Selecting from a squad comprising AN Jaehyun HWANG Minha LEE Jangmok and KANG Jihoon Korea won the Boys’ Team title at the 2015 Slovak Junior Open.The top seeds they surrendered just two individual matches en route to gold the player to suffer defeat being HWANG Minha the winner of the Boys’ Singles title at the 2014 ITTF Cadet Challenge staged some six months ago in Barbados.In the final against Japan ‘B’ the second seeds he was beaten by Tomokazu HARIMOTO after earlier in the proceedings having experienced defeat against Daniele PINTO in a close full distance five games duel when Korea had overcome Italy ‘A’ at the quarter-final stage of proceedings.Top seeds Korea proved irrepressible in the Girls’ Team event as well; the trio formed by CHOI Yelin KIM Jiho PARK Seri showed no mercy. At the final hurdle the Koreans overcame the fourth seeded Italian trio formed by LE Thi Hong Loan Veronica MOSCONI and Elisa TURGANTI by three matches to nil without surrendering a single game.

Japan’s Maharu YOSHIMURA clinched the Men’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Zagreb (Croatia) Open. He inflicted the pain in the hearts of the host nation supporters by beating TAN Ruiwu at the final hurdle (9-11 11-9 11-9 6-11 5-11 3-11). In semi final TAN overcame Alvaro ROBLES of Spain in six games (11-7 8-11 11-7 6-11 11-3 11-9) whilst YOSHIMURA needed five to beat LEE Sangsu of Korea (11-4 11-7 11-4 7-11 11-8).In the final duel of the Women’s Singles Event between SHAN Xiaona of Germany and CHOI Hyojoo of Korea Asian player prevailed in five games (11-5 11-7 7-11 11-9 11-3). Previously CHOI beat Mima ITO of Japan in full distance thriller (11-7 9-11 10-12 10-12 11-8 11-7 11-7) whilst SHAN halted the progress of YANG Haeun of Korea (11-6 5-11 11-7 4-11 6-11 11-7 11-13) in another seven games match. Poland’s Jakub DYJAS and Korea’s CHOI Hyojoo won the respective Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles titles. It is the first time either player had won an ITTF World Tour title.Jakub DYJAS occupied the no.2 seeded position in the draw. In the later stages he overcame Frenchman Alexandre CASSIN in the round of the last eight (11-5 9-11 12-10 11-8) before accounting for Portugal’s João GERALDO the no.3 seed (11-9 11-3 11-8) to book his place in the final against Germany’s Benedikt DUDA the no.4 seed. DYJAS emerged successful by the very narrowest of margins in a tension packed full distance five games final (9-11 11-7 10-12 11-8 13-11) against a young man very much in form.After beating Croatia’s Tomislav PUCAR in the quarter-finals (11-9 9-11 11-3 12-10) he overcame Japan’s Yuya OSHIMA the top seed in the penultimate round (11-9 3-11 11-9 13-11).In an all Korean Women’s Doubles final the seeded outfit succeeded against the partnership that had been required to negotiate the preliminary rounds. Second seeds JEON Jihee and YANG Haeun overcame CHOI Hyojoo and JUNG Yumi in three straight games (11-5 11-6 11-9).  

Fresh from the first ever Doubles title for Denmark at the ITTF World Tour in Minsk Jonathan GROTH is on the duty again. At the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour in Zagreb Dane is the best ranked player in the qualification stage of the Men’s Singles Event Fresh from the first ever Doubles title for Denmark at the ITTF World Tour in Minsk Jonathan GROTH is on the duty again. At the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour in Zagreb Dane is the best ranked player in the qualification stage of the Men’s Singles Event. GROTH secured the leading place in his group after two victories over Ludvik PERSOLJA of Slovenia and Alin SPELBUS of Romania. In Group 2 Benedikt DUDA of Germany also secured top position and his compatriot Lars HIELSCHER joined him after two straight games victories in Group 3. For the first upset in the qualification stage we had to go further down to Group 14 where Simon PFEFER of Austria exceeded his rankings and beat Samuel WALKER of England. Maria DOLGIKH of Russia Petra LOVAS of Hungary and Galia DVORAK of Spain successfully cruised through two opening rounds in qualifications.  

Lisbon Portugal has won the bid to host the most lucrative table tennis event on earth the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. The year-ending finale of the 23 ITTF World Tour events will be held on10-13 December 2015 in the Portuguese capital. Toge Lisbon Portugal has won the bid to host the most lucrative table tennis event on earth the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. The year-ending finale of the 23 ITTF World Tour events will be held on10-13 December 2015 in the Portuguese capital. Together with the World Tour Grand Finals Lisbon will also host the third edition of the ITTF Star Awards which will celebrate the world’s best players for their achievements in 2015. On the news ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “ITTF is delighted to allocate the organization of the World Tour Grand Finals to Lisbon. This is the best momentum that the table tennis has had in Portugal and the team is enjoying it’s most successful period of its history. The ITTF World Tour turns 20 years old this year and it is hard to imagine better place for the anniversary celebration than to have the Grand Finals and the ITTF Star Awards in Lisbon a popular destination for visitors.” Lisbon is no stranger to hosting major table tennis events after successfully holding the TMS 2014 European Team Championships last year where the Portuguese Men’s Team won their first European Championships title much to the delight of the packed crowd. The locals will be hoping for similar success in December with world number 10 Marcos FREITAS and world number 22 Tiago APOLONIA looking to repeat their European success on home soil. An upbeat Portuguese Table Tennis President Pedro MOURA stated: “The Portuguese Table Tennis Federation is very proud and honored to be awarded by ITTF with the organization of 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. After the success of the TMS 2014 European Team Championships we felt we should go for other important international events in order to retain the interest and attention of the Portuguese general public on our wonderful sport. Being able to host the 2015 ITTF Star Awards in conjunction with the World Tour Grand Finals will turn all eyes on Lisbon as the World Table Tennis Capital in December. It’s a dream come true for us and the Portuguese Table Tennis Federation is finally matching the level of its best players. Just like when hosting the continental championships last September we’ll do our best to turn these events truly memorable for all!” 16 men and 16 women who secured the most “Race to Lisbon” points over the 23 World Tour events qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals as well as 8 men’s and 8 women’s doubles pairs together with 8 men’s and 8 women’s under 21 players. The GAC Group 2015 World Tour is split into three tiers (highest first): Super (6 events) Major (6 events) Challenge (11 events). The higher the series the more prize money world ranking points “Race to Lisbon” points and higher quality of competition on offer. The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were held last time in Europe in 2011 when it served as test event for the London Olympic Games.

Mima ITO clinched the Women’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belarus Open in Minsk. Occupying the no.3 seeded position in the competition in an all-Japanese final she beat Misako WAKAMIYA the no.6 seed in four straight games to cl Mima ITO clinched the Women’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belarus Open in Minsk. Occupying the no.3 seeded position in the competition in an all-Japanese final she beat Misako WAKAMIYA the no.6 seed in four straight games to claim the title. After becoming the youngest ever Women’s Singles winner on the ITTF World Tour when she succeeded in Germany earlier this year at the age of 14 years 152 days old the achievements of Mima ITO are expected rather than unexpected! Mima ITO will leapfrog Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA and move to the very top of the Standings and of course establishes yet another record; she will be the youngest ever play to own the top spot. She is 14 years and 208 days old. Ruwen FILUS of Germany won two silver medals. In the Men’s Singles Event he suffered the defeat against Qatar’s LI Ping in six games. Previously he lost the final duel in Doubles Event. Not seeded the Danish partnership of Jonathan GROTH and Kasper STERNBERG won the Men’s Doubles title. At the final hurdle they beat the Ruwen FILUS and Ricardo WALTHER the no.4 seeds to claim the title. They are the first pairing from Denmark ever to win an ITTF World Tour Men’s Doubles title.

German player Ruwen FILUS secured the semi-final spot in the Men’s Singles event and the final in the Doubles event on GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belarus Open in Minsk. In the Men’s Singles quarter final two unique representatives of Europe met one German player Ruwen FILUS secured the semi-final spot in the Men’s Singles event and the final in the Doubles event on GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Belarus Open in Minsk. In the Men’s Singles quarter final two unique representatives of Europe met one another as Ruwen FILUS beat Kirill SKACHKOV 4:1 (11:7 11:8 5:11 15:13 11:5). German will play against Japanese Mizuki OIKAWA in the semis. OIKAWA currently world’s no. 179 upset his compatriot and top seed in Yuto MURAMATSU (no. 24) in the Round of 32. Other semi-finalist are Qatar’s LI Ping and Takuya JIN from Japan. In the Women’s Singles all four semi-finalists come from Japan: Misaki MORIZONO Mima ITO Misako WAKAMIYA and Hitomi SATO. Jonathan GROTH and Kasper STERNBERG (Denmark) defeated Mikhail PAIKOV and Grigory VLASOV (Russia) in the straight games of the Men’s Doubles semi-final. Other finalists are Ruwen FILUS and Ricardo WALTHER (Germany) who prevailed against Mihai BOBOCICA and Leonardo MUTTI (Italy) playing four sets. Russian pair Ekaterina GUSEVA and Yulia PROKHOROVA lost from Japanese Miyu MAEDA and Sakura MORI 3:1 in the Women’s Doubles semi-final. MAEDA and MORI will play against compatriots Sayaka HIRANO and Misaki MORIZONO for the title.