Stella Sport La Romagne is the last club to join semi final caravan in Men’s ETTU Cup. La Romange repeated the first leg success and overcame GV Hennebont after full distance match. Brice OLLIVIER lost his opening duel against CHEN Chien An but he ended Stella Sport La Romagne is the last club to join semi final caravan in Men’s ETTU Cup. La Romange repeated the first leg success and overcame GV Hennebont after full distance match. Brice OLLIVIER lost his opening duel against CHEN Chien An but he ended victoriously the decisive match against Dimitrij PROKOPCOV in five games. Alongside CHEN Kalinikos KREANGA was the player who scored for hosts. CHEN Tianyuan was the backbone of guest’s success. He overcame PROKOPCOV and CHEN.
Atletico Madrid kit to feature Baku 2015 EG logo
The Baku 2015 European Games has today announced an agreement with Atletico Madrid for the Spanish football champions to feature the inaugural European Games logo on the club’s jersey for the rest of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League competition and a ser The Baku 2015 European Games has today announced an agreement with Atletico Madrid for the Spanish football champions to feature the inaugural European Games logo on the club’s jersey for the rest of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League competition and a series of matches in La Liga Spain’s domestic championship. The change to the Atletico Madrid sponsor logo which currently features Azerbaijan’s ‘Land of Fire’ tourism slogan will take effect in time for the Baku 2015 brand to appear in Atletico’s derby game against Real Madrid at the Vicente Calderon stadium this afternoon. Mr Miguel Ángel Gil MARÍN Chief Executive Officer of Atletico Madrid said: “Our players will wear the Baku 2015 logo with pride today and during the rest of this season’s UEFA Champions League. The inaugural European Games represent a great step forward in our continent’s sporting development and as one of the leading Spanish and European football clubs we are delighted to be associated with the Games and to promote Baku 2015.” Atletico Madrid are currently challenging for a repeat of their La Liga championship-winning success of last season and are also in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League the footballing world’s most prestigious club competition. The club is one of the most popular in Spain and their televised matches regularly reach an audience of millions across Europe and around the world. Mr Charlie WIJERATNA Commercial Director of Baku 2015 said: “Atletico Madrid are the Spanish champions and one of the best-known teams in the world. Having the Baku 2015 logo on the club’s jerseys is an innovative way to raise awareness of the European Games add value to our brand and continue to increase the momentum we are building.”
SAMSONOV fails quarters despite victory
In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku will play Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany vs. Adrien MATTENET of France Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal vs. Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece Robert GARDOS of Austria vs. Simon GAUZY o In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku will play Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany vs. Adrien MATTENET of France Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal vs. Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece Robert GARDOS of Austria vs. Simon GAUZY of France and Joao MONTEIRO vs. Marcos FREITAS of Portugal. On his way to the quarterfinal best-ranked European player Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany lost only one game. In the ultimate match in the Group he overcame Par GERELL of Sweden. Simon GAUZY of France overcame Andrej GACINA of Croatia to join him. Reigning champion Marcos FREITAS was under pressure in the opening stage of the match against Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden but eventually he recorded another victory and saved his record clean. In the ultimate match of the Group stage Adrien MATTENET was stretched to full distance in the duel against Steffen MENGEL of Germany but he beat the favorite to book second place in the group and place in the quarterfinal. In Group C we needed a little bit of knife-edge mathematics with games ratio to determine the positions. Gionis PANAGIOTIS of Greece beat Bastian STEGER today but he suffered defeat yesterday against Joao MONTEIRO. However his straight games win over Vladimir SAMSONOV proved crucial. Gionis concluded the first phase at the top spot followed by MONTEIRO. Portugal’s player suffered defeat by the hands of Belarus and top seeded player in the Group but one game that he won against SAMSONOV was sufficient to launch him at the position no. two in the group. SAMSONOV failed the book his quarterfinal place despite the victory. In the direct clash for the top position in Group D Tiago APOLONIA failed to justify his rankings. Robert GARDOS concluded the first phase of the competition unbeaten whilst Portugal’s star moved to the next stage from the spot no. two
Reigning champion LIU Jia in full swing
Reigning champion LIU Jia of Austria booked her place in the semi final of the In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku. She will meet Dutch LI Jiao whilst in all-German semis Petrissa SOLJA will play against Ire Reigning champion LIU Jia of Austria booked her place in the semi final of the In the quarterfinal of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku. She will meet Dutch LI Jiao whilst in all-German semis Petrissa SOLJA will play against Irene IVANCAN. Four times winner of the Europe Top 12 last time in Liege 2011 LI Jiao booked the place in another semi final. Dutch player overcame Hungary’s Georgina POTA. “Last time when we played against each other I lost so I am very happy with my victory and performance here. The most difficult part was to control the game and to try to slow it down as much as possible. In fast exchanges of the strokes POTA has advantage ” explained LI. LI is very much focused on her coaching career as well as to biggest tournaments. “I do not play so much now. I am coaching Dutch men’s team. They are very young and talented. I am playing only at the biggest tournaments. One of the goals is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio ” announced LI. Petrissa SOLJA of Germany already repeated last year’s success. She booked another semi final. In the quarters she beat HU Melek despite huge support from the crowd in Baku.“In last two occasions I lost against HU. She defeated me at the European Championships and at the Women’s World Cup. I always play hard against her. We always stretched each other to full distance; I easily lost the games and easily win at the end it all come to the service and receive game. “ What made the difference this time? “I was so happy after my victory over LI Jie this morning in the ultimate match of the Group phase. It gave confidence and motivation. I was in very good mood much better then yesterday.” Irene IVANCAN overcame WU Jiaduo on her way to the great success at the top 16. “I am extremely happy. I was ready for he long and close match and I could not even imagine it will be over in straight games. WU is so difficult to play against. Even when I was 3:0 up I was not safe. At 7:3 she won very good point and I was afraid she would come back. On other player’s face you can see when they are down or ready to quit but she never quits and you cannot read anything on her face. At 7:4 I managed to slow down the game and to halt her comeback.” Irene hopes for support in Baku. The member of Fenerbahche already attract attention in the hall and after departure of IMANOVA and HU Melek local supporters will certainly turn on to Turkish club’s player. “I was so disappointed lately. I suffered by the hands of very young Japan’s and German players. The victory over VACENOVSKA and PARTYKA gave a little burst of confidence. It helped me today.” LIU Jia was forced to go full distance. After the match against Kristin SILBEREISEN she was not very happy despite the victory. “The match was very hard. I do not know how to play against Kristin. I do not know the right tactics. I am not even sure how I won this match. It was extremely difficult. Now I need to get some rest and to sleep. I hope tomorrow I will be better”.
FREITAS won epic battle on his way to semis
The semi finalists of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 are Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany who will play against Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece and Marcos FREITAS of Portugal who will face Simon Gauzy of France. Panagiotis GIONIS had a shak The semi finalists of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 are Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany who will play against Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece and Marcos FREITAS of Portugal who will face Simon Gauzy of France. Panagiotis GIONIS had a shaky start against Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal. The opening game of the quarterfinal duel went on Tiago’s account -11:2 “APOLONIA changed his tactics at the very beginning of the match. I did not expect it. He was also much more relaxed whilst I was playing under pressure. However as a match progressed I get more into game he became nervous and missed few important balls ” explained GIONIS. The match against SAMSONOV day earlier was a turning point. “I had a bad start of the tournament. I lost against MONTEIRO so win over SAMSONOV brought me back in game. I found the rhythm and myself. I am defender and every match requires a lot of running and lot of work and as a name says this is Top event with top players so no one goes easily here ” explained GIONIS. There were no lack of suspense neither in the duel between Simon GAUZY and Robert GARDOS. French player was 3:0 down before he won fourth game 11:0 and recovered to win the match. “I did not thinking of quit at any point even when I was 3:0 down. I can not explain what happened then but once again it proves that my mental strength is my main weapon ” said GAUZY. GAUZY reached semi final stage on his very first appearance at the Top 16. “I am extremely happy. Today I beat GARDOS who is one of the best European players in past 10 years. Generally this semi final is the best result in my career.” In another impressive match Dimitrij OVTCHAROV reached semis. Champion from Top 12 in Lyon beat Adrien MATTENET in straight games. “There is nothing you can say about Adrien’s performance but simply I am in perfect shape here. I practiced very hard in past few weeks. Adrien was relaxed. He played like he got nothing to lose and it gives spectators the chance to enjoy good match.” Tomorrow OVTCHAROV will meet GIONIS. “For sure it is going to be long match. It is always challenge to play against defender. Also we are playing in the big hall and it will slow down the ball a little. It will work in Panagiotis’ favor. Of course I will be ready and I am looking forward our duel.” It takes 70 minutes for reigning champion Marcos FREITAS to book his place in semi final. In epic battle he beat his teammate Joao MONTEIRO. “Joao was very good tonight. He had 2:0 lead and 10:8 in third game before I managed to turn the direction of the match.” When you realized you would win? “It did not happen at all. He was very good very aggressive. I was after him all the time. My goal was just to put a ball to the table and to win one point at the time. After 3:2 I realized I have chance and at that point it was 50:50.” Tomorrow Marcos will play against GAUZY. “Last time I beat him at the World Championships in Tokyo 3:1 but it was very close game. Since then he improved him play and he was really good in past two days in Baku. I have to take good rest and to clear my mind to be ready for him tomorrow.”
OVTCHAROV and FREITAS on winning path
Few upsets also re-arranged the look of the standings at the Men’s Singles Event at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 on the opening day of the competition in Baku. However it was not the case with the main contenders for the crown Few upsets also re-arranged the look of the standings at the Men’s Singles Event at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 on the opening day of the competition in Baku. However it was not the case with the main contenders for the crown. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Marcos FREITAS both won their matches today. Top seeded OVTCHAROV overcame Simon GAUZY of France in the opening round. He needed four games to overcame Simon and one less to beat Andrei GACINA. Joao MONTEIRO of Portugal was in charge for the first upset of the day in Men’s Event. The member of European champions team beat Greek Panagiotis GIONIS in four games (5:11 11:7 11:7 13:11). “It is not that big surprise. GIONIS beat me last time at the European Championships in Austria but I have better overall record against him. Panagiotis started better today. He had better feeling for the ball but things changed. The crucial moment was second game. After I won it was turning point ” said MONTEIRO. Later GIONIS returned to the table in full gear. Greek player sealed the day with the victory over Vladimir SAMSONOV. “Now I feel much better. I needed one good win ” stated GIONIS.”Good start was very important in my match against SAMSONOV. That gave me burst and confidence. Vladi looked confused I guess he did not expect it but it also seamed he was not on top of his game.” Reigning champion Marcos FREITAS of Portugal prevailed against Adrien MATTENET of France but in the same group another favorite suffered. Steffen MENGEL of Germany lost against Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden. Swede is currently ranked at the position no. 39 whilst player from Germany occupies position no. 25 at the World Rankings. “Matches like this works little bit more in our favor. Lower ranked player had a slightly bigger chance in best of 5 duels. In best of 7 games favorites are in better position ” explained KARLSSON. MENGEL served good but Kristian found the way to put him under pressure. “I moved very well and I received the service well. That was the crucial moment.” Marcos FREITAS justified his position in Baku by overcoming MENGEL in straight games in second Round to conclude the first day unbeaten. Par GERELL stayed on winning tracks for Sweden. He beat Andrej GACINA of Croatia in the opening round. “My service game is usually better then Andrej’s but today my game was at highest level as well. I am very satisfied with my performance. The moment that proves as very important today was my recovery after 3:9 in the opening game. After that I became more confident whilst it had reverse effect on GACINA ” stated GERELL. Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal overcame Paul DRINKHALL in straight games but in very close match (11:6 11:8 11:9). “Every game was close. It was not easy. We have not played against each other since Olympic qualifications in 2012. He improved his game…so as anyone here. There will be no easy games and opponents here in Baku ” stated APOLONIA. It proved correct. In the evening Robert GARDOS beat APOLONIA after fierce battle in five games. Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus needed four games against Bastian STEGER of Germany to conclude first round duel. “I started well but after second game Bastian changed his tactics. I decided to stay at the same tracks had not changed anything and it was good decision. He won third game before he run out of luck in forth. At 10:10 I had two lucky balls. It could be easily 2:2 ” said SAMSONOV.
Kristin SILBEREISEN beat the odds
The opening day of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku promised great and exciting tournament. Opening round of the Women’s Event already started with the upsets. In Group C top seeded Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania suffered by the ha The opening day of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku promised great and exciting tournament. Opening round of the Women’s Event already started with the upsets. In Group C top seeded Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania suffered by the hands of the Kristin SILBEREISEN of Germany in four games (13:11 11:6 7:11 11:3). “I surprised myself as well ” stated SILBEREISEN.”I did not expect victory over SAMARA. She was a favorite and I was focused on preparations for other matches. Last time we played against each other she beat me easily.” Recently SILBEREISEN changed her style. “I worked on my receive of serve and in past six months I improve that segment in part where I play backhand on forehand side. Not so many girls play that way. In addition I have nothing to lose. I was relaxed. For SAMARA it was opposite situation. She was under pressure to beat me.” SAMARA failed to post the victory even in the next Round. HU Melek of Turkey who came to Baku straight from China made a clean record today. In the first round it was Russia’s Polina MIKHAILOVA who suffered whilst in the evening SAMARA lost. Polina also concluded the day without victory whilst Kristin left the hall unbeaten. Defending champion LIU JIa of Austria faced former teammate Petrissa SOLJA and concluded the opening round successfully (11:6 11:9 11:9). “It was strange feeling playing against each other. We know each other very well. However last year in the group phase of the same event we met and I also succeeded. I am in good shape and ready for the tournament ” said LIU. In Group B WU Jiaduo of Germany overcame Bernadette SZOCS of Romania in four games. Regarding the rankings it was expected result but still WU had some difficult moments against SZOCS recently. Georgina POTA of Hungary concluded her morning task in less stressed style. She beat LI Qian of Poland in straight games. In Group D LI Jiao of Netherlands is unbeaten after two round. After she overcame Irene IVANCAN of Germany in the opening round next in line was Iveta VACENOVSKA of Czech Republic. IVANCAN recovered in the afternoon to beat Natalia PARTYKA of Poland. “Now I can be more relaxed. It is great relief that I recorded victory. My worst nightmare was to leave the competition without single victory. Now everything is easier ” explained IVANCAN. Irene talked how difficult is to play best of five matches in Singles Event. “It is normal in Team’s Event but in Singles it is extremely hard. You have to be fully ready from a very beginning and to start in full speed. For the players with defending style of play is very difficult. Usually we save most of the power for the end of the match. In addition it is hard to stay focused in such big venue. Here we have a lot of spectators the noise is very high ” explained Irene. IVANCAN suffered from the injury so her arrival to Baku was under question mark. “Our physio and doctor did a great job. They helped me recover in few days.”
Follow the 2015 ITTF-Europe Top 16 live!
Whilst German team lead by top seeded Dimitrij OVTCHAROV already started with the practice some of players are expected to arrive this afternoon. We entered in the final day before the start of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 and Whilst German team lead by top seeded Dimitrij OVTCHAROV already started with the practice some of players are expected to arrive this afternoon. We entered in the final day before the start of the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 and the great expectations are in the air. In Baku in men’s event will play: Dmitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany Marcos FREITAS of Portugal Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal GIONIS Panagiotis of Greece Andrej GACINA of Croatia Robert GARDOS of Austria Bastian STEGER Stefen MENGEL of Germany Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden Simon GAUZY Adrien MATTENET of France Joao MONTEIRO of Portugal Par GERELL of Sweden Paul DRINKHALL of England Farhad ISMAYILOV of Azerbaijan. In Women’s Event will play: LIU Jia of Austria Georgina POTA of Hungary Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania LI Jiao of Netherlands HU Melek of Turkey WU Jiaduo of Germany LI Jie of Netherlands Petrissa SOLJA of Germany Iveta VACENOVSKA of Czech Republic Kristin SILBEREISEN of Germany Irene IVANCAN of Germany Margaryta PESOTSKA of Ukraine LI Qian of Poland Polina MIKHAILOVA of Russia Bernadette SZOCS of Romania Maryam IMANOVA of of Azerbaijan. The draw is scheduled for 7 PM local time today. From tomorrow you can see the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 official results here Live Streaming (LAOLA1TV) here
Elizabeta SAMARA sixth time among invited
For a sixth time Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA will play at the Europe’s most prestigious invitational event. At the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku SAMARA is the third seed. SAMARA just went through hard period of recovery from the s For a sixth time Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA will play at the Europe’s most prestigious invitational event. At the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 in Baku SAMARA is the third seed. SAMARA just went through hard period of recovery from the surgery. “After my knee meniscus surgery which was in November I can tell I am100 percent recovered. I want so much to play to enjoy the game. I miss great matches and great adversaries ” said SAMARA. As many Romanian stars she shined on European Youth Championships reaching 14 medals on six events; from 2002 Moscow 2002 to 2007 Bratislava: nine gold and five silver. One of Elizabeta’s best achievements was gold at the 2005 World Junior Circuit Finals in Santo Domingo. She played twice in European Championships quarter finals in Belgrade 2007 and Gdansk-Sopot 2011. She also got team’s gold with Romanian National Team in Aaarhus 2005. At the World Championships her best placement is Round of 16 in Zagreb 2007. Elizabeta is a member of Turkish champion Fenerbahce no. 1 seed of 2014/15 Women`s European Champions League. “Now the season in Champions League is in the full swing. In between the matches I am trying to practice as much as I can. The year started good for me. I played at the World Cup and I am very satisfied with my performance. Since I missed two months of practice it is great progress. I must do things slowly and be patient. I lost the match in the opening leg of the Champions league semi final in Berlin. I was not that bad but most important is that the club won and I am very happy for that.” SAMARA is long time at the top of World table tennis. There is no mystery for her in Baku. “I just want to play good at Europe Top 16. Every match will be tough despite the fact I know all the players very well. However I am looking forward those duels. I want to enjoy of top level table tennis.” As a big favorite SAMARA named Hungary’s Georgina POTA. “POTA improved her game a lot. I was playing against her in Bangkok and lost 4:2. I was not fully recovered at that time but still she was very good. And all the other players are very good and dangerous. I have to be careful.”
Marcos FREITAS ready to defend his crown
Marcos FREITAS was the member of the Portugal’s golden team at the 2014 European Team Championships; it was first time that Portugal had won the title and he was the first Portuguese player to be ranked top 10 in the World. In Baku at the 2015 NN Table Te Marcos FREITAS was the member of the Portugal’s golden team at the 2014 European Team Championships; it was first time that Portugal had won the title and he was the first Portuguese player to be ranked top 10 in the World. In Baku at the 2015 NN Table Tennis Club ITTF – Europe Top 16 FREITAS will try to defend his crown won last year at the DHS Europe Cup in February 2014. MARCOS had great season but he still stands firmly on the ground. Great success has not changed him a lot but certainly set his goals higher. “Maybe my life changed a little. It was a big moment for the Portuguese table tennis and we want to continue winning events ” said Marcos. Last year Marcos concluded the DHS 2014 Europe Cup unbeaten after three days of fierce battles. He took Lausanne by storm but this time everybody will be ready for him. However that does not affect his confidence. FREITAS is ready for the challengers and he pointed other fact as important before the start of the Event: ”Sure it will be harder to defend the title; now there are more players than last year.” FREITAS is happy with his current shape. “Top 16 is a hard tournament with many good players. Judging by the entries I think it will be an interesting tournament. I think I am one of the favorites to win it but off course players like Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Vladimir SAMSONOV are also strong possible winners. Right now it is important for me to keep with good practice to preserve current shape.” What is your main goal this season? “This season I want to keep improving and win against the best players.”
