The film crew of Production house “Pozitiv Film” is in Paris at the LIEBHERR World Championships. They took the opportunity of global table tennis gathering to conduct the interviews of biggest playing stars and table tennis officials. The filming of docu, The film crew of Production house “Pozitiv Film” is in Paris at the LIEBHERR World Championships. They took the opportunity of global table tennis gathering to conduct the interviews of biggest playing stars and table tennis officials. The filming of documentary about Tamara BOROS is underway and the premiere is scheduled for December 19th, for her birthday. The main force behind this project is her former coach Neven CEGNAR who heads the production. Jura OZMEC, well known name in the world of sport TV production is guaranty that the movie will be successful, as well as director Ante ROZIC already famous by his documentaries about Cibona, Drazen PETROVIC… “This is not the movie about Tamara’s sports success and about her 23 medals from the biggest tournaments. This is the story about her dedication, her approach to trainings sessions, her professional attitude. I was her coach 20 years. I met her when she was 15 years old, and I know her journey from the unknown player to the player who were among 10 in the World for seven years and reached the position no. two at the rankings,” said Neven CEGNAR. No one spotted her as a great talent at the beginning, but with the enormous efforts she reached playing heights. “Her dedication is fantastic. It is great motivation for the young players and we wanted to show them, that the hard work always pays off. “ The Asian producers are also interested. “More than Europeans, Asian people recognized her value. She was more famous there then here. We are in negotiations since our commercial construction is not fully closed.” Speaking of dedication, we can not forget to mention Sandra PAOVIC. “She is playing again. Sandra won three gold in the row at the para table tennis championships and that is great satisfaction to all the people that helped her – to see her able to travel and play again.”
ETTU joins up with Special Olympics
The game of table tennis was opened up for more children and adults with intellectual disabilities today thanks to a new partnership agreement between the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organisation for, The game of table tennis was opened up for more children and adults with intellectual disabilities today thanks to a new partnership agreement between the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organisation for people with intellectual disabilities. The agreement was signed on the final day of the ETTU 2013 Annual Conference by Dorte KRONSELL, Vice President of ETTU and Mariusz DAMENTKO, Sports Director at Special Olympics Europe Eurasia and takes place against the backdrop of the World Table Tennis Championship also taking place in Paris this week (May 13th – 20th). “With the global table tennis community gathered together in Paris, we are delighted to take this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to promoting more inclusion in table tennis across Europe while growing its popularity within the Special Olympics movement itself” says Dorte KRONSELL, VP of ETTU. “Now is our opportunity to help more children and adults with intellectual disabilities to transforms their lives through the joy and power of table tennis.” Table Tennis is one of the five most popular sports at Special Olympics in Europe with currently 41,352 registered table tennis players in the region. Table Tennis will be one of the eleven competition sports at the 2014 Special Olympics European For more information on 2014 Special Olympics European Games visit here For more information on Special Olympics Europe Eurasia visit here
Experts to study new ETTU events’ regulations
As everyone expected, only day after the AGM, the ETTU Congress held at Hotel Marriott in Paris on May 16th, was under big influences of the ITTF Elections’ result. Delegates from Croatia, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland led the group that demanded addit, As everyone expected, only day after the AGM, the ETTU Congress held at Hotel Marriott in Paris on May 16th, was under big influences of the ITTF Elections’ result. Delegates from Croatia, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland led the group that demanded additional items on the agenda with most of the questions directly addressed to the ETTU President Stefano BOSI. Recent divisions coming up within ETTU family have been argued by DTTB President Thomas WEIKERT who complained scarce transparency and spent polemic words about budget, marketing and other financial issues. ETTU President BOSI returned accusations to sender reminding how ETTU budget has been regularly illustrated in any previous occasions by the ETTU Vice President for Finances Camille GONDERINGER, but also explained some difficulties due to the financial crisis and the hard moments many associations are passing through. The lack of organizers didn’t make the situation easier of course, but President BOSI proudly defended the work the ETTU staff did in recent years as well as their professional skills. Regarding marketing, President BOSI reminded the delegates how almost all the sponsors of ITTF are coming from the Asia and IOC. Notwithstanding, the problem occurred with a third party not fulfilling their financial obligations was an unexpected problem that provoked complaints by Danish President Aksel BECKMANN for delayed payment of International TV rights revenue as regards to 2012 European Championships in Herning. Being the ETTU in legal process against defaulting partner, President BOSI hoped for a quick and positive solution. “For sure this is not a easy moment – Stefano BOSI stated – but to exploit any opportunity to blame everything ETTU did and is doing doesn’t help at all. We’ve to recover a more serene atmosphere and unity of intents”. Indeed, ETTU also achieved some success meanwhile. After a year of heavy negotiations, table tennis was part of the first European Games to be staged in Baku in 2015. That will provide the National Associations a great opportunity and new resources ETTU intends to invest into development projects. Most of the propositions on agenda in Paris are given now to further evaluation to the new expert group. The team of experts will prepare and study the documents regarding regulations of the European Championships, European Youth Championships, European Veterans Team Championships and Europe Top-12. Their work will be presented at the Congress in Austria during the LIEBHERR European Championships next October. After the meeting, ETTU Executive Board nominated the the working group’s members: Mr. Nikolas ENDAL (ETTU VP – coordinator), Mrs. Heike AHLERT (GER), Mr. Anton HAMRAN (SVK), Mr. Oivind ERIKSEN (ETTU TC), Mrs. Sonja GREFBERG (FIN), Mr. Malcolm MACFARLANE (IOM), Mr. Vladimir SAMSONOV (players’ representative), Mr. Roman PLESE (ETTU Competition Manager), Mr. Maurizio EVANGELISTA (ETTU Marketing and Communication Manager). The Congress approved the new European club competitions’ regulations for Women’S events. Greenland has been accepted as 57th member association of the ETTU.
Ukraine’s Tetyana BILENKO in Round of 16
In the C in Women’s Singles Event only four European players will be on duty tomorrow in Bercy. LIU Jia of Austria, SHEN Yanfei of Spain and Hu Melek of Turkey successfully concluded fourth day of competition in Bercy. The biggest surprise of all at LIEBH, In the C in Women’s Singles Event only four European players will be on duty tomorrow in Bercy. LIU Jia of Austria, SHEN Yanfei of Spain and Hu Melek of Turkey successfully concluded fourth day of competition in Bercy. The biggest surprise of all at LIEBHERR World Championships was the win of Tetyana BILENKO of Ukraine over Hiroko FUJII of Japan. BILENKO, ranked only at the position 89 beat FUJII who currently occupies spot no. 50 and recorded the biggest win in her career. SO far from 1999, when she had premiere at the World Championships, she never passed the Round of 64. “I played good for a while. In the Russia’s league on my last match I felt very good and everything was right. Then I go home to my 1 year an 9 months old son and spend great time. After that I exploded here,” said Tetyana. BILENKO had good start today against FUJII. “I felt her game. Her style is very good for me. I had problem latter when she changed the tactics. I needed time to adjust.” In next round she will meet FENG Tianwei of Singapore. “I already played here against her in Doubles Event. It is whole different story, but I felt good against and I think I have a chance.” HU Melek beat Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden in six games. Semi finalists from European Championships in Ostrava three years ago, exceeded her success from the World Championships in Rotterdam two years wgo. In Netherlands she reached the round of 32. Runner up from Ostrava, LIU Jia already played in the Round of 16 at Worlds, but it was in way back in 2007 in Zagreb. Now she beat YANG Haeun of Korea to repeat the success. Best ranked European player SHEN Yanfei beat Romania’s Daniela DODEAN in six games. Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal accounted at Damien ELOI to inflict the pain in host nation supporters. Tomorrow he will meet top seed XU Xin of China in the match for the Round of 16 at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Bercy. In other duels of the second round of men’s Singles Event Vladimir SAMSONOV justified his rankings by beating Panagiotis GIONIS of Greece in another six games duel. Belarus will play against Andrej GACINA of Croatia tomorrow. It will not be the case with another Croatia’s player. Legendary Zoran PRIMORAC could not halt the progress of German star Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. Patrick BAUM joined him after defeating another experienced player – Werner SCHLAGER. German will meet Emmanuel LEBESSON tomorrow. LEBESSON overcame Dimitrij PROKOPCOV.
DODEAN’s successful comeback
Morning session at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris brought disappointed to Romanian duo of Daniela DODEAN and Adrian CRISAN. They lost their match for the place among best 16 in the Mixed Doubles Event, but they are still very much alive in the , Morning session at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris brought disappointed to Romanian duo of Daniela DODEAN and Adrian CRISAN. They lost their match for the place among best 16 in the Mixed Doubles Event, but they are still very much alive in the singles. Latter today DODEAN will play in the third round, whilst CRISAN reached second. In the Round of 64 in Mixed doubles CHEUNG Yuk and JIANG Huajun succeeded after seven games. “We had two match points in the decisive game, but it ended with 15:13 for our adversaries,” stated CRISAN. They looked like great challengers to title holders at the European Mixed Doubles championships Elizabeta SAMARA and Andrei FILIMON , but Adrian revealed that they will not be in Buzau this summer. “I have to have some break.” In Women’s Singles Event in Paris DODEAN beat Yadira SILVA of Mexico in first and Polina MIKHAILOVA of Russia in second round. Against Russia’s player she went full distance, which was very severe test to her knee. Three months ago she had a knee surgery and she is still on path of recovery. “I have been absent from the International events for a six months. This is my first major competition after the surgery, so I still do not know what to expect. On the other side, I am not under pressure here. I can play freely and I enjoy the game,” said DODEAN. CRISAN was cautious. In the first round he beat Tiago MONTHEIRO of Portugal and tonight he will play against Omar ASSAR of Egypt. “I admit the draw could be worst, but there is no easy adversaries here. Everybody who gets that far is dangerous,” said CRISAN.
Ruta PASKAUSKIENE is back again
The European Champion in singles from Saint-Petersburg 2008 and champion in doubles from Gdansk-Sopot 2011 are back in game after giving birth of her second son 8 months ago. Ruta PASKAUSKIENE of Lithuania now has two sons – Tadas and Dovidas and lo, The European Champion in singles from Saint-Petersburg 2008 and champion in doubles from Gdansk-Sopot 2011 are back in game after giving birth of her second son 8 months ago. Ruta PASKAUSKIENE of Lithuania now has two sons – Tadas and Dovidas and looks better then ever. Back to her natural colour of hair, brown, still attracts a lot of attention at LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris, both with her look and play. Due very long absence she was required to go through qualifications, but four wins that secured her a place in the main draw, just worked good for her confidence. “I was absent since Gdansk-Sopot from the big international competitions. I just started with the practice in January and I needed every match to build up my shape and confidence. I do not mind playing qualifications; it is good for me at this point. I will be ready for the challenges in the main draw,” said Ruta. PASKAUSKIENE joined Russia’s club Tuemen, the member of ETTU Cup caravan. “I have not played for them at the time when they were engaged in the ETTU Cup, because I was not ready yet, but now I play again. It is very good arrangement for me. Now I have two kids and doing a lot of travel is out of question. In Russia I have to travel only once in every month and half. There is four tournaments plus play off. Much better situation for me then at the other championships.” Still the problem of solid practice exists. “I have good sparing partner in Lithuania, but it is only one boy. I have problems organizing quality training, but I hope I will find the solution soon. I am thinking of going to some practice camp. ” We hope too because the European Championships is approaching…
Little MIGOT feels no pressure in big Bercy
The biggest surprise and the great joy for the host nation supporters produced 14-year-old Marie MIGOT, world no. 355, who booked her place among best 128. MIGOT, playing in her first World Championships, was not overawed playing in the famous 12,000 seat, The biggest surprise and the great joy for the host nation supporters produced 14-year-old Marie MIGOT, world no. 355, who booked her place among best 128. MIGOT, playing in her first World Championships, was not overawed playing in the famous 12,000 seat Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, and managed to overcome her more fancied opponents for a dream first round berth. In the qualifications she overcame Chelsea DGHILL and Johana ARAQUE, whilst in preliminary rounds she overcame Carelyn CORDERO of Puertorico. Regarding the matches played on day two in Paris MIGOT said: “I had a good preparation for the match. Playing in the morning is not always easy, but we made physical exercises and that made me feel good. The game level was a bit weak today and it helped me to impose my playing style. “ In the first round of the main draw, today, she will meet Tetyana BILENKO of Ukraine.
WU Jiaduo won the German clash
European vice champion XIAN Yifang of France beat CHEN I Ching of Taipei to book her place among 32 best players in the World. In the second round of the Women’s Singles Event at the LIEBHERR World Championships in France LIU Jia of Austria also recorded , European vice champion XIAN Yifang of France beat CHEN I Ching of Taipei to book her place among 32 best players in the World. In the second round of the Women’s Singles Event at the LIEBHERR World Championships in France LIU Jia of Austria also recorded victory over CHEN Szu Yu of Taipei. Unfortunately Germany had to say goodbye to one of their players since WU Jiaduo meet Irene IVANCAN. European champion from Stuttgart accounted for European bronze medalist from Ostrava. In the first round of the Women’s Singles Event Dina MESHREF of Egypt was in charge for the big upset. Currently ranked at the position no. 132 at the World’s rankings, she excelled expectations and overcame Petrissa SOLJA, placed at position no. 54 in seven grueling games – 4:3 (4:11, 8:11, 11:9, 11:6, 5:11, 11:3, 11:9). SOLJA easily won two opening games, but she could no sustain the same rhythm. “I played very good at the beginning of the match, but could not produce the same level of game at the closing stages.”, explained SOLJA. Dina showed great variations of play and had answer to all Petrissa’s attempts. In seventh, decisive game SOLJA had 6:2 lead, then 9:6, and 9:9 one unlucky net ball ended as point for her adversary
Adham SHARARA re-elected as ITTF President
Mr. Adham SHARARA (CAN) has been elected as the International Table Tennis Federation President today at the 2013 ITTF Annual General Meeting in Paris, France. He overcame the challenge from European Table Tennis Union President Mr. Stefano BOSI (ITA) and, Mr. Adham SHARARA (CAN) has been elected as the International Table Tennis Federation President today at the 2013 ITTF Annual General Meeting in Paris, France. He overcame the challenge from European Table Tennis Union President Mr. Stefano BOSI (ITA) and will add 4 more years to the 14 that he has already served in ITTF’s top job. Mr. Adham SHARARA stated: “I am extremely pleased that as expected, the delegates of the AGM understood the importance of my work and understood very clearly our future plans. The overwhelming support for my team and myself gives us extra motivation to try as hard as possible to make sure table tennis is in the top 5 sports in the world.” The ITTF Executive Committee serving under Mr SHARARA will be: SHI Zhihao (CHN), Masahiro MAEHARA (JPN), Khalil Al-MOHANNADI (QAT), Cherif HAJEM (TUN), Petra SORLING (SWE), Thomas WEIKERT (GER), Patrick GILLMANN (NCL) and Melecio Eduardo RIVERA (SAL). The race for the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships took a twist, as the AGM approved the proposal for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to host the 2016 edition and 2018 to be held in Halmstad, Sweden due to the high quality of both bids. In other business at the 2013 AGM, 3 members of the Chinese Table Tennis team that was recently nominated for a Laureaus sport award, MA Long, LI Xiaoxia and ZHANG Zike were inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame. Bonaire were also confirmed as the 218th Table Tennis National association, which leaves table tennis just 2 associations short of Volleyball, who currently has the most national federations of any sport.
Simon GAUZY fired up Paris’ Worlds
Werner SCHLAGER was cautious before the start of the Men’s Singles Event at the LIEBHERR World Championships, but today he blow away all the doubts. In the first round of the competition in main draw, Austrian overcame Pavel PLATONOV of Belarus in five ga, Werner SCHLAGER was cautious before the start of the Men’s Singles Event at the LIEBHERR World Championships, but today he blow away all the doubts. In the first round of the competition in main draw, Austrian overcame Pavel PLATONOV of Belarus in five games. “There is no doubt I am happy with my start here. However even on the warming session I felt I could win. I was in good mood on the right track not too much under tension and not too little. I was “tuned” right for the victory. In the opening set PLATONOV gave few hard moments. His game is very strange, you need time to adjust, cos every ball is different. I won by close margin that game, but in the next, he was in control. I let him win and prepared myself for the next. He started to struggle. I was under pressure in fifth game. I missed three or four easy balls, but it ended well.” Tomorrow SCHLAGER will play against Patrick BAUM who overcame Sas LASAN of Slovenia. “He is better ranked player and odds are on his side, but I feel good and everything might happens. He never beat me before, anyway. My big problem is that he is playing with left hand. I do not have a chance to practice a lot with such players so I will need few points to tune my game and that might be dangerous.” Top seeded XU Xin of China is safely through to the second round without losing the game against Steffen MENGEL of Germany. Four French players booked their place in tomorrow’s second round: Damien ELOI beat Liam PITCHFORD after great seven games battle. Emmanuel LEBESSON needed five to pass over Ahmed SALEH of Egypt, Adrien MATTENET also went full distance against Italian Niagol STOYANOV. However the most precious was the victory of young Simon GAUZY over SEO Hyundeok of Korea. Korean player ranked at position no. 59 in the World suffered by the 110th player at the rankings in five games at table no. 1 in front of enthusiastic crowd. German table tennis “panzers “ are still strong led by Timo BOLL who hardly managed to warm up today against Admir DURANSPAHIC of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV also needed our games against Viacheslav BUROV of Russia. Among experienced forces of Europe Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus, Kalinikos KREANGA of Greece, Jean Michel SAIVE, CHEN Weixing….
