The winners of the Region D in the opening stage of the Europe Trophy Women Mirandela will welcome seven clubs in Grand Final that will be played in Portugal this weekend. On Saturday after the three rounds of the matches in two groups best two clubs from their respective groups will progress to the Sunday’s semifinal whilst the other will move to play -offs for 5th and 7th positions. For the hosts are listed Rita FINS Matilde PINTO Ines MATOS Mariana SANTA COMBA Ines SALGADO and Ines GONCALVES. “It is the first season that I am representing Mirandela and I think Mirandela did not participate for some years in European competitions. So I think it is verygood that we can have the chance to play on this level ” said Ines MATOS. In Group A are: STK Aquaestil Duga Resa from Croatia Mirandela Entente Saint Pierraise TT from France and HB Ostrov z.s. from Czechia. In Group B are: TT Jouè les Tours from France B-72 from Norway ASEA Sarises Florinas from Greece and Uniao Sebastianense F.C. from Portugal. “The teams that we have in our group will play with very strong players so it will be a great opportunity to play against very good adversaries. It is a hard competition the odds to win the trophy are against us but each member of my team will give the best of us and we will try to make a good result “Ines MATOS. The Europe Trophy Grand Final winner automatically qualifies for the Europe Cup in the following season.
Get your tickets for European Games 2023 in Kraków-Małopolska
With only 100 days to go before the start of the European Games 2023 in Kraków-Małopolska registration for the ticketing system has officially begun. Anyone who registers now will have the opportunity to buy 4 tickets for a chosen sport with a 25% discount. The offer is valid for the first 10 000 tickets sold. Fan registration was launched on Monday 13th of March and ticket sales will start at the beginning of April. Ticketing Information here Table tennis will appear at the European Games for the third time. At the facilities of the Hutnik Arena in Kraków there will be an opportunity for players to earn the spot at the Olympic Games. The table tennis competition will start on June 21 and will last until July 1. There will be five sets of medals to be won two in singles and two in the men’s and women’s team competition as well as in the mixed doubles. Players will fight for the direct Olympic qualifications in the mixed doubles. 152 players will compete in Kraków. The stands at the arena will accommodate up to 1000 viewers.
POLCANOVA and JORGIC emerged at the top of March’s Rankings
The new ETTU Rankings are online now with lot of changes at the top after the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup. In both senior women and men categories top players switched positions with the no. 2 players. New European no. one is Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC who defended his title in Montreux. Truls MOREGARDH of Sweden is now at the position no. two followed by Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and QIU Dang. Both German went two positions up comparing last month’s edition of the Rankings. Timo BOLL of Germany and Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden are currently ranked at the position six and seven followed by Liam PITCHFORD of England Mattias FALCK of Sweden Simon GAUZY of France and WANG Yang of Slovakia. In Women’s Rankings Top 16 Cup runner up Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria took over the leading position from this year’s champion HAN Ying of Germany. Her compatriot Nina MITTELHAM is still at the position no. 3 followed by YUAN Jia Nan of France Bernadette SZOCS of Romania SHAO Jieni of Portugal NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg SHAN Xiaona of Germany YU Fu of Portugal and Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania. In Under 21 category Truls MOREGARD is at the top again followed by French brothers Alexis and Felix LEBRUN. Felix is the leading player in the Under 19 and Under 17 rankings. Alexis is 28th in senior category whilst Felix is 35th. In Under 21 Women category Prithika PAVADE is at the top. Germany’s Annett KAUFMANN is second Camille LUTZ of France third and Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia fourth. In Under 19 Elena ZAHARIA of Romania is first KAUFMANN is second PAVADE is third and LUTZ forth. All the rankings you can see here https://www.ettu.org/en/players-ranking/ranking/current-ranking/
Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ and Alfredas UDRA defended their champion titles in Lithuania
The three-day Lithuanian table tennis championship ended in Druskininkai on Sunday featuring 64 (32 men and 32 women) strongest Lithuanian table tennis players. Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ (coach Jolanta Prūsienė) and Alfredas UDRA (coach Indra UDRIENĖ) defended their champion titles in the singles competition. “This is my fifth gold medal in singles in a row. This year as in previous years I set myself the highest goals and I am glad that I managed to achieve them. I was really excited because it is always difficult to defend the title of champion. I met my sister Emilija in the final and it was a very pleasant meeting for me” said Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ after the singles final. “The championship is organized at a very high level – an excellent sports facility good food and a planned schedule. The final was very difficult and even though I had to beat my adversary in the decisive set but thanks to experience technique and character I managed to turn the events in a beneficial direction and win the seventh champion title. I wish my adversaries to continue trying to beat me” said Alfredas UDRA. In the women’s semi-final Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ (coach Jolanta Pūsienė SM “Sostinės tauras”) beat Marija MIKALAUSKYTĖ (coach Artūras Orlovas Vilnius) 4:0. In the other semi-final Laura ABARAVIČIŪTĖ played against Emilija RILIŠKYTĖ 0:4. Both athletes are the players of coach Jolanta PRŪSIENĖ representing the sports school “Sostinės Tauras”. Marija MIKALAUSKYTĖ and Laura ABARAVIČIŪTĖ were awarded bronze medals. Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ won the final 4:0. In the men’s semi-finals Alfredas UDRA (coach Indra UDRIENĖ Klaipėda) overcame Valdas MARTINKUS (coach Raimondas JACKEVIČIUS) Arnoldas DOMEIKA (coach Raimondas JACKEVIČIUS) met Lukas RIMKUS (coach Artūras ORLOVAS Vilnius). Alfredas UDRA defeated his opponent 4:0 and Lukas RIMKUS defeated Arnoldas DOMEIKA 4:3. Valdas MARTINKUS and Arnoldas DOMEIKA were awarded bronze medals. Alfredas UDRA won the title of Lithuanian champion in the final defeating Lukas RIMKUS 4:3. There were 13 pairs in the women’s doubles match. Third place went to Auksė GECEVIČIŪTĖ with Kornelija ŠČIGLAITĖ and Eglė JANKAUSKIENĖ with Vitalija VENCKUTĖ (coaches: Laurynas Pakalniškis Algirdas Majorovas Artūras Orlovas Saulius Bureika). Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ with Emilija RILIŠKYTĖ met Lukrecija JUCHNAITĖ with Laura ABARAVIČIŪTĖ in the final. Emilija and Kornelija RILIŠKYTĖ became the women’s doubles champions 3:2. There were also 15 pairs in the men’s doubles match. Third place shared Valdas MARTINKUS with Rimvydas MARTINKA and Rimas LESIV with Mindaugas STEPONKUS (coaches: Raimondas Jackevičius Gediminas Ušackas Saulius Bureika). In the final Ignas NAVICKAS (coach Inga Navickienė) with Kęstutis ŽEIMYS (coach Viktoras Rybakas) met Arnoldas DOMEIKA and Matas VILKAS (coaches: Raimondas Jackevičius Jonas Piekautas). Ignas NAVICKAS and Kęstutis ŽEIMYS became the men’s doubles champions 3:1. The winners of the mixed doubles became Ignas NAVICKAS and Emilija RILIŠKYTĖ who beat Kęstutis ŽEIMYS and Kornelia RILIŠKYTE 3:2 in the final. Third place is shared by Rimvydas MARTINKA ( coach Gediminas Ušackas) and Viltautė ADAMONYTĖ (coach Jelena Anikejeva) and Rimas LESIV (coach Saulius Bureika) with Auksė GECEVIČIŪTĖ (coach Laurynas Pakalniškis).
Exciting Battles in Store at Singapore Smash 2023
Defending Singapore Smash champions FAN Zhendong and CHEN Meng are ready and eager to do battle to retain their singles crowns while Singapore’s table tennis players are also raring to do the home fans proud as the main draw starts on Saturday. Singapore Smash spectators can expect some tantalising clashes from 11-19 March after the singles draw ceremony took place in the Infinity Arena on Thursday at the Singapore Sports Hub’s OCBC Arena. Table tennis fans can also anticipate a thrilling opening round clash between former world youth champion XIANG Peng of China and Japanese star Tomokazu HARIMOTO. Other first-round matches to watch include multiple Olympic medalist Kasumi ISHIKAWA of Japan taking on tricky Brazilian Bruna TAKAHASHI in the women’s singles and China’s up and coming LIN Shidong facing Swedish Kristian KARLSSON in the men’s singles. The winner of the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup Darko JORGIC of Slovenia will play against Andrej GACINA of Croatia. In the women’s singles world No. 3 WANG Yidi of China opens against Romanian world No. 32 Bernadette SZOCS. CCB Europe Top 16 Cup semi finalists Nina MITTELHAM of Germany will play against other semifinalists SHAI Jieni of Portugal. Germans QIU Dang and Patrick FRANZISKA to face England’s Liam PITCHFORD and Sweden’s Mattias FALCK in their respective singles openers.
Acting President MOURA delivered the Badge of Honour to SCHLITZ
ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA delivered the Badge of Honour to Paul SCHILTZ. The Badge was awarded to SCHILTZ in October 2021 in Cluj during the European Team Championships and on the occasion of the the WTT Youth Contender in Vila Real ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA had the pleasure to carry out this pleasant duty. Paul SCHILTZ was awarded for his outstanding contribution as chair of the ETTU Umpires and Referees Committee including particular attention to the appointment of officials for all ETTU events and club competitions. In addition as the past chair of the ITTF Equipment Committee Paul SCHILTZ has assisted ETTU when questions relating to playing equipment tables balls rackets have arisen.
New date– same Fun: Call for Europe to join World Table Tennis Day
World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) has been celebrated annually in April since 2015. It is the day we celebrate table tennis as well as the universality and social inclusiveness the sport represents. Starting this year and moving forward we will celebrate WTTD on 23 April honouring Ivor MONTAGU organiser of the first World Table Tennis Championships in 1926 and the founder and first president of the ITTF. ITTF Foundation calls upon the European Table Tennis Union to join them in celebrating WTTD 2023. “We invite you to organise a Highlight Event focusing on sustainability for people planet and prosperity through the sport ” stated ITTF Foundation Director Leandro OLVECH. The ITTF Foundation will: WTTD celebrates the joy of playing table tennis for fun bringing people together focusing less on competition and more on participation and enjoyment. Here you have the link with information regarding World Table Tennis day from the foundation website https://ittffoundation.org/programmes/tt4all/world-table-tennis-day
The draw for the Europe Trophy Grand Final
The draw for the Europe Trophy Grand Final men and women was held today in Luxembourg. Both events will be played on March 18th and March 19th. Men’s event will be played in Piraeus Greece whilst women will play in Mirandela Portugal.
Europe Youth Series kick off in Osijek
ETTU is gearing up to set the stage alight with the first-ever ETTU Europe Youth Series event. The 2023 Croatia Open will be played in Osijek from 26th to 30th April. Showcasing the stars of tomorrow the new ETTU Youth Series will include the Under 13 and Under 15 age categories. Final Entries day is Monday 27th March 2023; accommodation details deadline is Thursday 30th March 2023; travelling details deadline is Monday 3rd April 2023; payment deadline is Thursday 20th April 2023 Changes/Substitutions deadline: Monday 24th April 2023 at 12:00 local time (CEST) All information (entries schedule results updates…) regarding the EYS Croatia Open will be published on the following link. Maximum number of Individual entries : 176 Maximum number of Teams entries : 40 NUMBER OF GUARANTEED TEAMS/PLAYERS PER EVENT: Number of guaranteed mixed teams per event per association: 2 Number of guaranteed players per event per association: 4 Number of guaranteed doubles per event per association: 2 Number of guaranteed mixed teams per event for the host association: 3 Number of guaranteed players per event for the host association: 8 The ETTU Competition Manager can allow teams with players from different Associations only for players whose Associations do not reach a guaranteed number of teams per event. Please note that ITTF ID is mandatory for entering players for the event. For the players who do not have an ITTF ID yet Associations shall finish the registration process in ITTF before the entry deadline on the 27th of March.
ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari in the final after the golden match
In the second leg of the Europe Cup semifinal between ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari and ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly the hosts suffered by the hands of the players from the French club by the same margin they won the opening leg 3:1. However in the golden match the pendulum swung once again to their favor. In general the match was full of ups and downs. Andreea DRAGOMAN was two games up before Samson LI recovered to level. LI had 5:0 in the decisive game before she lost 5:6. Anis SALPIN avenged her opening leg defeat against Tania PLAIAN to level the match. Again like in previous duel the clash was stretched to full five games but the games were much closer. It was SALPIN who went ahead with 2:0 PLAIAN recovered but French player withstood her spirited comeback. Eden OFFIONG lost to Isa COK and Andreea DRAGOMAN suffered by the hands of Anis SALPIN. In the golden match it was opposite; both COK and DRAGOMAN won their games. LI Failed to win any points today whilst SALPIN lost her first after two wins in the “regular” time. “It was very crazy. We are happy we are in the final. We started with hope because we had an advantage with our first win and even if we lost the match we were super motivated in the golden sets we knew we could win this match ” said DRAGOMAN. ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly 1:3 Andreea DRAGOMAN – Samson LI 3:2 (11:5 11:5 6:11 6:11 6:5) Tania PLAIAN – Anis SALPIN 2:3 (15:17 8:11 14:12 13:11 4:6) Eden OFFIONG – Isa COK 1:3 (6:11 5:11 13:11 5:11) Andreea DRAGOMAN – Anis SALPIN 0:3 (4:11 10:12 9:11) Golden match ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari – ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly 2:0 Eden OFFIONG – Samson LI 11:7 Andreea DRAGOMAN – Anis SALPIN 11:4
