OVTCHAROV and HU Melek top Men`s and Women`s lists respectively

December 9, 2016
12:16 pm
Europe Top-16 Cup

Invitation for the 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup announced

Invitation for the 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup 3-5 February Antibes (FRA) are announced with 32 names in both competitions altogether plus reserve players. Current ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and actual European champion and 2016 Top 16 runner-up HU Melek are on the top of lists followed by Vladimir SAMSONOV and Petrissa SOLJA respectively.

Host audience will have a joy to see two finalists from the recent LIEBHERR 2016 ITTF European Championships champion Emmanuel LEBESSON and runner-up Simon GAUZY.

Men`s invitation list promises fantastic event bearing in mind that all 16 top European players are here: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER European No. 1) Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR No. 2) Timo BOLL (GER No. 3) Marcos FREITAS (POR No. 4) Simon GAUZY (FRA No. 5) Stefan FEGERL (AUT No. 6) Bastian STEGER (GER No. 7) Tiago APOLONIA (POR No. 8) Kristian KARLSSON (SWE No. 9) Andrej GACINA (CRO No. 10) Mattias KARLSSON (SWE No. 11) Emmanuel LEBESSON (FRA No. 12) KOU Lei (UKR No. 13) Joao MONTEIRO (POR No. 14) Alexander SHIBAEV (RUS No. 15) Jonathan GROTH (DEN No. 16).

Last year`s Women`s champion SHEN Yanfei (Spain) decided to retire from the table tennis but her name is still on the Invitation list due to regulations (European ranking from December 1^st is valid). Newly crowned European champion HU Melek (Turkey European No. 2) who finished behind best Spanish player in the latest Europe Top 16 will compete in Antibes.

Twelve out of 16 best ranked women`s players of Old Continent are on the Invitation list (top ranked HAN Ying are not among them). Beside HU Melek they are: Petrissa SOLJA (GER No. 3) Elizabeta SAMARA (ROU No. 4) LIU Jia (AUT No. 4) LI Jie (NED No. 7) LI Qian (POL No. 9) Georgina POTA (HUN No. 10) Matilda EKHOLM (SWE No. 11) LI Jiao (NED No. 12) Sabine WINTER (GER No. 13) SHEN Yanfei (ESP No. 14) Polina MIKHAILOVA (RUS No. 15) Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN (ROU No. 17) Sofia POLCANOVA (AUT No. 20) Viktoria PAVLOVICH (BLR No. 21) while the 16^th name on the list will be the best ranked French player.

Germany Ends Czechia’s Reign, Sets Up Under 15 Girls Final Against France

Top seeds in the Under 15 Girls Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava, Germany will face France in tomorrow’s final. Czechia and Italy were eliminated in the penultimate...

Portugal and Romania to Battle for Under 19 Boys Crown in Ostrava Final

The final of the Under 19 Boys Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava will feature a clash between Portugal and Romania tomorrow. Bronze medals go to Hungary and...

Italy and Türkiye to Clash for Under 15 Boys Title in Ostrava Final

In the match for the title in the Under 15 Boys Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava tomorrow, Italy will face Türkiye. In the semifinals, Germany and Poland...

France to Face Ukraine in Under 19 Girls Final

In the final of the Under 19 Girls Team Event tomorrow at the European Youth Championships, France will meet Ukraine. After today’s semifinal clashes, Portugal and Spain clinched bronze medals....