The matches in Doubles event opened the second day of play at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. Main favorites were free in the first round of the main draw. In Women’s doubles event top seeded pairings from Turkiye Ece HARAC and Ozge YILMAZ will play tomorrow in second round against the combination of Lithuania and Norway Kornelija RILYSKITE and Martine TOFTAKER. In the opening duel RILYSKITE and TOFTAKER beat Arianna BARANI and Valentina RONACALLO of Italy in straight games. On the lower half of the draw Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Elena ZAHARIA of Romania will meet Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO and Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine who overcame pairings from Czechia Anna KLEMPEREROVA and Helena SOMMEROVA. The opening round produced few fierce and long matches. Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU of Greece and Helga DARI of Hungary went full distance to overcame Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria and Enisa SADIKOVIC of Luxembourg. It was the same scenario for Spain’s Ainhoa CRISTOBAL and Eugenia SASTRE who faced very strong duo from Bosnia and Herzegovina Dzana BIOGRADLIC and Harisa MESETOVIC. Julie VAN HAUWAERT of Belgium and Sara TOKIC of Slovenia overcame Austria’s Anastasiya STERNER and Spain’s Silvia COLL in five games. Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany and Luciana MITROFAN of Romania also were under pressure against Ema CUNCUROVA of Slovakia and Iolanta YEVTODII of Ukraine. In Men’s Doubles Event top seeds and last year’s winners Ivor BAN of Croatia and Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary tomorrow will clash with Filip DELINCAK and Adam KLAJBER of Slovakia. Slovakias pairings overcame Tom CLOSSET of Belgium and Miha PODOBNIK of Slovenia in the opening round. Polish duo Maciej KUBIK and Samuel KULCZYCKI will face Flavian COTON and Aleis KOURAICHI of France. French pairing went full distance in the opening round in the match against Elias HARDMEIER and Mauro SCHARRER of Switzerland. Last year Italy’s John OYEBODE partnering Carlo ROSSI won silver but today with Borgar HAUG of Norway he was 1:2 down before managed to recover to beat Miguel NUNEZ and Arnau PONS of Spain.
KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg crowned champions for a third time
Poland’s KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg defended their title in the Champions League Women and for a third time in four years they won the trophy. In the final they overcame French Metz TT in both legs and both times the duels ended in three straight matches. In the return leg HAN Ying YANG Xiaoxin and Elizabeta SAMARA justified their status and overcame Adina DIACONU Mariia TAILAKOVA and Pauline CHASSELIN. In the opening leg YU Fu was played at the position no. 3. “We are so happy that we won this trophy. I think it is the result not on only of us being a good as a team but also of us being good friends and supporting each other. Despite what result predicts this match was harder then the opening leg because we were under pressure not to make mistake. Metz played much more relaxed. Unfortunately we do not have a lot of time to celebrate tomorrow we have to travel to China to Champions ” said HAN Ying. Elizabeta will be at the same plane so nothing of long celebration tonight. “Not that we defended our title but we also proved as a best team in Europe by finishing this season unbeaten. We didn’t not lose single match. That is really nice feeling and we are very happy.’ What stands behind this success? “We have a rule and that rule is made by us – girls. Each has to pick and to win one match. And we follow that rule. It is not easy the pressure is high now I am really tired but also happy I maintained my mental stability and we proved our worth. Speaking of celebration we will do it next month after China Macao and BANKOK ” added SAMARA. KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg – Metz TT 3:0 HAN Ying – Adina DIACONU 3:0 (11:6 11:8 11:9) YANG Xiaoxin – Mariia TAILAKOVA 3:1 (11;2 15:13 7:11 11;70 Elizabeta SAMARA – Pauline CHASSELIN 3;0 (11:7 11:8 11:8)
The upsets highlighted the Group stages in Men’s Singles
Same as in Women’s Groups lower ranked players managed to upset the favorites on the opening day of play at the European Under 21 Championships in Sarajevo. Materusz ZALEWSKI of Poland seeded third in Group 7 beat top seeded David SZATOSI of Hungary 4:0 and Pierre KASES of Austria 4:2. No. two seed Simon BELIK of Czechia also prevailed against SZATOSI and KASSES. Another underdog Daniel LINDSO of Sweden rankaed only at the position no. four in Group 8 beat no. one Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia and Tom CLOSSET of Belgium. Kas VAN OOST of Netherlands beat Borna PETEK of Croatia and come back from verge of the defeat by recovering from 0:3 to beat Ondrej KVETON of Czechia 4:3. In the top Group of the qualifications Borgar HAUG of Norway lost to Flavien COTON of France; in Group 2 Hugo DESCHAMPS of France overcame Miguel NUNEZ of Spain and Balazs LEI of Hungary. Ivor BAN of Croatia prevailed against Mauro SCHARRER of Switzerland and Nicolas DEGROS of Belgium. The last round of Group phase will be played tonight and from tomorrow top eight players in singles will join qualifiers.
Challengers put a pressure on favorites on the opening day in Sarajevo
The opening matches in Women’s Singles Group phase in the Under 21 European Championships in Sarajevo proved no one is safe – favorites faced serious challenges from the early hours. Top seeded player in the qualification stages Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania was forced to go full distance against Anastasiya STERNER of Austria before she won her opening match in Group 1. Next match against Karlijn VAN LIEROP of Netherlands she won in straight games. No. one in Group 2 Helga DARI of Hungary went full distance in both matches. She was challenged by Sara TOKIC of Slovenia and Mari BALDWIN of England. In Group 3 Isa COK of France had less troubled path. She easily overcame Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIU of Greece and Ainhoa CRISTOBAL of Spain. Whist the favorites in top two groups were challenged but prevailed Ece HARAC of Turkiye failed to find the answer to pressure. In Group 4 she lost to Naomi PRANJKOVIC of Germany and Emine ERNST of Netherlands. Both players accounted for Dzana BIOGRADLIC from BiH and concluded first two rounds unbeaten. Valentina RONCALLO of Italy prevailed against Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland to upset the rankings. She also beat Helena SOMMEROVA of Czechia to move to the leading position in Group 11. Romania’s Bianca MEI ROSU beat Julie VAN HAUWAERT of Belgium and Leah TVEIT MUSKANTOR of Sweden. Anne AVEZOU of France justified her status with two wins over Matilda HANSSON of Sweden and Jana VASENDOVA of Czechia. Anastasiaya DYMYTRENKO of Ukraine was stretched to full distance against Martine TOFTAKER of Norway and Natalia BOGDANOWICZ of Poland. The list of unbeaten players in opening rounds gores with Anna BRZYSKA of Poland Sophia KLEE of Germany Luciana MITROFAN of Romania and Anna HURSEY of Wales.
European U21 Championships commenced in Sarajevo: 112 players from 32 countries arrived in BiH
The European Under 21championship commenced today in Sarajevo with 112 best players on duty in Men’s and Women’s Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles Events. The organization of this major competition is entrusted to the Table Tennis Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina which today held a media conference at the Hills Hotel in Ilidža the venue of the table tennis duels in next five days. Anes ALIĆ Director of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation welcomed all the guests to Sarajevo. “This is the first time that the European Table Tennis Championship under the age of 21 is being held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In terms of strength this is the second championship in Europe and only the senior European championship is higher in rating than it. This was a big challenge for the Table Tennis Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We knew that a large and demanding organization was waiting for us. The first reactions are excellent and we believe that we will fulfill all the expectations by the end of the European Championship” said Anes ALIĆ. The Mayor of Ilidža Municipality Nermin MUZUR who visited the guests from Europe on the first day of the competition also addressed the journalists . “We are glad that the Municipality of Ilidža when it comes to table tennis is hosting such a big competition. In the last few years the Municipality has become the center of sports events both in Sarajevo Canton and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I hope it will be like that in the future as well” emphasized Nermin MUZUR. Amela MUJEZINOVIĆ general secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the coaches of our teams Vladimir IVANEK and Emina HADŽIAHMETOVIĆ spoke about the importance of the performance of the BiH national team. All the participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina KARIĆ who on Friday April 7 at the Olympic Museum in Sarajevo will organize a reception for ETTU leaders and guests on the occasion of the European Championship and the 50th anniversary of the World Table Tennis Championship (Stens) which was held in Sarajevo back in 1973. The fights for medals will be on program on Sunday April 9.
GV Hennebont TT clinched the title in the Europe Cup
The winners of the Europe Cup 2019 GV Hennebont TT repeated the success and clinched the crown tonight. They overcame 2018 winners K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo. In the opening leg Polish club won 3:2 but tonight French side recorded 3:1 win. Like last week in the opening leg Kristian KARLSSON was the backbone of club’s success. He did not lose the match in this final. Tonight he overcame both Jonathan GROTH and Jakub DYJAS. CHUANG Chih-Yuan added third point to the scoreline. “We are extremely happy that we won this title in our new center in Hennebont. It is first title here for Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS CHUANG and for me and it is great. We won Europe Cup title now and there is one more to go ” said KARLSSON. GV Hennebont TT – K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo 3:1 Kristian KARLSSON – Jonathan GROTH 3:0 (11:6 11:3:11:1) CHUANG Chih-Yuan – Jakub DYJAS 3:1 (11:7 9:11 11:6 11:1) Anders LIND – Kaii KONISHI 1:3 (9:11 11:9 2:11 6:11) Kristian KARLSSON – Jakub DYJAS 3:0 (12:10 11:9 11:6)
Camille LUTZ ready for the challenge in Sarajevo
The European Under 21 Championships commences on Wednesday in Sarajevo. By the end of the week we will have crowned champions in Singles Doubles and Mixed Doubles Events for a seventh time since ETTU launched this Championships in 2017 in Sochi. The leading names in their respective Men’s and Women’s Singles Events are Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland and Camille LUTZ of France. Camille’s best results at the European Championships so far are gold in Mixed Doubles in 2021 in the Category under 19. Same year she clinched bronze in Team’s Event at the Europeans and won the title at the Europe Top 10 in Under 19. French player is ready for the challenge in Sarajevo. “I am in good shape. I played a lot of matches since the beginning of 2023 so I am well prepared ” stated LUTZ.” I played at the Feeder in Antalya and I lost first round match to Ando from Japan. In addition I played in Singapore Smash and I last in qualifying stage but I managed to qualify for the main draw in WTT Amman. Overall I played 6 WTT matches since January and I have a lot of matches from National league and European Champions League.” In women’s singles below LUTZ are: Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia Ozge YILMAZ of Turkiye Charlotte LUTZ of France Elena ZAHARIA of Romania Nicole ARLIA of Italy Ines MATOS of Portugal and Mia GRIESEL of Germany. They are all directly qualified for the Stage two. Elena ZAHARIA is the reigning champion in singles. Ozge YILMAZ won the title in Doubles last year in Cluj and in 2021 in Belgium’s Spa. “Everybody is playing good. A lot of good younger players that I never played against will be there. I will be ready to fight against everyone ” promised LUTZ. “My goal is to win every match I will play. This tournament is long so I am taking it step by step.” It will be Camille’s first visit to capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I think is nice that different countries are hosting major ETTU event. I hope it will help table tennis to grow. It will be my first in Sarajevo “said LUTZ.
1 FC Saarbrücken TT clinched the Champions League title in nerves wrecking final
For a first time 1 FC Saarbrücken TT clinched the title in the Champions League Men. They halted Borussia Düsseldorf in the final and denied them of winning seventh title. In the re-run of the ultimate stage of the last completed season two German clubs switched roles. It took five grueling duels and golden match to decide the winner. The medals were presented by ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA. The “regular” second leg of the final ended in favor of 1 FC Saarbrücken TT. Guests recovered from being 1:2 in reverse to win the match. In the opening duel QIU Dang proved that he did not lose the steam from the Friday’s 3:2 win. He overcame Darko Jorgic in four games. Anton KÄLLBERG proceeded with the same power and with 1:0 and 2:0 in second match Borussia Düsseldorf was in driving seat. However Patrick FRANZISKA had different plans. He managed to recover; Patrick levelled before eventually won the second match by death point. Kay STUMPER beat Takuya JIN to give advantage to hosts once again before Patrick FRANZISKA won his second duel tonight against QIU. In last duel JORGIC was in control and he beat KÄLLBERG to push to the golden match. In the golden match QIU Dang opened the duel with the game against Takuya JIN. Without due alarm he won it but it was reverse scenario for Anton KÄLLBERG and Kay STUMPER. Patrick FRANZISKA beat Anton for a second time tonight and JORGIC justified his rankings against STUMPER. “The whole team is very proud of this victory. We lost the opening match but we came here believing in ourselves and our team. This is the huge success for the whole club and the whole Region. The match could not been closer. It took a lot of courage and luck to win such close match. It is hard to talk now but I hope in day or two we will realize how huge victory we achieved ” said Patrick FRANZISKA. JORGIC also was struggling to find the words. “After four and the half hours of thrilling matches it is hard to find the words. We lost at home 2:3 but we kept believing that we could win. We showed amazing performance already in Saarbrücken three days ago but Borussia Düsseldorf was too strong then. Today I had a good start but then Dang proved once again how strong he is especially mentally. He played with so many variations. He played superbly also against Patrick but FRANZISKA showed why he is the captain of this team and he led us to the victory. He won all his duels today.” said JORGIC. Tactics prevailed in golden match. “We knew Dang will play first game and that is why JIN was the starter for Saarbrücken. Last time he beat Dang but tonight he did not created much chances. FRANZISKA was at the top of his game and he did not make any mistake. Against STUMPER at the end I played with little bit more spin very bravely to finish the match ” added JORGIC.”This is our first title in Champions League and we looking forward next challenges.” Tonight the team will celebrate. “This was amazing final. We were fighting like crazy. It was unbelievable atmosphere with so many spectators and this is unbelievable result ” said Saarbrücken spokesman Nicolas BARRIOS. Borussia Düsseldorf’s headcoach Danny HEISTER stated: “The sticking point today was the three match balls we had. If one of them had been put on the table we would be here differently now. It was a very close game. It’s nice to see that Kay delivered very well. Unfortunately Dang gave away the three match balls and Anton was always close. He improved a bit after the game in Saarbrücken but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Of course it is bitter when you lose but life goes on. We gave it our all.” Borussia Düsseldorf – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 2:3 QIU Dang – Darko JORGIC 3:1 (9:11 11:9 11:7 11:7) Anton KÄLLBERG – Patrick FRANZISKA 2:3 (11:8 11:9 7:11 8:11 5:6) Kay STUMPER – Takuya JIN 3:0 (11:6 11:9 11:9) QIU Dang – Patrick FRANZISKA 2:3 (9:11 8:11 11:8 12:10 5:6) Anton KÄLLBERG – Darko JORGIC 1:3 (9:11 6:11 11:6 11:13) Golden match Borussia Düsseldorf – 1. FC Saarbrücken 1:2 QIU Dang – Takuya JIN 11:7 Anton KÄLLBERG – Patrick FRANZISKA 6:11 Kay STUMPER – Darko JORGIC 9:11
ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari SH won the opening leg of the final
In the Final of the Europe Cup Women ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari overcome SH ITB Budaörsi Sport Club and secured opening leg victory. Georgina POTA gave guests two points but Italian side proved they have stronger team. Both Andreea DRAGOMAN and Tania Maria PLAIAN lost to POTA but they both accounted for Helga DARI. Edem OFFIONG beat Maria FAZEKAS to give club from Cagliari third point. “I am so proud of my team and for the result that we have reached this night. Even if we had some difficulties we managed to win in the end. I am also very happy for my game I played unbelievable matches with strong players and now we are focusing to win also in Hungary. We will do our best to win this final ” promised Tania PLAIAN. ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari- SH ITB Budaörsi Sport Club 3:2 Andreea DRAGOMAN – Adel Helga DARI 3:1 (10:12 13:11 11:4 11:8) Tania Maria PLAIAN – Georgina POTA 3:0 (11:9 11:5 11:8) Edem OFFIONG – Maria FAZEKAS 0:3 (6:11 6:11 8:11) Andreea DRAGOMAN – Georgina POTA 1:3 (12:10 8:11 8:11 7:11) Tania Maria PLAIAN- Adel Helga DARI 3:0 (11:8 11:9 11:2)
Second Italian Supercup in a row for Apuania Carrara
The Men’s Italian Supercup was a very tough challenge. In the Villa Dante gym the Italian champions Top Spin Messina WatchesTogether and the winners of the Italian Cup of Apuania Carrara fought on an equal footing. In the end the Tuscans prevailed 5-3 (the rewards were presented by the federal vice president Paolo PUGLISI) and they raised the trophy for the second time in a row equalling their opponents’ record (they won in 2019 and 2020). “We are very happy with this victory ” coach Claudio VOLPI explained “which came at the end of a very exciting challenge. The matches between us and Top Spin Messina are always close and this time the result could have been different. It’s hard to win and it doesn’t take much to lose. Even a little luck is important. There have been many ups and downs on both sides and you always have to pay attention to the details which are crucial to win. GACINA scored three points but the matches against MONTEIRO and Matteo MUTTI were on the razor’s edge. The games often started in one way and then took a different turn. PUCAR and BOBOCICA lost to Matteo despite having been ahead for a long time in the games and Tomislav in the last match suffered the comeback of RECH DALDOSSO and in the fifth game had to recover and prevailed narrowly. Top Spin was a point short of going to the ninth singles. It was really a great battle”. TABLE 1 Leonardo MUTTI – Andrej GACINA 1-3 (6-11 6-11 14-12 9-11) Matteo MUTTI – Tomislav PUCAR 3-1 (11-9 6-11 12-10 12-10) Leonardo MUTTI – Tomislav PUCAR 0-3 (8-11 9-11 7-11) Marco RECH DALDOSSO- Tomislav PUCAR 2-3 (8-11 5-11 12-10 11-4 5-6) TABLE 2 João MONTEIRO – Mihai BOBOCICA 3-0 (11-7 11-8 14-12) João MONTEIRO – Andrej GACINA 1-3 (15-17 11-8 8-11 6-11) Matteo MUTTI – Mihai BOBOCICA 3-1 (13-11 11-9 6-11 13-11) Matteo MUTTI – Andrej GACINA 0-3 (8-11 9-11 9-11)
