European Veterans Championships 2023 will be held from 25. June to 1. July 2023 at Oslofjord Convention Center in Sandefjord Norway. Numbers are rising day by day and the limit is set to 4000 participants. “While we are approaching a very ETTU busy summer we are really excited to host the European masters table tennis community at Sandefjord an unique and beautiful city of Norway full of history and traditions. The European Veterans Table Tennis Championships are always a successful event where you can mix table tennis competition with some leisure times making it one of our most ETTU marquee event ” said ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA. EVC2023 is a “One Village-One Venue”-event to be held on the resort Oslofjord Convention Center. Accomodation with breakfast lunch and dinner is offered at the resort as well as activities and entertainment on site. Accomodation and food is fully refundable until a week before the event making it safe to book now. All details entry system booking of accomodation and food sightseeing and airport transfers can be found on www.evc2023.com.
GROTH or LIND in fight for sixth title in Denmark
During the the 81 Danish championships the Danish Association will celebrate its 80th birthday. In Men’s Singles Jonathan GROTH and Anders LIND the two best players have both won the Danish championships in singles five times. But they have never met each other in big tournaments. However now they both participate in the Danish Championships in the coming week-end in Gladsaxe a suburb in Copenhagen. And the week after they will meet in the finals of the Europe Cup when KS Dekorglass Działdowo will clash against GV Hennebont TT ( 1. and 4. of April). Jonathan GROTH is seedet as number 1 and Anders LIND is seeded number 2 at top of the veteran Allan BENTSEN who is seeded no.3 and Tobias RASMUSSEN as number 4. Allan BENTSEN is recorholder in Denmark with 58 Danish championships and furthermore 3 Swedish and 5 Croatian championships. There are 73 players in men singles . In Women’s singles 18 players want to be the new queen in Danish table tennis. The champion from 2021 Sophie WALLØE is top seeded with the champion from 2022 Jocefina HAAGENSEN seeded as number 2. Jonathan GROTH and Anders LIND do not play doubles in the coming week-end and therefore the run for the double title is quite open. In men’s double Martin Buch ANDERSEN Virum and Tobias RASMUSSEN Hvidovre are topseeded and as number two are seeded Thor B. CHRISTENSEN Herlev and Peter SVENNINGSEN Hillerød. Thor B. CHRISTENSEN has won the mens double together with Anders LIND the last three years. The two top seeded in women’s singles Sophie WALLØE and Jocefina HAAGENSEN are favourites in womens double. Sophie WALLØE Hvidovre is top seeded in all three events. In mixed doubles she plays with Tobias RASMUSSEN Hvidovre . The champions from 2022 Emma Vendelbo CLEMENT and Theo DYEKJÆR Virum are seedet as number 3.
Czechia National Championship will take place in Havířov
After two years break both men and women will fight for championship titles in the National Training Centre in Havířov. This season’s climax will take place in Northern Moravia from the 24th to the 26th of March. Last year’s singles titles from Kutná Hora belong to David REITŠPIES and Kateřina TOMANOVSKÁ. In the doubles the winners were Tomáš MARTINKO and Šimon BĚLÍK Tamara TOMANOVÁ and Markéta ŠEVČÍKOVÁ as well as Petr DAVID and Kristýna ŠEFCOVÁ. All the best Czech players will fight for the ultimate prize this year. In the men’s singles Tomáš POLANSKÝ Lubomír JANČAŘÍK Jiří MARTINKO or Pavel ŠIRUČEK. In the women’s singles Hana MATELOVÁ Kateřina TOMANOVSKÁ Zdena BLAŠKOVÁ and others. The one that will be missed is last year’s champion David REITŠPIES. The biggest favorite among women will be Hana MATELOVÁ currently the 34th player in the World ranking. “I’m really looking forward to the tournament. I like this event a lot. I didn’t take part last year because I was competing in Qatar. This time I will fight for the trophy. I practice with all my adversaries here so we all know each other well. It will depend on who’ll have the best form at the weekend. I hope I will be the one who takes gold ” says MATELOVÁ. The graduate of Havířov table tennis Pavel ŠIRUČEK will compete in men’s singles competition at the National championship for the first time after two years. “I missed the last two years due to injury. So I’m looking forward to it even more this time. It takes place in Havířov where I spent many years. Lubomír JANČAŘÍK and Tomáš POLANSKÝ are the favourites. They showed great form not so long ago in Singapore. I’d like to be the black horse of the tournament. I’ve had decent form lately as you could tell from the Extraliga results. The others know I will be dangerous. But the same goes for Jiří MARTINKO. I believe I can reach the latter stages and maybe fight for the title ” explained ŠIRUČEK.
France concluded Stage one unbeaten
In the last round in Group A3 in the Stage one of the European Championships Teams France beat Serbia in the Men’s Event. The match was played in Insep Paris. France concluded the first stage unbeaten and moved directly to the final stage of the European Championships to be played this Autmn in Malmo. England is also at the list by finishing second in the Group with two wins and two defeat. Serbia failed to post any victories so the team will look for their chance in May in second stage tournament to be played in Osijek Croatia. France – Serbia 3:0 Leo De NODREST – Aleksa GACEV 3:1 (11:6 12:10 6:11 11:7) Irvin BERTRAND – Dimitrije LEVAJAC 3:1 (9:11 11:5 12:10 11:7) Lilian BARDET – Nemanja DILAS 3:1 (11:6 11:6 9:11 11:9)
MORRISON and LEGGETT triumph at Nationals
The Table Tennis Scotland organized the Nationals Championships in the Bells Sports Centre. Calum MORRISON and Faye LEGGETT clinched the gold medals in their respective Men’s and Women’s Singles. In the final Calum MORRISON beat Martin JOHNSON. Previously for the third National Championships in a row Gavin RUMGAY and Martin JOHNSON met each other in the semi-finals and Martin ended Gavin`s quest for a 17th National Men’s title. Number two Danny BAJWA faced off against Calum MORRISON in another all left handers battle and Calum took the match in four sets to move to his first singles final. In the Women’s final Faye LEGGETT beat Rebecca PLAISTOW. Semi finalists are Lucy ELLIOTT and Ailsa KHALID. Full report you can see here.
Liam PITCHFORD and Paul DRINKHALL will return to the English National Championships this weekend
Liam PITCHFORD and Paul DRINKHALL will return to the English National Championships this weekend after missing last year’s event. The Mark BATES Ltd National Championships is at the University of Nottingham from Friday March 24 until Sunday March 26. Last year PITCHFORD was playing in the WTT Contender Doha and DRINKHALL was injured. Both have won the men’s singles six times and if one of them wins their seventh title it would put them in second place on the all-time list behind Desmond Douglas who won 11 times. Last year’s winner Tom JARVIS is the third seed and Sam WALKER is fourth. In the Women’s Singles Maria TSAPTSINOS won last year but she has now retired from playing to concentrate on her career in TV production. Tin-Tin HO is the overwhelming favourite to win her fifth singles title – no one else in the entry list has ever won the title. The other top four seeds are Denise PAYET Emily BOLTON and Mollie PATTERSON. It is a young list – Bolton is the oldest of the top eight seeds at the age of 25. In the para competitions Paralympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Ross WILSON leads the Class 6-10 entries along with Paralympic medallist Aaron MCKIBBIN and doubles world champion Billy SHILTON. Fliss PICKARD another para doubles world champion has qualified for the Women’s Singles. In the Class 2-5 singles Commonwealth Games gold and Paralympic bronze medallist Jack HUNTER-SPIVEY and Toko 2020 bronze medallist Megan SHACKLETON are the top seeds. As well as the singles there are doubles and under-21 singles events plus two showcase para doubles matches. PITCHFORD and DRINKHALL are top seeds in the men’s doubles HO and BOLTON are the No 1 pair in the women’s doubles and PITCHFORD and HO head the mixed doubles seedings.
Cagliari will host Italian Championships for the first time
Italian Championships will take place this year for the first time in Sardegna and the venue will be PalaPirastu in Cagliari. Competition starts on Thursday (23 March) with Women’s Men’s and mixed doubles whilst the semi finals and finals are scheduled for Sunday. The titleholder in singles is Giorgia PICCOLIN (Centro Sportivo Esercito) in Women’s category and Niagol STOYANOV (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) in Men’s. PICCOLIN won the last four editions (2018 2019 2021 2022) and last year in the finals beat Nikoleta STEFANOVA (CIATT Prato) who still holds the record with 11 titles (from 2001 to 2016). The other favourites are Debora VIVARELLI (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Nicole ARLIA and Gaia MONFARDINI (TT Castel Goffredo) Tan WENLING (CIATT Prato) who won in 2008 and Chiara COLANTONI (CIATT Prato). In the Men’s singles STOYANOV won three times (2014 2018 and 2022) Mihai BOBOCICA (Aeronautica Militare) six times (2007-2009-2011-2012-2013-2017 Leonardo MUTTI (Aeronautica Militare) twice (2015 e 2019) and Marco RECH DALDOSSO (Aeronautica Militare) two times too (2016 and 2021). The others who might reach the podium are Matteo MUTTI (Top Spin Messina) Antonino AMATO (Marcozzi Cagliari) Andrea PUPPO (Apuania Carrara) John OYEBODE (TT Sassari) Daniele PINTO (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Jordy PICCOLIN (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) the finalist in 2022 Carlo ROSSI (Marcozzi Cagliari) Francisco SANCHI (TT Torino). In the Women’s doubles the best pairings are Giorgia PICCOLIN and Debora VIVARELLI Gaia MONFARDINI and Tan WENLING the winners of last years Nicole ARLIA and Nikoleta STEFANOVA and Chiara COLANTONI and Arianna BARANI. In the Men’s doubles John OYEBODE and Jordy PICCOLIN won last year and the other favorites are Matteo MUTTI and Leonardo MUTTI Marco RECH DALDOSSO and Alessandro BACIOCCHI Francisco SANCHI and Carlo ROSSI and Antonino AMATO and Daniele PINTO. In the mixed doubles Niagol STOYANOV and Giorgia PICCOLIN will defend the title and the other candidates to win a medal are Jordy PICCOLIN and Debora VIVARELLI John OYEBODE and Gaia MONFARDINI Carlo ROSSI and Nicole ARLIA Leonardo MUTTI and Chiara COLANTIONI Antonino AMATO and Nikoleta STEFANOVA and Marco RECH DALDOSSO and Le Thi Hong LOAN.
The First Eurotalents Camp Of 2023 Successfully Concluded Last Week In Izvorani
Eurotalent Development Camp U13 the first Eurotalents camp of the year 2023 was held from March 12 to March 19 in Izvorani Romania. The training camp was attended by players and coaches from 13 different countries including Azerbaijan Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Lithuania Spain England France Italy Ireland Turkey Romania and Ukraine. Ana SEBE the head coach of the camp expressed her gratitude to the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and the Romanian Table Tennis Federation (FRTM) for the opportunity to lead the training camp for the third time. Sebe added that the training camp focused on improving the players’ table tennis skills physical training and included educational sessions. “I think it’s very important to improve something every day looking for progress and future champions and pro players ” said SEBE. One of the highlights of the camp was the educational session conducted by Mr. Valeriu TOMESCU Director of Human Performance Laboratory at the Romanian Olympic Committee on March 15. He presented his work on “Evaluation and monitoring in sport ” which was well-received by the participants. The camp provided young table tennis players with the opportunity to train with and learn from their peers and experienced coaches from different countries. Eurotalent Development Camp U13 was the first Eurotalents camp held this year demonstrating the ETTU and FRTM’s commitment to the development of young table tennis players in Europe.
ETTU has kicked off the year with a bang
The European Table Tennis Union has kicked off the year with a bang as a series of evelopment activities were organised by its Member Associations. The first of these activities was the National Association Assistance Program activity held in Nantes France from the 5th to the 10th of March. The Pôle France of Nantes of the French Federation which is identified as an “ETTU network training center ” hosted an exchange training program. The program involved four players and two coaches from the English Federation who were able to train with the French team for a week. The training sessions aimed to share best practices between the coaches and players with both parties learning a lot from each other. This fruitful experience is expected to be repeated with other nations in the future. The Nantes training center is a brand new facility that moved to new premises in September 2021. The center has since been regularly welcoming players and coaches providing a perfect platform for training and development. Following the Nantes camp the Eurotalents development camp was held in Izvorani Romania from the 12th to the 19th of March and the next development activity on the ETTU calendar is the Eurotalents Selection Camp in Havirov Czech Republic from the 2nd to the 8th of April. This camp aims to identify and select the best young players in Europe who will then receive training and support from experienced coaches to help them reach their full potential. The Eurotalents program is a key initiative for the ETTU that helps to develop a strong pipeline of talent for the future which is crucial for the long-term growth and success of the sport.
TT Joué les Tours won the Europe Trophy Grand Final in Mirandela
The Europe Trophy Grand Final in Mirandela concluded with the won of the French TT Joué les Tours. On the final hurdle they succeeded against Greek club ASEA Sarises Florinas. In the ultimate stage Audrey ZARIF LI He and Nolwenn FORT overcame Bernadett BALINT LIU Judith and Despoina AMPA in straight matches. “It is first time for the club that we won the European Trophy and we are very happy. I hope we will be equally successful next season in t he Europe Cup ” said coach Hugo BERGER. Audrey ZARIF added: “It was a long week-end with a lot of matches. Our goal was to win and we did it! It was really important for the club to win this title so we gave our best. Some matches was more difficult than other we won all the matches 3/0 so that nice.” In the semi final Entente Saint Pierraise TT faced first defeat at the tournament. Greece’s ASEA Sarises Florinas caused the big upset and won the difficult five matches duel to secure the ultimate stage. They were 2:0 up before they withstood spirited comeback from Entente Saint Pierraise TT to win the place in the final in the decisive match. “We had very tough match to reach the final but we know how difficult will be against next adversary. We already lost to Joue Les Tours in the group phase. However we will stay focused and we will fight hard ” said coach Mark PINK before the final. Joue Les Tours was the first team proceeding to the final. They overcame Croatia’s STK Aquaestil Duga Resa. “We are really happy that we won this match. We will give our best to win this Trophy ” said Audrey ZARIF. On the opening day Joue Les Tours overcame Portugal’s Uniao Sebastianense F.C Norway’s B-72 and Greek ASEA Sarises Florinas. Final ASEA Sarises Florinas – TT Joué les Tours 0:3 Bernadett BALINT – Audrey ZARIF 2:3 (11:7 8:11 4:11 11:9 1:6) LIU Judith – LI He 1:3 (6:11 9:11 13:11 4:11) Despoina AMPA – Nolwenn FORT 0:3 (9:11 7:11 4:11) Semi final Entente Saint Pierraise TT – ASEA Sarises Florinas 2:3 Stephanie LOEUILLETTE – LIU Judith 2:3 (11:7 11:4 4:11 7:11 4:6) Lucie GAUTHIER – Bernadett BALINT 0:3 (9:11 8:11 5:11) Jeanne ROBBES – Despoina AMPA 3:0 (11:8 11:5 11:6) Stephanie LOEUILLETTE – Bernadett BALINT 3:0 (11:6 11:9 11:6) Lucie GAUTHIER – LIU Judith 1:3 (11:9 7:11 8:11 6:11) TT Joué les Tours – STK Aquaestil Duga Resa 3:0 Audrey ZARIF – Leeloo HAN VUKELJA 3:0 (12:10 11:5 11:5) LI He – Xue HAN VUKELJA 3:2 (11:5 11:2 9:11 5:11 6:4) Nolwenn FORT – Sofija SHEREDEHA 3:0 (11:3 11:6 13:11) Match for 5th position CTM MIRANDELA – Uniao Sebastianense F.C. 2:3 Ines MATOS – Cecilia AKPAN 3:2 (11:9 11:5 3:11 5:11 6:2) Matilde PINTO – Raquel MARTINS 3:0 (11:7 11:2 11:4) Mariana SANTA COMBA – Leila OLIVEIRA 0:3 (7:11 9:11 12:14) Ines MATOS – Raquel MARTINS 0:3 (9:11 8:11 9:11) Matilde PINTO – Cecilia AKPAN 2:3 (11:9 9:11 11:7 3:11 0:6) Match for 7th position HB Ostrov Havlíčkův Brod – B-72 3:0 Tereza PYTLIKOVA – Maria HORGEN 3:0 (11:2 11:5 11:6) Aneta SIRUCKOVA – Vivian HUYNH 3:0 (11:4 11:2 11:5) Anna STRANSKA -wo
