In Bucharest Bernadette SZOCS and Ovidiu IONESCU are crowned champions in their respective Women’s and Men’s Singles Event at the Romania National Championships held this weekend. SZOCS defended the title she won last year and added two more on the record. “I am very happy because I won again the 3 national titles at the National Championships ! As long as I play table tennis my national goal will be to keep my 3 titles year after year ” promised SZOCS . Bernadette SZOCS also defended her title in the Women’s Doubles with Elizabeta SAMARA and in Mixed Doubles but partnering Ovidiu IONESCU this year. IONESCU won silver in Men’s Doubles with Alin SPELBUS. In men’s’ singles Hunor SZOCS is second and last year’s winner in Men’s singles Rareș ȘIPOȘ finished third with Eduard IONESCU. In the Women’s singles Andreea DRAGOMAN is second whilst Tania PLAIAN and Elizabeta SAMARA concluded the Championships with bronze. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Bucharest ROMANIA WOMEN’S SINGLES Bernadette SZOCS (CSA Steaua București) Andreea DRAGOMAN (CSA Steaua București) Tania PLAIAN (CS Gloria 2018 Bistrița) Elizabeta SAMARA (CSA Steaua București) MEN’S SINGLES Ovidiu IONESCU (SCM Gloria Buzău) Hunor SZOCS (CSA Steaua București) Rareș ȘIPOȘ (CS Dinamo București) Eduard IONESCU (CSA Steaua București) MEN’S DOUBLES Iulian CHIRIȚA (CS Rapid București)/Cristian CHIRIȚA (CSM Constanța) Ovidiu IONESCU (SCM Gloria Buzău)/Alin SPELBUȘ (CS Rapid București) Rareș ȘIPOȘ (CS Dinamo București)/Cristian PLETEA (CSM Constanța) Eduard IONESCU/Darius MOVILEANU (CSA Steaua București)  WOMEN’S DOUBLES Bernadette SZOCS/Elizabeta SAMARA (CSA Steaua București) Adina DIACONU/Irina CIOBANU (CS Rapid București) Tania PLAIAN/Ioana SÎNGEORZAN (CS Gloria 2018 Bistrița) Andreea DRAGOMAN (CSA Steaua București)/Elena ZAHARIA (LPS NR Constanța) MIXED DOUBLES Ovidiu IONESCU (SCM Gloria Buzău)/Bernadette SZOCS (CSA Steaua București) Eduard IONESCU/Andreea DRAGOMAN (CSA Steaua București) Cristian PLETEA (CSM Constanța)/Adina DIACONU (CS Rapid București) Rareș ȘIPOȘ (CS Dinamo București)/Ioana SÎNGEORZAN (CS Gloria 2018 Bistrița)

ASISA Borges Vall secured their fourth King’s Cup title exactly ten years after their first and Museo de la Almendra Francisco Morales clinched their first-ever Queen’s Cup Iberdrola. Both finals took place at the Olivo Arena Sports Palace in Jaén showcasing an exceptional level of talent and competition from all participating teams. ASISA Borges Vall achieved victory in a nail-biting final against Real Cajasur Priego TM 3-2. Visit Pontevedra and Irún Leka Enea completed the podium both receiving bronze medals after losing in the semifinals against ASISA Borges Vall and Real Cajasur Priego TM respectively. In the Queen’s Cup Iberdrola final Museo de la Almendra Francisco Morales faced Hujase Jaén Paraíso Interior. Son Cladera TTC and UCAM Cartagena TM earned the bronze medals as semifinalists completing the podium for the tournament.  

This weekend for a first time watch the action from the National Championships live on ETTU.TV official website. ETTU presented the opportunity to the National Associations that provide live local streaming to host live the women’s and men’s singles finals on the ETTU.TV official website – and on a first year we will have 12 Nationals live. National Championships on ETTU.tv. Latvia                                  full championships / Saturday and Sunday Romania                              full championships / Saturday and Sunday Portugal                               full championships / Saturday and Sunday Moldova                               final day / Sunday England                                final day / Sunday Luxembourg                         semi-final and finals / Sunday North Macedonia                    final day / Sunday Czechia                                 full championships / Saturday and Sunday Croatia                                  final day / Sunday Norway                                  final day/ Sunday Slovenia                                  final day / Sunday Sweden                                   Saturday  

This weekend the best Norwegian table tennis players will fight for the biggest prize that can be won in Norwegian events the Kongepokalen or His Majesty’s Kongens Cup which is the official name of the prize. The women’s players have been fighting for the cup since 1979 when Kristin HAGEN won after a final victory against Gina HUNDVEN. For the men the cup has been awarded ever since 1950 when William REITAN won. In the men’s event the cup has been awarded every year since the Heros player Reitan won the first time but the minimum requirement for the number of players has meant that the Kongens Pokal was not awarded in the women’s class in 1998 and 2004. Tommy Urhaug and Rolf Erik Paulsen have also won the King’s Cup in table tennis when our sport was subject to the Norwegian Sports Association for the Disabled. This association was closed at the end of 2007 when NBTF fully integrated pair table tennis. Among the Kongepokalen winners we find the very best Norwegian table tennis players in history. Most successful table tennis player with over 60 NM golds Sonja RASMUSSEN won a total of seven royal trophies. On the men’s side Geir ERLANDSEN is the most winning player with a total of 13 Kongepokalen a record that may prove to be very difficult to beat. Geir won his first Kongens Pokal already in 1996 and the last 20 years later. Many generations of table tennis players have come and gone while Geir has won his royal trophies. The person who has “lost” the most royal trophies is Istvan MOLDOVAN who has been in the final no less than nine times and only one match away from the highest prize in Norwegian table tennis but he has also won the trophy four times. Knut HÅVÅG has nine royal trophies Pål GUTTORMSEN and Tom JOHANSEN have eight each. Reigning champion Borgar HAUG with his brand new contract with Europe’s best table tennis club Borussia Düsseldorf has three Kongens Pokal. He is the undoubted favorite in the men’s class but he must win eleven more King’s Cups if he is to pass Geir ERLANDSEN. In the women’s event Sonja RASMUSSEN has the most royal trophies with seven. She also won the NM the year there were a couple of players missing from the class winning the Kongens Pokal. The next on the list are Kristin Hagen DOVAL and Tone FOLKESON with five royal trophies each and Rebekka CARLSEN has four to date. Unfortunately she is injured and cannot defend the title this year. If she continues for a few more years she will be able to catch up with Sonja’s record streak. The women’s players who have “lost” the most royal trophies are Lill-Kristin WENNBERG (but she also won three) Kristin Hagen DOVAL and Marianne BLIKKEN all three of whom have been in the final six times. It is a shame that equality came so late to table tennis for Anne Lise HEIDENRICH (Fossum) Berit OMMEDAL and Rigmor SØRENSEN have won women’s singles in the National Championships seven eight and six times respectively and had deserved royal trophies for their achievements. Incidentally Berit OMMEDAL was on the podium in the National Championships every year in the period 1959 to 1971 and she won seven of those years. Rigmor Sørensen on the other hand has NM medals in four different decades. This is her next to Laila Schou Nilsen who won NM medals in tennis for four decades and also took titles in a number of other sports in Norwegian sports alone. In some cases the Kongens Pokal winners have been sensations. Both Tone FOLKESON and Rebekka CARLSEN won their first Kongens Pokal as teenagers. When Marcus WÆRSTAD won the cup in 2017 by beating clubmate Geir ERLANDSEN in the final this was described as a surprise. Both also represented Stord. Pål Guttormsen won his first Kongens Pokal while he was a B player!

AUSTRIA 93rd Austrian Table Tennis Championships will be played on Saturday and Sunday in Raiffeisen Arena in Wels. Defending champions are Daniel HABESOHN who already won five times in Men’s Singles and Sofia POLCANOVA with four in Women’s Singles. Title holders in Doubles are Dominik HABESOHN and Simon PFEFFER in Men’s and Ines DIENDORFER and Karoline MISCHEK in Women’s Events. Lu CHEN and Alexander CHEN clinched gold in Mixed Doubles last year. In the last year’s final HABESOHN beat David SERDAROGLU whilst POLCANOVA overcame Karoline MISCHEK on her final hurdle. BELGIUM In Belgium five times winner of the title in Men’s Singles Cedric NUYTINCK will be again on duty in Knokke-Heist Sporthal De Stormmeeuw. Silver and bronze medalists from 2022 Florent LAMBIET Robin DEVOS and Martin ALLEGRO are also listed. In Women’s Singles Event Nathalie MARCHETTI is the title defender and she will play for her fifth gold. Julie VAN HAUWAERT Cecile OZER Margo DEGRAEF Lisa LUNG are also listed. BULGARIA The Bulgarian National championships will be played in Panagyurishte ( Asarel Arenna) from 24th to 26 of March. The main favorites for the men`s singles event title are last year’s champion Petyo KRASTEV and the runner up Teodor ALEKSANDROV. The main favorites in the women`s singles event are: Maria YOVKOVA and Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA. Unfortunately last year’s champion Polina TRIFONOVA will not be able to take a part in the championship due to injury. HUNGARY Based on the entry lists a strong field will gather to fight for the medals at the Hungarian National Championships starting on 24th March. The 2023 National Championships will be held in the László Ormai Table Tennis Hall at Marczibányi Square between 24-26th March. Participants can enter in five competitions there will be women’s singles women’s doubles men’s singles men’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions. There is no limit in the number of participants at the competitions all entrants can start the tournament. The doubles competitions are held in a knock-out system while the singles competitions will start with qualification in groups and then will continue in the main round in a knock-out system until the championship title is decided. The whole men’s national team will be present in the Ormai Hall and from the women’s national team according to the entry list only Imre LEILA will miss the championship.  Mercédesz NAGYVÁRADI and Bence MAJOROS won the singles last year. KOSOVO Kosovo Table Tennis Association will organise the senior Individual Championships on March 25-26 starting from 10:00 at SHMU Tefik Çanga in Ferizaj. The competitions are planned to be organized in men’s singles women’s singles men’s doubles women’s doubles and mixed doubles About 150 player have announced their participation and this year favorites are last year winners Kreshnik MAHMUTI and Shega HASHANI. LATVIA The Latvian Closed Championships will be played on 25th and 26th March in Kekavas high school sports complex. In men’s singles last year’s winner is Daniels KOGANS; silver medalists is Arturs REINHOLDS whilst Aleksandrs MASKALONOKS and Olegs KARTUZOVS won bronze. Sabina MUSAJEVA clinched the title in 2022 in Women’s Singles. She beat Baiba BOGDANOVA in the final. LUXEMBOURG Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Tennis de Table will organise the national Closed Championships in the National sports center in the Coque venue. The semi finals and finals are scheduled for Sunday from 5 PM. Main favorites in men’s singles are Eric GLOD Luka MLADENOVIC Maël Van DESSEL and Evgheni DADECHIN. GLOD is defending his last year’s title. Last year’s champion in Women’s category Event Sarah De NUTTE is again top favorite as well as Tessy GONDERINGER. MOLDOVA The National Championships of Moldova will be played in Chisinau in the table tennis hall AO „TOP CUP”. Title holder and main favorite for the title in 2023 is Vladislav URSU in Men’s Event. Champion from 2020 and 2021 Ecaterina SMIGANOVSCAIA is highly listed favorite in the Women’s Event. The winner from the 2021 and 2022 Vladislav URSU is the member of the in Polska Super Liga Club POLSKI CUKIER BYDGOSZCZ. He will be challenged by Andrei PUTUNTICA who is the member of the Germany Bundesliga’s FSV MAINZ 05. Andrei won the titles in 2018 2019 2020. Both players will represent Moldova at the European Games – 2023 in Krakow – Malopolska. Ecaterina SMIGANOVSCAIA is also member of the German club. She plays in Third Bundesliga for TTC SALMUNSTER 1950. Last year’s winner Alexandra CHIRIACOVA will fight for the third title in the row. She is engaged in Turkish Superliga – MERIT GRUP REAL MARDIN. NETHERLANDS The Dutch National Championships will be held in the Landstede Sports Centre in Zwolle for the 12th time in a row. Dutch ex-international player Trinko KEEN is participating and will defending his last year’s title (October 2022). He will try to win his 8th title this year. Trinko’s greatest rivals will be young players of the national team: Barry BERBEN (final 2022) Milo de BOER (semi-final 2022) Gabrielius CAMARA (quarterfinal 2022) and Kas van OOST (quarterfinal 2022). The favorites for the women’s title are Emine ERNST (she won her 1st title last year at the age of 19) and SHUOHAN who won the title in 2018 2020 en 2021. The other two ladies of the national team Tanja HELLE and Sanne de HOOP will be the greatest rivals of Emine and Shuohan and can cause a surprise. Britt EERLAND will not participate she gave birth to a daughter a few weeks ago.  Schedule Saturday 18:00 Mixed Final Sunday 14:30 Doubles Finals 16:00 Women’s Final 16:45 Mens Final SERBIA The Serbian National Championships will be held in Table tennis center Subotica on Saturday (qualifications mixed doubles doubles) and Sunday (singles main draw). Main favorites are Dimitrije LEVAJAC (TTC “Red star” Belgrade) and Sabina ŠURJAN (TTC “Vojvodina Bačko Gradište). Last year winners are Marko PETKOV (TTC “Banat”) runner up Dimitrije LEVAJAC (TTC “Red star”) and Aneta MAKSUTI (TTC “Novi Sad”) runner up Sabina ŠURJAN (TTC Novi Sad). SWITZERLAND The Swiss Championships Elite and Para will take place this weekend (25 and 26 March)

Finnish table tennis championships will be played this weekend at the Ruskeasuo Sports Hall in Helsinki. All the top Finnish players participates in the tournament hosted by MBF. In men’s singles Finnish number one player Benedek OLÁH is back after a year’s break and is already seeking his 11th title. He has also another goal for the weekend. “I want to have fun. In the doubles the deck was mixed up a bit. I hope it will be a great weekend – at least for me. The last time I managed to win the championship title without losing a set. Now I am feeling a bit tired after the trip to Singapore but spend a couple of days in Finland before the tournament is good. I would still get to go skiing but it seems to be missed on this trip ” Benedek said. OLÁH gets a tough challenge from the reigning champion Alex NAUMI of Kosken KAIKU. The youth trio PT Espoo’s Aleksi RÄSÄNEN and Arttu PIHKALA and Sam KHOSRAVI of KoKa also want to participate in the medal matches. When playing for the titles experience is a valuable currency so Samuli SOINE (TIP-70) Mika RÄSÄNEN and Toni SOINE (PT Espoo) and the “Pongfinity duo” Otto TENNILÄ – Miikka O’CONNOR (PT 75) also bring their own contribution to the medal fight. The top 16 in the ranking are placed directly on the 64-player main draw. In the women’s singles Marina DONNER representing Hangö IK is considered the favourite. The youth section of Maria GIRLEA Ramona BETZ Aleksandra TITIEVSKAJA and Ella KELLOW – without forgetting the more experienced Jannika OKSANEN – will give the Aland native strong resistance. The best two from each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals. “ I am excited. I like to compete and really enjoy it when the stakes are high. The national championships are just like that ” DONNER predicts. The matches start on Saturday at 10:00 the women’s doubles championship will be played at 17:30. The final matches of the mixed doubles men’s doubles and women’s and men’s singles are scheduled for Sunday starting at 15:15. Program and livestream: www.sptl.fi  

Dang QIU and Sabine WINTER will defend their titles at the National German Championships. In the Kia Metropol Arena a total of 32 women and 32 men compete in singles and 16 pairings in the doubles event for women men and mixed for the five prestigious national titles. The seeding list is headed by individual European champion QIU (Düsseldorf) and the bronze medalist at the European Championships in Munich Xiaona SHAN (Berlin). QIU is currently the best of the German men in the world rankings. Of the start list in Nuremberg there are currently eight men and six women among the top 150 in the world. QIU travels to Nuremberg with a clear goal. “Of course I want to defend my title ” he said. “But I also know that the husky competition is also very keen to take the title.” His national team colleagues Patrick FRANZISKA (Saarbrücken) Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) QIU’S doubles partner and German singles champion in 2021 and the 2019 title winner Ricardo WALTHER (Grünwettersbach) for example. Speaking of doubles DUDA/QIU have a special goal in mind: “Let’s see if we can break our own record and win for the sixth time in a row ” says QIU. The duo has been undefeated at national championships since 2018 even leaving the legendary world doubles champions Steffen FETZNER/JÖRG ROSSKOPF behind. One who has already won ten medals at German championships is still waiting for individual title number one. “So far all my attempts at the title have failed. Of course it would be really nice if it would work out once – maybe already this year ” says the Olympic silver medalist with the Tokyo team Patrick FRANZISKA. And last year’s World Team Championship silver medallist Benedikt Duda reveals: “Becoming German champion is something really special! The title not only sounds great it also feels that way. I’m going to Nuremberg to take it for a second time. It is such a nice feeling that I definitely want to experience this again.” Sabine WINTER achieved a long-cherished dream when she won the title last year. The bronze medalist at the European Championships will now have the Bavarian audience behind her as she did at the European Championships in Munich: “I’m always playing better in a great atmosphere. That helped me a lot at the European Championships in Munich.“ Along the way WINTER is aiming for a record in doubles. If the two-time European doubles champion who remarkably has won her six national titles so far with five different partners wins her seventh title in this competition she would be the sole record holder in this event ahead of Nicole Struse who is currently tied. Winter would like to break the record but it is not decisive for her motivation: “Winning the title is a goal completely independent from the record. But if it falls of course I’ll be happy to take it.” Her doubles partner this time is U19 national player Sophia KLEE. Additionally WINTER is seeded first in the mixed doubles with clickball-Masters-Champion Alexander FLEMMING. The top seed in the singles in Nuremberg is WINTER’S national team colleague Xiaona SHAN. The world number 32 won the singles title in 2013 and 2014 and is also a two-time doubles title holder. Shan has won two medals in each of her four participations in national championships so far. The youngest of the favourites is 16-year-old Annett KAUFMANN. With her tournament win at the WTT Feeder Düsseldorf in February the high school student from Böblingen impressively proved that she is already capable of winning important events in women’s singles too. So far the teenager has already become bronze medalist twice at German Championships but she wants more – one day: “There are so many good and experienced German players competing. That’s why I’m just trying to play my best table tennis and learn a lot this time as well. Let’s see how this will end up.” HAN Ying Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Nina MITTELHAM have had to cancel their participation in the German Championships at short notice. Grand Smash quarter-finalist Han explained: “I am very sorry for the spectators and I myself actually enjoy playing in front of a home crowd. But it was a very tiring though successful week for me in Singapore.” Reflecting on her age the 39-year-old world’s best defender added: “I have to manage my powers in the meantime and need a break first of all.” After his first-round exit at the Singapore Smash six-time Olympic medalist OVTCHAROV is taking a longer training phase before the WTT Champions tournament in Xinxiang China (9-15 April) which was added to the international tournament calendar at short notice. Nina MITTELHAM continues to sufferwith a knee injury. “I have an inflammation in my knee and some water in it ” said the three-time singles champion who had already competed in Singapore with pain. “That’s when I benefited from the fact that there was only ever a match every two days.” Ticket-Website:https://tt-dm.reservix.de/events (Paid) livestream of all 8 tables:https://aktionen.sportdeutschland.tv/tischtennis