Produced by SPORTSTREAM.LU and live streamed by laola1.tv
About two months before the start of the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European table tennis championships this Wednesday constitutes a major milestone for all participating associations players and coaches. The draw of the groups from 17.30 onwards at the event Hall “Coque” will pave the way for the team championships.
The draw is a true milestone in the context of the European Team Championships. The final preparation phase is launched for all team they will know their opponents which they will confront in about two months on the other side of the table. And the fans can already calculate the theoretical way of their favorite team.
The team championships will be played in three divisions. The 16 best teams play in four groups in the “Championships Division”. The next 16 teams form in four groups the “Challenge Division”. The remaining teams constitute the “Standard Division”. 42 men’s teams and 38 women’s teams have signed up for the LIEBHERR 2017 ITTF European table tennis championships. The teams have qualified for the respective divisions depending on their result from the qualification round. The winner of each group as well as the best five teams reaching the second place qualified for the “Championship Division”. Luxembourg as host country used its wild card to be part of the “Championship Division” too. The other runner-ups as well as the third placed teams and the winner of a qualification tournament of all remaining teams form the “Challenge Division”. All other teams play in the “Standard Division”.
In the “Championships Division” and in the “Challenge Division” each team plays against each at the mode of “best-of-five”. After the end of the group stage the first and second place winners of the four groups get to the quarter-finals and play by K. O.-System in the “Championships Division” the places one to eight. The third and fourth place finisher play for places 9 to 16. In the “Challenge Division” the first and second place winners of the groups play for the places 17 to 24 the third and fourth place finisher for the positions 25-32. As far as the “Standard Division” is concerned the ETTU will only announce the applying system shortly before the draw. Traditionally the first matches of the acting champions i.e. Austria for the men’s and Germany for the women’s teams attract most of the interest.
The draw will be processed according to the following sequence: (1) Challenge Division – Women; (2) Challenge Division – Men; (3) Championships Division – Women; (4)
Championships Division – Men
The draw will be produced by SPORTSTREAM.LU and be live streamed by LAOLA (www.laola1.tv) as well as on Facebook (@ettc2017.lu).
Seeding List
Men’s Championships Division
1 Germany 2 Portugal 3 Sweden 4 France 5 Austria 6 Romania 7 Greece 8 Croatia 9 Spain 10 Slovenia 11 Poland 12 Russia 13 Ukraine 14 Slovakia 15 Belarus 16 Luxembourg
Men’s Challenge Division
17 England 18 Czech Republic 19 Hungary 20 Italy 21 Serbia 22 Belgium 23 Denmark 24 Turkey 25 Bulgaria 26 Netherlands 27 Israel 28 Finland 29 Lithuania 30 Estonia 31 Switzerland 32 Ireland
Men’s Standard Division
33 Latvia 34 Scotland 35 Norway 36 Wales 37 Azerbaijan 38 Kosovo 39 Bosnia and Herzegovina 40 Montenegro 41 Cyprus 42 Macedonia
Women’s Championships Division
1 Germany 2 Romania 3 Austria 4 Poland 5 Hungary 6 Russia 7 Czech Republic 8 Portugal 9 Ukraine 10 France 11 Sweden 12 Netherlands 13 Spain 14 Luxembourg 15 Belarus 16 Croatia
Women’s Challenge Division
17 Slovakia 18 Serbia 19 Turkey 20 England 21 Wales 22 Slovenia 23 Belgium 24 Lithuania 25 Switzerland 26 Italy 27 Greece 28 Azerbaijan 29 Bulgaria 30 Israel 31 Denmark 32 Finland
Women’s Standard Division
33 Norway 34 Estonia 35 Bosnia and Herzegovina 36 Latvia 37 Scotland 38 Macedonia
