Novi Sad will host the start of a historic season in the ETTU Champions League Women. Stage One kicks off on Friday, and the three-day tournament will mark the first step toward the inaugural ETTU Champions League Final Four in the women’s category.
The highest-ranked player in action this weekend in Serbia will be Prithika PAVADE. Currently No. 7 in Europe, PAVADE will lead last season’s Europe Cup champions French Saint-Denis TT 93, supported by Croatia’s Hana ARAPOVIC (Europe No. 33) and China’s Siqi FAN (World No. 33).
This season has already been very busy for the 21-year-old star. PAVADE, who owns four bronze medals from the European Championships (Warsaw, Cluj/Napoca, Malmö, and Linz) and a bronze from the World Team Championships in Busan, reached the Round of 16 at the Europe Smash in Sweden and the WTT Champions in Yokohama, as well as the semifinals at the WTT Contenders in Lagos and Skopje.
“I had a pretty busy summer with a lot of competitions since May, and overall I am really happy with my level and performances. We have a pretty good team, so the goal is first to qualify for Stage Two and then to enter the main draw for the first time in our club’s history — but there are still many matches to win before that,” said Prithika.
At the top of Group A are last season’s Europe Cup semi-finalists, Hungarian Budaörsi Sport Club, led by Europe’s No. 88 Dora MADARASZ, supported by Nora DOHOSZKI and Leila IMRE.
Also competing in Group A are Portugal’s CTM Mirandela, with Yu Jhun LI (World No. 64), Ines MATOS (Europe No. 94), and Mariana SANTA COMBA (Europe No. 195). Spain’s MIRÓ Ganxets Costa Durada complete the group, led by Andrea TODOROVIC, who will play on home soil in Serbia. Andrea is ranked No. 56 in Europe, three places above teammate Fiona Elvira RAD. The line-up is reinforced by Korea’s Yoo SIWOO, currently World No. 109.
“In our group, every team will be a challenge, but we know that we must stay focused against all adversaries. Our main goal this season is to perform at our best in every match and to progress as far as possible in the competition,” said coach Qiwen XIAO.
