“On September 1st I will step down and retire as President of ITTF ” announced Adham SHARARA today at the press conference held after the AGM.”I will take over the new position of Chairman and Mister Thomas WEIKERT Deputy President will become President “On September 1st I will step down and retire as President of ITTF ” announced Adham SHARARA today at the press conference held after the AGM.”I will take over the new position of Chairman and Mister Thomas WEIKERT Deputy President will become President and occupy the position until the elections in 2017. According to Constitution he is the person to assume the Presidency and I can assure you that I will never retire from the position of President if I did not think that the Deputy President has the full capabilities abilities and skills to take over this position as well as the full support of the Executive Committee and today the full support of the AGM.” President SHARARA explained the reason for creating a new position in ITTF. “Initially this position was though about by the Executive Committee because last year in Paris we had some criticism and some complains from the candidate running for President. The other candidate felt that to be President and Chairman at the same time and also being the candidate for the position of the President is unfair. “ In Paris SHARARA stepped down from position of Chair but the solution for future had to be created. “We thought it is the best way to create position of Chairman independent from President. This position is not political; chairman cannot run for Presidency and cannot vote. This way the President is completely detached from running the AGM and Chairman cannot be the candidate for any position in the Executive Committee. We thought it is the best way to go forward and when Executive Committee agreed and we went with the proposal very quickly I become interested myself with this position.” This is not new tactic in business world but very few sports associations practice  it. “Other the Chairing the AGM this position will have two responsibilities. We will have to review the Constitution. Our Constitution is to be rewritten and it need time and focus to do it. Second one is to deliver P5 Action plan. I have promised to Deputy President who will soon become the President that I will continue to do that work and then to handed to him and to his team to decide what to do with it. At least I have the responsibility to complete that work.” Thomas WEIKERT Deputy President will stay on his duty in DTTB and he already spoke with all sides involved. “I am honored to get the job as President and certainly Adham did a great job in previous 14 years. There is much work ahead of us and I am glad that I will have him on my side. This is the challenge our plans are big. We have 220 member associations and we want to have table tennis all over the world. Further development will be our major task” stressed WEIKERT.

China and Germany are still unbeaten after four rounds of Groups stages at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships Under the guidance of new national coach Peter SARTZ Sweden holds their positions. They failed to produce the victories over higher ranke China and Germany are still unbeaten after four rounds of Groups stages at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships Under the guidance of new national coach Peter SARTZ Sweden holds their positions. They failed to produce the victories over higher ranked Taipei and Korea Republic but in the duels against Korea DPR and Spain they showed no mercy. In addition at the morning session Sweden forced top seeded Republic Korea to go full distance. Jens LUNDQVIST overcame CHO Enorae whilst Jon PERSSON accounted for KIM Minseok. Latter in the match of the fourth round Korea DPR suffered in straight matches. In the same Group Spain is still without victory. Belarus team succeeded in four matches. Experienced Vladimir SAMSONOV was the key for success once again with two victories over Marc DURAN and Alvaro ROBLES. The real beauty of the morning program was the match between Portugal and Greece. This time Marcos FREITAS was the hero of the team.  He left Kalinikos KREANGA only with one game and sealed the nail-biting thriller against Panagiotis GIONIS with the victory after five games and 16:14 in the decisive set. Romania woke up to continue the line of upsets. After Greece surprisingly beat Japan Greek outfit unpredictable lost against Hungarians and today Romania the team who failed to produce the victory so far beat Hungary in four matches. At the end of the day things settled into more familiar rhythm. Greece overcame Romania whilst France succeeded against Hungary. Japan is back on tracks with victory over Portugal. Germany showed no trace of weakness. Croatia was the team who suffered in the morning rounds whilst seeded no. two in Group B Hong Kong was the next in line to experience German determination. All four matches at the Championships Germany concluded with 3:0. Croatia beat Ukraine whilst Denmark overcame Singapore. Michael MAZE and latter Kasper STERNBERG in the decisive match overcame CHEW Zhe Yu Clarence whilst  Jonathan GROTH beat YANG Zi. Top seeds China dominated in their Group. They also recorded four 3:0 victories.  Poland and Austria shares second position and tomorrow they will play against each other. Today Poland beat Serbia and Brazil. Russia finally succeeded and it was Serbia who suffered.  

There is one more match left for each team in the Group stage of the Women’s Event at the at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships. On the third day fierce battles continued. In Group A Poland finally managed to catch some air. After hard duels and de There is one more match left for each team in the Group stage of the Women’s Event at the at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships. On the third day fierce battles continued. In Group A Poland finally managed to catch some air. After hard duels and defeats against China Austria and Korea DPR Poland beat Slovakia in fourth round. They did it in straight matches. “There is no point of complaining. Our group is tough as much as every other at the World Championships. There are no easy matches but we learned from each of those games. Playing against China was a great experience. In the match against Korea I beat KIM Jong and I am very happy with that victory ” stated Natalia PARTYKA. Slovakia created very few chances. Poland dominated from the first duel between Natalia and Barbora BALAZOVA “Last time at the European Championships in Herning Barbora beat me 3:0. I had no chance. Today was different story. I am played very well. Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA managed to succeed in very close duel against Eva ODOROVA. Eva recovered from 2:0 before Katarzyna regained the control again.” China Korea Romania and Austria are placed at the first four positions in the Group above Poland. Ultimate match in the Group Poland will play against Romania. “We are still in the game for fourth position. If you look at the rankings Romania is much better but numbers do not play. We will try to seize any chance that occurs.” Romania beat Austria in fourth round. They also accounted for Slovakia in the opening round. “We could not sleep last night thinking about the match against Austria. It was crucial for us. They play in fantastic shape here. With two Chinese players in their team they are very dangerous. Daniela is still struggling with her knee injury but she gave her best to win LIU Jia. She was at the top of the game” said Elizabeta SAMARA. Bernadette SZOCS accounted for LI Qianbing. “She was stretched to full distance. However she managed to recover from 0:2 in reverse. She is getting more and more mature. We are very strong as team; we spend every moment talking about table tennis. Our spirit is really high and we keep on pushing each other forward.” In Group C Netherlands overcame France in straight matches. Now they share third position in the Group with Luxembourg. Korea Republic and Singapore occupies top two spots. Singapore is the only unbeaten team in the Group. “We had two very hard days with duels against South Korea and Singapore. Now we feel much relaxed. I am happy that LI Jie returned to the team. Only six months after she gave birth she is playing amazing. It is great to have her back ” said LI Jiao. Netherlands challenged South Korea in the opening match and forced top seeds to go full distance. “I even had two match points in that duel against YANG Haeun. However we are all very happy with the victory that Britt EERLAND achieved. She beat SEOK Hajung ” explained World’s no 13 LI Jiao. Luxemburg denied Russia of first victory in the Group. Team placed at the position three in the Group lost 1:3. ‘We are getting stronger and stronger as a team. All that those girls needs is a little bit more of experience. Sarah DE NUTTE showed her quality once again today with very strong performance against Olga BARANOVA. Tessy GONDERINGER stretched Elena TROSHEVNA to full distance…those results makes me proud. We are not professionals so every achievement at such Event as World Championships is great success ” stated NI Xialian. Ukraine beat Croatia in Group D. Now they have six points as Czech Republic and they are placed below Hong Kong and Germany. “For us most important is tomorrow’s duel against Czech Republic but we are confident. We will fight for that victory ” said Margaryta PESOTSKA.

Two opening rounds at the Women’s Team’s Event at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships were easy for Germany. After success against Croatia team beat Ukraine by same margin – 3:0. It is good booster for the team that plays without Chinese players in Two opening rounds at the Women’s Team’s Event at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships were easy for Germany. After success against Croatia team beat Ukraine by same margin – 3:0. It is good booster for the team that plays without Chinese players in Japan. Latter Germany justified their dominancy by beating Czech Republic. “The victory is so important for all of us especially for the younger girls. Petrissa SOLJA and Sabine WINTER are fighting for their chances in future and each of those matches gives them more confidence ” said silver medalists in singles event at the European championships 2011 Irene IVANCAN. “Our aspirations are always high. We are here to fight for medal.” In the same group in the morning Croatia and Czech Republic went full distance. It was TIAN Yuan in Croatia’s outfit who forced Czech Republic to go full distance. TIAN overcame Renata STRBIKOVA and Iveta VACENOVSKA but the rest of the team was unable to follow. VACENOVSKA overcame Lea RAKOVAC and Renata STRBIKOVA as well whilst Hana MATELOVA succeeded against Ivana TUBIKANEC. Very young team of Croatia recovered for the afternoon session and overcame Serbia. “I was beaten by ERDELJI but TIAN Yuan and Ivana TUBIKANEC were at the op of the game. I still suffered a little from a jet leg. Just arrived from Argentina. It is minus 5 degree Celsius there ” explained Lea RAKOVAC who secured her place at the Olympic Youth Games in Nanjing. In Group C LIU Jia of Austria added two more victories to her untouched account. Like yesterday she is unbeaten but this time against Poland the rest of the team followed. Austria beat Polish girls 3:1. LIU Jia European champion from Aarhus 2005 and winner of Top-12 in Rennes same year came back from maternity leave this year to repeat the success at the DHS 2014 Europe Cup. In Japan she preserved same shape like few months earlier. “I play without oscillations my game is stable but that is just the part of success that I am experiencing now. Much more important is that I am relaxed and that I enjoy every moment of the play; every moment of the competition; every moment of friendship with the girls in the team and after the match with the other players. I am much more open now I love to talk and I am looking forward each event. I am not getting younger who knows how long I am going to play in national team so I want to enjoy as much as I can the time I have now ” said LIU Jia. In the evening Austria beat Slovakia. France beat Russia yesterday; today they lost against Korea Republic. Only 15 years old Audrey ZARIF had premiere in that match. First appearance for the senior team made great impression on European silver medalist in cadet category as well as Top 10 winner in 2012. “I am so happy that I get a chance to play. In the opening game against PARK Youngsook I was in the lead 5:1 had 9:6 but I had a problem with her service ” explained ZARIF who will also play at the Olympic Youth Games in Nanjing this summer.  

Croatia was in charge for another big upset at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo. Hong Kong seeded no. seven lost against no. nine seed Croatia. Andrej GACINA beat JIANG Tianyui and TANG Peng to secure 3:1 vic Croatia was in charge for another big upset at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo. Hong Kong seeded no. seven lost against no. nine seed Croatia. Andrej GACINA beat JIANG Tianyui and TANG Peng to secure 3:1 victory for his team. Day earlier he was the instrumental in Croatia’s victory against Denmark with 3:0 win in the opening match against Michael MAZE. “MAZE had a great problem at the very beginning of the match. He made mistakes in the service game I gained 4 easy points and it was quick 1:0. TAN Ruiwu plays in perfect shape here he is focused so we did not face any obstacles later in the match against Denmark ” explained GACINA. KOLAREK lost his duel against STERNBERG but GACINA praised his ability to find the way to rise from the “hole” as he said. “It is remarkable how he recovered for today’s match against Hong Kong. He beat WONG Chun Ting in five games ” added GACINA. ”They were favorites and it was very close. My two opening games against JIANG Tianyui concluded by narrow margin; in fourth I save two set balls…” GACINA explained that his engagement in Grenzau helped him to find stability and focus at such big events. “I beat BOLL in the league as well as BAUM. That helps me a lot. Also I work a lot on my mental stability with the expert.” Portugal is unbeaten and that is the expected outcome of the duels against Hungary and France. The player who took the crown at the DHS 2014 Europe Cup earlier this year Marcos FREITAS recorded two victories today against French adversaries. He beat Simon GAUZY and Adrien MATTENET. “France has young team but already very experienced. Hardly that we could hide something from them in terms of tactics. We played so many times against each other before. I started good against GAUZY had 10:6 in second and lost it. However I managed to find my focus again. Tiago was two games down before he recovered to overcame MATTENET. LEBESSON proved once again how god he is against lefthanders. He beat Joao MONTEIRO but I never lost against Adrien and I believe that in worst case APOLONIA will be able to seal the match against GAUZY.” MARCOS added that he had to take good rest to be ready for a big showdown against Greece tomorrow. “That is going to be hard match. The re-run of the Team’s European Championships that we lost. Seeded no. two in Group A Austria is unbeaten after two days of the competition. Much of the credit goes to the Robert GARDOS’s account. GARDOS added third victory to his clean sheet. Yesterday he accounted twice for Serbia and today he beat Kirill SKACHKOV of Russia. “The start was very important. Tactically I attacked SKACHKOV in the early stages of the games and that gave me advantage in every set. He was not determined and made mistakes. Maybe 3:0 looks easy but I think that yesterday’s defeat of team of Russia against Poland gave us advantage. When you start like that the tournament it is so hard to come back. And of course the win gives you wings like it was the case with us. Good start against Serbia worked in our favor ” explained GARDOS. Tomorrow Austria will play against Brazil. “I respect their team. They are young very dangerous since they are not under pressure. On top of all they are here after series of very good results. It is going to be hard match.” The team who managed to recover after defeat was Serbia. They held the grip and finally succeeded in thrilling five matches duel against Brazil. It was first victory for Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC after he joined the team after 12 months break. “I am back but still there is big disproportion between my desires and my abilities. I want so much to play good my I am far from my old shape ” admitted KARAKASEVIC. However hero of the day was Zolt PETE who beat Cazuo MATSUMOTO and Gustavo TSUBOI. No. two seed Germany easily prevailed against Denmark. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Timo BOLL joined by young Patrick FRANZISKA are hardly challenged so far at the Championships. Without MAZE in the team Jonathan GROTH Mikkel HINDERSSON and Morten RASMUSSEN could not produce serious threat to mighty German team. In the Group D Asian teams prevailed this morning. Korea Republic beat Spain Belarus suffered defeat again this time by the hands of players from Korea DPR and Taipei overcame Sweden.

Yesterday at the opening day of the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo Belarus suffered by the hands of Japan’s players but today girls were at the top of the game. Belarus beat Australia 3:1 and once again two Yesterday at the opening day of the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo Belarus suffered by the hands of Japan’s players but today girls were at the top of the game. Belarus beat Australia 3:1 and once again two times European champion in singles Viktoria PAVLOVICH was the backbone of team’s success. Viktoria beat Miao MIAO 3:0 and Zhenhua DEDERKO 3:1.  “I am happy with the victory but second one did not come easy. DEDERKO has very dangerous style of play she change her rhythm constantly. It was very hard to adjust to it ” stated Viktoria. From the bench Veronika conducted the play. New national coach of the women team is Viktoria’s twin sister Veronika PAVLOVICH. Asked how is to work with sister who now has different role Viktoria laughed. “It is good. We understand each other without lot of words.” Same question went to Veronika’s address. “Well it is easier to explain tactics and everything to Viktoria. We do not need big talks. On the other hand Belarus team is very young. Youngsters need a lot to learn and I have to be very focused to give them right direction. It is not just sports aspects that I have to think of ” said Veronika.

Greece continued from the position they left at the European Championships in Austria last fall. They cleared they way to the silver like a storm and fired up Schwechat few months ago and now once again they proved what they are made of. In Tokyo at the Greece continued from the position they left at the European Championships in Austria last fall. They cleared they way to the silver like a storm and fired up Schwechat few months ago and now once again they proved what they are made of. In Tokyo at the opening day of the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships they overcame host nation. Team seeded at position no. three left the area disappointed beaten by the team ranked at position no. 14. Kalinikos KREANGA stretched Jun MIZUTANI to full distance but eventually failed to produce opening match victory. However this was just worm up. Experienced champion was on the top of the game in the decisive match against Seiya KISHIKAWA – 3:0. “I lost first match but it did not stopped me. I played good I felt the ball well and that match gave me confidence. I believed I could win in case of decisive match “explained KALINIKOS. Coach Konstantinos VATSAKLIS had some reason to be a little less stressed tonight. “It was hard after European Championships. We carried the burden of that success. Because it was unexpected we were under pressure to prove that we well deserved medals in Team’s and Single’s Events. It did not came by chance and accidentally and the victory over Japan in the middle of Tokyo is there to prove it ” said VATSAKLIS. “ I already said when GIONIS and PAPAGEORGIU won their matches it is extra motive for our legend KALINIKOS to finish the job well.” Panagiotis GIONIS overcame Seiya KISHIKAWA. It was physically very tough match since the last time KISHIKAWA overcame GIONIS to halt his progress to the Round of 16 at the Olympic Games in London. And of course this duel was stretched to full five games. “I am not happy with my start of the game but as the match progressed I played better and better. From the second game I was confident I could win. I played much more aggressive in the attack and force him into mistakes with good defense. However the crucial moment was the change of tactics in service game. During four games I made a serve to his forehand and then I changed in fifth to his backhand. That opened the way for me to gain some easy balls ” explained GIONIS. Tomorrow Greece will meet Hungary.“They know very well to play against defense but we have to win that match otherwise the victory over Japan will lose its worth.”  

At the Women’s Teams Event at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo in the first stage of the group phase Netherlands put great pressure on favorites. Dutch team currently ranked at position no. 15 at the seeding At the Women’s Teams Event at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo in the first stage of the group phase Netherlands put great pressure on favorites. Dutch team currently ranked at position no. 15 at the seeding had 2:1 advantage over third seeds Korea Republic. Korea prevailed at the end but seriously tested. Two times European champion in singles LI Jiao placed at position no. 13 at World rankings beat SEO Hyowon World’s no 8 and the leading name in Korea’s team. With the experience of LIU Jia this result could have been expected but 20 years old Britt EERLAND exceeded all the expectations. In 2010 Britt won the title as junior in Istanbul at the European Championships and year latter she clinched another medal at youth level. In Herning at senior European Championships she reached gold with the team and year latter silver in doubles. Now she is ranked at position no. 100 and today she beat world’s no 15 SEOK Hajung the player who has same technique as LI Xiaoxia as they grew up together. Britt gave big chance to Dutch team after four games victory. LI made great effort to seize the opportunity when it occurs but after full distance duel YANG Haeun leveled the score. In the same Group Singapoer beat Luxembourg 3:0 whilst France overcame Russia by same margin. In Group D Hong Kong prevailed against Czech republic whilst Ukraine beat Serbia. Germany overcame Croatia. WU Jiaduo beat Lea RAKOVAC Petrissa SOLJA overcame TIAN Yuan Kristin SILBEREISEN succeeded against Petra PETEK. SILBEREISEN said: “The first match is always the most difficult even against weaker opponents. It is not so easy to get into the game so the opening victory is feeling all right now. I knew before that I’m in good shape but am always a bit nervous. I appreciate that because then I’m more focused. I didn’t manage to play my service really short today but yet that was not so important”. Korea DPR was also seriously tested basically thanks to great performance from LIU Jia. She beat both KIM Jong and RI Myong Sun but that insufficient for overall victory.

Morning program at the opening day at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo already brought few upsets. Russia seeded no. 10 suffered by the hand of players from Poland the team that occupies the position no. 1 Morning program at the opening day at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo already brought few upsets. Russia seeded no. 10 suffered by the hand of players from Poland the team that occupies the position no. 18 at the seeding. It was not the defeat that made such big surprise but the final outcome did it – 3:0. Alexander SHIBAEV World’s no 34 suffered by the hands of Robert FLORAS currently ranked at position no. 111. FLORAS was stretched to full distance and in the battle of epic proportions prevailed (15:17 10:12 12:10 11:6 10:12). After the Russia’s first player lost his match against third in Polish outfit the doors were wide open. Danijel GORAK seized the opportunity and overcame Alexey LIVENTSOV despite the slight advantage that his adversary has at the rankings – GORAK is 89th player whilst LIVENTSOV is placed at position no. 71. WANG Zengyi no. 77 beat Kirill SKACHKOV worlds no. 53 to seal the match. Top seeds China secured first victory at the tournament against Brazil whilst Austria prevailed against Serbia. After a 12-month break Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC wore the national jersey again but he suffered on his come back. KARAKASEVIC was 2:1 up in games and had 7:1 before Daniel HABESOHN cleared the danger. With very good Robert GARDOS Austria concluded the day with the victory. Seeded no. two Germany also saved some energy today with the 3:0 victory over Singapore. Timo BOLL beat GAO Ning at the opening. “I took GAO Ning very seriously because we all have lost against him the last time. If you beat him that’s half the battle won for your team. I was very focused from the beginning but had some bad luck in the 1st game. If you have to take 5 balls from the edge I think you can call it bad luck. But in the 3rd game I was behind 4-8 and won – so the good luck worked for both of us. The win over Singapore was a good first step but we still have a long way to go. We are ready to work a lot and hard here in Tokyo”. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV beat YANG Zi 3-0 (8 6 9) and on his premiere Steffen MENGEL succeeded against CHEW Zhe Yu Clarence 3:1 (9 -9 4 8) “Dima and Timo made it easier for me. I entered the box when we were already 2-0 in the lead and I knew that even if I lost there were still those two stars behind me to score one last point if necessary. Nevertheless it was not easy to get in for me. It’s my first major team tournament also at European Championships I was not yet on the team. I’m happy just to be here as part of such a great team “ stressed MENGEL.

The ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships starts tomorrow in Tokyo. It is the seventh time that Japan will host world elite at this ever increasing event. Before Tokyo 2014 we had Championships in the same city in 1956 and in 1983. Nagoya was The ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships starts tomorrow in Tokyo. It is the seventh time that Japan will host world elite at this ever increasing event. Before Tokyo 2014 we had Championships in the same city in 1956 and in 1983. Nagoya was the host in 1971 Chiba in 1991 Osaka in 2001 and Yokohama in 2009. The total of teams is record breaking 209 comparing to Dortmund 2012 – 3 more whilst in Moscow 2010 188 teams participated. Last time in Japan in Osaka there were 147 teams. In men’s event there are 114 players on the list three less than in Germany two years ago but there are 6 women more comparing last Championships – 95. Top seeds is China in both events. Not that they have no. one player on the ITTF rankings but they came with World’s and Olympic champions. XU Xin lead the men’s team whilst ZHANG Jike is Current World and Olympic champion. No. 2 MA Long no. 3 FAN Zhendong are also at the list. Germany holds the European hopes alive. They are seeded at position no. 2. European champion and bronze medalist from both singles and team’s event at the London Olympic Games Dimitrij OVTCHAROV is the best ranked European player at the position no. 4 in the World. Timo BOLL will also play. In the team are Patrick BAUM Stefen MENGEL and young 21 years old Patrick FRANZISKA. Germany is also hungry for gold. They played 44 times from 1926 but never reached the title. Japan Korea Taipei is three more teams above Portugal. In Bremen 2006 Portugal concluded matters in 31st place and from that point the only way is up for them. In Guangzhou they climbed four places in 2010 at the LIEBHERR World Team Championships in Moscow Portugal finished in 14th place and then most recently two years ago it was a conclusion amongst the very elite; they concluded matters in 11th position. Now in Tokyo at the ZEN-NOH World Team Championships Portugal is major medal contender in the Men’s Championship Division. They are the sixth seeds. In Group A are: China Austria Russia Brazil Poland and Serbia. In Group B: Germany Hong Kong Croatia Singapore Denmark and Ukraine. In Group C: Japan Portugal France Greece Romania and Hungary. In Group D: Korea Republic Chinese Taipei Sweden Belarus Spain and Korea DPR. LIU Shiwen World’s best ranked player is the leader of the women’s team. LI XIaoxia current World and Olympic Champion is also in the team with DING Ning CHEN Meng and ZHU Yuling. Germany is listed at position no. 6 below China Japan Korea Hong Kong and Singapore. For the best European team will play WU JIaduo Petrissa SOLJA Irene IVANCAN Kristin SILBEREISEN and Sabine WINTER. In Group A are: China Korea DPR Romania Poland Slovak Republic and Austria. In Group B: Japan Chinese Taipei Hungary Belarus USA and Australia. In Group C: Korea Republic Singapore Russia Netherlands France and Luxemburg. In Group D: Hong Kong Germany Ukraine Czech Republic Serbia and Croatia.