The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and Table Tennis Cup (TT-Cup) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to popularize table tennis in Europe and provide the best athletes with consistent match practices to improve their skills. The MoU also aims to promote these events and discover new European talents. The signing of this MoU marks a milestone in the efforts of both ETTU and TT-Cup to promote and develop table tennis in Europe. Under the terms of the MoU ETTU and TT-Cup will work closely together to organize tournaments and other events that promote table tennis at the local and regional levels. “We are happy to partner with Table Tennis Cup which has already featured some of the best table tennis players around the globe to promote table tennis in Europe ” said Pedro MOURA acting President of ETTU. “Our goal is to provide the best local athletes with consistent match practices. We believe this partnership will help us achieve that goal and discover new talents in Europe and give them extra experience on international table tennis. Both entities will work together to promote the principles of fair play in all activities related to the table tennis tournaments.” The MoU will also have a very positive impact on all the solidarity causes that ETTU is currently involved in as the partnership will enable ETTU to reach a wider audience and engage more people in its efforts to promote table tennis and support its social causes.
2024 Europe Youth Top 10 awarded to Poland’s Grodzisk Mazowiecki
The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Executive Board has announced that the 2024 Europe Youth Top 10 will be hosted by Poland’s Table Tennis Association. The competition is set to take place in Grodzisk Mazowiecki which is the home town of the Bogoria Dartom Grodzisk Mazowiecki table tennis club. The venue for the 2024 Europe Youth Top 10 will be the Sport and Entertainment Hall of Social Integration and Activation Center in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. The area of the venue is 1906 square meters and it has a capacity of 1500 seats. “We are very pleased that the European Table Tennis Union Executive Board once again appreciated the Polish Table Tennis Association. Granting us the right to organize the TOP 10 shows that our organization belongs to the group that sets the direction for the development of table tennis in Europe. The host city of the TOP 10 will be Grodzisk Mazowiecki home town of Miłosz REDZIMSKI U21 European Champion and Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki club. Therefore I ensure we will provide the highest standard of the event and full stands. The tournament will be played in new sport arena opened last year so we will have perfect opportunity to show it in Europe. I would like to invite you all to visit Grodzisk Mazowiecki next autumn ” said Polish Table Tennis Federation President Dariusz SZUMACHER . Four events will take place including Boys and Girls Under 15 and Under 19 with participants invited according to their rankings. Poland has a proven track record when it comes to hosting major table tennis competitions. The country successfully organized the European Championships in Gdansk/Sopt in 2011 and more recently European Championships in Warsaw in 2022. The decision to award the 2024 Europe Youth Top 10 is testament to the country’s continued commitment to the growth and promotion of the sport.
Mixed teams events heated up the atmosphere in Osijek
The opening day of the play at the Europe Youth Series – Croatia Open in Osijek the Group stage in both Mixed Teams in Under 13 and Under 15 Events was concluded. In the Under 13 Mixed Doubles Teams Event in A Finals Czechia and Croatia will be free in the quarterfinal. Belgium will meet Greece-Croatia Team and Azerbaijan will play against Slovenia. In Under 15 Event Germany and Slovenia will be free in the opening round whilst in remaining quarterfinals Croatia 1 will play against Croatia 3 and Belgium will meet Croatia 2. In group Stage Czechia’s Lucie SYKOROVA Simona HOLUBOVA Oliver OLEJNIK and Filip RACAK recorded two 5:0 wins over Slovenia and Croatia 3. In Group 2 Croatia’s Viktorija OSLAKOVIC Lana BENKO Petar ZIDARIC and Matija VOLF overcame Belgium 3:2 and combined Montenegro/Croatia team 5:0. Azerbaijan’s Onur GULUZADE Khadija EYLAZOVA Tunar BAGHIROV and Yaghmur MAMMADLI beat Greece-Croatia’s team 3:2 Portugal 4:1 and Croatia 2 5:0. In B Finals Croatia 2 will play against Montenegro/Croatia and Portugal will meet Croatia 3. In Under 15 Mixed Teams Event in Group Stage Germany’s Elisa MEYER Laura MILOS Lisanne TSCHIMPKE Terry CHOI Matthis KASSENS and Daniel NAGY booked the top position by overcoming Montenegro Croatia 4:1 and after losing from Croatia 2- 2:3. In Group 2 Slovenia’s Ana LESKOSEK Lana SLATINSEK Bor BRODNJAK Luka JOKIC Mark MARCEC recorded three wins. They overcame Croatia 1 – 4:1 Greece 3:2 and North Macedonia 5:0. In Group 3 Belgium’s Maxime DEGIVE Charles JANSSENS Lilly LAFFINEUR and Alicia WARRAND prevailed against Croatia 3 -3:2 Georgia 4:1 and Germany/Croatia 4:1. In B finals Montenegro Greece and Germany are free in first round whilst Georgia will meet North Macedonia.
European youth took stage in Osijek
The premiere tournament of the Europe Youth Series commenced this morning in Osijek. Under 13 Mixed Teams Event opened the competition followed by Under 15 Mixed Teams Event. The opening day in Osijek is completely reserved for Mixed Events. You can follow the action live with four camera production on table one at ettu.tv The results are available here
European Youth series kick off in Osijek
Get ready for an exciting new tournament series for young players in Europe. The first tournament of the Europe Youth series which aims to give young tennis players an opportunity to gain experience and recognition will kick off tomorow. The first tournament is taking place in Osijek Croatia and it is organized by the Table Tennis Association of Croatia and under the authority of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). ETTU have made it their mission to provide a platform for young players to showcase their skills and give them a competitive edge in the sport. The venue for the Osijek tournament is the beautiful Gradski vrt and we all can look forward to watching some nail-biting matches as young talents compete for the top spot. The tournament will begin with the first round of the Group Stage in Mixed Teams events in Under 13 and Under 15 categories. The Group Stage of Under 15 Boys and Girls Singles is scheduled for Friday with Doubles matches starting soon thereafter. Players from Azerbaijan Croatia Czechia Belgium Cyprus Germany Georgia Greece Montenegro Portugal Slovenia and Hungary will compete in the tournament with 53 players in the Under 15 Boys Singles event 42 players in the Under 15 Girls Singles event 29 players in the Under 13 Boys event and 21 players in the Under 13 Girls event. The organizers have expressed their excitement about the tournament and believe that it will be a great opportunity for young players to play many matches against the adversaries same age from all over the Europe. The tournament series will showcase some of the most talented young table tennis players in Europe with events planned in Serbia Czechia Greece and Turkiye following the Osijek tournament. The first tournament of this new series promises to be an exciting event so make sure to follow the results and stories from Osijek Croatia starting on April 26.
ETTU is launching an Open Tender for the 2024 Men and Women Champions League Final 4
The European Table Tennis Union is launching an Open Tender for the 2024 Men and Women Champions League Final 4. The Open Tender is open to Member Associations Clubs Regional and National Governments and other interested parties to participate in the bidding process. The ETTU Executive Board has made a strategic decision to address the calendar constraints faced by European table tennis club competitions due to late international event scheduling. These issues have been exacerbated by the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games. To streamline the next season’s club competition the Executive Board has decided to implement the Final 4 which will replace the home and away semi-finals and finals.This decision is part of ETTU’s preparation for implementing the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan and a future ETTU marketing and media rights contract under the guidance of expert advisors. All ETTU events including the Champions Leagues are under consideration to create a better product for the market. In addition to the increased fan engagement and media coverage hosting the Final 4 provides more opportunities for revenue generation including ticket sales sponsorships and media rights. Access the tender document here The deadline to receive applications is Monday 5th June.
PT Espoo won the Finnish Championship League
PT Espoo won the final tournament of the Finnish Championship League organized on Saturday 22nd April at the Ruskeasuo Sports Hall Helsinki. In the semi-finals the PT Espoo defeated Kaiku from Turku 4-1 and in the final match Kaiku from Koski Tl 4-2. OPT-86 located in Oulu took the third place. Arttu PIHKALA Aleksi RÄSÄNEN Mika RÄSÄNEN and Toni SOINE played for PT Espoo’s champion team during the season. On Saturday PIHKALA and Alex NAUMI (KoKa) won all their four matches. “It is great to win a Championship. This was the first title for Arttu and me. First we had an easy victory over TuKa and then we showed an impressive performance from the whole team in the final. We are very satisfied with the championship ” Aleksi Räsänen said. The winner of the first division HIK Pingis (Hanko) will be promoted to the Championship League next season replacing PT Vantaa (TIP-70’s 2nd team) who finished on the eighth position in the regular season. TIP-70 kept the league position through the qualifiers. PT Espoo’s 2nd team will be seen as a new team on the Finnish top level next season – it dropped KoKa’s 2nd team to the first division in the qualifiers. Finnish Championship League finals and qualifiers 2023 Semi-finals: PT Espoo – Turun Kaiku 4-1 Kosken Kaiku – OPT-86 4-2 Final match: PT Espoo – Kosken Kaiku 4-2 bronze match: OPT-86 – Turun Kaiku 4-1 Qualifiers: 1. TIP-70 2. PT Espoo II 3. PT Koski (Kosken Kaiku II) 4. PT Helsinki
WORLD TABLE TENNIS DAY 2023: THINK SUSTAINABLY, ACT NOW!
Happy World Table Tennis Day! Today April 23rd marks the celebration of our sport around the globe. On this day table tennis clubs players coaches umpires volunteers associations and partners come together to commemorate the sport they love and the camaraderie it fosters. This year the message of World Table Tennis Day is clear: think sustainably act now! It is essential that we all recognize the need for sustainability and take action to preserve our planet. This is a message that resonates not just in sports but in all aspects of our lives. We need to be mindful of the impact our actions have on the environment and take steps to mitigate it. ETTU is committed to sustainability: as one of the objectives in our Strategic Plan for 2023-2028 sustainability is a top priority for us. To promote sustainability among our stakeholders we have put sustainability at the centre of our latest event the European U21 Championships in Sarajevo under the theme: Spin towards Sustainability. During the event we made a conscious effort to be carbon neutral by not using any kind of transportation to move from the hotel to the venue avoiding the use of plastic bottles and discussing among the EB members what steps can be taken to make ETTU more sustainable in the future. It is essential that sports organizations like ETTU take a leadership role in promoting sustainability not only using our platform to reach a broad audience but implementing changes that can have a significant impact. In conclusion on this World Table Tennis Day let us celebrate our love for the sport while also being mindful of the impact we have on our planet. Together we can make a difference and create a better world for future generations Follow the ITTF Foundation 24h Live Stream here.
2024 European Under 21 Championships awarded to North Macedonia
After successful presentation during the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo ETTU Executive Board awarded 2024 European Under 21 Championships to North Macedonia Federation. The Championships will be held in Skopje. “Executive Board was impressed by North Macedonia bid to the 2024 U-21 European Championships. We also had a very positive feedback after last month inspection visit confirming hotel and venue are linked avoiding further transportation for participants and complying with ETTU sustainability goals described on our Strategic Plan. While we are trying to bring European table tennis events to all over Europe we very much trust the experience of the North Macedonia Table Tennis Association in organizing international competitions being very confident the 2024 U-21 European Championships will be another ETTU great event ” said ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA. Table Tennis Federation of North Macedonia works independently since 1991 and in past years has organized a number of International events and regional tournaments such as: Balkan Youth Championships in 2019 ITTF Junior Circuit in 2019 WTT Youth Star Contender in 2022. “After a number of successfully organised Regional and World Youth competitions we clearly intended to present our Association as a credible partner for ETTU. Our aim is to prove ourselves as organizers of big International events with a European touch. We believe that this should be the first interim step ahead of organisation of other big youth and senior Continental events ” said NMTTF President Goran TILOVSKI. The benefits of European Championships are manifold. “Organisation of such Continental event will give huge local impact both in terms of developments support for our youth players as well as will strongly motivate and increase the pace of development of our local Federation. Organisation of Continental event in our country will further increase the credibility of the Table Tennis Association of North Macedonia in the eye of the local state and sport stakeholders as well as will bring the cooperation with ETTU to the next level.” The venue of the Championships will be the “Jane SANDANSKI” Arena with the hotel as a part of the sport complex. The capacity of the bigger hall is 6.500 whilst the smaller venue with the capacity of 800 seats will be used as a training hall. The Arena was opened in August 2014.
Busy agenda at the ETTU Executive Board meeting last week in Sarajevo
ETTU Executive Board meeting was held in Sarajevo during the European Under 21 Championships under the leadership of Acting President Pedro MOURA. The two days meeting was attended by EB members: Acting President Pedro MOURA Acting Deputy-President Heike AHLERT Vice-President for Finances Sandra DEATON Vice-President Sonja GREFBERG Vice-President Ina JOZEPSONE Vice-President Miguel VICENS Athletes Commission Chair Chiara COLANTONI Secretary General Pierre KASS Deputy Secretary General Galia DVORAK. While Executive Board was updated on 2022 and 2023 ETTU financial situation the ETTU official representation during next World Table Tennis Championships in Durban and the Memorandum of Understanding with TT Cup some very important and strategic decisions were taken towards the future: Development Program Manager will present Executive Board a plan to financial support the Member Associations willing to participate on the new Europe Youth Series. The Executive Board confirmed to introduce a Final 4 event starting with the 2023-2024 season for both Champions League men and women and confirmed to reintroduce quarter finals with home and away matches for the Champions League men. An open tender will be finalised for the Final 4. The EB has also approved a proposal to change the system of play for the “Stage 1” of the European Team Championships considering international calendar busy schedule. In the proposal the 18 best teams will be directly qualified to the Final Stage of the European Championships. The Final Stage will be played by 24 teams with the current system of play. All the teams which are not directly qualified will compete for the remaining 6 spots (or the remaining 5 spots in case the host team of the final stage is not qualified directly) at the “Stage 1”. All the matches of this stage will be played in one event and one location. The system of play of the “Stage 1” will consist of a group stage and a knockout stage. A regulation proposal will be prepared for the ETTU Congress in Malmö. Finally followed by the ITTF Executive Board announcement regarding the endorsement of the recent statement from the International Olympic Committee ETTU Executive Board discussed the same topic of the status of players with a Russian or Belarusian passport in the international competitions. The Executive Board accepted by majority of the votes to join a working group with ITTF and the Russian Table Tennis Federation. “This working group has the objective to evaluate a possible pathway for the return of Russian and Belorussian players to ETTU competitions under IOC and ITTF recent recommendations ” said Acting President Pedro MOURA.
