The draw of 2013/14 Men’s European Champions League will be held on Jun 12th at “Deutschen TT-Zentrum Düsseldorf”, from 9 am to 12, including the annual meeting. The seeding list for upcoming season is announced with the same names on two top places, The draw of 2013/14 Men’s European Champions League will be held on Jun 12th at “Deutschen TT-Zentrum Düsseldorf”, from 9 am to 12, including the annual meeting. The seeding list for upcoming season is announced with the same names on two top places. Reigning MECL champion, Russian Fakel Gazproma Orenburg is again no. 1 seed, having 7278 points, followed by ten times winner Borussia Dusseldorf (Germany, 7230). Other 11 participants are: 3 Werder Bremen (Germany, 6988), 4. UMMC (Russia, 6836), 5. Chartres ASTT (France, 6772), 6. FC Saarbrucken (Germany, 6653), 7. TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (Germany, 6495), 8. Hennebont GV (France, 6454), 9. SVS Niederosterreich (Austria, 6359), 10. AS Pontoise Cergy TT (France, 6277), 11. Vaillante Sports Angers TT (France, 5973), 12. SPG Walter Wels (Austria, 5567) and 13. Eslov Al Bordtennis (Sweden, 5234). The dates of first six rounds are: 06.09. – 09.09. 2013 (Round 1), 20.09. – 23.09. 2013 (Round 2), 01.11. – 04.11. 2013 (Round 3), 06.12. – 09.12. 2013 (Round 4), 13.12.– 16.12. 2013 (Round 5) 20.12. 2013 (Round 6). The quarter finals are coming on 17.01. –19.01. 2014 and 07.02. – 09.02. 2014; semi finals on 07.03. – 09.03. 2014. and 21.03.- 23.03. 2014. First final leg will be held on 16.05. – 18.05. 2014 whilst ultimate match on 30.05. – 01.06. 2014.
Exciting final of EUROKIDS in Cetinje
Seven days of hard work and fun ended in Cetinje on the 2nd of June. The EUROKIDS tournament was not an easy one. The boy’s singles was won by Vladislav RUKLIATSOU of Belarus who beat Alex NAUMI of Finland. Alex was leading 2 – 0 and Vladi came back and&#, Seven days of hard work and fun ended in Cetinje on the 2nd of June. The EUROKIDS tournament was not an easy one. The boy’s singles was won by Vladislav RUKLIATSOU of Belarus who beat Alex NAUMI of Finland. Alex was leading 2 – 0 and Vladi came back and beat him 4 – 2. The girls’ final was an all Belgian affair with Maelys DAHY winning 4-0 against Ivona PETROVIC of Montenegro. On the way to Cetinje, the ETTU Youth and Development Manager together with Head Coach Branka BATINIC went to the city of Mostar in Herzegovina where they visited the club Mostar and met with the Sports Director and the General Secretary, Vedran SIMUNOVIC. Mostar club has the only permanent table tennis hall in Bosnia & Herzegovina, the only sports hall to be built after the war. Mostar is also where Dragutin SURBEK Junior plays in the first division. They have over 130 young players as well as one full-time coach. They have many recreational players and also have a programme for players with disabilities. Mostar is very interested in following in the footsteps of Cetinje and organizing a regional Eurokids in the near future. The Development Manager Lila de SOYSA, met with the General secretary of the Albanian federation and visited the city of Shkodra where she made a presentation on ETTU and development of young players through the Eurokids programme to school teachers, officials and young athletes. Albania wishes to organize a regional Eurokids next year. The President of Kosovo, Nehat CETAKU, was present and explained developments in Kosovo, including the building of a table tennis hall with the help of the European Commission, in Prishtina. “The table tennis club of La Chaux-de-Fonds has offered financial help for a young female player and it was awarded to Ivona PETRIC of Montenegro to attend the World Hopes Week and tournament. Thank you to the club of La-Chaux-de-Fonds and its President, Gérard CRAMÉRI, for their contribution to the Eurokids programme,” said Lila de SOYSA. Radio Montenegro and the local newspapers visited the camp, and the ETTU Manager, Head Coach and coach Cedomir DAMJANOVIC from Cetinje were given 10 minutes live on the Montenegro national TV at 17pm yesterday, from the studio in Podgorica. Prof. Zoran DJOKIC from Serbia gave a special talk on nutrition to the children which was very entertaining and informative. He also spoke about motivation and planning.
Titles for SVS Niederösterreich and Linz AG Froschberg
New champions in Austrian Bundesliga are SG SVS Niederösterreich in Men’s and Linz AG Froschberg in Women’s category. They were crowned after the Bundesliga Final tournament in Kufstein held last weekend. In the final duel for the title Niederösterreich b, New champions in Austrian Bundesliga are SG SVS Niederösterreich in Men’s and Linz AG Froschberg in Women’s category. They were crowned after the Bundesliga Final tournament in Kufstein held last weekend. In the final duel for the title Niederösterreich beat surprising finalists Ece Grill Kapfenberg. They beat SPG Walter Wels in the semi final. In the other penultimate stage match Niederösterreich succeeded against UTTC Raiffeisen Ligist. Favorites from Schwechat easily prevailed in the final and secured 14th title in history of the club. In the 3rd place match UTTC Raiffeisen beat SPG Walter. For Linz AG Froschberg the season 2012/2013 ended as it began – with a win over SVS Ströck. After 13 consecutive titles in Austrian Bundesliga they had to wait for two years, before they regain the title again. In the duel for third position LZ Linz-Froschberg overcame TTC “CarinthiaWinds-Villacher”.
Werder Bremen clinched the title
Tonight Werder Bremen has become German team champion. In the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt, Werder Bremen beat TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen by surprisingly 3:0. However, two of the three matches went the full distance. In front of 2,500 spectators the newly cr, Tonight Werder Bremen has become German team champion. In the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt, Werder Bremen beat TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen by surprisingly 3:0. However, two of the three matches went the full distance. In front of 2,500 spectators the newly crowned double world champion from Paris, CHUANG Chih-Yuan, beat Kirill SKACHKOV. Adrian CRISAN succeeded against Ryu Seung Min, the 2004 Olympic Champion in the decisive fifth set. The finale was between second Romanian in the jersey of SV Werder, Constantin CIOTI, against Tiago APOLONIA. CIOTI was in the lead 2:0 and already had 3:0 on the racket, but could not convert his match points in the third set into voctory. However, the 29-year-old held his nerve and took his chances in the fifth set. Bremen had finished the title dreams for Borussia Dusseldorf in the semifinals. SV Werder Bremen – TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen 3:0 CHUANG Chih-Yuan – Kirill SKACHKOV 3:0 (7,4,6) Adrian CRISAN – Ryu Seung Min Ryu 3:2 (-7,8,9, -8,11) Constantin CIOTI – Tiago APOLONIA 3:2 (9,6, -12, -9,7)
Titles for Filip ZELJKO and Sutirtha MUKHERJEE in Senec
Filip ZELJKO of Croatia and Sutirtha MUKHERJEE of India clinched the titles at the Junior Boy’s and Junior Girls Singles Event at the Slovak Open in Senec. In all-Croatian final ZELJKO beat Tomislav PUCAR in six games. Previously PUCAR overcame David REI, Filip ZELJKO of Croatia and Sutirtha MUKHERJEE of India clinched the titles at the Junior Boy’s and Junior Girls Singles Event at the Slovak Open in Senec. In all-Croatian final ZELJKO beat Tomislav PUCAR in six games. Previously PUCAR overcame David REITSPIES of Czech Republic, whilst ZELJKO beat Vitor ISHIY of Brazil. Sutirtha MUKHERJEE succeeded to the highest step at the medal rostrum in Junior Girls Singles Event. She overcame her compatriot Manika BATRA in the final. In semis, Kristyna STEFCOVA of Czech Republic suffered by the hands of MUKHERJEE, whilst BATRA beat Laura PFEFER of France. In Junior Boys Double’s Event Sudhanshu GROVER and Abhishek YADAV of India beat Vitor ISHIY and Massao KOHATSU of Brasil in the final after great fight. In penultimate stage QIU Liang and Marius ZAUS suffered by the hands of Brasilian combination, whilst the winners of the tournament beat Tomas MALEK and Tibor PAVLIK of Czech Republic. India clinched gold in the Junior Girls Doubles Event as well. Manika BATRA and Sutirtha MUKHERJEE overcame Pauline CHASSELIN and Audrey ZARIF of France in the final. Girls from India overcame Gokce Nur GUNGOR and Ipek KARAHAN of Turkey in semis. French pairings succeeded against Anna FENJVESI and Viktoria TRUZINSKI of Serbia.
Bremen selected new veteran’s champions
The German hosts won 17 gold medals altogether in the ÖVB-Arena. However at the European Veterans Championships Russia has a new Champion in the most attractive Event – Men’s 40 category – Mukhamed KUSHKHOV. KUSHKHOV beat his compatriot Dmitri, The German hosts won 17 gold medals altogether in the ÖVB-Arena. However at the European Veterans Championships Russia has a new Champion in the most attractive Event – Men’s 40 category – Mukhamed KUSHKHOV. KUSHKHOV beat his compatriot Dmitrij MAZUNOV in the final. Defensive player Elena LAMONOS, born in Belarus but equipped with a German passport and living in Germany for many years, defended the title she had won in Liberec (Czech Republic) 2 years ago. She beat the former Italian national team players Alessia ARISI in the final after she was 0-2 games down. In the semi final she had overcome Olga NEMES in 5 games. Elena LAMONOS: “I’m overwhelmed that I won this final. Before these championships I thought my chances to win a medal were about 20 to 30 per cent. In the final I was the better player today but in the end the decisive point was that I was mentally stronger, too. Otherwise I wouldn’t have won. I’m just happy.” Six times German champion Georg BOHM takes 2 medals home. He won the bronze in the Men’s singles 50 and secured gold partnering Andreas FEJER-KONNERT in the 40-category. Mikael APPELGREN from Sweden and Jing TIAN-ZÖRNER from Germany clinched the gold medals in the 50 singles. Mikael APPELGREN praised the play of DING Yi: “He was a difficult task for me. He used to be a good player. I tried to return the balls shortly and afterwards played far to the corners of the table. It was much fun to play and it was nice to meet some old fellows.” FINALS – Men’s 40 – Singles: Mukhamed KUSHKHOV RUS – Dmitrij MAZUNOV RUS 3:2 (-7,7,7,-7,6). Doubles: Georg BÖHM/Andreas FEJER-KONNERT GER – Colum SLEVIN/Lorestas TRUMPAUSKAS IRL/ENG 3:2 (9,-9,-7,9,7) Women’s 40 – Singles: Elena LAMONOS GER – Alessia ARISI ITA 3:2 (-9,-9,7,8,7). Doubles: Elena CHUNIKHINA/Larisa LAVRUKHINA RUS – Elena LAMONOS/Ina JOZEPSONE GER/LAT 3:0 (5,5,8) Men’s 50 – Singles: Mikael APPELGREN SWE – DING Yi AUT 3:2 (-6,8,-4,6,9). Doubles: Lutz MOCKER/Uwe CHRISTLIEB GER – Dirk KOSS/Alexander MICHAJLOV GER 3:1 (-9,8,6,8) Women’s 50 – Singles: Jing TIAN-ZÖRNER GER – Vera BAZZI SUI 3:0 (5,2,5). Doubles: Maria GAFTEA/Maria POPA ROU – Jutta von DIECKEN/Marion KLUSSMANN GER 3:0 (4,8,8) Men’s 60 – Singles: Stanislaw FRACZYK AUT – Rein LINDMÄE EST 3:0 (8,8,8). Doubles: Reinhard SORGER/Stanislaw FRACZYK AUT – Gerd WERNER/Dieter JÜRGENS GER 3:2 (8,7-11,-7,7) Women’s 60 – Singles: Larisa ANDREEVA RUS – Larisa ILINSKAYA RUS 3:0 (13,5,4). Doubles: Christa GEIST/Sabine SIEWERT-RATH GER – Galina ZVEREVA/Larisa ANDREEVA RUS 3:2 (-5,-7,6,11,3) Men’s 65 – Singles: Claus PEDERSEN DEN – Milos MATEJICEK CZE 3:1 (4,6-6,3). Doubles: Claus PEDERSEN/Niels RAMBERG DEN – Gennady GMYRA/Vladimir STOLNIKOV RUS 3:0 (6,7,8) Women’s 65 – Singles: Mare KABRITS EST – Jutta TRAPP GER 3:0 (9,8,8). Doubles: Marianne KERWAT/Ursula KRÜGER GER – Gudrun ENGEL/Jutta BARON GER 3:1 (14,9,-12,8) Men’s 70 – Singles: Uwe WIENPRECHT GER – Siegfried LEMKE GER 3:2 (11,-5,-9,8,9). Doubles: Ernst BISON/Dr. Bernd WITTHAUS GER – Roy NORTON/Emanuele RAME ENG/ITA 3:2 (7,-7,-11,6,7) Women’s 70 – Singles: Jutta BARON GER – Doris DIEKMANN GER 3:0 (7,4,9). Doubles: Ellen HAAK/Edit WETZEL GER – Heidi WUNNER/Christa GEBHARDT GER 3:1 (7,7,-8,6) Men’s 75 – Singles: Dieter LIPPELT GER – Josef RAKOSNIK CZE 3:0 (7,6,8). Doubles: Adolf PROPFE/Karl-Heinz FALKE GER – Helmut NÄTER/Rudi FRITZINGER GER 3:2 (6,9,-7,-3,10) Women’s 75 – Singles: Marianne BLASBERG GER – Sigrid MATTHIAS GER 3:2 (-9,8,12,-3,5). Doubles: Betty BIRD/Nicole PILLIERE ENG/FRA – Margret HEGER/Regina ISERN GER 3:0 (6,8,4) Men’s 80 – Singles: Rolf GROSS GER – Fred LOOKWOOD ENG 3:2 (2,6-5,-5,6). Doubles: Geofrey BAX/Fred LOOKWOOD ENG – Erich BUCHNER/Dr. Hans-Jürgen SCHAEF GER 3:2 (3,8,-7,-4,9) Women’s 80 – Singles: Anneliese BISCHOFF GER – Nicole BRENGARD FRA 3:0 (8,5,9). Doubles: Ursel POPLAWSKI/Inge BAUER GER – Gisela LANGEN/Kaija KOSONEN GER/FIN 3:0 (6,9,7) Men’s 85 – Singles: Lumir RUZHA CZE – Oldrich FIALA 3:1 (-10,7,9,2). Doubles: Lumir RUZHA/Ernst JUNKER CZE/GER – Oldrich FIALA/Rudolf CHROUST CZE 3:1 (8,-13,6,6) Women’s 85 – Singles: Eliska KREJKOVA CZE – Laimdota JORDANE LAT 4:0. Doubles: Laimdota JORDANE/Eliska KREJKOVA LAT/CZE – Ursula BIHL/Inge-Brigitte HERRMANN GER 3:0 (5,2,7) All medallists at a glance Men’s 40 Singles – Gold: Mukhamed KUSHKHOV RUS, Silver: Dmitrij MAZUNOV RUS, Bronze: Martin OLEJNIK CZE, Thierry MILLER SUI Doubles – Gold: Georg BÖHM/Andreas FEJER-KONNERT GER, Silver: Colum SLEVIN/Lorestas TRUMPAUSKAS IRL/ENG, Bronze: Karl STUMPFECKER/Andrzej TRUSZCZYNSKI GER, Mulid KUSHOV/Mukhamed KUSHKOV RUS Women’s 40 Singles – Gold: Elena LAMONOS GER, Silver: Alessia ARISI ITA, Bronze: Olga NEMES GER, Bettina MARTIN GER Doubles – Gold: Elena CHUNIKHINA/Larisa LAVRUKHINA RUS, Silver: Ina JOZEPSONE/Elena LAMONOS LAT/GER, Bronze: Lena JOHNSSON/Eva LINDH SWE, Eva DUFKOVA/Jana FOJTIKOVA CZE Men’s 50 Singles – Gold: Mikael APPELGREN SWE, Silver: DING Yi AUT, Bronze: Zsolt-Georg BÖHM GER, Manfred NIESWAND GER Doubles: Gold: Lutz MOCKER/Uwe CHRISTLIEB GER, Silver: Dirk KOSS/Alexander MICHAJLOV GER, Bronze: Erik KIRSTEN/Holm KIRSTEN GER, DING Yi/Alexey RODIN AUT/RUS Women’s 50 Singles – Gold: Jing TIAN-ZÖRNER GER, Silver: Vera BAZZI SUI, Bronze: Maria GAFTEA ROU, KRETSCHMER GER Doubles – Gold: Maria GAFTEA/Maria POPA ROU, Silver: Marion KLUSSMANN/Jutta von DIECKEN GER, Bronze: Vera BAZZI/Jing Tian-ZÖRNER SUI/GER, Heike WAHLERS/Angela WALTER GER Men’s 60 Singles – Gold: Stanislaw FRACZYK AUT, Silver: Rein LINDMÄE EST, Bronze: YUAN Yao Chang BEL, Feliks KAPLAN RUS Doubles – Gold: Reinhard SORGER/Stanislaw FRACZYK AUT, Silver: Gerd WERNER/Dieter JÜRGENS GER, Bronze: Heinz-Peter LOUIS/Rainer KNAPPEK GER, Nigel CKERSLEY/Petr POLAK CZE Women’s 60 Singles – Gold: Larisa ANDREEVA RUS, Silver: Larisa ILINSKAYA RUS, Bronze: Sandra RIDER ENG, Teresa DEVANEY IRL Doubles – Gold: Christa GEIST/Sabine SIEWERT-RATH GER, Silver: Larisa ANDREEVA/Galina ZVEREVA RUS, Bronze: Larisa ILINSKAYA/Sandra RIDER RUS/ENG, Linda SIMPSON/Margaret WELSMAN ENG Men’s 65 Singles – Gold: Claus PEDERSEN DEN, Silver: Milos MATEJICEK CZE, Bronze: Wilfried LIECK GER, Nosrat SAFAI SWE Doubles – Gold: Claus PEDERSEN/Niels RAMBERG DEN, Silver: Gennady GMYRA/Vladimir STOLNIKOV RUS, Bronze: Wilfried LIECK/Jürgen REULAND GER, Nosrat SAFAI/MING Pan SWE Women’s 65 Singles – Gold: Mare KABRITS EST, Silver: Jutta TRAPP GER, Bronze: Christine LÜBBE GER, Karin RAUSCHER GER Doubles – Gold: Marianne KERWAT/Ursula KRÜGER GER, Silver: Jutta BARON/Gudrun ENGEL GER, Bronze: Christel LOCHER/Elke RICHTER GER, Hana BARTOSOVA/Margrit TRUPKOVIC CZE/GER Men’s 70 Singles – Gold: Uwe WIENPRECHT GER, Silver: Siegfried LEMKE GER, Bronze: Jiri PISCHEL CZE, Dimitrije BILIC GER Doubles – Gold: Ernst BISON/Dr. Bernd WITTHAUS GER, Silver: Roy NORTON/Emanuele RAME ENG/ITA, Bronze: Manfred BROCKER/Horst REINHART GER, Jan-Erik FRANZEN/Carl-Olof JAGEBRO SWE Women’s 70 Singles – Gold: Jutta BARON GER, Silver: Doris DIEKMANN GER, Bronze: Margaret DIGNUM
EuroVeterans, an outstanding success
DTTB Vice-President Mrs. Heike AHLERT looked back on a very successful European Veterans Championships in Bremen. “It was a great event”, said the Vice-President in charge of competitive sports at the German Table Tennis Association. “It was amazing, DTTB Vice-President Mrs. Heike AHLERT looked back on a very successful European Veterans Championships in Bremen. “It was a great event”, said the Vice-President in charge of competitive sports at the German Table Tennis Association. “It was amazing to see the players’ enthusiasm throughout all these days in Bremen – no matter whether they were former professionals or more or less hobby players.” Even without seeing their faces just by their playing styles you could recognize them all, Mikael APPELGREN, Dmitrij MAZUNOV, Georg Böhm, Olga NEMES or Wilfried LIECK. “The top players of the past have still fun in the game, especially those in the higher age groups”, was the impression of Heike AHLERT. Apart from the matches seeing old fellows and making new friends were the most important aspects for the 2,739 participants from almost 40 countries. They took group pictures before and after their matches and many of them exchanged small presents they brought over from their home towns. Organization worked out according to plan. Even the premier of the free text message service went well. Players could subscribe a service for receiving their results and the schedule of their forthcoming matches on their mobile phones free of charge. Approximately 1,000 players used this opportunity. 89 volunteers worked behind the scenes of the EVC. “It was once again a huge family of volunteers supporting this tournament. It would not have been possible without their help,” AHLERT explained. The volunteer with the longest trip to Bremen was Leon LIBIN from New York. The US-American participated in the World Veterans Championships in Stockholm in the category over 60 last year when he heard about the tournament in Bremen. “At all costs I wanted to be here, also to learn about the famous German virtues”, he said. “I have not been disappointed. The organization and the atmosphere over here were very good”.
CEKIC and DE NUTTE won the title in Luxembourg
Sarah DE NUTTE clinched the title in the Women’s Singles Event at the 15th Games of the Small States of Europe in front of her home crowd in Luxembourg. Irfan CEKIC of Montenegro also reached the top step at the medal rostrum in the Men’s Singles Event. T, Sarah DE NUTTE clinched the title in the Women’s Singles Event at the 15th Games of the Small States of Europe in front of her home crowd in Luxembourg. Irfan CEKIC of Montenegro also reached the top step at the medal rostrum in the Men’s Singles Event. The Family from the Grand Duke, Henri of Luxembourg, was in the Hall to attend these matches. Sarah DE NUTTE beat San Marino’s Letizia GIARDI in the final of the event 3:1 (11:8, 6:11, 11:4, 13:11). In semi final DE NUTTE beat Louiza KOUREA of Cyprus, whilst GIARDI succeeded against Tessy GONDERINGER of Luxembourg. CEKIC beat host nation representative Traian CIOCIU 3:2 (6:11, 11:3, 11:6, 7:11, 11:9). In semi final CIOCIU overcame Cyprus’ Marios YIANGOU and CEKIC beat Anthony PERETTI of Monaco.
DING Yi well known in the Bundesliga
People in Germany and players in the Bundesliga know DING Yi well. The born Chinese from Shanghai who came to Austria, but lives in Switzerland in the meantime, played for Frickenhausen and Fulda in the highest German League. For Austria, DING Yi particip, People in Germany and players in the Bundesliga know DING Yi well. The born Chinese from Shanghai who came to Austria, but lives in Switzerland in the meantime, played for Frickenhausen and Fulda in the highest German League. For Austria, DING Yi participated at seven World Championships and is especially proud to have played in four Olympic Games between 1988 and 2000. His best Olympic result was the fifth place in 1992. The Austrian newspaper “Der Standard“ wrote in February 2012: Already 1988, when he was No. 9, he beat the Chinese No. 1 CHEN Longcan. “Many fans and journalists in China wanted to know why the Association let me go abroad“ explains DING Yi. Why did the Association agree? “Table Tennis in China is mainly politics“ says the father of two sons. Although he belonged to the best five players in the country he probably would not have been chosen to represent China internationally because his coach was not well recognised. „I desperately wanted to compete internationally – this was my ambition“ stated Ding Yi. The name Ding Yi is very much connected with table tennis in Austria. Werner SCHLAGER, World champion in 2003, stated once that there would not have been the Champion SCHLAGER without DING Yi. DING Yi, the penhold player, was World Veterans Champion in 2008 (Over 40) and 2010 (Over 50), in 2009 he became European Veterans Champion. Two years ago, in Liberec, he lost the final. In Bremen, the professional export salesman wants to regain the title. “This tournament is like a holiday for me. I see many known faces. It is remarkable how many players are here. This shows how popular table tennis is in Europe – and also that you can play our sport even in high age“ explains Ding Yi who comments very positively about the organisation and the arena in Bremen. The free day on Wednesday theAustrian used for a small stroll in the centre of town. This season DING Yi played for Mauthausen in the top Austrian League. In the meantime, he moved to Switzerland where he trains the men’s National Team and the best youth hopes. When asked how long he will continue to play for, he answered in a newspaper interview in 2012: “As long as I win more matches than lose. If I lose too often it will be no fun any longer. Then I will say: enough is enough!“
First title goes to Eliska KREJCOVA
Ladies first – in Bremen this goes out especially to the more mature years. The women over 85 are the first category at the European Veterans Championships who meets their champion in singles. Eliska KREJCOVA is the expected winner. The multiple medallist, Ladies first – in Bremen this goes out especially to the more mature years. The women over 85 are the first category at the European Veterans Championships who meets their champion in singles. Eliska KREJCOVA is the expected winner. The multiple medallist at World Championships of the 1940s and 1950s from Czech Republic was just challenged once, in the group of five. That was against her Latvian doubles partner Laimdota JORDANE. The bronze medallist at the 2012 World Veterans Championships in Stockholm had led with 2-0 in games, before KREJCOVA, member of the Swaythling Club International, finally clinched the victory. A German duo would like to prevent tournament favourite Eliska KREJCOVA winning her second gold in Bremen: The Germans 90-somethings Ursula BIHL/INGE-Brigitte HERRMANN will face JORDANE/KREJCOVA in the final on Saturday at 1:30 pm. In the 50s nobody could so far seriously endanger the defense duo Jing TIAN ZÖRNER/Vera BAZZI (Germany/Switzerland). The two have been friends for many years, but form a doubles in Bremen for the first time ever. So far TIAN-ZÖRNER/BAZZI have only lost one game in six matches. However Maria GAFTEA and Maria POPA from Romania are holding the same record. They play the number one seeds in the semi final. With Monika KNEIP and Rose DIEBOLD the top seed of the 60s are already eliminated. Linda SIMPSON and Margaret GABRIEL from England defeated them in den quarter-finals at the ÖVB-Arena. One category further up Gudrun ENGEL and Jutta BARON are on their way to defend their title from Liberec, are still 2 victories away from gold. Will twins win the class over 70? The sisters Edit WETZEL and Ellen HAAK, who were born in April 1941 with only half an hour in between each other, so far played impressively side by side. WETZEL used to be the more successful player in her younger days, became German national Champion 3 times, won 2 European titles with the team and participated in 5 World Championships. She is still helping out in the 3rd German League when the 1st team of her club needs players. Normally she plays with her sister in the 6th league. For 4 years now they always ended up on the 1st position but never wanted to relegate into a higher league. In the singles event in Bremen they are both out. “If you gave your best and lost there is nothing to complain about,” states Ellen HAAK. “More important than winning is meeting old friends at Veterans Championships”. The title holder in the category over 75, Sigrid MATTHIAS and Anneliese BISCHOFF from Germany, are still doing well in the race. In the final, they could meet on the winners of 2009, the German-English pair Marianne BLASBERG/Pamela BUTCHER. The 80s ladies Gisela LANGEN/Kaija KOSONEN (Germany/Finland) could also defend their title on Saturday. Their hurdle at the semi final are the Italian Edith SANTIFALLER-HUBER from Italy and Martha WILLKE (née BEHRENS), participant in the 1954 World Championships for Germany. Georg BÖHM and Andreas FEJER-KONNERT, uncle of former German national team player Zoltan FEJER-KONNERTH, have reached the semi-final in doubles. After beating Steffen FETZNER/ZSOLT-GEORG BÖHM in the round of the last 16 they overcame the top-seed Russian combination Aleksandr SAVELEV/Georgy RUBINSHTEYN. 6-times German national Champion Böhm plays the singles event in the class over 50 and faces Mikael APPELGREN from Sweden in the semi-final. For the doubles one thing is for sure: A German pair will enter the final as BÖHM/FEJER-KONNERT play Karl STUMPFECKER and Andrzej TRUSZCZYNSKI. Men’s 50 did it equal to three German duo in the last four in the competition. In addition to Dirk KOSS/Alexander MICHAJLOV, Lutz MOCKLER/Uwe CHRISTLIEB and Erik and Kirsten HOLM are the the highly traded Manfred NIESHAEM wall and Christoph HECKMANN with 3:1 In Men’s 50 only one non-German doubles entered the semi-final: Austrian’s DING Yi and his Russian partner Alexey RODIN. One class above Wilfried LIECK has already secured 2 medals. In both semi-finals, singles and doubles, the former German national team player will face Claus PEDERSEN from Denmark. There are complete German semi-finals in Men’s 70 and 75 whereas 5 Englishmen compete for the title in the Men’s 80. The best chances have the top-seeds, Anthony ECONOMELLIS from Greece and Anthony HERBERT form England. The group of over 85s is very international. Oldrich FIALA and Rudolf CHROUST from Czech Republic are the top seeds here.
