Everything is ready for ultimate chapter of 15th Men’s ECL edition. Chartres ASTT and Fakel Gazproma Orenburg will fight for the prestigious trophy this Friday at France (19h00 CET) and in rematch at Russia on April 26th (12h20 CET). This it the first eve, Everything is ready for ultimate chapter of 15th Men’s ECL edition. Chartres ASTT and Fakel Gazproma Orenburg will fight for the prestigious trophy this Friday at France (19h00 CET) and in rematch at Russia on April 26th (12h20 CET). This it the first ever French-Russian final. Both clubs have played very confident during the season, but Russians are considered as a favorite. Last year they played one against another in the semis and Orenburg managed to get the final after two very close games (twice 3:2). Chartres` Robert GARDOS was just one set to bring the 3:0 win at Orenburg`s rematch, but Alexey SMIRNOV succeeded to stop him. Chartres` president Loic BREHU already said that his club has capacity to extend its dream in Men’s European Champions League, adding that 1st leg at ROSSKOPF Sporthall will determine the champion. Russians are preparing last couple of days at Dusseldorf, having Borussia for sparring partner. All three players from their line-up are former Borussia`s members. Vice-president of Russian champion Victor ANDREEV said that he expects very hard battle in both games. “We’ll see the two strongest European teams in the final. We are preparing for a very serious fight. There are no secrets between us, because we played against Chartres ASTT in the semifinal last season. The winner could not be determined until the end of returning match”. ANDREEV shares BREHU`s opinion that first leg will be decisive one. “Now all our players have training sessions in Düsseldorf, where they try to simulate a game against Chartres. We are determined to win at France, which will give us a good chance before the second final match in Orenburg”. FACTS • It’s first ever French-Russian final • GAO Ning (9-0 actual score) has a chance to be only unbeaten player in 2012/13 season • Orenburg is unique unbeaten club this season • Vladimir SAMSONOV fights for his 10th MECL crown. He is already record holder and now he can reach team’s best achievement (Borussia has 10 titles) • Chartres has a chance to be first champion from France since Caen beat Borussia in 1998/1999 • Dimitrij OVTCHAROV plays his five consecutive MECL final in a row (2009 with Borussia, 2010 with Charleroi, 2011 and 2012 with Orenburg) • The finalists were ETTU Cup winner in last three years (Orenburg 2010, Chartres 2011) • All six players from two line-ups are placed among the best 72 on ITTF World’s ranking list: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV no. 7, Vladimir SAMSONOV no. 11, GAO Ning no. 14, Robert GARDOS no. 32, Alexey SMIRNOV no. 60 and Par GERELL no. 72. • Chartres plays its first ever MECL final, while it’s Orenburg`s third in a row CHARTRES FROM GROUP TO THE FINAL (7-1 SCORE): Group B Chartres – El Nino 3:0 3:0 Chartres – Ochsenhausen 3:2 3:1 Quarter final Chartres – Saarbrucken 3:2 3:1 Semi final Chartres – Borusia 3:1 (11:5) 1:3 (5:9) ORENBURG FROM GROUP TO THE FINAL (8-0 SCORE) Group A Orenburg – Saarbrucken 3:1 3:0 Orenburg – Hennebont 3:0 3:1 Quarter final Orenburg – Ochsenhausen 3:1 3:0 Semi final Orenburg – Pontoise 3:0 3:2
Fenerbahce ready for the challenge
Turkish Fenerbahce is one of the clubs with the strongest line up in Women’s ETTU Cup this season. European champion Viktoria PAVLOVICH European doubles and mixed doubles champion Elizabeta SAMARA alongside HU Melek and ZHOU Fangfang are the hot fav, Turkish Fenerbahce is one of the clubs with the strongest line up in Women’s ETTU Cup this season. European champion Viktoria PAVLOVICH European doubles and mixed doubles champion Elizabeta SAMARA alongside HU Melek and ZHOU Fangfang are the hot favorites for the title. In the semi final Fenerbahce beat Spanish Fotoprix VIC. In first leg they succeeded in four matches, whilst in return leg they needed one less. “The main strength of the club is the fact that we have four strong players. All of them can produce top level game,” stated Team Manager Gürhan YALDIZ. Viktoria PAVLOVICH beat WANG Zhipei and Sara RAMIREZ in previous encounters. “In both legs PAVLOVICH’s victory was very important. She opened the duels with the victory and eased the pressure. ZHOU also played very good. Her role in first leg was also important, despite the defeat against Matilda EKHOLM. After that game HU managed to beat RAMIREZ and ZHOU sealed the victory against WANG Zhipei.” From the beginning the club aimed the title. Their aspirations are still the same. Now they are ready to play against Polish Zamek Tarnobrzeg. “I expect very good duel and great atmosphere. Our coach and especially Viktoria PAVLOVICH are aware of their quality. They played against them last season. We have good players and we believe we can win. Anyway we will not give up until the last point.”
Club competitions’ finals “live” on ETTU TV
After a long and exciting season we are now at the final stage of the ETTU Champions League and ETTU Cup seasons. Four teams will enter the final, only two will leave with the gold medal and the 2013 Champions League and ETTU Cup titles. Who will it be? C, After a long and exciting season we are now at the final stage of the ETTU Champions League and ETTU Cup seasons. Four teams will enter the final, only two will leave with the gold medal and the 2013 Champions League and ETTU Cup titles. Who will it be? Chartres or Orenburg? Bogoria or UMMC? Tune in to ETTU TV powered by LAOLA1.tv this weekend to find out LIVE and FREE! ETTU Champions League Final Men – Chartres ASTT – Orenburg| 12.04.2013 19:00 CET It has been a fairy-tale season for the French champions this year and they now find themselves just two matches away from making their dream a reality. If asked which teams would be in the final come the end of the season not many would have said Chartres. The team spearheaded by Gao NING have proved everyone wrong however, and they now find themselves within touching distance of the European crown. Defending champions Orenburg stand in their way and the Russian team casts an ominous shadow as well. This is their 3rd final in a row and they have established themselves as the team to beat in the men’s competition, taking over the position held by the once unbeatable Borussia Düsseldorf. Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, Vladimir SAMSONOV and Alexey SMIRNOV head into this match as the favourites but they have a lot of respect for their opponents, and it has already been stated before the match that anything could happen in this one. Orenburg beat Pontoise 6-2 in the semi-final over the course of the two matches and looked very impressive throughout. Chartres performed outstandingly well in their semi-final as they beat German giants Borussia Düsseldorf in style by the same 6-2 score-line. The French team fear no one this season and they know that a solid performance in front of their own fans could put them in a very strong position ahead of the 2nd leg on the 26th of April LIVE. ETTU Cup Final Men – Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki – UMMC| 14.04.2013 12:00 CET Poland is the location for the first leg of the ETTU Cup as Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki welcomes UMMC. The Russian club will be expected to win this one after finishing 2nd in the Champions League last season and on paper they have the far better team. The season has not really gone as expected for UMMC however and the Polish side will head into this match hoping to at least give themselves a decent position heading into the difficult 2nd leg in Russia. Can UMMC take a victory back to Russia ahead of the 2nd leg, or will the Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki upset the odds? Find out LIVE and FREE on ETTU TV powered by LAOLA1.tv on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 CET.
Dominance of A.S. Pera Athens in Greece
A.S. Pera Athens dominated the A1 championships, which ended Sunday in STAG Hall of Peace and Friendship Stadium. They clinched the titles in both men’s and women’s category. It is the third time in history that one club accomplishes this in the same year, A.S. Pera Athens dominated the A1 championships, which ended Sunday in STAG Hall of Peace and Friendship Stadium. They clinched the titles in both men’s and women’s category. It is the third time in history that one club accomplishes this in the same year. For men, the first place came easily, as the team was a big favorite from the start of the tournament. They justified their status as the absolute champions by the number of victories and took second consecutive title -17th overall. Women of Pera beat last year’s champions DAO Taurus! In nervous wrecking match they reach their goal, despite thir defeat in the last game 4-3. Thanks to a 4-1 victory in the first leg they succeeded to the title, which is the fourth in the history of the Championship. Coach in both teams of Pera is the former international player John Vlotinos. In the men’s team played usual trio Kostas PAPAGEORGIOU, Kostas LAGOGIANNIS, Lefteris MAKRAS. In the women team is Christina FILI, Laura NIKOULAE, Olga GEORGOPOULOU and DIMITRATSEKOURA. In A1 men, 2nd place won A.O. Amphitheas. Heraklion 2001 from Athens and A.S Gymnasium will compete to stay in the league in two weeks in the barrage with second and third teams of A2. In the women’s A1 AS Pera 2005 was saved by the bell and they will stay in the top league after difficult victory over YMCA Thessaloniki 4-2. At the same time the Phoenicians Patras lost to the Phoenix Piraeus 4-2 and left short in a tie. They will play a barrage to stay. The same applies to the seventh ranking AthenaMagoufanas, while the champion of 2011 PKD Taurus was in last place and relegate to A2.The final standings in A1 MEN TEAM POINTS GAMES 1. A.S. Pera Athens 36 72-14 2. AO Amphitheas 33 63-26 3. A.O. PagonaPatras 32 62-29 4. A.O.Pefkis 28 57-45 5. AO Tatavla 26 47-47 (5-4) 6. OA ChaniaCrete 26 46-55 (4-5) 7. G.S. FiliaOrestiadas 25 42-59 ————————————————————— 8. A.O. Heraklion 2001 24 33-61 9. A.S. Gymnasioum 21 33-66 —————————————————————- 10. P.K.D. Taurus 19 19-71 The final standings in A1 WOMEN TEAM POINTS GAMES 1. A.S. Beyond Athens 27 55-8 (7-5) 2. D.A.O. Taurus 27 53-10 (5-7) 3. A.O. Phoenix Piraeus 22 40-38 4. Y.M.C.A. Thessaloniki 21 36-40 5. A.S. Pera 2005 19 32-43 (7-5) ————————————————————————– 6. P.A.L. Phoenicians Patras 19 27-47 (5-7) 7. AE Athena Magoufanas 17 23-50 ————————————————————————– 8. P.K.D. Taurus 16 18-48
Chartres knows final’s leg1 being the key
This Friday will be held first final match of Men’s ECL between the best French club and defending champion Fakel Gazproma Orenburg There are just two more games to play at 2012/13 Men’s European Champions League and first one is coming this Friday at Cha, This Friday will be held first final match of Men’s ECL between the best French club and defending champion Fakel Gazproma Orenburg There are just two more games to play at 2012/13 Men’s European Champions League and first one is coming this Friday at Chartres (19h00 CET). It is the first final match between the best French club and defending MECL champion Fakel Gazproma Orenburg, whilst rematch at Russia to be held on April 26th (12h20 CET). Both sides are announcing the best possible line-ups. Host with unique unbeatable MECL player GAO Ning, Par GERELL and Robert GARDOS. On the other side – three well known faces of European table tennis: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, Vladimir SAMSONOV and Alexey SMIRNOV. Chartres` president Loic BREHU believes that his club is able to make one more successful step on European stage. They were 2011 ETTU Cup winners and 2012 MECL semi finalist (lost twice 3:2 from Orenburg) but after recent historical success against ten times European champion Borussia Dusseldorf, everyone in the club feels that there is still much to prove. “Our team, as well as Chartres city dreamed of such a big match last September, when the MECL began. Till now, Chartres makes a perfect performance and we hope that, in our ROSSKOPF Sporthall, we`ll be able to continue this invincibility against Orenburg, who is the favourite in this competition”, stressed Loic BREHU. Chartres has 7-1 score, losing just semi final returning game at Dusseldorf. BREHU is sure that 1st leg will be decisive one, as it was against Borussia. “The first leg will be the key of this final. Of course, we deeply respect Orenburg’s team, but we will do our best to show our qualities and to prove that we deserve our rank”. Chartres from group to the final (7-1 score): Semi final Chartres – Borussia 3:1 (11:5) 1:3 (5:9) Quarter final Chartres – Saarbrucken 3:2 3:1 Group B Chartres – El Nino 3:0 3:0 Chartres – Ochsenhausen 3:2 3:1
President DAWSON: “Malta invests in future players”
The Malta Table Tennis Association now has a new president. Mr. Paul DAWSON was recently elected president. DAWSON (57 years old) originates from the UK, where he still travels regularly in his work as an Export Manager. He moved to Malta over 25 years ag, The Malta Table Tennis Association now has a new president. Mr. Paul DAWSON was recently elected president. DAWSON (57 years old) originates from the UK, where he still travels regularly in his work as an Export Manager. He moved to Malta over 25 years ago. President DAWSON is married with three sons. His wife Grace is Maltese and his three sons were all born in Malta. Mr DAWSON changed nationality to Maltese in 1995. New head of Malta TTA has been involved in table tennis most of his life, he was taught to play at the age of nine by his father but soon progressed and at the age of eleven was playing in the Leicester and District Table Tennis League. President DAWSON represented Leicester as a junior in the Midland league and played for several years in the Premier Division of the Leicester league before moving away at the age of 23. “I also played for many years in the Hinckley, my hometown and Nuneaton, where I was born, Leagues. Then I played in Northamptonshire for a while before a serious arm injury kept me out of the game for several years,” explained Mr DAWSON. After surgery Mr DAWSON modified his style of play and started playing again when he moved to Malta, he became an International Umpire, an ETTA level 2 coach and has been part of the MTTA committee for over 15 years. He still plays and is a former Malta Veterans Champion, the losing finalist in the same event only last year. “Table Tennis is continually growing in Malta with many young players taking up the sport every year. Malta now features regularly on the ITTF Junior & Cadet World Circuit calendar and in future Malta hopes to hold other International events, after all sunny Malta is ideally situated in the Mediterranean for Europe and Africa and also has good air links to the Middle and Far East.”
Future King playing TT in Drumchapel!
An extraordinary event brought table tennis sport in focus in Scotland. What a great day for Martin PERRY and the rest of the Drumchapel with a visit from the future King! Prince William and Kate both took part playing each other then being joined by 2 Dr, An extraordinary event brought table tennis sport in focus in Scotland. What a great day for Martin PERRY and the rest of the Drumchapel with a visit from the future King! Prince William and Kate both took part playing each other then being joined by 2 Drumchapel Table Tennis Club member for a game of doubles. Early on in the day They met with 2 of our young ambassadors for the club Martin PERRY and Stephanie MCCALLUM for a 15 minutre chat about whats going on in Drumchapel. Below are the 2 links for the videos taken on the day First video is William and Kate playing Table Tennis. Second video is Martin Perry’s Speech followed but Prince Williams Speech.
HO Tin Tin reached position no. one
There are no changes at the top in junior category at the European rankings issued today for a month of April. All top 5 players for a second month holds their positions. Tristan FLORE of France topping the Junior Boys rankings followed by compatriot Enzo, There are no changes at the top in junior category at the European rankings issued today for a month of April. All top 5 players for a second month holds their positions. Tristan FLORE of France topping the Junior Boys rankings followed by compatriot Enzo ANGLES and Alexandre ROBINOT. Mehdi BOULOUSSA of France progressed from position seven to six and changed places with Italian Leonardo MUTTI. Romania’s Bernadette SZOCSis still the leading name in the Junior Girls Rankings. Lea RAKOVAC of Croatia is second, and Nina MITTELHAM progressed from position six to position no. three. Alexandre CASSIN and Joe SEYFRIED of France are numbers one and two at the cadet’s lists, whilst their compatriot Nolan GIVONE moved from seventh place to third. Only at Cadet Girls rankings the top of the list changed. HO Tin Tin of England is new number one. Marie MIGOT of France moved one step below, as well as Adina DIACONU of Romania. Click here to consult April rankings
Samuel WALKER and Charlotte CAREY won in Cottonera
Top seed at the Junior Boy’s Singles Event at the 2013 Malta Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit in Cottonera, Samuel WALKER justified his rankings and clinched the title. In the final, Claus NIELSEN of Denmark only managed to take one gam, Top seed at the Junior Boy’s Singles Event at the 2013 Malta Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit in Cottonera, Samuel WALKER justified his rankings and clinched the title. In the final, Claus NIELSEN of Denmark only managed to take one game from the winner. In semi final WALKER overcame another Dane, Anders LIND, whilst NIELSEN accounted for Helshan WEERASINGHE of England to keep the balance. Wales prevented England of making it double, Charlotte CAREY overcame Maria TSAPTSINOS in the final. Previously CAREY bet another girl from England HO Tin-Tin , whilst TSAPTSINOS beat Katarzyna GALUS of Poland. Abdulrahman AL–NAGGAR of Qatar beat Tom JARVIS of England in the final of the Cadet Boy’s Singles Event. In semis AL –NAGGAR overcame LIND and JARVIS succeeded against Wiliam APELQVIST of Sweden.
XU Xin clinched the title in Incheon
Seeded no two, XU Xin of China won the title in the Men’ Singles Event at the ITTF World Tour Korean Air Korea Open in Incheon. In the final he overcame top seeded MA Long of China in six gams. In the semi final MA Long accounted at his compatriot…, Seeded no two, XU Xin of China won the title in the Men’ Singles Event at the ITTF World Tour Korean Air Korea Open in Incheon. In the final he overcame top seeded MA Long of China in six gams. In the semi final MA Long accounted at his compatriot WANG Hao in six games, whilst in other All Chinese duel XU Xin beat YAN An in straight sets. SEO Hyowon of Korea clinched the title in Women’s Singles Event. She needed full seven games to overcame efforts of Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA. Previously SEO beat LEE Ho Ching of Hong Kong I six games and ISHIKAWA halted the progress of her compatriot Hiroko FUJI by same margin. In the Men’s Doubles Event SEO Hyundeok and China’s ZHANG Jike joined forces to strike gold. Earlier in the proceeding SEO Hyundeok had suffered a shock first round defeat in the Men’s Singles event at the hands of Japanese teenager, Masataka MORIZONO; two rounds later ZHANG Jike had departed, beaten by colleague YAN An. However, together it was better news. The top seeds in the Men’s Doubles event, they beat the second seeded partnership of LEE Jungwoo and MA Long in the final. PARK Youngsook and YANG Haeun, won the Women’s Doubles title. In an all Korean final, they accounted for JEON Jihee and LEE Eunhee in four games
