Club entries have to be done by the national associations using the online entry system The deadline for entering clubs to the European Club Competitions is next Monday 29th June 2015. Club entries have to be done by the national associations using the online entry system https://www.ttm.co.at/onlineentries/users/login. For login please use the same as you have used for past events. Please do not wait until the last day to enter so that we can guarantee to be able to help you in case of problems. All relevant documents you can find hereFor TTCLM For ECLW For ETTU Cup Men For ETTU Cup Women
DTTB and Jorg BITZIGEIO go separate ways
Jorg BITZIGEIO: “After almost 10 very intense years in which we have worked successfully together it is now time for a change” Jorg BITZIGEIO and the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) will split up. The 38-year-old National Coach and certified Sports Scientist and the 8th largest Olympic sports federation in Germany terminate their contract on 31 July. The former National Women’s Coach recently worked as National Youth Coach at the National German Table Tennis Centre in Düsseldorf and as interim National Junior Girls’ Coach. Furthermore he was in charge for talent scouting and contributed to the national coaches’ education and further training. As part of the ongoing restructuring in the past few months on the coaches sector and strategic planning within the DTTB association and BITZIGEIO had developed different ideas about future cooperation and about the orientation in the field of competitive sports. Then both sides agreed to go separate ways. “I regret that Jorg is leaving us but I think it is good that he now takes on a new challenge ” said Heike AHLERT DTTB Vice President in charge of competitive sports and added: “These were very successful years. Considering his knowledge and commitment I am sure that he would be a benefit for any new employer. I wish him all the best”. Jorg BITZIGEIO said: “After almost 10 very intense years in which we have worked successfully together it is now time for a change. I am looking forward to what the future will bring to new and interesting challenges. Because of my broad education and experience in competitive sports I could imagine either staying coach or switching to sports management”. BITZIGEIO studied Sports Sciences at renowned German Sport University Cologne and has a major in Economics and Management . From 2006 to 2012 he was National Women’s Coach trained and coached among others WU Jiaduo who won the singles’ title at the 2009 European Championships in 2011 Irene IVANCAN was the EC runner-up. At the 2010 World Championships in Moscow his women’s team sensationally won bronze losing only to World Champion Singapore. In 2012 Jorg BITZIGEIO changed his position to become coach of the residential school children at the National German Table Tennis Centre. There he shaped among others the talents Nina MITTELHAM and Alena LEMMER who won 5 titles at European Youth Championships.
Sandra DEATON has been re-elected as Chairman of Table Tennis England
Current Deputy Chairman Susie HUGHES and Treasurer Keith THOMAS were also re-elected Sandra DEATON has been re-elected as Chairman of Table Tennis England for a four-year-term. Sandra who took over as Chairman in March 2014 following the sudden death of Andy SEWARD in January 2014 said: “I’m delighted it was such an overwhelming mandate. It’s an honour and a privilege to carry on working as Chairman of Table Tennis England and to help move our sport forward and become a world-leading governing body. I’d like to thank all the company members who voted for any of the candidates.” DEATON is also ETTU Youth Committee Chairwoman. “On behalf of the ETTU Executive Board and the ETTU Secretariat I am taking this opportunity to congratulate you with your re-election as Chairman of Table Tennis England. We wish you and Table Tennis England much success and good luck in achieving your goals as always in close cooperation with ETTU. We are looking forward to meeting you again in Bratislava ” stated ETTU President Ronald Kramer in his letter to Sandra DEATON.
Inge-Brigitte HERMANN 93-years-old in Tampere
The European veterans Championships starts next week Table tennis Veteran European Championships in Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre will begin next week. One of the most interesting and at the same time the oldest participant is German Inge-Brigitte HERMANN who – at the age of 93 – is playing WS85. The Germans consider her as the world’s oldest known active competitive tennis player. A couple of German TV channels are planning to follow HERMANN´s representations on Tampere tables. BBC in turn is planning to bring in a document group which will explore the importance of table tennis in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. More than 1800 participants the competition requires quite massive preparations. Local organizer PT 75 has in recent times finalized the tables needed for a total of 130. Preparations are well underway and organizers are expecting a total of about 3 000 foreign and domestic guests to Tampere. Games will begin on Monday June 29 at 9 am and will last the whole week.
TTF Celebrates 300th World Tour at Japan Open
The world’s best have arrived in Japan for the 300th ITTF World Tour The GAC Group 2015 World Tour Super Series Japan Open in Kobe Japan will be the 300th ITTF World Tour event since its creation in 1996. The ITTF World Tour revolutionized table tennis as it gave the top players regular tournaments around the world and a steady income from the prize money. The World Tour has gone from strength to strength in the past 19 years and will continue to grow and develop table tennis around the world. The Japan Open being held on 24 – 28 June 2015 is the 11th stop of the US$3 000 000 GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour with qualification rounds beginning today 24 June 2015 at the Green Arena Kobe. The prestigious event sees participation of 167 men and women from 21 countries all vying to be the 14thJapan Open Champion. World number one MA Long will be making his first international appearance since becoming World Champion last month. Since the 26 year old has yet to lose a match in 2015 MA will is the hot favorite to win his 20th World Tour title here in Kobe. The champion of the world stated: “I always enjoy coming to Japan. Despite finally winning my first World Championships I am still hungry to win more and more World Tour titles and create the record for the most in history which is currently held by SAMSONOV who has 26” World number two XU Xin will be determined to put his disappointing World Championship behind him in Kobe. XU was surprisingly knocked out in the quarter finals at the World Championships held in Suzhou China and will be determined to add to his nine World Tour titles. The sold out Kobe crowd will be cheering for local favourite Jun MIZUTANI to cause some upsets against more fancied opponents again to reign supreme at the Japan Open as he did in 2012. World number one DING Ning will be full of confidence after her epic victory in Suzhou where she beat LIU Shiwen in the women’s singles final despite badly injuring her ankle in the 7th game. DING is now fully recovered and looking to secure more Race to Lisbon points to book her place at the 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. Singapore’s FENG Tianwei the Japan Open defending champion has not yet reached the form that won her three ITTF World Tour titles in 2014. The London 2012 bronze medalist will hope that returning to the place of her 2014 success will spark her form back into life. Both DING and FENG will be pushed to their limits by the crowd favourites Japanese trio of Ai FUKUHARA Kasumi ISHIKAWA and 14 year old Mima ITO who are all currently ranked in the top 10 and have all recorded success on the 2015 World Tour. Qualifications for the 16 remaining positions available in the main draw of 32 takes place on 24 – 25 June with the knockout action getting underway on 26 June and the winners being crowned on Sunday 28 June. The GAC Group 2015 World Tour is offering a record US$3 000 000 in prize money and will also be the most viewed in history with more events shown live throughout the world on television and all the events being shown live on ITTF’s live streaming platform ITTF.com/itTV. The Japan Open is one of six GAC Group World Tour Super Series events in 2015 which is the top tier on the World Tour. The rest of the World Tour events are split into Major series (6 events) and Challenge (11 events) The top 16 singles and top 8 doubles pairs on the Race to Lisbon Standings will be invited to the prestigious 2015 World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Lisbon Portugal on 10-13 December 2016.
Classification education seminar in Vejle
Two seminars will be organized during the 2015 ITTF Para Table Tennis European Championships In October during the 2015 ITTF Para Table Tennis European Championships Factor 50 Vejle – Denmark will host the Classification education seminar for B and C category and also seminar of Technical Delegates. It will be held as a part of developmental programs of “Officials training” the ETTU Para Committee. The seminar is part of ETTU development agreement with ITTF and taken care of by ETTU PTT chaired by Georgios SELINIOTAKIS. Responsible of Seminar will be Dr. Juraj STEFAK of Slovakia and Mr. Sheng Kuang WU of Chinese Taipei. The 2015 ITTF Para Table Tennis European Championships will be organized by the Danish Sports Organisation for the Disabled on behalf of the Danish Table Tennis Federation under the auspices and authority of the International Table Tennis Federation (Para Table Tennis Division) from 9th to 18th October 2015. Singles events are scheduled between 12 – 14 October 2015 team events from 15 to 17 October 2015 classification from 10th to 11th October 2015 classification seminar from 9th to 13th October (for seminar participants: arrival 8 October /departure14 October or joining their team). The event will be hosted at the venue called Spektrum which is located in the heart of Vejle.
ITTF World Tour Heads to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea
Popularity of table tennis in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea has soared recently International Table Tennis is returning to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea for the first time since 1979. The GAC Group 2015 World Tour Challenge Series Pyongyang Open will take place on 29 July to 2 August in the Nations capital. The Pyongyang Open will be the 13th stop on the GAC Group World Tour and a valuable opportunity for the world’s best table tennis players to gain priceless Road to Lisbon points to qualify for the year ending World Tour Grand Final. The ITTF World Tour will be one of only a handful international sporting event in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea so it promises to be an event to remember. After returning from the Pyongyang Open site inspection ITTF’s Marketing Director Steve DAINTON stated: “The Pyongyang Open is sure to be a fantastic table tennis event. It was amazing to see one of the best table tennis facilities in the world when we visited Pyongyang. The venue will ensure its one of the best Challenge Series World Tour events of the year. It has also been 36 years since the last ITTF event was held there. Having seen the situation for myself I am sure it will truly be a memorable event.” Table tennis is fast becoming one of the most popular sports in the country on the back KIM Hyok-Bong & KIM Jong becoming the 2013 Mixed Doubles World Champions and the 2014 Asian Games Gold medalists which has rocketed them to national stardom. Entries for the historic event are closing soon so don’t miss out the chance to be apart of this unique event. Click here: http://bit.ly/1LgivGD for more information on the ground breaking Pyongyang Open. Before the GAC Group World Tour heads to Pyongyang the next stop is the Japan Open which starts in Kobe Japan tomorrow 23 June 2015.
Table tennis in Baku earned highest marks
MERCER: We are all extremely proud that we were part of first European Games The curtains came down for the Table Tennis Event at the inaugural European Games in Azerbaijan’s capitol Baku. The Baku Sports Hall was the venue for the Table Tennis. The Hall was just perfect for the sport whilst the complete staff gave their best in making unforgettable event. Players praised the conditions spectators responded well despite the fact that Azerbaijan is not the country with the richest history in table tennis and fantastic matches put the final stamp on great tournament. Person who was in charge for the seven days events was Sheila MERCER Table Tennis Competition Manager. Asked when the preparations started MERCER answered: “I have been here for 10 months; I came at the beginning of the September but the planning already started a year before that. I had local assistant who started working in January two more local and two more international staff.” As it was the case on every other event volunteers were the main working force in Baku Sport Hall. “We had 89 volunteers working just for table tennis in two shifts. The days were so long here so we had to split them to two shifts. We had 28 international technical officials and 20 more from Azerbaijan who also helped us to run the tournament.” The most challenging moment in the preparations for the event was the venue. “Most challenging was getting the venue ready. When we started it must be redevelop. It took a long time to get the building finished. ” However it was worth waiting. “We had a beautiful venue for the table tennis. I am very please how it has been designed.” The introduction volunteers with the sport were one of the challenges as well. “They are very young mostly students and they have never seen something like that before. It was difficult for them to understand when they got here what is all about.” The table tennis event got nothing but positive reaction from all players and officials. “We can already say that it has been huge success. Usually you have much more time to plan than we had here. In case of Olympic Games and Paralympics you have seven years when the initial planning starts; here we had less then two years. Also it brings us to the country which have not the history of staging anything as major as Games. At the end they did a great job. Also volunteers did a great job they were so enthusiastic so keen. They gain valuable experience for future. And the same goes for us. It has been the first European Games and we are all extremely proud that we were part of it.” For seven days top European players fought for titles in Singles and Teams Event and for the place at the Olympic Games. The winners of the Singles event booked their place for Rio 2016. In Rio will travel Li Jiao of Netherlands and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany. In Men’s Team’s Event Portugal justified their status. Netherlands is most successful nation in Women’s Events.
Umpires enthusiastic at the 1st European Games
Outstanding atmosphere in Baku Sports Hall Players from 35 European countries played at the table tennis events at the 1st European Games in Baku Azerbaijan. Also 25 officials were invited to take part at this prestigious tournament. Three referees 20 umpires and two racket testers from 20 associations were on duty. “A first memorable moment was the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium where the history culture and the fast economic development of Azerbaijan was shown by more than 2000 volunteers. A great spectacular; the stage was set to deliver an outstanding tournament ” said Michael ZWIPP Referee at the 1st European Games. The Baku Sports Hall was completely renovated before the Games and offered excellent conditions for players and officials in table tennis. The best players of Europe provided table tennis of its highest level. Fighting for the medals the Olympic spirit was felt by everyone be present. “Great impressions will be kept in our memories: Best conditions in the Baku Sports Hall enthusiastic spectators professional organization of all logistics perfect support from nearly 100 volunteers straightforward performance from the umpires good sportsmanlike conduct from all athletes and most important fantastic matches during all days of competition. All those elements have contributed to an outstanding atmosphere which was transmitted via TV-broadcasting to many countries in the world.” All umpires appreciated their stay in Azerbaijan. “We valued the outstanding hospitality and friendship of the local people. It was impressive to experience the special culture and development of a modern country. It’s a pity that there was just a short time for sightseeing so it was not easy to say “good bye”! However we learned a lot and we are proud having been part of the 1st European Games ” stated Michael ZWIPP.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV at the top of Europe
Silver from Vladimir SAMSONOV and bronze for KOU Lei Dimitrij OVTCHAROV overcame Vladimir SAMSONOV at the European Championships in Schwechat in 2013 to win his first ever title in Singles at the Old Continent. Tonight after hard and breathtaking battle he repeated the success and won the title at the first ever European Games in Baku 4:3 (10:12 7:11 11;9 11:3 9:11 11:7 11:8). OVTCHAROV booked his place in Rio as well. KOU Lei of Ukraine won the bronze medal. “After the Team’s Event we went to the German House her in Baku. I took the good look of the medal that girl’s won and their gold gave extra motivation. We had a disappointing team’s event not because we played bad but because of rule that have to be changed. In singles I suffered from pain in my back at the beginning. I was not sure how I will continue…At the end everything fell into its place ” stated OVTCHAROV. More recently SAMSONOV beat OVTCHAROV in Qatar and final in Singles in Baku started with Vladimir in control. “Today we had a very difficult and long match. My friend SAMSONOV also deserved to win it. He pushed me to the limits.” SAMSONOV agreed it was long match. “ It was strange opening game. I had 7:1 then we entered close finish. I won the next game but it is so hard to keep in that pace against OVTCHAROV. At this point OVTCHAROW won everything he could in Europe. He is reigning European champion Top 16 Champion and European Games winner. In the match for the bronze medal KOU Lei of Ukraine overcame Paul DRINKHALL of Great Britain (11:5 7:11 7:11 5:11 11:5 11:8 20:22). “I was under pressure knowing that I am playing for the medal. I lost opening game but it was crucial when I managed to level the game. My backhand started working. It was a very close match every point was very important and I only won in the final moments. I had to vary my play changing from left to right changing my service changing the way I play.”” explained KOU Lei. By winning the bronze the Ukrainian is the only unseeded player to win a table tennis medal at the Baku 2015 European Games competition. Paul DRINKHALL had a fantastic tournament but at the end he admitted; ”KOU played everything well. He made no easy mistakes you have to play against him on the highest level and it keeps you under constant pressure.”
