European vice champions Greece is in the Group C of the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Table Tennis Championships (28 April – 5 May). The team that fired up 2013 LIEBHERR European Championships in Schwechat last year will play against Japan Portugal France Romani European vice champions Greece is in the Group C of the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Table Tennis Championships (28 April – 5 May). The team that fired up 2013 LIEBHERR European Championships in Schwechat last year will play against Japan Portugal France Romania and Hungary. “The draw is good for us from various points. At the very beginning we will face Japan for first time in recent years. They are playing at the home soil and it will be their premiere in front enthusiastic crowd… That could be double-edged sword. Premiere in such competition in front of a lot of people has a huge dimension. The enormous pressure will be on them ” explained national coach Kostas VATSAKLIS. VATSAKLIS looked at the draw in positive light. “Most of our adversaries are from Europe. Those are the teams that we played against in recent past and recorded good results. Those victories will help us psychology and also it will add pressure on opponents.” Speaking about the goals coach VATSAKLIS said. “To be among top 12 teams is our desire. It will be great after being second in Europe. We have few weeks for preparation and I am sure everything will work well. Generally I am optimistic about achieving our goal”.
GIONIS joins BOLL in Dusseldorf
Within last half year Panagiotis GIONIS played his best table tennis ever winning two medals at 2013 LIEBHERR European Championships in Schwechat – individual bronze and silver with Greek national team – and leading Angers to its best success in Men`s Eu Within last half year Panagiotis GIONIS played his best table tennis ever winning two medals at 2013 LIEBHERR European Championships in Schwechat – individual bronze and silver with Greek national team – and leading Angers to its best success in Men`s European Champions League (semi-final). But now the Greek player is ready to change his address… Speaking about his decision to sign one-year contract with ten-time European champion Borussia Dusseldorf which disappointed in last two MECL seasons 34 year-old Greek stressed that it will be a big step forward in his career: “Of course Angers is also very big club but I felt that I want to try with Dusseldorf. They contacted me before 2013 European Championships”. – What do you think that will be the most benefit for you playing in Düsseldorf? “Playing with Timo (BOLL) will be very interesting! Also play with new players opponents… Try for titles. This is the most interesting”. – Will you live in Dusseldorf and practice in their center or just go there for matches? “I`ll go just for matches.” Where will you prepare for upcoming 2014 World Championships in Japan in Greece or will you travel somewhere else for special preparations? “I`ll go four days to Dusseldorf and have further practice in Greece.”
Romania makes a clean sweep at Italian J&C Open
Romanian cadets confirmed their dominance at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit in Lignano by winning all four titles in individual events. Cristian PLETEA beat his compatriot Florin SPELBUS in all-Romanian final Romanian cadets confirmed their dominance at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit in Lignano by winning all four titles in individual events. Cristian PLETEA beat his compatriot Florin SPELBUS in all-Romanian final of the Cadet Boys Singles Event 1:3 (11:9 5:11 8:11 6:11). In the penultimate stage Joris REYNAUD of France suffered by the hands of SPELBUS 2:3 (11:7 11:8 10:12 3:11 6:11) whilst Daniele PINTO lost against PLETEA in straight games (8:11 7:11 4:11). In the final of the Cadet Girls Singles Event Andreea DRAGOMAN beat Mihaela PLAEASU in another duel between Romanian players 1:3 (9:11 3:11 11:3 2:11). In semi final Ellen HOLMSTEN of Sweden lost against PLAEASU 2:3 (12:10 11:8 5:11 10:12 10:12) and Katerina CECHOVA failed to halt the progress of DRAGOMAN 0:3 (4:11 9:11 9:11). Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS beat Viktor GULLBO and Simon SODERLUND of Sweden in the final of the Cadet Boys Teams Event and Andreea DRAGOMAN and Mihaela PLAEASU succeeded against Zdena BLASKOVA and Stanislava SLEZAKOVA in Girls Doubles Events final
Three gold medals for Romania in Lignano
Romania clinched both titles in Juniors Teams Event today at the 2014 Italian Junior and Cadet Open in Lignano. Romania’s Cristian PLETEA Rares SIPOS and Alexandru MANOLE were stretched to full distance in the final match against Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC Romania clinched both titles in Juniors Teams Event today at the 2014 Italian Junior and Cadet Open in Lignano. Romania’s Cristian PLETEA Rares SIPOS and Alexandru MANOLE were stretched to full distance in the final match against Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC Deni KOZUL and Patrik SUKIC before they succeeded to the title. In the semi final Slovenia beat Russia and Romania beat Portugal. Girls from Romania Bernadett BALINT Adina DIACONU and Diana LUPU also played full five matches before they reached gold. In the ultimate stage they meet Russia’s Ekaterina GUSEVA Valeria SHCHERBATYKH and Maria MALANINA. In semis Romania beat Hungary and Russia beat Czech Republic. In the Cadet Boys Team’s Event final Russia’s Ilya ISAKOV Artur ABUSEV and Anton KOTOV overcame Moldova’s Vladislav URSU and Andrei PUTUNTICA. Italy and Hungary reached bronze. In the Cadet Girls Team’s Event final Romania added another gold to the list. Andreea DRAGOMAN and Mihaela PLAEASU beat Ellen HOLMSTEN and Christina KALLBERG in the final. Hong Kong and Russia concluded the competition one round earlier.
Tokyo’s draw suits European champions
The draw for the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Table Tennis Championships (28 April – 5 May) was held today at the TV Tokyo Studios. China was the first name to be drawn in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events whilst Germany’s teams has been listed at The draw for the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Table Tennis Championships (28 April – 5 May) was held today at the TV Tokyo Studios. China was the first name to be drawn in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events whilst Germany’s teams has been listed at positions two and six as the best European teams at both lists. In Group A of the Championships Division Men’s Teams will play: China Austria European bronze medal winners Russia Brazil Poland and Serbia. In Group B: European champions from the last edition in Schwechat Germany will face Hong Kong Croatia Singapore Denmark and Ukraine. In Group C are: Japan Portugal France European vice champions Greece Romania and Hungary. In Group D are: Korea Republic Taipei Sweden European bronze medalists Belarus Spain Korea DPR In Groups A of the Championships Division Women’s Teams will play: China Korea DPR European vice champions Romania Poland Slovakia Austria. Group B: Japan Taipei Hungary Belarus USA Australia. Group C: Korea Republic Singapore bronze medalists Russia Netherlands France Luxembourg. The European champions Germany is in the Group D listed at position two below Hong Kong and with Ukraine European bronze medalists Czech Republic Serbia Croatia. No panic and no excessive relief on the German side. For the national head coaches Jörg ROSSKOPF and Jie SCHÖPP the German groups at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Championships in late April in Tokyo are above all: manageable. “No question the group is demanding. But this does not influence our goal: We want to be first in the group and thus secure the best position – to avoid meeting China before the final. Above all as a coach I have to worry more about the shape of my players than about the draw. We still have 3 short training camps and the German Open before the World Championships. It is important that the players reach their top performance in the remaining time and focus 100 percent on Tokyo ” said ROSSKOPF. About the draws for China and Japan as the host: ”There is no doubt China will finish at the top of the Group. That’s for sure. The draw for the Japan is pretty tough. But with Masato SHIONO now they have a defender in the team. Many players have incredible problems against him. They also have right-handers and lefties on the team which all in all tactically puts them on solid ground against all opponents. The audience and their good preparation will give the Japanese extra motivation in comparison to other teams”. Women’s head coach Jie SCHÖPP commented the draw in Group D:”All in all it’s a good group for us. It is important that we won’t meet any team we are clearly inferior to. It is a challenging and exciting group for us – in a positive sense. Our goal is to secure the second place in the group to confirm our seeding position and to reach the main rounds. I believe that the Japanese women will win Group B relatively easy. They will be able to compensate the absence of Ai FUKUHARA. They have young and good players who are motivated and really looking forward to playing the World Championships on home soil. I have often seen that the Japanese team plays at its best exactly at the right moment. The Chinese women have strong opponents in their group for example the Peoples’ Republic of Korea and Romania but for China even that won’t be difficult enough”. The European vice champions Romania are in the group with China Korea DPR Poland Slovakia and .Austria“We have very tough group. Every match will be very difficult to win. Beside Asian teams we have Austria with LIU Jia and new entery LI Qiambing. Speaking about Korea DPR they are unknown for us since we have the chance to see them only at World Championships and Olympic Games. It is impossible to be first in the Group but there is the chance for second place ” said Elizabeta SAMARA.”Most probably we will come earlier in Asia to have some preparations for the Event. “
Favorites booked main draw places in Italy
In the semi final of the Junior Boys Teams Event at the 2014 Italian Junior and Cadet Open in Lignano Russia will meet Slovenia whilst Romania will play against Portugal. In Junior Girls Team’s Event in the penultimate stage Czech Republic will play aga In the semi final of the Junior Boys Teams Event at the 2014 Italian Junior and Cadet Open in Lignano Russia will meet Slovenia whilst Romania will play against Portugal. In Junior Girls Team’s Event in the penultimate stage Czech Republic will play against Russia whilst Romania will meet the winner of the duel between Hungary and Italy. In the first stage of both the Junior Boys’ Team and Junior Girls’ Team events the leading teams in each event duly completed the day in first places. In the Junior Boys’ Team event it was first place for Russia (Konstantin CHERNOV Nikita YARUSHIN Danila TRAVIN) the top seeds as it was for the next two outfits in the order of merit. Portugal (Diogo CHEN Jorge COSTA Antonio MALHEIRO) duly finished in first place as did the Slovak Republic (Alexander VALUCH Ingemar PETER Tomas KOPANYI Patrik VLACUSKA). Second place for Romania and a place in the main draw; it was the same for Belgium and Slovenia. Belgium (Martin ALLEGRO Arthur BILAS Thibaut DARCIS) finished in second place behind Russia; Slovenia (Darko JORGCIC Deni KOZUL Patrik SUKIC Erik PAULIN) were the runners up to Portugal. In the Junior Girls’ Team event the three leading teams all ended the day unbeaten. Romania (Bernadett BALINT Adina DIACONU Diana LUPU) and Russia (Valeria SHCHERBATYKH Ekaterina GUSEVA Maria MALANINA) the respective top two seeded outfits were never seriously troubled; however the Czech Republic had much harder task. They were extended the full five match distance by the host nation Italy. Italy finished in second place in the group and thus gained a place in the main draw as did the outfit formed by Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU and Sabina SURJAN who teamed with Romania’s Arina SINGEORZAN. They finished in second place behind Romania. The one further outfit to advance to the main draw was Hungary (Lejla IMRE Csilla NAGYPAL Orsolya PETOCZ Lili TAKACS).
Russia’s juniors in great shape in Lignano
Russia’s players clinched titles in both Singles Events at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit. In the Junior Girls Singles Event Ekaterina GUSEVA reached the top place at the medal rostrum whilst in Junior Boys E Russia’s players clinched titles in both Singles Events at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit. In the Junior Girls Singles Event Ekaterina GUSEVA reached the top place at the medal rostrum whilst in Junior Boys Event Konstantin CHERNOV succeeded to the top. In the final of the Boys Event CHERNOV overcame Cristian PLETEA. Romania’s player suffered in five games (4:11 9:11 11:9 5:11 7:11).In penultimate stage Jorge COSTA of Portugal lost against PLETEA 2:4 (7:11 11:7 4:11 14:12 6:11 5:11) whilst Belgium’s Martin ALLEGRO was defeated against CHERNOV by same margin (11:6 6:11 13:11 4:11 10:12 5:11). Claus NIELSEN and Tobias RASMUSSEN of Denmark won the title in Junior Boys Event. They overcame Ingemar PETER and Alexander VALUCH of Slovakia in the final. In the semi final of the Junior Girls Event Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA beat Maria MALANINA in all-Russia’s duel 4:3 (11:4 7:11 9:11 11:6 7:11 11:7 11:9). In other match Sabina SURJAN of Serbia suffered by the hands of GUSEVA in straight games (6:11 9:11 8:11 11:13). In the final GUSEVA was stretched to full distance against CHERNYAVSKAYA 3:4 (11:6 6:11 7:11 5:11 11:7 11:9 5:11). Ekaterina CHERNYAVSKAYA and Valeria SHCHERBATYKH of Russia succeeded against Karolina MYNAROVA and Kristyna STEFCOVA in the final of the Junior Girls Doubles Event.
Zoja RUDNOVA passes away
It with great sadness that the death of Zoja RUDNOVA is announced; born on 19th August 1946 she passed away on 12th March 2014. The career of Zoja RUDNOVA came to prominence in the 1960s. Encouraged by her coach Sergey SPRACH RUDNOVA adopted the pen-ho It with great sadness that the death of Zoja RUDNOVA is announced; born on 19th August 1946 she passed away on 12th March 2014. The career of Zoja RUDNOVA came to prominence in the 1960s. Encouraged by her coach Sergey SPRACH RUDNOVA adopted the pen-hold grip; the first European female player of note to assume the style. In 1961 at the European Youth Championships in the German town of Bad Blankenburg she collected three gold medals. On her 17th birthday she won the Women’s Singles title at the Soviet Union Championships in her native Moscow. A short time after her national title she competed in the Moscow Championships she was allowed to play in the Men’s Singles as well as the Women’s Singles event. She won both titles! In 1967 at the World Championships in Stockholm Zoja RUDNOVA had departed the Swedish capital city with a highly creditable four medals. She won silver in the Women’s Team event before collecting a hat-trick of bronze medals. She played in five European Championships making her debut in Malmo in 1964 bidding farewell in Prague in 1976; on every occasion she gained a podium finish. She won no less than ten gold three silver and six bronze medals. Notably she was a member of the successful Women’s gold medal winning outfit three times (1970 1974 and 1976). However the greatest year of all was in 1970 on home soil in Moscow when she completed a clean sweep of titles. In addition to the Women’s Team and Mixed Doubles titles she won Women’s Doubles gold with Svetlana GRINBERG before donning the Women’s Singles crown. Two years later in Rotterdam in 1972 she retained her Women’s Singles title. A remarkable career in addition Zoja RUDNOVA won a host of titles at open international championships and in 1969 was awarded the Order of Merit in Sport. She retired from international play in 1978 married Vladimir LITVER an engineer and graduated in journalism; later devoting herself to her family. Courtesy of ITTF
Tamara PAVCNIK put favorites under pressure in Lignano
Top seeds in their respective Junior Boys’ and Girls’ Singles Event at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit Diogo CHEN of Portugal and Adina DIACONU of Romania concluded first phase of the competition at the top sp Top seeds in their respective Junior Boys’ and Girls’ Singles Event at the 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit Diogo CHEN of Portugal and Adina DIACONU of Romania concluded first phase of the competition at the top spot in their groups. In the qualifications Diogo CHEN overcame Daniele PINTO of Italy and Aleksandr TIUTRIUMOV of Russia. Both matches finished in straight games. Tobias RASMUSSEN of Denmark lost only one game on his way to the main draw and it was same case scenario for Belgium’s Martin ALLEGRO. Russia’s Maxim CHAPLYGIN won all three matches by 3:0 and Dane Claus NIELSEN recorded same results. Luca BRESSAN of Italy took the advantage of the home soil and beat Patrick VLACUSKA of Slovakia Stefan TONGHIOIU of Romania and Andrei BESSHAPOSHNIKOV of Russia to secure the top position in his Group. Alexandru MANOLE of Romania and Ingemar PETER of Slovakia also exceeded the rankings. Adina Diaconu easily prevailed against Anna IVANNIKOVA of Russia but she was stretched to full distance in the duel against Tamara PAVCNIK of Slovenia. Arina SINGEORZAN of Romania also created the upset by beating Daria CHERNOVA of Russia.
217 players have entered Italian Junior and Cadet Open
2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit commence tomorrow in the Adriatic coastal resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro. Top seed in the Junior Singles Event is Diogo CHEN of Portugal. The winner at the Czech Junior and Cadet Open 2014 Italian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Premium Junior Circuit commence tomorrow in the Adriatic coastal resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro. Top seed in the Junior Singles Event is Diogo CHEN of Portugal. The winner at the Czech Junior and Cadet Open in Hodonin earlier in the year is followed by Tobias RASMUSSEN of Denmark Martin ALLEGRO of Belgium KIM Doyub of Korea and Maxim CHAPLYGIN of Russia. Romania’s Adina DIACONU is the leading name in the Junior Girls Singles Event. Russia’s Ekaterina GUSEVA beaten by Bernadett BALINT in the final in the Czech Republic is also on duty in Italy. No less than 217 players have entered the Italian Junior and Cadet Open 124 boys and 93 girls of whom 79 are juniors 87 cadets and 51 mini-cadets. They represent 27 national associations: Austria Belgium Bosnia-Herzegovina Bolivia Colombia Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Greece Hong Kong Hungary Italy Korea Moldova Montenegro Portugal Romania Russia Seychelles Slovenia San Marino Serbia Spain Switzerland the Slovak Republic and Sweden.
