LI Jiao beat the competition once again in Netherlands. Former European champion LI Jiao clinched the title in Women’s Singles Event at the Dutch National Championships. In the Men’s Singles Event most successful player this year is Casper ter LÜÜN.  LI J,

BUTTERFLY Irish Mens Singles National Champion is Paul McCREERY. He beat Gavin MAGUIRE in the final 8-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-9, 12-10, whilst Butterfly Irish National womens Champion for the third time is Ashley GIVAN. She beat Amanda MOGEY 11-3, 9-11, 12-10,

The surprising winner of the German National Championships is Steffen MENGEL, the player who currently occupies spot number 157 at the World Rankings. On his way to the throne, at the last hurdle Steffan beat best ranked European – Timo BOLL. “I can, The surprising winner of the German National Championships is Steffen MENGEL, the player who currently occupies spot number 157 at the World Rankings. On his way to the throne, at the last hurdle Steffan beat best ranked European – Timo BOLL. “I can hardly believe that I become German champion, and that I beat Timo in the final,” said MENGEL. Timo BOLL: “Steffen started very well and was definitely the better player in the first 3 games. I realized from the start that the wind will blow from a different quarter in this match”. In the previous rounds the nine-times German Champion didn’t lose a single game, but didn’t really shine during his four 4-0s, as BOLL put it. He didn’t have to. Steffen MENGEL was the first to really challenge him. From the fourth game BOLL was finally in the match, playing dominantely, and led 6-3 in the 6th game – “at that point I should have won. I was so close”. MENGEL having his back up against the wall changed his strategy, a.o. varied his service. “Until the end I read them very poorly,” says BOLL. Anyway, he made his way up to 2 match balls, 11-10 and 12-11 in the 6th. Before MENGEL served BOLL even took his time-out at 12-11 showing big respect to his opponent’s service. Alas, it didn’t help. Boll lost this game and the final one. “It’s a pity, but it’s not the end of the world. You have to go through this in sport,” says BOLL. “I would like to win some time again, but I know that it’s not going to be easy”. If BOLL had won this would have been his 10th title and he would be the only player on top of the singles statistics. At the moment he is still “backed” by Eberhard SCHÖLER and Conny FREUNDORFER, the stars of the 1950is to 70ies. MENGEL added:: “I still can’t believe that I’ve become German Champion and in addition, beat Timo in the final. We haven’t played each other for quite a while. Before the match my goal was to win at least one game. At the German Closed in 2010 he beat me easily. Usually I don’t have any chance against him. Timo plays every ball on a high level. Against him you need to have your optimum capacity. I need to thank the spectators in Bamberg. It was very much fun playing here”. SHAN Xiaona clinched the title in Women’s Singles. “I’m so thrilled to be the German Champion. It’s like a dream. It wasn’t easy for me against ‘Lulu’ in the final. We practice every day at the German Table Tennis Centre in Düsseldorf. She knows my service, knows my whole game. It’s usually easier for me against players who don’t know me so well.” (by Simone HINZ, courtesy DTTB) Men’s Singles – Final: Steffen MENGEL – Timo BOLL 4:3 (4,-8, 8, -6, -5, 12, 7) Semi final Timo BOLL – Alexander FLEMMING 4:0 (5, 9, 10, 3) Steffen MENGEL – Zoltan FEJER-KONNERTH 4:3 (-5, 8, -7, 9, -7, 9, 11) Women’s Singles –  Final SHAN Xiaona – ZHENQI Barthel 4:2 (6, 6, -6, 7, -8, 7) Semi Final ZHENQI Barthel – Kristin SILBEREISEN 4:0 (10, 6, 5, 8) SHAN Xiaona – Kathrin MÜHLBACH 4:0 (9, 3, 7, 7) Men’s Doubles –  Final Alexander FLEMMING/Jörg SCHLICHTER – Nico CHRIST/Lennart WEHKING 4:1 (9,3,-8,10,10) Semi Final Alexander FLEMMING/Jörg SCHLICHTER – Philipp FLORITZ/Zoltan FEJER-KONNERTH 4:3 (-7,-12,-8,8,9,7,5) Nico CHRIST/Lennart WEHKING – Deniz AYDIN/Sebastian BORCHARDT 4:0 (6,5,6,7) Women’s Doubles –  Final Sabine WINTER/Petrissa SOLJA – SHAN Xiaona/ZHENQI Barthel 4:2 (-8,-7,5,9,4,3) Semi final Sabine WINTER/Petrissa SOLJA – Alina HECK/Kristin SILBEREISEN 4:2 (0,12,-8,-6,3,5) SHAN Xiaona/ZHENQI Barthel – Tanja KRÄMER/Nadine BOLLMEIER 4:1 (5,2,-8,8,6)   Photo: Steffen MENGEL enjoying the flavour of victory in Bamberg (Photo Roscher)

Peter SEREDA and Barbora BALAZOVA clinched the titles in the Men’s and Women’s Singles Event at the Slovakia’s National Championships. In the final of the men’s Singles SEREDA beat BAI He after seven games thriller. In semis BAI overcame Zoltan LELKES, wh,

At the Jean-Michel SAIVE at the age of 43 clinched his 24th title in the Men’s Singles Event at the Belgium’s National Championships. Since 1985 SAIVE only missed five titles (T. CABRERA 1990 and 1991, Phil Saive on 1993 and 2003, Yannick Vostes on 2010)., At the Jean-Michel SAIVE at the age of 43 clinched his 24th title in the Men’s Singles Event at the Belgium’s National Championships. Since 1985 SAIVE only missed five titles (T. CABRERA 1990 and 1991, Phil Saive on 1993 and 2003, Yannick Vostes on 2010). Men’s Singles – Semi final: Jean-Michel SAIVE – Lauric JEAN 4-3 (9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 13-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8) Cedric NUYTINCK – Yannick VOSTES 4-3 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 14-16, 11-3, 11-8). Final: Jean-Michel SAIVE – Cedric NUYTINCK 4-1 (18-16, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5) Women’s Singles – Semi final: Nathalie MARCHETTI – Daria MITYUKOVA 4-1 (11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) Gabriella VINCI – Elena CHMIGUESLSKAIA 4-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6). Final: Nathalie MARCHETTI – Gabriella VINCI 4-2 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6) (by Christian RASPILLER) Photo: Jean-Michel SAIVE (Photo Roscher)

Both Benedek OLAH in Mens´s Singles Event and Anna KIRICHENKO in Women’s Singles took their third title in row in Finnish National Championships in Tampere. In the men´s final OLAH beat Roope KANTOLA 4-1. Semifinal against Otto TENNILÄ was a seven-set thr, Both Benedek OLAH in Mens´s Singles Event and Anna KIRICHENKO in Women’s Singles took their third title in row in Finnish National Championships in Tampere. In the men´s final OLAH beat Roope KANTOLA 4-1. Semifinal against Otto TENNILÄ was a seven-set thriller. Mika RÄSÄNEN split bronze with TENNILÄ. In women´s final KIRICHENKO won against Jannika OKSANEN comfortably 4-1. Pinja ERIKSSON and MIlla-Mari VASTAVUO split bronze. In men´s doubles, youngsters OLAH and TENNILÄ beat “old guys” Pasi VALASTI and Mika TUOMOLA in the final by sets it was 3-1. Bronze was won by Mika RÄSÄNEN / Manu KARJALAINEN and Roope KANTOLA / Pauli HIETIKKO. In women´s doubles final Ella RISSANEN and Pinja ERIKSSON won Henrika PUNNONEN and Jannika OKSANEN. Bronzes went to MIlla-Mari and Viivi-Mari VASTAVUO as well as Anna and Svetlana KIRICHENKO. In Mixed doubles OLAH and KIRICHENKO completed their weekend by winning Mika RÄSÄNEN / Jannika OKSANEN 3-2. So OLAH took all together three gold and KIRICHENKO celebrated as a double-champion. (by Antti JOKINEN) Photo: Benedek OLAH (courtesy ITTF)

New crowned champions in Norway are Marte Grutle AASEBO and Espen RONNEBERG.  In the final of the Women’s Singles Event Marte Grutle AASEBO beat Christine METTNER. Anna Grutle AASEBO and Stine FOLKESON finished at position no. three. Espen RONNEBERG beat ,

More than 1.000 spectators at the Russian National Championships in Saint Petersburg greeted new champions tonight. Host crowd was delighted by the win of Vyacheslav BUROV who is from Saint Petersburg as well as Polina MIKHAILOVA who clinched the title in, More than 1.000 spectators at the Russian National Championships in Saint Petersburg greeted new champions tonight. Host crowd was delighted by the win of Vyacheslav BUROV who is from Saint Petersburg as well as Polina MIKHAILOVA who clinched the title in Women’s Singles Event.  Moscow’s Anastasiya VORONOVA and Julia PROKHOROVA won the title in Women’s Doubles whilst Kirill SKACHKOV and Alexey SMIRNOV from Orenburg region /Moscow become new Doubles champions. In Mix Doubles Vyacheslav BUROV and Olga BARANOVA (Saint Petersburg /Moscow) clinched the title. Viacheslav BUROV regained the championship of Russia in the singles competition, lost a year ago. Now he’s a two-time champion of Russia. Burov showed the fastest tennis at the championships so he justified his nick name “King of Speed”. (by Alex LOMAEV) Photo: Polina MIKHAILOVA (Photo Lomaev)

Liam PITCHFORD won his first-ever Men’s Singles title at the 54th English Senior National Championships at Ponds Forge on Sunday afternoon. The 19-year-old from Derbyshire had to face a re-match of 2012′s final against four-time National Champ, Liam PITCHFORD won his first-ever Men’s Singles title at the 54th English Senior National Championships at Ponds Forge on Sunday afternoon. The 19-year-old from Derbyshire had to face a re-match of 2012′s final against four-time National Champion, Paul DRINKHALL, who beat him 4-1 last time out. However, on this occasion the teen exacted his revenge and emerged victorious over six pulsating ends 4-2 (8-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9). PITCHFORD was relieved to have finally got his name of the trophy after two previous final defeats in Sheffield. His loss to Andrew BAGGALEY in 2010 was followed by last year’s defeat to DRINKHALL, who PITCHFORD knows very well from their England training. The Chesterfield-born player said: “We practice against each other all the time and we know each others games. Every match is difficult but I’m just happy to have finally won one. “He blew me out of the water in the third game with some ridiculous shots. After that I just said to myself ‘look, you’ve just got to try something different.’ I started putting more topspin on my serves, waiting for him to flick and then playing down the lines – luckily it worked.” PITCHFORD had been out with a hip injury over Christmas but put to bed any allaying fears about his performances with not only his singles title, but also a Men’s Doubles title with beaten finalist DRINKHALL. He said: “I was out for five weeks but I did good rehab and I was in good hands. I’m still working on keeping on top of it. I’m feeling stronger than ever. “Tomorrow I’ve got a flight to Germany where I’ve got a match on Sunday and two more the weekend after that. Pretty much everyone’s a national champion [at his club, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen] so it’s just another day in the office.” Although PITCHFORD prevented DRINKHALL from retaining his title, Women’s Singles Champion, Kelly SIBLEY was able to defend her crown from 2012 after a monster seven-game marathon with great rival Joanna PARKER. Having already been through two tough fixtures earlier in the day, a six-game quarter-final win over TIN-TIN Ho and a seven-game semi-final victory against Karina Le FEVRE, Sibley was delighted to be able to finally put her feet up. The 24-year-old said: “I think today’s been a really tough day. In my quarter-finals I was 2-0 down and came back and won 4-2, then my semi-final was even closer than that. I was 3-0 up and Karina played really well to come back to 3-3. I was 8-3 and 9-5 down so I just focused ball-by-ball and eventually managed to get through that 14-12. “I’m just so happy to win it really. I kept on getting into winning positions all the time but I just had to be calm and keep focused on what I was doing when I was winning the points. I took my time a bit, had a couple of deep breaths and eventually got that last point. “I’m going to take it steady tomorrow, rest the legs and recharge the batteries then it’s back to training on Tuesday.” The next challenge for both singles champions will be the Commonwealth Championships in May and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014. SIBLEY said: “I want to keep pushing and working hard towards the Championships. I believe in the Commonwealth Games we can get a medal in the team especially with Tin-Tin [HO] coming through, she’s pushing to be in our team now. I think if we keep working hard then we can do some damage.” PITCHFORD was focused on his goals: “We’ve got the Comonwealths coming up, I think I’m playing well enough to medal there. I’m looking to get gold.” 2012/13 English Senior National Championships (Ponds Forge, Sheffield 1-3 March 2013) Final results: Men’s Singles: Liam PITCHFORD bt Paul DRINKHALL 4-2 (8-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9) Women’s Singles: Kelly SIBLEY bt Joanna PARKER 4-3 (11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-4) Men’s Doubles: Paul DRINKHALL/Liam PITCHFORD bt Darius KNIGHT/Daniel REED 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5) Women’s Doubles: Joanna PARKER/Kelly SIBLEY bt Chloe WHYTE/Jess DAWSON 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-3) Mixed Doubles: Darius KNIGHT/Kelly SIBLEY bt Paul DRINKHALL/Joanna PARKER 3-0 (11-5, 14-12, 11-6) Men’s Under 21s: Sam WALKER bt Richard ANDREWS 3-2 (11-7, 3-11, 15-17, 11-8, 12-10) Women’s Under 21s: Tin-Tin HO bt Yolanda KING 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 11-13, 13-11, 12-10) (courtesy English Table Tennis Association) Photo: Lianm PITCHFORD (Photo Roscher)