For three Japanese women, tomorrow’s STARTS 2013 ITTF Women’s World Cup in Kobe, Japan marks the start of a 7-year journey towards a dream home Olympics -Tokyo 2020. The Japanese trio of Kasumi ISHIKAWA, Ai FUKUHARA and Sayaka HIRANO, who capt, For three Japanese women, tomorrow’s STARTS 2013 ITTF Women’s World Cup in Kobe, Japan marks the start of a 7-year journey towards a dream home Olympics -Tokyo 2020. The Japanese trio of Kasumi ISHIKAWA, Ai FUKUHARA and Sayaka HIRANO, who captured the Japanese public’s imagination by winning the teams’ silver medal at London 2012, will kick off an exciting era for Japanese table tennis at the Women’s World Cup, being held 21-23 September 2013. FUKUHARA, who had a wax sculpture of her erected in Tokyo’s airport after her London triumph, stated at the Women’s World Cup pre event press conference: “The road to Tokyo starts tomorrow, with this very prestigious event in my home country, which I am desperate to win.” “I will be 32 years old in 2020, so there is still the possibility that I can play. I was very involved in the work to brining the Olympics to Tokyo, so I will be working very hard over the next 7 years starting tomorrow to make this happen.” Recently crowned world number one LIU Shiwen (CHN), also has her eyes on Tokyo 2020, but right now is more focused on the job at hand in Kobe, which is to win her third Women’s World Cup: “I am very glad to come here in Kobe. I came to Kobe 10 years ago, and came in second at the World Junior Championships, beating Ai FUKUHARA on the way. I have also won the Women’s World Cup twice before, so I really want my 3rd this week!“ It will not be easy for FUKUHARA and LIU here in Kobe, as they have to battle 18 other women who have qualified from their respective Continental Cups, to clinch the second most valuable international table tennis gold medal of the year, after the World Championships. The first round of the 16th edition of the Women’s World Cup kicks off tomorrow, with the bottom 12 seeds being placed in four groups of three, with the winner of the group progressing to the next round, where the top 8 seeds are waiting to fight for the quarter final positions. The most interesting match up is group 2, which pits 17-year-old Ariel HSING (USA) against 51-year-old LI Chunli (NZL) and 31-year-old LIU Jia (AUT) in a battle of generations. When asked about the daunting prospect of playing against the two players who are much older and experienced than her, the Stanford student who is often videoed playing table tennis against Warren Buffet and Bill Gates stated: “I will need to fight for every point and try and forget about their experience, as when we are on the table we are all equal. I need to stay focused to be able to do that again and keep moving my feet and play my game.“
Terni opens the doors for European youth
This week, from 20th to 22nd September Italian city of Terny will host 29th European Youth Top 10. The date has been changed, but the fierce battles we are going to see, will surely match all previous editions of the one of the strongest tournaments for E, This week, from 20th to 22nd September Italian city of Terny will host 29th European Youth Top 10. The date has been changed, but the fierce battles we are going to see, will surely match all previous editions of the one of the strongest tournaments for European elite youth. Thanks to statistic of ETTU Ranking Committee Chairman Igor HELLER some interesting statistics occupies our attention. Two participants Bernadette SZOCS and Mateja JEGER are now playing the Top-10 for the 5th time. They share the all-time record. SZOCS can win it for the 4th time, but 3 times is already an all time record. However, the comparison is not really fair, because until 2007 we only had a top 12 for juniors. She can win the juniors for the second time, but that is not unique. Romanian star can join the “club” with the members BADESCU, STUMPER, POTA, DODEAN, OVTCHAROV and FRANZISKA. The other former Top 10 winners are MUTTI and PFEFER. In Terni the youngest participant (by far) is Anastasia KOLISH (despite her 1,75 meter only 11 years and 9 months). The next one is Adina DIACONU, 13 years and 11 months. Kolish is not the first 21st century born player playing in the Top 10. That was Rares SIPOS (ROU), born 2000, last year. SIPOS however had a wildcard, KOLISH is the first 21st century born to qualify through the rankings. In the venue of Palatennistavolo in Via del Centenario in Juniors category will play: Jakub DYJAS of Poland, Alexandre ROBINOT of France, Leonardo MUTTI of Italy, David REITSPIES of Czech Republic, Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia, Joao GERALDO of Portugal, Filip ZELJKO of Croatia, Diogo CHEN of Portugal, Sam WALKER of England and Can AKKUZU of France. In Junior Girls category are invited: Bernadette SZOCS of Romania, Nina MITTELHAM of Germany, Lea RAKOVAC of Croatia, Irina CIOBANU of Romania, Alina ARLOUSKAYA of Belarus, Laura PFEFER of France, Bernadette BALINT of Romania, Theresa KRAFT of Germany, Mateja JEGER of Croatia, Giorgia PICCOLIN of Italy. In Cadet Boys category: Joe SEYFRIED of France, Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic, Darko JORGIC of Slovenia, Nolan GIVONE of France, Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus, Andreas LEVENKO of Austria, Lucas RIGAULT of France, Nils HOHMEIER of Germany, Alexandru MANOLE of Romania and Daniele PINTO of Italy. Cadet Girls category: Adina DIACONU of Romania, Maria MALANINA of Russia, HO Tin Tin of England, Andreea CLAPA of Romania, Lisa LUNG of Belgium, Jennie WOLF of Germany Anastasia KOLISH of Russia, Karoline MISCHEK of Austria, Julia KAIM of Germany and Cristiana DUMITRACHE of Italy.
Youth Top10+ECL, extra-strong blend on Laola1.tv
The Europe Youth Top 10 is finally back! After a number of setbacks this year the tournament is finally set to take place in Terni, Italy this weekend. It seems like an eternity ago since the last Europe Youth Top 10 back in February 2012. Four title hold, The Europe Youth Top 10 is finally back! After a number of setbacks this year the tournament is finally set to take place in Terni, Italy this weekend. It seems like an eternity ago since the last Europe Youth Top 10 back in February 2012. Four title holders from that tournament will be on show this time out in Italy as well. Reigning championare Leonardo MUTTI, Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS and French duo Alexandre CASSIN and Audrey ZARIF. ETTU TV powered by LAOLA1.tv will be broadcasting the best of the action from table one via daily LIVE-Streams as well as all matches from table one and table two On Demand after they have been played. – All matches from table one LIVE – Extensive background interviews and information on http://ettu.laola1.tv Find out who will take the gold medals in all four categories LIVE and FREE on http://ettu.laola1.tv In addition to this ETTU TV powered by LAOLA1.tv will also be broadcasting the ETTU Champions League match between Chartes ASTT and Borussia Düsseldorf at 19:00 CET on 20.09.2013. It is a repeat of last season’s semi-final which saw the French team overcome the red lions across two very even matches. Can they do it again this season? Join us on Friday night to see! Upcoming events on ETTU TV powered by LAOLA1.tv include the European Championships, ETTU Champions League, Europe-Asia, Europe Top 12 as well as many other major European tournaments.
Ochsenhausen tests Orenburg’s power
All five Round 2 matches of Men’s European Champions League will be held this Friday, as 2009 finalist Liebherr Ochsenhausen tests the power of the best European team in last two seasons, Russian Orenburg. The city of Saarbrucken expects reprise of amazin, All five Round 2 matches of Men’s European Champions League will be held this Friday, as 2009 finalist Liebherr Ochsenhausen tests the power of the best European team in last two seasons, Russian Orenburg. The city of Saarbrucken expects reprise of amazing 2011/12 semi final, between German side and Russian UMMC. Ochsenhausen`s squad is ready for fight against Vladimir SAMSONOV & Company. Dubravko SKORIC` players have won all two games in first two rounds of 2013/14 Bundesliga, but this is very special challenge for them. Club’s president Kristijan PEJINOVIC stressed: “Orenburg is a real table tennis brand. Coming of OVTCHAROV and SAMSONOV will be enjojment for our fans” Victor ANDREEV, Vice-president and head coach of Fakel Gazproma Orenburg, is positive that his players must show their best table tennis to confirm no. 1 seed position: “Liebherr Ochsenhausen is a very strong rival. We are working hard to get ready for the match. All our players are healthy. We are having a short training session in Germany where we are going to plan our game. The style of playing of our rivals is familiar to Fakel Gazproma. Our sportsmen are aimed at winning, as our success in Germany will give us a good chance for getting into the final stage of this Men’s ECL”. Portuguese Joao MONTEIRO will be man in the focus in the match at Saarbrucken. He knows very well how hard fights between these two clubs were, but this summer he replaced Saarbrucken`s jersey with UMMC`s one. “We think that UMMC is clear favorite, but we hope to have a tough match against them. Joao MONTEIRO, who played last season for us, can give his team for sure many information about our players. Our team is in good shape and we will try our best to create a surprise”, says Saarbrucken`s coach Slobodan GRUJIC. UMMC starts new MECL season on the wings of success in Russian Super League where it became a champion. Newcomer, Japanese Jun MIZUTANI took the main role from Chinese HOU Yingchao who left the team. “Our team is new, so we are getting used to each other, we hope that we will be fine and win. After Round 1 I expect more power from the players”, said UMMC` s coach Coach Tatiana KUTERGINA. New German champion Werder Bremen is looking for a chance to recover after surprisingly poor start (loss from Walter Wels). CHUANG Chih Yuan`s side goes to Hennebont where Kalinikos KREANGA, CHEN Chien an and Dimitrij PROKOPCOV will try to create a new surprise. MEN`S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 2 GROUP A: Ochsenhausen – Orenburg (September 20th, 19h30 CET) GROUP B: Saarbrucken – UMMC (September 20th, 19h30 CET); Eslov – Pontoise (September 20th, 19h00 CET) GROUP C: Hennebont – Bremen (September 20th, 19h30 CET) GROUP D: Chartres – Borussia (September 20th, 19h00 CET), live on Laola1.tv
Hard task in bad time for Borussia
This Friday, at Chartres, remake of 2012/13 MECL semis to be held. Last season’s finalist expects ten times European champion Borussia Dusseldorf which is arriving in bad shape, losing two out of three starting games in new season. This Round 2 game of Gr, This Friday, at Chartres, remake of 2012/13 MECL semis to be held. Last season’s finalist expects ten times European champion Borussia Dusseldorf which is arriving in bad shape, losing two out of three starting games in new season. This Round 2 game of Group D starts at 19h00 CET. Borussia won Bundesliga`s opening game against Grenzau (3:1), playing at home, but lost both away matches, from Niederosterreich (3:2) in Round 1 MECL and from Hagen (3:1) last weekend in national league. Timo BOLL led the team just in winning game and his presence on Franch soil is doubtful. “Chartres was running-up last MECL-season and is still one of the favorites this year” – explained Borussia`s coach Danny HEISTER. – Last time we lost the semis already in the first match in Chartres. Therefore we will be prepared to score a better result. But it will be a very hard match for us because we have to play without Christian SUSS surely. And we don’t know today if Timo BOLL will play. His shoulder is nearly ok but he’s not at 100 % at the moment. Weather with or without Timo Chartres is the favorite in this match.” Timo BOLL missed last two games due to injury, but good thing for his side is that he already practiced with the national team at Dusseldorf. Club’s manager Andreas PREUSS stressed that Chartres comes in bad moment: “Our Bundesliga match in Hagen last weekend showed us that we are not in top form at the moment. This is normal at the beginning of a season. But I hope that our players will fight for every ball, for every point, for a good result. Then everything is possible.” Last two games German team had the line-up Patrick BAUM, Kamal ACHANTA and Ricardo WALTHER. On the other side, French champion played just one encounter this season, beating Caen 4:2 in Round 1 of domestic Pro A League. “For the 2013/14 MECL start at Chartres we will play semifinal reprise of the previous edition. The meeting comes a pretty early in the season but the team will be ready to receive Dusseldorf and Timo BOLL”, emphasizes Loïc BREHU, Chartres`s president. In last year’s semi final, Chartres won 3:1 home leg, thanks to GAO Ning who beat Patrick BAUM and Timo BOLL (twice). In the rematch, Borussia scored same win but with worse set-ratio. Par GERELL brought very important point against Christian SUSS in game no. 1.
Rabat hosts World Junior Table Tennis Championships
Seven years ago in 2006, the Egyptian capital city of Cairo was the host; now from Sunday 1st to Sunday 8th December 2013, the city of Rabat, now well established as host on the ITTF World Tour will welcome young talented players from the four corners of , Seven years ago in 2006, the Egyptian capital city of Cairo was the host; now from Sunday 1st to Sunday 8th December 2013, the city of Rabat, now well established as host on the ITTF World Tour will welcome young talented players from the four corners of the world. The ITTF 2013 World Junior Table Tennis Championships will feature the seven World Junior Title events: Boys’ Team, Girls’ Team, Boys’ Singles, Girls’ Singles, Boys’ Doubles, Girls’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. A total of 19 boys’ and 19 girls’ teams qualify from the continental quotas plus Morocco as the host. In addition to those players participating in the team events, 14 extra players are invited compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The criteria for selection is the Under 18 World Ranking list issued on Thursday 5th September 2013. Should any invitations not be accepted the player next on the ranking will be invited. Entry Forms should be returned by Friday 4th October 2013.
Gold for Sabine WINTER in Minsk
Germany’s 20 year-old Sabine WINTER won the title in the Women’s Singles Event at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour, Belarus Open, Euro Africa Challenge Series in Minsk. Japan’s 32 year old Kaii YOSHIDA won the Men’s Singles title. In the final, WINTER, , Germany’s 20 year-old Sabine WINTER won the title in the Women’s Singles Event at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour, Belarus Open, Euro Africa Challenge Series in Minsk. Japan’s 32 year old Kaii YOSHIDA won the Men’s Singles title. In the final, WINTER, the no.4 seed, overcame the host nation’s Alexandra PRIVALOVA, the no.3 seed (11:5, 11:8, 7:11, 11;4, 12:10). WINTER was born in Bad Soden and now lives in Düsseldorf and plays for SV DJK Kolbermoor in the German Bundesliga. WINTER’s previous best was in Olomouc at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Czech Open, when she was beaten in the third round by Hungary’s Georgina POTA. At the final hurdle of the Men’s Singles event Kaii YOSHIDA, the top seed, beat colleague Kohei SAMBE (11:3, 11:9, 11:3, 11:7). One day earlier in Minsk, Kohei SAMBE had won the Under 21 Men’s Singles title.
Mateja JEGER farewell in great style
Mateja JEGER will say goodbye to the junior category tournaments at home soil in great style. In front of home crowd in Croatia, the host nation’s 18 year old JEGER completed the hat-trick by adding the Team’s Event title to the Junior Girls’ Singles and , Mateja JEGER will say goodbye to the junior category tournaments at home soil in great style. In front of home crowd in Croatia, the host nation’s 18 year old JEGER completed the hat-trick by adding the Team’s Event title to the Junior Girls’ Singles and the Junior Girls’ Doubles titles won in previous days. At the Croatian Junior and Cadet Open in Varazdin, JEGER alongside Dorina SREBRNJAK and Paula MARKATI beat Romania at the final hurdle. In the final JEGER suffered by the hands of Adina DIACONU in the opening match, before Dorina SREBRNJAK beat Bernadett BALINT and Bianca CRISAN in the third match of the fixture defeated Paula MARKATI. JEGER in the fourth match of the contest overcame BALINT and DIACONU lost against SREBRNJAK. In the semi final Croatia A recorded a three-one win over France and Romania beat Italy. In Cadet Teams Event final, Russian duo of Maria TAYLAKOVA and Valeria SHCHERBATYKH overcome the Italian partnership of Cristiana DUMITRACHE and Marcella DELASA by three matches to two. At the quarter-final stage Russia had beaten Croatia A (Matea OMBLA, Klara CAKOL) by three matches to one before recording victory by the same margin against France (Lelli MOSTAFAVI, Lucie GAUTHIER); whilst Italy had beaten Norway (Rebekka CARLSEN, Ilka DOVAL) three-one and Serbia three-two (Izabella LUPULESKU, Sabina SURJAN). Similary to Girls Event, in the Junior Boys’ Singles event for Hungary Adam SZUDI securing gold; on the fourth day of play there was further gold for Hungary. Led by Adam SZUDI with Nandor ECSEKI and Bence MAJOROS in support, the Junior Boys’ Team title was clinched; the trio in impressive form after a testing semi-final duel against Croatia. In the final a three-nil win was recorded against the Italian outfit comprising Jordy PICCOLIN, Luca MARCATO and Luca BRESSAN. In the Cadet Boys’ Team competition it was the top prize for Romania ‘A’ with Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS. At the final hurdle they recorded a three matches to one victory over Slovenia with the one match to go astray being the doubles with Tilen CVETKO and Peter HRIBAR overcoming Cristian PLETEA and Rares SIPOS. At the semi-final stage Romania ‘A’ accounted for Italy (Matteo MUTTI, Daniele PINTO, Carlo ROSSI) by three matches to nil, having recorded the same margin of victory against Croatia ‘A’ in the quarter-finals (Matija HRELEC, Martin PETROVIC, Josip ARBANAS). Meanwhile, at the same stages, Slovenia had beaten the Slovak Republic ‘A’ (Tibor SPANIK, Jakub ZELINKA) three-nil in the semi-finals and the Czech Republic (Jiri MARTINKO, Ondrej LAPCIK) three-two at the quarter-final stage.
SAMSONOV’s revival meeting at World Cup in Verviers
The 20 players invited to compete in the LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men’s World Cup, to be held in Verviers, Belgium on 25-27 September 2013, has been announced by the International Table Tennis Federation. The world’s best male Table Tennis players r, The 20 players invited to compete in the LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men’s World Cup, to be held in Verviers, Belgium on 25-27 September 2013, has been announced by the International Table Tennis Federation. The world’s best male Table Tennis players representing each continent battled through qualification for the past 5 months to gain a ticket into one of the most prestigious table tennis event on the planet. Apart from the reigning ITTF World Champion, who gains direct qualification, and one wildcard selected by the ITTF, the only way to gain access into this exclusive event is to qualify through the ITTF Continental Cups, with a different quota allocated to each continent based on the ITTF World Ranking. The hottest player in world table tennis right now, ZHANG Jike (CHN), will go into the Men’s World Cup looking to create history, by being the first man to win 2 World Championships (2011 & 2013), Olympic gold (2012) and a World Cup in a row. Such is the 24-year-old’s success that he is in a world of his own, which he recently stated himself: “I don’t have any idols. I never had any idols in any field. I am my own idol.” Can he live up to his own expectations in Verviers to secure the historic gold? The Olympic & World Champion will face a barrage of competition from Europe, in particular Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) who know how to win the Men’s World Cup, after clinching gold 3 times. “I can’t wait to play in the Men’s World Cup again,” stated the 37 year old. “It is always special to play in Belgium, the country where I played 8 years long for La Villette Charleroi, where me and my family have so many friends, the country where our kids are born. It will be a dream come true to add the 4th gold!” The local crowd will be flocking to the Hall du Paire to get a glimpse of local living legend Jean-Michal SAIVE who is competing in his 19th Men’s World Cup, which could be possible his last. A thrilled SAIVE stated: “I’m so excited to play a 19th world cup, the fact that it will be in my country, in front of my fans, the fans that supported me over my 30 years of career. I’ve been called “the fighter” all my career, it will not change during this event, and who knows, in front of all my country I will maybe be able to make a miracle and win a dream title. I already know that it will be a huge and important success for table tennis in Belgium and that’s the most important thing.” With the best table tennis players in the world taking part in the Men’s World Cup, at least 16 TV networks, with a reach of over 110 countries will be broadcasting it live or delayed: Eurosport (Worldwide), One World Sport (USA & Caribbean), Skynet (Myanmar), TDM (Macau), Starhub (Singapore), I-Cable (Hong Kong), GMM Grammy (Thailand), GDTV (China), CCTV (China), Al Jazeera Sports (MENA), ELTA (Taiwan), Astro (Malaysia), Foxsports (Australia), Perform – News (Worldwide), Fox Sports Asia – News (Asia), EBU – News (EBU Members). In the first phase of this three-day event, players that are seeded 9 to 20 compete in four groups of three players. The players finishing in first place in each of the four groups advance to the second phase, where they join the top eight seeded players. In the second phase which also consist of group matches, players finishing in first and second places in each of the four groups progresses to the quarterfinals where the knockout begins until we have the ITTF World Cup Champion. THE FULL LIST OF THE MEN HEADING TO VERVIERS ARE: ZHANG Jike (CHN) World Champion; LASHIN El-Sayed (EGY) African Cup Winner; XU Xin (CHN) Asian Cup Winner; MONTEIRO Thiago (BRA) Latin American Cup Winner; HO Andre (CAN) North American Cup Winner; HENZELL William (AUS) Oceania Cup Winner; CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) Asian Cup 3rd place; ALAMIYAN Noshad (IRI) Asian Cup 4th place; TANG Peng (HKG) Asian Cup 5th place; KIM Hyok Bong (PRK) Asian Cup 6th place; CHEN Chien-An (TPE) Asian Cup 7th place; JIANG Tianyi (HKG) Asian Cup 8th place; YANG Zi (SIN) Asian Cup 9th/10th place; ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND) Asian Cup 9th/10th place; BOLL Timo (GER) Europe (QF WTTC) BAUM Patrick (GER) Europe (QF WTTC) SAMSONOV Vladimir (BLR) Europe, FREITAS Marcos (POR) Europe (last 16 WTTC;) SAIVE Jean Michel (BEL) Host player; OVTCHAROV Dimitrij (GER) Wild card.
CREEMERS created biggest upset of the day in Minsk
At the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour, Belarus Open, Euro Africa Challenge Series Linda CREEMERS, the no.6 seed, accounted for Serbia’s Anamarija ERDELJI (6:11, 11:9, 11:8, 13:11, 11:8) and thus progressed to the semi-final stage of a Women’s Singles even, At the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour, Belarus Open, Euro Africa Challenge Series Linda CREEMERS, the no.6 seed, accounted for Serbia’s Anamarija ERDELJI (6:11, 11:9, 11:8, 13:11, 11:8) and thus progressed to the semi-final stage of a Women’s Singles event on the ITTF World Tour for the second time in her career. That was the biggest upset of the quarterfinal stage where we also saw three close calls in remaining matches. The close calls were experienced by Russia’s Polina MIKHAILOVA, Germany’s Sabine WINTER and the host nation’s Alexandra PRIVALOVA. Polina Mikhailova, the top seed, beat Japan’s Eka SO, the no.5 seed, by the very narrowest of margins (11:6, 9:11, 8:11, 8:11, 11:4, 11:7, 11:9), whilst Alexandra PRIVALOVA, the no.3 seed, was extended. She needed the full seven games to beat Korean qualifier LEE Eunhye (11:8, 8:11, 8:11, 11:9, 11:8, 11:13, 11:3) as did Germany’s Sabine WINTER, the no.4 seed, by Russia’s Maria DOLGIKH, the no.8 seed (16:15, 11:4, 9:11, 4:11, 5:11, 11:9, 11:3) In men’s Singles Event Evgueni CHTCHETININE of Belarus beat Admir DURANSPAHIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina in straight games (11:3,11:3,11:3,11:4), whilst Vasily LAKEEV needed seven to overcame Grigory VLASOV in all-Russia’s duel (6:11,11:6,7:11,11:4,11:7,8:11,7:11). In the semi final CHTCHETININE will meet Japan’s Kaii YOSHIDA whilst LAKEEV will play against Kohei SAMBE also of Japan.
