day its first ever season of Table Tennis Champions League Men. In the opening round of the 2015/16 TTCLM (Group C) they will host actual ETTU Cup winner Eslovs Al Bordtennis. KTS Energa-Manekin the no. 6 seed of TTCLM will be the third Polish club in this competition after Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki and Olimpia Unia Grudziadz. Coach Grzegorz ADAMIAK can count on eight players: ZHANG Chao CHEN Weixing Cazuo MATSUMOTO Konrad KULPA Tomasz KOTOWSKI Damian WEDERLICH Pawel PIOTROWSKI and Marcin MARCHLEWSKI. All other Round 1 TTCLM matches are scheduled from August 21st to 23rd.
Li Xiaodong lecturer at the Women’s Coaching Course in Schwechat
The Course will be held from 7th to 9th of September 2015 ETTU Development Program announces Women’s Coaching Course to be held from 7th till 9th of September in Werner Schlager Academy. All National Associations members of ETTU are invited and encouraged to send one female coach to attend this Course. ETTU will cover their full board accommodation expenses (in double room) and also transportation costs from / to Vienna Airport – Schwechat. If Associations are to send more then one female coach they are supposed to pay the full accommodation and transport packege for the Course (3 days) in full amount of 210€ (single room) and 170€ (double room). It is our great pleasure to announse that the lecturer for the Coaching Course will be one of the most famous Chinese coaches ever Mr. Li Xiaodong (CHN). The dead line for your entries is 30th of August 2015 “Looking forward to welcome you all in Schwechat ” said ETTU Development Manager prof. Neven CEGNAR.
OVTCHAROV`s comeback on world`s no. 5
Europe still has four players in the Top 10 of ITTF World Ranking List There are no significant changes on the August`s ITTF World Ranking List. German Dimitrij OVTCHAROV still emerges as the best ranked European player coming back on the no. 5 after ten months. The Old Continent are continuing with four members among the best 10: beside OVTCHAROV other three are no. 7 Timo BOLL (Germany) no. 8 Vladimir SAMSONOV (Byelorussia) no. 10 Marcos FREITAS (Portugal). Regarding women`s list HAN Ying stays on the no. 12 as the best ranked European player. Her team mate from German national team SHAN Xiaona climbed from the no. 22. to no. 15. Men`s Top 10 on the ITTF World Ranking List 1 (1) MA Long (China) 3143 2 (2) XU Xin (China) 3000 3 (3) FAN Zhendong (China) 2971 4 (4) ZHANG Jike (China) 2933 5 (6) Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (Germany) 2790 6 (5) Jun MIZUTANI (Japan) 2784 7 (7) Timo BOLL (Germany) 2733 8 (8) Vladimir SAMSONOV (Byelorussia) 2675 9 (9) FANG Bo (China) 2664 10 (10) Marcos FREITAS (Portugal) 2658 Women`s Top 10 on the ITTF World Ranking List 1 (1) DING Ning (China) 3253 2 (2) LIU Shiwen (China) 3231 3 (3) LI Xiaoxia (China) 3148 4 (4) ZHU Yuling (China) 3092 5 (5) Kasumi ISHIKAWA (Japan) 3033 6 (9) Ai FUKUHARA (Japan) 3002 7 (6) FENG Tianwei (Singapore) 2984 8 (7) CHENG Meng (China) 2935 9 (8) WU Yang (China) 2933 10 (10) Mima ITO (Japan) 2922
Cancer Charity Fund Raising Day Focus of Guinness World Record Attempt
Kelly Sibley English champion is the Ambassador for Pink Pong Controlling a table tennis ball on a table tennis racket for ten seconds without a mistake may not seem a formidable task but when you are aiming for 300 people or even 400 to perform the exercise at the same time without error; then the mission assumes different proportions. Currently the Guinness World Record stands at 250 people; the aim of England’s Steve Rowe is to organise a sufficient number of people to break that record; the planned date for Aerobic Table Tennis / Pink Pong Table Tennis Guinness World Record Attempt is Saturday 24th October the venue is Wigan Youth Zone situated in Greater Manchester. Pink Pong is organised by Liz May who works tirelessly to raise money for cancer research; they are partners with Aerobic Table Tennis the organisation masterminded by Steve Rowe. The two organisations have toured the United Kingdom in an attempt to raise money for Liz May’s project. Preparations are now in an advanced state the proposal being that the day will start at 10.00am being full of themed table tennis activities with funds raised going to Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens.“We will be having table tennis exhibition games and many fun table tennis games” said Steve ROWE. “Of course the main event is the world record attempt which is planned for a 2.00pm start.” Attending the event will be Kelly SIBLEY the reigning English champion who is an ambassador for Pink Pong. She will attend the event also alongside the Mayor of Wigan and Russia’s Maxim SHMYREV. Notably Maxim SHMYREV responded immediately to the request from Steve ROWE to support the event.Kindly the Wigan Youth Zone has offered their facilities for free the whole project being organised in conjunction with the Wigan Athletic Football Club Community Trust. “Table tennis has been part of our Premier League 4 Sport programme since it started in 2009 we have seen great results delivering table tennis to young people in Wigan with us working with more than 300 participants this year” said Tom FLOWER Head of Wigan Athletic Community Trust. “With this in mind using our profile to so support the table tennis world record attempt to raise money for Cancer Research Kids and Teens was something we jumped at.” Furthermore Dreamscope Television will film the whole event. Guinness will study the video to make sure the necessary conditions have been met. “The actual activity is not that difficult what is difficult is having more than 250 people in the same room at the same time taking part in the attempt” said Steve ROWE. “We are hoping to have between 300 and 400 people so we can smash the record.” Notably the activity was chosen so that even beginner players can take part. “We would like to invite players from around the world to join us at this fantastic event” added Steve ROWE. “Everyone that takes part in the attempt will have the chance to become a Guinness world record holder.” Now that is something that does not happen every day. “I would personally like to thank Darren HUTCHINSON from Dreamscope and Table Tennis England who are helping us promote the event; we are hoping to have a Table Tennis England representative attend on the day” concluded Steve ROWE.
Ma Long Edges Closer to History at the ITTF China Open
2015 World Champion MA Long has taken one more step closer to creating history by winning his 20th ITTF World Tour title today at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour China Open MA edged closer to the legendary Vladimir SAMSONOV’s record of 26 ITTF World Tour titles with an impressive victory over world number two XU Xin in Dujiangyan Chengdu. The world number one who had to come from behind in the semifinal to beat lowly ranked Yuya OSHIMA from Japan was simply too powerful for his team mate XU in the final prevailing 13-15 11-4 11-7 12-10 11-9. After the match the 26 year old stated: “This is the sixth time I have won the China Open so it is very special to me. It also takes me one step closer to SAMSOMSOV’s ITTF World Tour record. XU is always a very tough opponent. I knew I had to be in my best form to defeat him and thankfully today I was in front this awesome crowd here.” ZHU Yuling who is from the Sichuan province used her home ground advantage perfectly as she blew the current World Champion DING Ning off the court in a ruthless display in front of the capacity crowd. The 20 year old won her second ITTF World Tour title surprisingly easy 11-9 11-4 13-11 11-8 to claim gold at the final ITTF World Tour Super Series event of the year. “I really felt the support today from my local crowd” stated the world number three ” and I know DING Ning is an amazing player so I needed to be at the top of my game. It was a surprise that I played so well and won 4-0. This was because I put all my heart and soul into match. I am so happy to be the champion!” It was defeat for XU Xin in the men’s singles but a win in the men’s doubles as he teamed up with FAN Zhendong to defeat FANG Bo & ZHU Linfeng (CHN) 10-12 11-6 7-11 8-11 9-11 in the final. LIU Shiwen made up for her disappointing semifinal loss against ZHU Yuling by teaming up with CHEN Meng to claim the women’s doubles title. The Chinese duo defeated their teammates GU Yuting & MU Zi 11-3 11-9 11-8 to ensure that they both don’t go home empty handed. In the under 21 singles Hitomi SATO from Japan won an extraordinary fifth women’s title in 2015 and seventh overall to confirm herself as the dominant under 21 player on the planet. The men’s under 21 title went to the 2013 Junior World Champion JANG Woojin from Korea who is quickly establishing himself as a future star of the sport. The world’s best players now head to Bulgaria for the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Bulgaria Open which starts on 19 August 2015 in Panagyurishte.
Asia’s players prevailed in Chengdu
FAN Zhendong accounted for Germany’s Timo BOLL in five games There will be no Europeans in game tomorrow at the last day of the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour China Open in Chengdu. At the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles Event China’s MA Long will play against Yuya OSHIMA of Japan FAN Zhendong opposes XU Xin in all-Chinese duel. FAN Zhendong the no.3 seed accounted for Germany’s Timo BOLL in five games (11-8 8-11 11-8 11-6 11-4). XU Xin the no.2 seed ended the hopes of Portugal’s Marcos FREITAS the no.9 seed (9-11 12-10 11-7 13-11 12-10). “It’s my second time to play against Timo Boll I feel more confident now” said Fan Zhendong who had beaten Timo BOLL in six games in their Men’s Singles encounter at the Qoros 2015 World Championships.“I made little mistakes in the second game. I am glad that I could show a good performance here in front of all these Chinese fans; my thanks to coach Liu Guoliang.” Required to compete in the preliminary rounds surprise wins one day earlier over Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and compatriot Koki NIWA; Japan’s Yuya OSHIMA continued his quite staggering run. Against the odds he beat Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan the no.12 seed. In the semi-final stage of the Women’s Singles Event China’s DING Ning will play against Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA ZHU Yuling will face LIU Shiwen in another all Chinese semi final. Also in doubles gold and silver is destined for China; that is the outcome following the quarter-final and semi-final clashes in the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles events.
