As the 2023 STUPA European Team Championships kick off in Malmö Sweden for players it will not only represent a shot at European glory but also a chance to secure coveted spots in the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Busan South Korea in 2024. With a quota of twelve teams the qualification pathway for Europe has been established with the 2023 STUPA European Team Championships playing a pivotal role in determining the contenders who will represent the continent on the grand stage. The European Quota Europe has been granted a quota of twelve teams for the upcoming WTTTC in Busan. These spots are distributed as follows: Eleven (11) Teams: These slots are allocated to Europe based on the quota assigned to the continent for the Continental Stage. One (1) Team: An additional spot has been awarded to Europe due to the reallocation of quota from the Intercontinental Stage. This opportunity arose following the ITTF Council’s decision in Bangkok on August 23 2023 to cancel the Intercontinental Stage. Qualification System Here’s how the qualification process for WTTTC Busan 2024 unfolds: Direct Qualification for Quarterfinalists: The eight (8) quarterfinalists of the 2023 European Team Championships will qualify automatically. Rank-Based Qualification: The remaining four (4) slots will be determined through rank-based criteria. The ITTF World Team Ranking published in October 2023 will be the key factor in this selection process. Only the teams that reached the round of last sixteen in the 2023 STUPA European Team Championships will be considered for these slots. This approach ensures that teams with a strong track record in recent European competition have the opportunity to earn their place. web site https://www.ittf.com/tournament/2751/ittf-world-team-championships-finals-2024/#information

Panagiotis GIONIS is making his return to the European Championships and the Greek national team is heading to Malmö with their strongest lineup. The top defender was absent due to injury during the 2021 European Championships (in the team event) and the 2022 European Championships (in the individual events). However at the 2023 STUPA European Championships in Sweden he will be back in action and ready to support the team in achieving their goals. This return comes ten years after the historic event for Greece in 2013 when he secured the bronze medal in men’s singles and Greece claimed silver in the men’s team event. Joining GIONIS in Malmö are Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS Giorgos STAMATOUROS and Konstantinos ANGELAKIS forming a strong team. These four players will complete their final preparations in Brodby Denmark at an international camp organized by the Danish federation where they have been invited to train alongside top international athletes. They will train there until 09/09 and then head directly to Malmö with their head coach Kostas VATSAKLIS. Greece has been drawn into the D group alongside Portugal and Hungary. “We are delighted to return among Europe’s top teams and eagerly anticipate our time in Sweden. We understand that we face a challenging group and a tough task ahead. Going up against traditional European powerhouses Hungary and Portugal we will strive for the best possible outcome ” remarked Kostas VATSAKLIS. The women’s national team comprises Katerina TOLIOU Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU Konstantina PARIDI and Ioanna GERASIMATOU with national coach Giorgos KARITSAS on the sidelines. Following the draw the team was placed in the 8th group where they will face the host nation Sweden and Spain. Both Greek teams secured their spots in the qualifying stage 2 held in early May in Croatia earning a place among the final 24 national teams. “Being in the European Championship finals is already a significant achievement for us and we intend to relish our participation. In Malmö we recognize that we have two challenging matches against formidable teams. Sweden playing on their home turf boasts highly skilled athletes. Spain also features strong players in their lineup making them both high-quality teams. Our goal is to be as competitive as possible push our limits and showcase our true capabilities ” stated George KARITSAS.

ETTU proudly announces that LIEBHERR will once again be a partner of the European Championships. LIEBHERR has been supporting the European Championships since 2002 and will continue its affiliation with the prestigious event in Sweden. LIEBHERR a globally operating family-owned technology company in the construction machinery sector and many other industries will reinforce its commitment to the ETTU as a Major Sponsor for the 2023 STUPA European Team Championships in Malmö (10th – 17th September). “With a legacy of unwavering support spanning two decades ETTU proudly welcomes back LIEBHERR as a Major Sponsor for the 2023 European Team Championships in Malmö. LIEBHERR’s steadfast commitment of supporting numerous championships and competitions in our continent has a unique value that ETTU wishes to embrace and preserve for the future. We are so grateful LIEBHERR is joining us for the most important ETTU competition in 2023 the European team Championships ” stated ETTU Acting President Pedro MOURA. The partnership between ETTU and LIEBHERR dates back to 2002 starting with the European Championships in Zagreb Croatia. Since then LIEBHERR has been the title sponsor for the EC on 13 more occasions including events in Courmayeur (2003) Aarhus (2005) Belgrade (2007) St. Petersburg (2008) Stuttgart (2009) Ostrava (2010) Schwechat (2013) Ekaterinburg (2015) Budapest (2016) Luxembourg (2017) Alicante (2018) Nantes (2019) and Warsaw (2020). In Malmö 24 teams will compete for honor and prestige representing a total of 28 countries during the team championship. The championship will kick off with a group stage in the first three days and then proceed to the round of 16. Both the men’s and women’s teams consisting of 24 teams each will be divided into eight groups with three teams in each group. At the conclusion of the group stage the two highest-placed teams in each group will advance to the playoffs which will begin with the round of 16. Throughout the years LIEBHERR a long-standing partner of global table tennis has also been in partnership with ETTU events as the Europe Top 16 Cup. About the LIEBHERR Group The Liebherr Group is a family-run technology company with a highly diversified product portfolio. The company is one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world. It also provides high-quality and user-oriented products and services in a wide range of other areas. The Liebherr Group includes over 140 companies across all continents. In 2022 it employed more than 50 000 staff and achieved combined revenues of over 12.5 billion euros. Liebherr was founded in Kirchdorf an der Iller in Southern Germany in 1949. Since then the employees have been pursuing the goal of achieving continuous technological innovation and bringing industry-leading solutions to its customers.

Bronze medalists from Cluj 2021 the Danish team will be participating at the STUPA European Championships in Malmö from September 10th to 17th. Two years ago in an epic battle against England that lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes Jonathan GROTH Anders LIND and Tobias RASMUSSEN defeated England in the quarterfinals to secure a place on the medal podium before ultimately losing to Germany in the semifinals. LIND who played some of the best table tennis in his career made a remarkable comeback from a severe car accident and a painful recovery after surgery. This autumn Team Denmark consists of GROTH Lind RASMUSSEN as well as Martin ANDERSEN and Thor CHRISTENSEN. Just last week Lind clinched his first-ever WTT title at Feeder in Olomouc Czechia. “My performance in Olomouc was excellent. I managed to find a high level of focus that helped me win many matches in the row. Also I felt like my body was in good condition allowing me to overcome a series of tough opponents ” said Lind who defeated China’s XUE Fei in the final and Joao GERALDO of Portugal in the semis. Does it seem like the perfect ‘warm-up’ for Malmö? “Yes it is perfect for Malmö; both my teammates and I are in very good shape and I believe we can achieve great results in Sweden.” Starting today LIND will play at the Bulgaria Open at the WTT Feeder Panagyurishte before the team gathers for training. “We will have a camp in Denmark in the week leading up to the European Championships. Right now I can confidently say that GROTH is in amazing shape the best he’s been in years! It’s truly awesome to see him play now. I had the pleasure of coaching him in South America and he was on fire!” Slovenia featuring European no. 1 Darko JORGIC and Türkiye are in the same group as Denmark. “Slovenia is a super-strong team with one of Europe’s best players as their number 1. Beating JORGIC will be very challenging. However I believe we will have a great chance against them if we maintain discipline in our other matches. We aim to win the medal again for sure.”

It came as a surprise when the youthful Norwegian team secured a spot in the final stage of the Stupa European Championships. In the men’s competition in Malmö the young Norwegian squad drew England and Romania as their opponents. This achievement also resurrected memories of a significant upset marking the best performance ever by the Norwegian team in the non-para category. In 1984 a young Norwegian team defeated England at the Moscow European Championship. Just the year before England had reached the semi-finals in the World Championship team competition. Nevertheless the young Norwegian trio of Erik RASMUSSEN Tom JOHANSEN and Geirr GUSTAVSEN triumphed over the renowned English players Desmond DOUGLAS Carl PREAN and Alan COOKE with a score of 5-2. Once again Norway is starting with a young team and once again they will face England. Can the Norwegians cause another upset? “The players are here to learn and gain experience ” says the Norwegian coach the former Swedish National coach Ulf “Tickan” CARLSSON. “They have never participated in the European Teams Championships before so it will be challenging it will be demanding but they are highly dedicated players ” continues the Swede who himself has achieved table tennis honors that most players can only dream of. The coach has selected Borgar HAUG (20 years old) Alexander Klerck FRANSSON (20) Khai Noah LAM (16) and Martin FROSETH (17) to represent Norway in Malmo. This is undoubtedly the youngest team at the Stupa European Championships. HAUG plays for Borussia Düsseldorf FROSETH competes for Halmstad in Sweden LAM will begin playing in Eskilstuna and FRANSSON plays in Norway. Mr. CARLSSON the Norwegian coach guarantees that they will give their all to succeed in Malmö.

Germany’s teams for the 41st Team European Championships in Malmö (September 10th to 17th) have been finalized. The five-member German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) teams for men and women led by Timo BOLL and Benedikt DUDA as well as Ying HAN and Nina MITTELHAM are set to compete in Sweden with high hopes following their victories in 2021 in Cluj-Napoca Romania. In Malmö the women’s team includes world ranking tenth Ying HAN (Tarnobrezg) European Championship runner-up Nina MITTELHAM (Berlin) European Championship semi-finalist Xiaona SHAN (Berlin) 17-year-old German Championships runner-up Annett KAUFMANN (Böblingen) and European Championship bronze medalists Sabine WINTER (Dachau). The men’s team consists of the former top-ranked player in the world Timo BOLL (Düsseldorf) who has returned to the rankings at position 65 after a long injury break Benedikt DUDA (Bergneustadt) who played key roles in the team’s successes in 2021 and 2022 and Ricardo WALTHER (Grünwettersbach). The fourth and fifth positions go to debutant Cedric MEISSNER (Saarbrücken) and Kay STUMPER (Düsseldorf) who earned their spots in the European Championships through an internal selection tournament surpassing Fanbo MENG (Fulda). Defensive strategist Ruwen FILUS ranked 24th in the world was not an option for this European Championship due to personal reasons and Kilian ORT (Bad Königshofen) is still recovering from an injury and has training deficits. DTTB Sports Director Richard PRAUSE along with national team coaches Jörg ROSSKOPF (men) and Tamara BOROS (women) explained “The continental championships along with the already-held European Games and the Team World Championships in South Korea at the end of February are among the top three events on the road to our absolute season highlight the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Our nominations aim to get our teams in top form for Paris. For the women who haven’t played any tournaments since the European Games the European Championships are part of the competition phase so the team is competing in Malmö with its strongest lineup. For the men on the other hand we have a different approach: we want to provide a longer training period for Dang QIU Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Patrick FRANZISKA with an eye on Paris which includes the period of the European Championships given the limited available dates.” Regarding their chances in Malmö the Sports Director said “The situation for the men is similar to the 2021 European Championships and the 2022 World Championships. We have a very strong team that can compete for medals in Malmö. We saw at the Team World Championships how a German team can perform in a tournament but the strong nations are all very closely matched. Especially host Sweden France and Portugal are formidable competitors. In the women’s event I hope that our team will compete for the title likely alongside their perennial rivals Romania.”