On the eve of the European Championships in Malmö during the last test in the region it seems that Romania’s youth are heading toward another successful competition. At the 31st Balkan Championships held last week in Albena Bulgaria Romania’s teams clinched three out of four titles in the team events among the 11 participating countries this year. In the Junior Boys Teams event Romania clinched gold. Bulgaria is second while Türkiye and Greece finished third and fourth respectively. In the Junior Girls Teams event Romania topping the list with Bulgaria being second Moldova finishing third and Serbia fourth. In the Cadet Boys Teams event Romania clinched gold Türkiye silver with Bulgaria and Greece finishing third and fourth respectively. Moldova’s cadet girls clinched gold leaving Romania in the second position. Türkiye and Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third and fourth respectively. In the Junior Boys singles event Romania’s Dragos BUJOR overcame his teammate Horia URSUT in the final. Romania’s Robert PODAR and Bulgaria’s Yoan VELICHOV shared third place. In the Junior Girls singles Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania prevailed against Tsvetlana GEORGIEVA of Bulgaria in the match for gold. The semifinals saw Andrea TEGLAS of Romania and Viktoria PERSOVA of Bulgaria halted. In the Cadet Boys singles Berk OZTOPRAK of Türkiye clinched gold with silver going to his teammate Kenan Eren KAHRAMAN. Romania’s Robert ISTRATE and Bulgaria’s Miroslav SCHMIDT earned bronze medals. Serbia’s Maja VANJO won the Cadet Girls singles event defeating Alexandra DICU of Romania in the final. The semifinalists were Nina NIKOLOVA of Bulgaria and Iarina PRECUP of Romania.
Albena Bulgaria Hosts the 31st Balkan Youth Table Tennis Championship
Albena Bulgaria is the host of the 31st Balkan Youth Table Tennis Championship. This event serves as the ultimate test for the youth in the region before the 2024 European Youth Championships which will be held from July 12 to 21 in Malmö Sweden. Eleven countries are participating in the championship in Bulgaria: Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Montenegro Kosovo Moldova Romania North Macedonia Serbia Türkiye and Greece. The matches have already commenced with the Team events in the Group Stages. In the cadet girls’ category the leaders of their respective groups Türkiye Romania and Serbia won their opening matches. In the boys’ category Türkiye Romania and Greece have justified their statuses as leaders.
Dr. Časl Crowned Champions in the Grand Final Europe Trophy
Croatia’s Dr. Časl clinched the title at the Grand Final Europe Trophy played this weekend in Beočin Serbia. At the ultimate hurdle they overcame French side Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP. There aren’t many titles left for Dr. Časl to win; already the winners of the Champions League Mediterranean Cup Superleague twice and 16 times champions in Croatia’s league in both men’s and women’s categories (5+11). “And here we are now with the title in the Grand Final Europe Trophy. The only trophy missing is the Europe Cup and we hope to win it soon ” promised the club’s President Dr. Časl. The club’s star player Xia Lian NI has been with the team for six years. “This is the first time we played in the Trophy and it was not that easy. It might look like we were not challenged much but it was fierce competition here ” said NI. “For me it is a good opportunity to play against European players.” In the penultimate stage Dr. Časl showed no mercy against Austria’s SU Sparkasse Kufstein. Xia Lian NI Ho Ching LEE and Dorina SREBRNJAK overcame Anita NYITRAI Szandra PERGEL and Györgyi BENE in straight games. In the second duel Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP needed one more match to overcome Austria’s SCO Bodensdorf. Margo DEGRAEF Leonie HARTBRICH and Lilou MASSART defeated Lea PAULIN Katarina STRAZAR and Aleksandra VOVK 3-1. Final Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP – Dr.Časl 0-3 Leonie HARTBRICH – Xia Lian NI 0-3 (10-12 6-11 9-11) Rheann CHUNG – Ho Ching LEE 0-3 (7-11 10-12 4-11) Lilou MASSART – Dorina SREBRNJAK 1-3 (9-11 8-11 12-10 5-11)
Panathinaikos AC Clinched the Title in Grand Final Europe Trophy
After a fantastic run in Beočin Panathinaikos AC clinched the title in the Grand Final Europe Trophy. In the final match they overcame Arteal Tenis De Mesa from Spain. The team showed superb performance throughout the entire tournament. “It was a long and good competition. There were a lot of good teams. To be honest I was very surprised by the quality of the adversaries. I am very happy that we won the title on our very first time playing at the Europe Trophy. It is very special. I am happy I had my role in achieving this for the club ” said Emmanuel LEBESSON. “As I said I faced a few challenges here. At the beginning I did not have a good feeling of the game but match by match I started to feel better and better. By yesterday evening I had reached a good level. I played here against LAKATOS and DIAS who had an amazing season in Spain.” In the semi-final Panathinaikos’ Emmanuel LEBESSON Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS and Konstantinos ANGELAKIS recorded a 3-1 victory over French side Lille Métropole TT with Tamas LAKATOS Bastien DUPONT and Tom CLOSSET. After a brave effort and another five-game thriller the host Radnički 1972 Beočin lost to Arteal Tenis De Mesa 2-3. Mikhail PAIKOV Marko PETKOV and Bojan CREPULJA lost to Humberto MANHANI Enio MENDES and Francisco RUIZ. FINAL Panathinaikos AC – Arteal Tenis De Mesa 0-3 Emmanuel LEBESSON – Enio MENDES 3-1 (11-4 11-7 9-11 13-11) Konstantinos ANGELAKIS – Humberto MANHANI 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-5) Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS – Francisco Miguel RUIZ 3-1 (12-10 13-11 5-11 11-8)
Easy run for Panathinaikos; Arteal Beocin and Lille also in the semis.
In tomorrow’s semi-finals of the Men’s 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final Arteal Tenis De Mesa will meet Radnički 1971 Beočin and in the other penultimate stage match Panathinaikos AC will play against Lille Metropole TT. The first team to book their place in the semi-finals was the Greek team Panathinaikos featuring French star Emmanuel LEBESSON Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS and Konstantinos ANGELAKIS. In the quarter-finals they overcame STK Vyhne represented by Filip SZYMANSKI Boguslaw KOSZYK and Artur BIALEK. They recorded a straight match victory losing only one individual match across the three wins with a final score of 9:1. Hosts Radnički 1971 Beočin stayed true to their “tradition.” For the third time at the Grand Final they went the full distance. Mikhail PAIKOV Marko PETKOV and Bojan CREPULJA overcame Dutch team AC De Boer Taverzo with Milo De BOER Yannick VOSTES and Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA winning 3:2. The French team with Tamas LAKATOS Bastien DUPONT Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA and Tom CLOSSET recorded another win. They eliminated Vydrany’s Peter SEREDA and Zoltan LELKES. At the top of the draw Spanish team Arteal Tenis De Mesa with Humberto MANHANI Enio MENDES and Francisco RUIZ overcame Croatia’s TT STK Starr featuring Ronald REDJEP Divyansh SRIVASTAVA and Rino VIDAN. You can see the pictures here
Women’s Semifinals Set for 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final
In tomorrow’s semifinal of the Women’s event at the 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final Croatia’s Dr. Časl Austria’s SU Sparkasse Kufstein 1 French Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP and Austria’s SCO Bodensdorf will compete. Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP recorded three wins to reach the top of Group A. The French club with Margo DEGRAEF Leonie HARTBRICH Lilou MASSART and Rheann CHUNG overcame Croatia’s STK Aquaestil SU Sparkasse Kufstein 1 and Poland’s Wamet Dobry Wiązar Dąbcze. Austria’s SU Sparkasse Kufstein 1 featuring Györgyi BENE Szandra PERGEL and Anita NYITRAI concluded second in the group with one defeat. In Group B Dr. Časl with Xia Lian NI Ho Ching LEE and Dorina SrebrnJak remained unbeaten on their way to the penultimate stage. Austria’s SCO Bodensdorf with Lea PAULIN Katarina STRAZAR and Aleksandra VOVK successfully advanced to the next stage with one defeat and two wins.
Hosts Reach the Quarterfinals After Fierce Battles in Beočin
In the 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final of the Men’s event in Beočin hosts Radnički 1972 Beočin managed to reach the quarterfinals after two long thrilling duels that each ended in five matches. In the quarterfinals they will meet Dutch team AC De Boer Taverzo. In other matches Spanish team Arteal Tenis De Mesa will play against Croatia’s TT STK Starr French team Lille Metropole will meet Slovakia’s Vydrany and Slovakia’s STK Vyhne will face Greek team Panathinaikos. In the last match in Group A Arteal Tenis De Mesa with Humberto MANHANI Enio MENDES and Francisco RUIZ beat STK Vyhne represented by Filip SZYMANSKI Boguslaw KOSZYK and Artur BIALEK. In Group B top-seeded TJ Geolog Roznava failed to reach the next stage. Panathinaikos with French star Emmanuel LEBESSON Konstantinos KONSTANTINOPOULOS and Konstantinos ANGELAKIS prevailed in both matches in the group. AC De Boer Taverzo with Milo De BOER Yannick VOSTES and Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA finished second. In Group C ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi also failed to justify their position. Lille Metropole with Tamas LAKATOS Bastien DUPONT Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA and Tom CLOSSET emerged at the top of the group. From the second position TT STK Starr with Ronald REDJEP Divyansh SRIVASTAVA Rino VIDAN and Petar ZNIKA progressed to the quarters. In Group D Radnički 1972 Beočin went the full distance twice. Mikhail PAIKOV Marko PETKOV and Bojan CREPULJA secured a place in the top eight. Vydrany’s Peter SEREDA Zoltan LELKES and Peter SEREDA joined them.
Upsets at the opening day of the 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final
In the women’s event Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP emerged successfully at the top of their group at the end of the day. They were ranked only as the fourth club in Group A but managed to overcome Wamet Dobry Wiązar Dąbcze of Poland and SU Sparkasse Kufstein 1 of Austria in straight matches. Tomorrow’s last round will be very interesting since SU Sparkasse Kufstein 1 and STK Aquaestil both have one win and one defeat. In Group B two clubs are unbeaten. Croatia’s Dr. ČASL and SCO Bodensdorf of Austria both beat top-seeded KTTC AFP Antwerpen 3-0 and Italy’s AD Muravera TT B 3-1. You can see the pictures here ROUND COMPETITION /GROUP TEAM NAME TEAM NAME RESULT ROUND 1 MEN Group A Pöytätennis Espoo (FIN) vs Arteal TDM (ESP) 0:3 ROUND 1 MEN Group B De Boer Taverzo (NED) vs TJ Geolog Roznava (SVK) 3:0 ROUND 1 MEN Group C STARR Croatia (CRO) vs ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi (ITA) 3:1 ROUND 1 MEN Group D SK Vydrany (SVK) vs Eskilstuna BTK (SWE) 3:1 ROUND 1 WOMEN Group A Wamet Dobry Wiązar Dąbcze (POL) vs STK Aquaestil (CRO) 1:3 ROUND 1 WOMEN Group A Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP (FRA) vs ASV Kufstein I (AUT) 3:0 ROUND 1 WOMEN Group B SCO Bodensdorf (AUT) vs KTTC AFP Antwerpen (BEL) 3:0 ROUND 1 WOMEN Group B AD Muravera TT -B- (ITA) vs Dr. Casl (CRO) 1:3 ROUND 2 MEN Group D TTC Radnički 1972 Beočin (SRB) vs SK Vydrany (SVK) 3:2 ROUND 2 MEN Group B Panathinaikos A.C. (GRE) vs De Boer Taverzo (NED) 3:1 ROUND 2 MEN Group C Lille Métropole TT (FRA) vs STARR Croatia (CRO) 3:0 ROUND 2 MEN Group A STK Vyhne (SVK) vs Pöytätennis Espoo (FIN) 3:1 ROUND 2 WOMEN Group A STK Aquaestil (CRO) vs ASV Kufstein I (AUT) 3:2 ROUND 2 WOMEN Group A Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP (FRA) vs Wamet Dobry Wiązar Dąbcze (POL) 3:0 ROUND 2 WOMEN Group B KTTC AFP Antwerpen (BEL) vs Dr. Casl (CRO) 0:3 ROUND 2 WOMEN Group B AD Muravera TT -B- (ITA) vs SCO Bodensdorf (AUT) 1:3 The 2024 Europe Trophy Grand Final in Beočin already brings a few upsets on the opening day in Both Men’s and Women’s Events. The competition continues tomorrow with the last round of the group stage and quarterfinals in the men’s category. The women will play the last round in the group stage before the playoffs for positions and semifinals scheduled for Sunday. In the men’s Group A the favorites have prevailed so far. Spanish Arteal Tenis De Mesa beat Pöytätennis Espoo from Finland. Additionally STK Vyhne SVK secured a win so tomorrow those two clubs will fight for the top position in the group. In Group B Dutch De Boer Taverzo upset the odds and overcame the top-seeded TJ Geolog Rožňava from Slovakia. Greek Panathinaikos AC beat the club from the Netherlands. The last match in the group will be between Rožňava and Panathinaikos. Another favorite stumbled in Group C. STK Starr Croatia beat the top-seeded Italian side ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi. However Croatia’s team failed to stop French Lille Metropole TT. The French and Italian clubs will meet tomorrow in the last round. Hosts Radnički 1972 Beočin won a long-distance thriller against SK Vydrany. However Slovakia’s club beat the top-seeded Eskilstuna BTK from Sweden. Tomorrow the hosts have an opportunity to meet the Swedish side and secure their place in the quarters.
Novi Sad and Beočin Ready for the Europe Trophy Grand Final
The best clubs from eight regions will gather this week for the Europe Trophy Grand Final. Today in Beočin organizers addressed the media at a press conference. Organized by the table tennis club Radnički 1972 with the support of the Municipality of Beočin the tournament will be held from May 30 to June 2 at the Beočin Sports Center. According to the president of the Municipality of Beočin Biljana JANKOVIĆ this event will be another opportunity for Beočin to show its hospitality and fan spirit during the matches which will involve a large number of competitors sports workers and volunteers. “It is a great honor for Beočin to host such a significant European-level competition and it is a pleasure for all our sports workers and the audience because we like to say that we are a city of sports and great athletes as evidenced by the double state championship title of our table tennis players ” said JANKOVIĆ. The president of the club Radnički 1972 Miodrag GRANDIĆ emphasized that this is a great honor but also a responsibility for the organizers since the Trophy of Europe final is being played in Serbia for the first time and exceptional players are coming to the tournament. “Many well-known names in European table tennis are participating so the competition will be extremely tough. As a championship club we always have healthy ambitions and expect good results. I want to thank the Municipality of Beočin for their help and all partners for their support and I invite all table tennis enthusiasts to Beočin ” said GRANDIĆ. The players Bojan CREPULJA Zoltan PETE Marko PETKOV and international player Mihajlo PAJKOV will represent Beočin’s Radnički 1972. “Our club plays in Group D with Sweden and Slovakia and we are familiar with the composition of those teams. Therefore I think that with good play we can get through the first part and advance to the semifinals. We have reasons to be optimistic and we hope for the support of the fans ” said CREPULJA. Grand Final men: Lille Metropole TT (FRA) (Winner region I) De Boer Taverzo (NED) (Runner-up region I) Eskilstuna BTK (SWE) (Winner region II) Pöytätennis Espoo (FIN) (Runner-up region II) STK Vyhne (SVK) (Winner region III/C) SK Vydrany (SVK) (Runner-up region III/C) TJ Geolog Roznava (SVK) (Winner region III/D) Panathinaikos A.C. (GRE) (Winner region IV/E) ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi (ITA) (Winner region IV/F) TTC Radnički 1972 Beočin (SRB) (3rd place region IV) STK Starr Croatia (CRO) (replacement) Arteal TDM (ESP) (Winner region V) Grand Final women: KTTC AFP Antwerpen (BEL) (Winner region I) Club Pongiste Lyssois Lille Métropole CP (FRA) (Runner-up region I) Wamet Dobry Wiązar Dąbcze (POL) (Winner region II) ASV Kufstein I (AUT) (Winner region III) SCO Bodensdorf (AUT) (Runner-up region III) Dr. Casl (CRO) (Winner region IV /D) STK Aquaestil (CRO) (Winner region IV /E) AD Muravera TT -B- (ITA) (3rd place IV)
Timo BOLL Announces the End of His International Career After the Olympic Games
With the Olympic Games in Paris Timo BOLL a 43-year-old native of Hesse will end his international career. “I have often spoken in the past about being somewhat afraid of making this decision. But it was clear that this day would inevitably come. Now it is indeed time to bid farewell to the world stage of active sports.” For Borussia Düsseldorf he will remain active for another season in the TTBL and Champions League and thereafter he will continue to advise the club on various tasks: “I will definitely remain loyal to the sport that has given me so much. I will continue to pay much attention to China and its people. There are plenty of ideas. My life will certainly remain interesting and exciting.” Career Has Left Its Mark. “I am grateful for my career. But now it’s enough. The career has left many marks ” BOLL said reflecting on the long list of injuries pains and deprivations that have often accompanied him: “My body no longer functions in a way that makes daily training and competitions enjoyable. Many injuries and pains make this decision easier for me today.” With Timo BOLL’S departure one of Germany’s greatest athletes of the last decades is leaving the world stage. He was much more than just an athlete especially in Asia. Nine World Championship medals 20-time European Champion three-time World No. 1 are only part of his achievements – and perhaps not all: In Paris he aims to add a fifth Olympic medal in the team event and he will also continue to chase titles with Borussia Düsseldorf at the TTBL final on June 30 and in the upcoming season. “If we win a team medal at the Olympic Games that would truly be the perfect conclusion. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me on this ultra-long journey: family friends colleagues coaches sponsors and of course the fans ” says BOLL who looks forward to the remaining challenges: “Now I am off to one of my last adventures – my final tournament in China.”
