Baku 2015 European Games has signed broadcast deals to ensure this summer’s inaugural event will be shown in Greece and Finland. New Hellenic Radio Internet and Television (NERIT) the main public service provider in Greece will broadcast live coverage Baku 2015 European Games has signed broadcast deals to ensure this summer’s inaugural event will be shown in Greece and Finland. New Hellenic Radio Internet and Television (NERIT) the main public service provider in Greece will broadcast live coverage of the first European Games on a daily basis as well as the spectacular Opening and Closing Ceremonies on their TV and online platforms. National free-to-air Finnish broadcaster Yle will show the Opening and Closing Ceremonies live as well as daily live coverage and a sports highlights package. The station will also broadcast all 800 hours of live coverage provided by host broadcaster ISB on their popular website and digital platforms. Mr Simon CLEGG Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015 said: “It is fantastic to have signed these agreements with the national broadcasters in Greece and Finland meaning Baku 2015 will be shown in millions more households in Europe. As proud sporting nations it is wonderful to know that their supporters will be able to follow their favourite athletes in action especially through the comprehensive digital coverage provided by both deals.” The two agreements mean deals have now been announced to broadcast the Games in 49 countries around the world allowing over one billion viewers worldwide to watch the event. Mr Peter MAIS Managing Director of NERIT said: “As the home of the ancient Olympic Games Greece has a rich sporting history which is recognised and appreciated around the world. The first European Games is an important moment in European sport and we are very proud to be providing the coverage in our country.” Mr Robert PORTMAN Manager of Sports Rights and Partners for Yle added: “Our coverage of Baku 2015 will mean millions of sports fans across Finland will be able to follow their favourite athletes. The first European Games will be a brilliant celebration of sport in a beautiful city and we are looking forward to 17 days of thrilling competition.” NERIT a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was formed in June 2013 after the abolition of the former Greek public service broadcaster ERT. Yle founded in 1926 is also an EBU member and holds the broadcasting rights for the Olympic and Olympic Winter Games in Finland.
In Rio maximum three entries per NOC
The ETTU Executive Board has decided the maximum number of entries per NOC for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games European Continental Singles Qualification tournament shall be 3 (3 men and 3 women). The European Olympic Qualification will be held on Istanbul fro The ETTU Executive Board has decided the maximum number of entries per NOC for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games European Continental Singles Qualification tournament shall be 3 (3 men and 3 women). The European Olympic Qualification will be held on Istanbul from 6th to 10th April 2016. There will be 4 events in Rio 2016: Single’s and Team’s Event in men and women category. At the Olympics Games in total there will be 172 qualification places: 168 (84 men and women) qualifiers 2 (1+1) host nation and two Tripartite Commission invitation places. 86 athletes per gender (Men/Women) will qualify as follows: Singles qualification: 40 Continental qualification with a maximum of two athletes per NOC qualified 22 ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking not to exceed an overall maximum of two athletes per NOC 1 Tripartite Commission Invitation place 1 Host Country place 64 Total – with a maximum of two athletes from the same NOC to participate in singles events The ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking may qualify more than 22 athletes if the Team Quota (22 quota places) is not fully utilised and/or if the host country place is reallocated. Team qualification: The remaining quota of 22 athletes per gender (Team Quota) will be used for the Team Event qualification. Athletes with the best results at the Singles Continental Qualification Events held between 1 July 2015 and 24 April 2016 will qualify for the Olympic Games according to the following distribution of quota places: 11 for Europe same quota is for Asia 6 for Africa 6 for Latin America 3 for North America and 3 for Oceania. A maximum of 2 athletes per NOC can qualify. A maximum of 2 athletes per NOC can qualify. Starting as of January 2016 ITTF will publish monthly the Olympic Singles Ranking based on the same principles as the ITTF World Ranking taking into consideration only eligible athletes for the Olympic Games. Athletes who have participated in the Continental Qualification events but that have not qualified will be eligible for qualification through the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking list issued in early May 2016. The 22 highest eligible athletes with a maximum of two (2) athletes per NOC on the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking list published in May 2016 will be qualified provided that an overall maximum of two (2) athletes per NOC is not exceeded including the 40 continental qualifiers. In case of an exact tie for the last direct qualifying position by Ranking reference will be made to the previous ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking List and the better-ranked athlete will qualify. If still tied reference will be made to the previous ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking List. If still tied reference will be made to the previous ITTF World Ranking List and so on until the tie is broken. The number of qualification places from the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking may be increased if the Host Country place is reallocated and/or if the Team Quota (22 places) is not fully utilized. This applies only to athletes who have participated in the Continental Qualification events but that have not already qualified. Number of quota places per gender in Team Qualification is 22. Starting as of January 2016 ITTF will publish monthly the Olympic Team Ranking based on the same principles as the ITTF World Team Ranking but taking into consideration only eligible athletes for the Olympic Games and the Olympic Team match format. Once the 62 athletes qualified through the Singles Continental Qualification events and the Olympic Singles Ranking have been identified the Team selection process will begin to define the sixteen teams. Full Qualification system you can see here
The secret of Borussia’s success
After three turbulent seasons Borussia Dusseldorf again expects the spring with one title in the pocket and the aim to clinch two more. They are actual German Cup winner winning that trophy in December (3:2 against Fulda) in the national league they are After three turbulent seasons Borussia Dusseldorf again expects the spring with one title in the pocket and the aim to clinch two more. They are actual German Cup winner winning that trophy in December (3:2 against Fulda) in the national league they are current leaders (14-1 score) with comfortable advantage on the top (second placed Fulda has 11-4) while in Men’s European Champions League the team reached semi-final after amazing comeback in the returning quarter final leg against reigning champion Pontoise AS Cergy. Borussia is considered as the one of the most decorated European clubs in all sports with 63 titles in total: 4 MECL 6 Cup of Champions 4 ETTU Cup 26 Bundesliga and 23 German Cup. Sixteen out of it belong to Timo BOLL who signed for the club on July 1st 2007. Although the club already has two triple crowns (2009/10 2010/11) manager Andreas PREUSS emphasizes in the interview for our website that the „they don’t think in that direction”. For sure there is a super motivation to beat Chartres in the forthcoming MECL semi-final (March 13-15th April 3-5th) bearing in mind that French champion had no mercy against them in the group stage two years ago. How do you comment this season so far in all competitions? we asked first Andreas PREUSS “So far we play a great season we won the cup we are first in the national league and we reached with a really historical match against Pontoise the semifinal of the Champions League”. Borussia plays strong like in three or four seasons ago fighting again for the triple crown: what is the reason for that? “After three turbulent seasons with injuries and other difficulties we changed the team looked for players with a special fighting and team spirit character. This team building is the secret of our success”. It wasn’t so easy to stay focused on the titles after many injuries and changes in the line-ups in last three seasons? “We have a good mixture between very young players like FRANZISKA – he is our player for he future also for the time after Timo BOLL we have ACHANTA he made a big step in the last two years he is a very good guy for every team because he is always fighting never giving up and always supporting the other players very intensive. We have GIONIS with his embarrassing and entertaining style of playing he is very intelligent and kindly really professional and we have our superstar Timo BOLL who always gives his best he is really respected as our number 1 and really enjoys to play in this team because he likes team playing”. How do you see the chances for the new triple crown this season? “It is possible to win the triple but we don’t think in that direction. Everybody is hot to win the next game our priority is now the semifinal against Chartres. This is an open game we are better than the last two years but Chartres has a team which can play great against Düsseldorf. They know GIONIS quite well from his time in France so we think it is open. Hopefully FRANZISKA can develop his performance in the next few weeks because he did not play for four months”. You are the present and the history of Borussia winning many trophies with it. How do you see Borussia`s future? “Our club has a good perspective. We are financially healthy building up a center for people with handicap – a Paralympic Center – and playing in the Bundesliga with a wheel chair team. In 2017 the World Championships are in Düsseldorf so this all is a good perspective for the future. In the next five years we will build up a new team for the time after Timo BOLL but hopefully he will play at least until 2020″.
All Star cast on show to kick start 2015 World Tour Super Series
The who’s who of table tennis are all in Kuwait City ready for the Kuwait Open which is the first GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Super Series of the year starting today (11 February 2015) and running until Sunday 15 February 2015. The Super Series The who’s who of table tennis are all in Kuwait City ready for the Kuwait Open which is the first GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Super Series of the year starting today (11 February 2015) and running until Sunday 15 February 2015. The Super Series is the highest and most prestigious tier of the GAC Group 2015 World Tour which attracts all the world’s best players as the most prize money and world ranking points are on offer. 120 men and 70 women will fight it out in Kuwait for six titles: Men’s & Women’s singles Men’s & Women’s doubles and Men’s & Women’s Under 21 singles and US$300 000 prize money! The big four Chinese super stars XU Xin MA Long FAN Zhendong and ZHANG Jike have all won the Kuwait Open once but none of them have won it twice. This motivation to create history plus the chance to get an edge over their rivals early in the season will spur on these top stars. The evergreen 38-year-old Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) is the other player in the field that has tasted success in Kuwait and will again be one of the top challengers to the Chinese beside Marcos FREITAS (POR) and CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE). LI Xiaoxia (CHN) has won Olympic and World Championship gold along with basically every title on offer in international table tennis. Despite these titles she has never won the Kuwait Open a glaring omission from her trophy cabinet that she is desperate to change come Sunday. The 27-year-old is on the comeback from a knee injury which has affected her form in early 2015 but with LI Xiaoxia you always have to assume she can beat anyone on her best day. She will have to be at her best to defeat her world number one and two teammates DING Ning and LIU Shiwen as well as the Olympic bronze medalist from Singapore FENG Tianwei who won three World Tour titles last year. The 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 itTV. As was the case in 2014 the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour will be split up into three tiers (highest first): Super (6 events) Major (6 events) Challenge (11 events). The top 16 singles and top 8 doubles pairs on the World Tour Standings will then be invited to the prestigious World Tour Grand Finals at the end of the year the location to be announced later.
2012 Olympic taekwondo champion named as Baku EG ambassador
Baku 2015 European Games has today announced that GB Taekwondo athlete Jade JONES will be an international Athlete Ambassador for this summer’s inaugural event. Ms Jones became Great Britain’s first-ever Taekwondo gold medallist at London 2012 with victo Baku 2015 European Games has today announced that GB Taekwondo athlete Jade JONES will be an international Athlete Ambassador for this summer’s inaugural event. Ms Jones became Great Britain’s first-ever Taekwondo gold medallist at London 2012 with victory in the 57kg weight division. She also won silver at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju South Korea and picked up another silver medal at the 2014 European Taekwondo Championships in Baku Azerbaijan last May. Mr Simon CLEGG Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015 said: “To be able to name a reigning Olympic champion as a Baku 2015 ambassador is a fantastic achievement for the first European Games and a testament to the calibre of athletes that the event will attract. I am sure Jade will very much enjoy promoting the Games in Great Britain through her role as an international Athlete Ambassador and we hope to see her give a memorable performance in Baku this summer.” Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors will represent their sports and feature in extensive marketing campaigns around the continent and on social media to promote the first European Games. Ms JONES 21 said: “I am very proud to have been named as a Baku 2015 Athlete Ambassador and it will be an honour to help promote the Games. It is important for European athletes to have our own multi-sport event and my aim is to become the first European Games Taekwondo champion.” Mr Mark ENGLAND the British Olympic Association’s Chef de Mission for Baku 2015 said: “Jade’s participation as a Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassador reflects British athletes’ enthusiasm for the European Games. Britain has a strong sporting tradition and the Athlete Ambassador programme will help to generate interest and excitement in the country ahead of Baku 2015.” Ms Jones joins French rhythmic gymnast Kseniya MOUSTAFAEVA Denmark’s canoe sprinter René Holten POULSEN and Serbia’s Basketball 3×3 team of Dušan DOMOVIC BULUT Marko SAVIC Marko ZDERO and Dejan MAJSTOROVIC as Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors with more to be announced in the near future.
Past winners but can one member of famous five create a first
Five past winners on duty and perhaps one can create a first at the forthcoming GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open which starts on Wednesday 11th February. No player has ever won the Men’s Singles event at an ITTF World Tour tournament in Kuwait o Five past winners on duty and perhaps one can create a first at the forthcoming GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open which starts on Wednesday 11th February. No player has ever won the Men’s Singles event at an ITTF World Tour tournament in Kuwait on more than one occasion; the prestigious title has never been retained. Now that situation may soon come to a conclusion; the top four seeds in this year’s event all from China and occupying the top four places on the current Men’s World Rankings are all past winners. XU Xin MA Long FAN Zhendong and ZHANG Jike are all past winners; the one other is Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus he is the no.7 seed behind Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan and Portugal’s Marcos FREITAS. Hong Kong’s TANG Peng completes the top eight names. Somewhat similarly in 2008 Vladimir SAMSONOV was outside the top four names; he was the no.5 seed and in order to win the Men’s Singles title he had to thwart the might of China. He did just that; it was one of the finest performances ever witnessed on the ITTF World Tour. At the quarter-final stage he beat WANG Hao before overcoming MA Long and CHEN Qi to arrest the title. The semi-final duel against MA Long was a classic seven games duel against WANG Hao the verdict was decided in five games; whilst in the final CHEN Qi was given few chances to demonstrate his outstanding talent. He was beaten in four straight games. Notably typical to the mild mannered character of Vladimir SAMSONOV he walked slowly over to shake hands with LIU Guoliang the Chinese National Team Coach; his facial expression one which suggested that of apology for beating an in-form CHEN Qi so comprehensively. A win of some note and for XU Xin when he won in 2010 it was a win of note a landmark a personal triumph; it was his first ever ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title. Furthermore he won in somewhat bizarre circumstances; he was beaten in four straight games at the quarter-final stage by colleague WANG Liqin. Unfortunately WANG Liqin’s racket failed the after match test and he was disqualified. XU Xin was reinstated; he beat MA Long in the semi-final and MA Lin the winner in 2006 in the final. Equally for FAN Zhendong there was a poignancy; he beat colleague YAN An in the final and from that gained satisfaction on two fronts. He collected his third ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title in a space of just three months and extracted revenge; some 10 weeks earlier he had lost to Yan An in the final of the Men’s Singles event at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open. Success for FAN Zhendong who followed ZHANG Jike as the Kuwait Men’s Singles champion he won in 2013 and won as only ZHANG Jike could win. In the opening round against Hong Kong’s WONG Chun Ting he was three games to one down before securing the next three to secure victory 12-10 in the deciding seventh game. Not only was ZHANG Jike fighting his opponent more pertinently he was fighting himself. Discussions followed with personal coach XIAO Zhan. ZHANG Jike duly responded in his next four matches en route to gold he surrendered just four games beating MA Long in five games in the final. If he wins in Kuwait one wonders how he might celebrate and for sure the ZHANG Jike celebrations whatever your opinion do live in the memory. One wonders what he may do next; it was the same before ZHANG Jike was born with regards to the tennis star John McENROE. One wondered what he may do next. Always he let his feelings known; especially when playing Tom GULLIKSON at Wimbledon in 1981. Furthermore there is a common factor shared by the sporting superstars which could have an effect on the ZHANG Jike celebrations should he win. Both celebrate birthdays on Monday 16th February the day after the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open finishes. Is there something about that birthday date? You cannot be serious!
OVTCHAROV prevails in knife edge final
After Lyon 2012 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany repeated the success at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16. In knife-edge final he beat last year’s champion Marcos FREITAS of Portugal. In final Dimitrij was 3:1 down before he recovered to w After Lyon 2012 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany repeated the success at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16. In knife-edge final he beat last year’s champion Marcos FREITAS of Portugal. In final Dimitrij was 3:1 down before he recovered to win the match. “Actually I was not so bad. I was in the lead in first game but when I lost it it gave advantage to FREITAS. I had a set ball later….However Marcos played very good today and I had to give my best. It was especially hard after match in the semi final against Panagiotis. The main task for me was to calm down and to prepare myself for final ” said OVTCHAROV. Panagiotis GIONIS booked his place for the World Cup after victory over Simon GAUZY of France in seven games in the match for bronze. “Our first goal was to reach quarterfinal but when I saw the draw and APOLONIA was there I thought I can go further. I won and of course instantly start thinking of World Cup. I am so happy that I will leave Baku with that ticket ” said GIONIS. The memories of semi final against Dimitrij OVTCHAROV were still fresh. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV has been seriously challenged in his nail biting semi-final duel against Greek GIONIS (10:12 11:6 14:16 11:4 10:12 11:4 11:8). Battle lasted 77 minutes with twist and turns and controversial moments. Visibly under pressure after hard match OVTCHAROV commented situation in the decisive game at 4:4. “I stopped because GIONIS played double ball.” However the umpires did not see that but after OVTCHAROV stopped they gave the point to GIONIS. Players agreed it was double ball and GIONIS returned the point to OVTCHAROV for 5:5. Alongside that point he lost his focus and soon it was 8:5 and 11:8. “I won my games easily and each set GIONIS won was very close. He played perfectly and seized each and every opportunity occurs ” said OVTCHAROV. GIONIS commented: “I do not know whose fault was but for sure it completely blew my focus. I am defender and I need time to settle into rhythm. We made a break that lasted for 7 minutes and after that I lost three easy points. I played one of my best matches before that.” There was no lack of thrilling moments in the second semi final. Reigning champion Marcos FREITAS was stretched to full distance against 20 years old Frenchmen Simon GAUZY. GAUZY for sure proved that he matured for the big results. “Simon played very aggressive. I was not up to my best. I suffered from the lack of concentration I was not moving the way I want and generally I was not playing very well. On the other side Simon was at the top of game always a step ahead of me.” explained FREITAS. ”At the end the most important thing is that I won even when I am not happy with my performance.” Men’s standing:1.Dimitrij OVTCHAROV GER; 2. Macos FREITAS POR; 3. Panagiotis GIONIS GRE; 4.Simon GAUZY FRA; 5. Tiago APOLONIA POR; 6. Robert GARDOS AUT; 7. Adrien MATTENET FRA; 8. Joao MONTEIRO POR; 9/12 Par GERELL SWE Kristian KARLSSON SWE Vladimir SAMSONOV BLR Paul DRINKHALL ENG; 13/16 Andrej GACINA CRO Steffen MENGEL GER Bastian STEGER GER Farhad ISMAYLOV AZE.
LIU Jia wins the title in Baku
LIU Jia of Austria defended her title at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16. In the final she overcame Petrissa SOLJA of Germany. LIU’s game in the final was mistake–free even she made joke that she played like a machine. “I think Petriss LIU Jia of Austria defended her title at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16. In the final she overcame Petrissa SOLJA of Germany. LIU’s game in the final was mistake–free even she made joke that she played like a machine. “I think Petrissa was a little bit nervous and on the other hand I played one of my best matches here ” stated LIU. Asked was it harder this time she replied: “It was the same. I had very close matches here as well. The one against Kristin SILBEREISEN was the most difficult.” In the contest for the bronze medal and last remaining place for World Cup Irene IVANCAN of Germany beat LI Jiao of Netherlands. “It is great relief that I secured the place at the World Cup. Now I do not have to think if someone will give up. Also after very hard semi final it is good that I could say Goodbye to the tournament with the victory ” said IVANCAN. Previously in the semi final reigning champion LIU Jia further improved her record against LI Jiao of Netherlands who won the title at Top 12 for four times. European champion from 2005 overcame the lady who won European crown in 2007 and 2011 in the match which had two different parts. From the start until 3:0 it seamed there is only one player at the field. LIU controlled the game; LI could not do anything with LIU’s service. However from that moment LI get much more into the game. “LI is very clever player. It is always hard to play against her. It is never easy. She started to play risky and it paid of ” said LIU. LI won fourth game but it seamed LI recovered fast after she collected six match balls to conclude fifth game. “I do not know what happened then. I can not explain ” stated LIU. ”It is good that I managed to slow down the game and to regain the control in sixth game. That is the important thing against LI. You have to slow her down. Otherwise she is very quick and dangerous.” The duel between two German players went on Petrissa SOLJA’s account. Irene IVANCAN come close in each game but cannot steal the set. “We play so many times before and it is always close game. Two points difference almost always even I win or lose ” stated SOLJA. SOLJA admitted she was very nervous. “I could not eat this morning I slept very bad. I was thinking about the match. From the moment I made 3:0 advantage I was trying to calm down. I did not want to think about victory. I just played point for point.” Women’s standing: 1.LIU Jia AUT; 2. Petrissa SOLJA GER; 3. Irene IVANCAN GER; 4. LI Jiao NED; 5. HU Melek TUR; 6. Georgina POTA HUN; 7. Kristin SILBEREISEN GER; 8. WU Jiaduo GER; 9/12. LI Jie NED LI Qian POL Polina MIKHAILOVA RUS Iveta VACENOVSKA CZE; 13/16. Bernadette SZOCS ROU Elizabeta SAMARA ROU Natalia PARTYKA POL Maryam IMANOVA AZE
Preparations in Russia already started
During the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 ETTU President Ronald KRAMER had the pleasant duty to sign the contract with the organizers of the 2015 European Championships to be held in Yekaterinburg (25th September – 4th October). TTFR First During the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 ETTU President Ronald KRAMER had the pleasant duty to sign the contract with the organizers of the 2015 European Championships to be held in Yekaterinburg (25th September – 4th October). TTFR First Vice President and Director General Vladimir GRIGORIEV and Director UMMC Vladimir BELOGLAZOV were present in Baku during the past few days. “We are very happy that we signed the deal. It is very important that we have been able to settle many details with the organizers already here in Baku. I am very confident on the competence of the Organizing Committee. They have proved many times before they have a mixture of experience and sense of reality. It is very important in this moment in time and despite the present economical situation to have the Russian Table Tennis Federation committed in organizing this Event. We are looking forward to a very productive cooperation in the months to come ” stated President Ronald KRAMER. The local organizers are a well experienced team of professionals who followed the idea of Mr Igor LEVITIN adviser of President PUTIN and vice president of Russia’s NOC. Mr LEVITIN wanted to come to the Top 16 in Baku since he was appointed as the official representative of the Russian NOC at the European Games this summer but since yesterday Sochi celebrated the year after Olympics he had to be present in Russia.
Four German players in women’s quarters
In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku LIU Jia of Austria will play against Kristin SILBEREISEN of Germany Georgina POTA of Hungary will meet LI Jiao of Netherlands HU Melek of Turkey will face Petrissa SOLJA o In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku LIU Jia of Austria will play against Kristin SILBEREISEN of Germany Georgina POTA of Hungary will meet LI Jiao of Netherlands HU Melek of Turkey will face Petrissa SOLJA of Germany and Irene IVANCAN will play against WU JIaduo in all-Germany clash. Reigning champion LIU Jia of Netherlands progressed to the quarterfinal with clean record. Austrian player recorded all three victories to secure top position in Group A. Petrissa SOLJA of Germany overcame LI Jie of Netherlands in the direct clash for the second position. WU Jiaduo justified her position at the standings with the victory over LI Qian of Poland. After WU overcame top seeded Georgina POTA day earlier her path to the top was open. Hungarian player however managed to recover today and after four games victory over Bernadette SZOCS secure second position and the place in the quarterfinal. Surprisingly Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania was far from the battle for the top position in Group C. Top seeded in the Group concluded the first phase without victory. HU Melek and Kristin SILBEREISEN fought for the top position. Before their duel both were unbeaten in the first day of the Top 16. After almost 50 minutes and five games HU prevailed but not without the drama. In the decisive game she had lead 10:5 before player from Germany recovered to level. They played point for point and finally HU managed to seal the match and win the top spot in her group at 19:17. In Group D LI Jiao of Netherlands was safe at the top so the duel between Irene IVANCAN and Iveta VACENOVSKA attracted most of the attention. The match for the second spot in the Group concluded in the favor of Germany’s player despite the ranking order.
