Main draw places booked

Success earlier in the day, the lowest ranked players in their respective groups, the host nation’s Klara Cakol and Russia’s Ekaterina Chernyavskaya, alongside the Chinese Taipei’s duo of Tsai Yu-Chin and Huang Yi-Hua, duly completed their initial stage matches unbeaten and thus secured main draw places.

Tsai Yu-Chin concluded her itinerary by beating Audrey Zarif (11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8), Ekaterina Chernyavskaya by accounting for India’s Archana Girish Kamath (11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-2). Similarly, Klara Cakol ended matters on a high note, she overcame Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz (11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5); rather differently Huang Yi-Hua gained a walk-over against Mexico’s Yadira Silva.

Needing good performance

The top name in her group, Norway’s Ilka Doval experienced a five games defeat at the hands of Ecuador’s Nathaly Paredes (11-7, 8-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-5) but success in four games or better in her concluding group stage contest will secure first position and a main draw reservation.

Earlier in the day Russia’s Elizabet Abraamian had overcome Nathaly Paredes in four games (9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9).

Disappointment for Chile

Leading names in their respective groups, Chile’s Daniela Ortega and Judith Morales both experienced defeats. Daniela Ortega was beaten by Poland’s Julia Slasak (9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-7); Judith Morales lost to Japan’s Mitsuho Kimura (11-6, 11-3, 11-8).

The door is now firmly closed for Judith Morales, having earlier lost to Croatia’s Marta Vukelic (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8). However, first place for Daniela Ortega is possible if she can beat Lithuania’s Vitalija Venckute in three straight games in the concluding group contest; earlier in the day Vitalija Venckute overcame Julia Salazk in five games (6-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5).

Positive starts for top three

Women’s Singles – Group Stage

The top three names on duty in the group qualification stage of the women’s singles event, all made successful starts.

Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz beat Sweden’s Caroline Tanska (15-13, 11-7, 11-2), Austria’s Karoline Mischek accounted for India’s Pooja Sahasrabudhe (11-5, 11-7, 11-5). Likewise, Aikaterini Toliou prevailed in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yi-Chiao (11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10).

Man of the moment

The nation’s Ivor Ban was undoubtedly the player of the day. Only 16 years old, the lowest ranked player in his group, after earlier in the day beating Belgium’s Laurens Devos (11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7), he accounted for Italy’s Marco Rech Daldosso (11-7, 11-9, 2-11, 13-11).

Success and first place in the group, the only player on the first day of action to achieve the feat.

Notable names experience defeat

Chile’s Gustavo Gomez and Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zhmudenko, alongside Russia’s Vildan Gadiev, Germany’s Denis Klein and Austria’s David Serdaroglu, leading names in their respective groups, all suffered defeats in the opening contests.

Gustavo Gomez was beaten by Spain’s Javier Benitez (10-12, 13-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5), Yaroslav Zhmudenko lost to Germany’s Benno Oehme (13-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5); Vildan Gadiev suffered at the hands of India’s Jeet Chandra (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10). Similarly it was defeat for Dennis Kein when facing Chile’s Nicolas Burgos (7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8) and for David Serdaroglu when facing Giorgos Konstantinopoulos of Greece (12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6).

However, all lost to players who in their opening rounds had suffered defeated; also none lost in straight games. Thus a convincing wins in their concluding group stage matches and first place in the group can still be attained.

Successful starts for principal names

The leading names on duty in the group stage of proceedings all made successful starts to their campaigns. Japan’s Yuki Hirano beat Italy’s Gabriele Piciulin (11-2, 11-7, 11-8), Chinese Taipei’s Peng Wang-Wei accounted for Chile’s David Valenzuela (11-3, 11-4, 11-9). Similarly in straight games, Poland’s Marek Badowski overcame India’s Siddesh Pande (11-8, 11-2, 11-6).

Comfortable wins, for the fourth highest rated on initial phase duty life was more exacting; Scotland’s Gavin Rumgay needed the full five games to beat Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica, only emerging successful by the minimal two point margin in the decider (11-13, 11-4, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9).

Surprise defeats

The leading names in their respective groups, as the second series of matches progressed in the group stage of the under 21 women’s singles event, there were surprising defeat for leading names.

Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz was beaten by Sweden’s Christina Kallberg (8-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-6), Russia’s Elizabet Abraamian lost to Slovenia’s Aleksandra Vovk (6-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5). Likewise, also from Sweden Erika Font suffered at the hands Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Yu-Chin (11-7, 11-6, 11-8), India’s Sreeja Akula experienced defeat when facing  Alma Roose (11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11) similar to Christina Kallberg and Erika Front from Sweden.

Top secure top places

Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling, Japan’s Haruna Ojio and Russia’s Anastasia Kolish all completed their initial stage under 21 women’s singles group matches without defeat and thus in top spot.

Su Pei-Ling beat Thailand’s Jinnipa Sawettabut (12-10, 14-12, 11-5), Haruna Ojio accounted for Poland’s Julia Slazak (11-8, 11-4, 11-5); Anastasia Kolish overcame Elisavet Terpou of Greece (9-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-5).

Ivor Ban once again shines

The host nation’s Ivor Ban, no under 21 men’s world ranking, was very much the player to shine as play progressed in the lower half of the draw in the under 21 men’s singles opening round; he beat Slovakia’s Adam Brat, the no.28 seed (11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8).

In addition both Germany’s Benno Oehme and Iran’s Amin Ahmadian upset the order of merit. Benno Oehme, the no.51 seed, accounted for Romania’s Paul Mladin, the no.32 seed (6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9), Amin Ahmadian, the no.40 seed, ended the hopes of Russia’s Lev Katsman, the no.29 seed (11-9, 12-10, 12-10).

Takeru Kashiwa cause major upsets

Japan’s Takeru Kashiwa caused the biggest upset in the opening round of the under 21 men’s singles event; the no.41 seed, he beat Germany’s Nils Hohmeier, the no.6 seed (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8).

Also, in top half of the draw there were surprise defeats for Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica, Austria’s Thomas Grininger and Kazakhstan’s Aidos Kenzhigukov. Andrei Putuntica, the no.12 seed, was beaten by Maciek Kolodziejczyk, the no.47 seed and also from Austria (12-10, 11-8, 11-4). Meanwhile, Thomas Grininger, the no.10 seed, lost to Russia’s Nikita Artemenko, the no.35 seed (11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7), Aidos Kenzhigukov, the no.31 seed, suffered at the hands of Poland’s Maciej Kubik (11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5).

Russians upset odds

The third rated players in the respective Russia’s Liubov Tentser and Ekaterina Chernyavskaya both made impressive starts to their campaigns by beating the players listed one place higher. Liubov Tentser beat India’s Selena Selvakumar (11-8, 1-11, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10), Ekaterina Chernyavskaya accounted for Slovenia’s Aleksandra Vovk (11-8, 12-10, 11-5).

Success against the odds for Russia but there was the exact reverse situation, Ekaterina Guseva was beaten by Poland’s Kinga Stefanska (11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5).

 Tsai Yu-Chin once again impressive

Runner up in the under 21 women’s singles event last week in Slovenia, Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Yu-Chin once again impressed; she beat Croatia’s Petra Petek in three straight games (11-6, 11-6, 11-4).

Success against the odds for the 17 year old it was the same for 34 year old colleague, Huang Yi-Hua; likewise she caused the host nation more pain, she overcame Ida Jazbec (11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-7). Success for Chinese Taipei, there was also disappointment; Huang Hsin lost to Moumita Das in a tension packed contest. Moumita Das recovered from a two games to nil deficit to record victory by the very narrowest of five game margins (8-11, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10, 12-10).

Tsai Yu-Chin, Huang Yi-Hua and Moumita Das all started the day the lowest rated in their respective groups.

Depth of talent once again underlined

The ever increasing depth of talent amongst aspiring Japanese female players was once again underlined; Honami Nakamori and Kyoka Idesawa both caused upsets in their opening contests. Honami Nakamori beat India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee (11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-4), Kyoka Idesawa accounted for Turkey’s Sibel Altinkaya (14-16, 11-6, 11-2, 11-8).

Presently on the women’s world rankings, Sutirtha Mukherjee is named at no.277, Honami Nakamori at no.545; meanwhile, Sibel Altinkaya stands at no.258, Kyoka Idesawa has no status.

Croatian quintet excels

A total of 30 groups in the initial stage, top spot plus two “Lucky Losers”, drawn at random from the second placed players, joining the 32 seeds in the main draw; there was plenty of reason for host nation celebration as play commenced in the group phase of the women’s singles event.

Andrea Pavlovic, Klara Cakol, Ivana Grgic and Marta Vukelic alongside Sara Susac, all the lowest rated players in their respective groups, caused opening match upsets.

Impressively, Andrea Pavlovic beat Konstantina Paridi of Greece (11-7, 11-5, 12-10), Klara Cakol accounted for Serbia’s Anelia Lupulesku (5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 12-14, 11-8); Ivana Grgic overcame Tanja Helle of the Netherlands (9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8). Likewise, Marta Vukelic prevailed against Chile’s Judith Morales (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8), Sara Susic gained the verdict in opposition to Denmark’s Stefanie Christensen (11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6).

Host nation in form

The host nation’s Filip Zeljko and Ivor Ban were very much the players in form on the morning of the opening day of action in Zagreb.

Both the lowest rated in their respective groups; both upset the odds. Filip Zelkjo beat Slovenia’s Peter Hribar (11-3, 11-8, 11-4); Ivor Ban, only 16 year old, accounted for Belgium’s Laurens Devos (11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7).

Conversely, colleague Tomislav Kolarek suffered against Russia’s Ivan Nikulin (11-6, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6), Lithuania’s Rimas Lesiv experienced defeat at the hands of Ukraine’s Yuriy Nadolnyy (5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9). Similar to Filip Zeljko and Ivor Ban, both Ivan Nikulin and Yuriy Nadolnyy commenced play as the third and lowest ranked player in their respective groups.

Early surprises

Men’s Singles: Group Stage

A total of 41 groups in the initial stage of the men’s singles event; first place in group no.1 to group no.23 gaining a direct entry to join the 32 seeds the main draw; those in group no.24 to group no.41 being required to compete in a preliminary round, there were surprises as proceedings commenced.

The lowest ranked players in their respective groups, Italy’s Gabriele Piciulin and Ukraine’s Viktor Yefimov alongside Tian Ye of the United States and Russia’s Maxim Chaplygin all caused upsets. Gabriele Piciulin beat Roman’s Bogdan Singeorzan (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8), Viktor Yefimov accounted for Portugal’s José Pedro Francisco (11-3, 11-5, 11-3). Similarly, Tian Ye defeated Slovakia’s Tibor Spanik (17-15, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10), Maxim Chaplygin overcame Austrai’s Narayan Kapolonek (10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5).

Slovenia form maintained

Runner up last week in Slovenia, Russia’s Anastasia Kolish made the ideal start to her campaign in Zagreb. In her opening contest she accounted for the host nation’s Klara Bardac (11-2, 11-5, 11-8).

Similarly, amongst the leading names on initial phase duty there was success for Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz; she beat Slovenia’s Lara Opeka (11-2, 11-9, 12-10). However, there were defeats for those who started the day as the leading name in their group. Sweden’s Erika Font lost to Turkey’s Ece Harac (11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9); India’s Sreeja Akula was beaten by Japan’s Kyoka Idesawa (11-7, 11-9, 11-9).

Leading names make successful start

Eight groups in the first stage of the under 21 women’s singles event, players finishing in first and second places in each advancing to join the 16 seeds in the first round, the leading names all made successful starts.

Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling beat Russia’s Anastasia Kolish (11-9, 11-4, 5-11, 11-9), Japan’s Haruna Ojio accounted for the host nation’s Andrea Pavlovic (11-4, 11-9, 11-6).

Led by Richard McAfee of the United State, it was his concluding stop on a five week itinerary in India, a schedule which overall had seen him conduct two ITTF Level Two courses, a High Performance Camp and now an ITTF/PTT Level One course, an initiative that excelled expectations.

It was the first such course in the region and proved so popular that the maximum number of 30 students was quickly reached; notably 20 applicants had to be assigned to a waiting list!

A full attendance, a total of 13 coaches were present from the local area, the rest travelling long distances from throughout southern India.

“The Alappuzha YMCA, founded in 1902, has a long history of being a leading provider of youth sports and features a full-time table tennis academy. They also provide training to hundreds of kids daily in a variety of sports.” Richard McAfee

All responded to the efforts of Richard McAfee, notably excellent facilities and outstanding hospitality being provided by the YMCA staff and the Kerala Table Tennis Association. Even more notably, after five days of intense activity, all members passed the practical examination.

“So many people went above and beyond to help in making this first ITTF course in Kerala successful that it is impossible to name them all. However, a special thank you to Dr. P. Kuriapan Varghese, President of the YMCA and N. Ganeshan, President of the Kerala TTA.” Richard McAfee

The ITTF Coaches Education Programme in India is the result of a unique collaboration starting in 2012 between the Table Tennis Federation of India and the International Table Tennis Federation in liaison with Tenvic for whom Mohan Kuman has been the project leader. A great deal of the success and growth of the ITTF programmes in India have been due to his excellent organisational skills.

“Tenvic is a company formed by Anil Kumble and Vasanth Bharadwaj, which promotes the well-being of people and ecosystems across personal and professional spheres. It fosters lasting cultural, social and economic benefits for individuals, societies in India aimed at positively impacting the lives of people through sports in schools and clubs. This year Tenvic organised five ITTF Courses and a 10 day High Performance Camp during April and May. Some 116 Coaches attended these courses with 33 athletes attending the High Performance Camp.” Richard McAfee

Success in Alappuzha, no doubt further courses will follow; no doubt Richard McAfee will return.

Furthermore, he leads Singapore’s junior boys’ team bid for honours; the top seeds, he lines up alongside Beh Kun Ting and Josh Chua Shao Han, both no strangers to the international scene. Notably last year Josh Chua Shao Han was a junior boys’ singles semi-finalist in Canada and Serbia.

Next in line is the Belgium trio formed by Nicolas Degros, Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse; they are the second seeds ahead of India’s Manush Utpalbhai Shah, Raegan Alburquerque and Deepit Patil. Earlier this year both Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse reached the junior boys’ singles quarter-finals in France; additionally Olav Kosolosky progressed to the same round in Italy, Adrien Rassenfosse in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile two step further, Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Raegan Alburquerque both reached finals in 2018; Manush Utpalbhai was the runner up in Jordan, as was Raegan Alburquerque in Egypt.

Strong title contenders but the strongest of all is the fourth seeded outfit, the Chinese combination of Kuang Li, Liu Yebo and Xie Congfan. No current world ranking, 17 year old Xie Congfan is a newcomer to the international scene, Kuang Li and Liu Yebo are no strangers. Both have ITTF World Junior Circuit titles to the credit; last year Kuang Li won in the junior boys’ singles event in Thailand, Liu Yebo succeeded in Hungary.

Equally Kuang Li and Liu Yebo are names to note in the junior boys’ singles event. Liu Yebo is the no.3 seed, behind Pang Yew En Koen; Kuang Li is the no.9 seed. Also the names of Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse appear high on the list; they are the respective fourth and fifth seeds. Thailand’s Yanapong Panagitgun followed by Josh Chua Shao Han and Chinese Taipei’s Peng Chih complete the top eight names.

China very much an outfit to note; it is the same in the cadet boys’ team competition. Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng form the selection; all have ITTF World Junior Circuit cadet boys’ singles titles to their name. Last year Chen Yuanyu won in Croatia, Lin Shidong in Italy; Huang Youzheng in Hungary.

Favourites for gold, they are listed ahead of the quartet formed by Peru’s Carlos Fernandez and Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo who join forces with Australia’s Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu. Hong Kong’s Baldwin Chan Ho Wah, Lee Pok Kwan, You Kwan To and Yu Nok occupy the no.3 seeded spot ahead of Japan’s Sora Matsushima, Haruki Michihiro and Kazuki Yoshiyama.

Notably, Sora Matsushima is the top seed in the cadet boys’ singles competition, Chen Yuanyu alongside the Czech Republic’s Simon Belik and Carlos Fernandez being the next in the order.

Play commences in Bangkok with the junior boys’ team and cadet boys’ team events.

The teenager was the star of the show.

Men’s Singles

…………Ivor Ban, no current men’s world rankings, beat both Belgium’s Laurens Devos (11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7) and Italy’s Marco Rech Daldosso (11-7, 11-9, 2-11, 12-10) to emerge the only player guaranteed a group first place.

…………Japan’s Yuki Hirano and Chinese Taipei’s Peng Wang-Wei, the top two names on qualification duty, both made impressive starts. Yuki Hirano beat Italy’s Gabriele Piciulin (11-2, 11-7, 11-8); Peng Wang-Wei accounted for Chile’s David Valenzuela (11-3, 11-4, 11-9)

Women’s Singles

…………Against the odds, the host nation’s Klara Cakol and Russia’s Ekaterina Chernyavskaya, alongside the Chinese Taipei’s duo of Tsai Yu-Chin and Huang Yi-Hua, all completed their initial stage matches unbeaten and thus secured main draw places. All started the day the lowest ranked players in their respective groups,

…………Leading names on duty in the qualification stage all made successful starts. Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz beat Sweden’s Caroline Tanska (15-13, 11-7, 11-2), Austria’s Karoline Mischek accounted for India’s Pooja Sahasrabudhe (11-5, 11-7, 11-5).

Under 21 Men’s Singles

…………Ivor Ban, no global status, caused a major opening round upset; he beat Slovakia’s Adam Brat (11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8).

…………Japan’s Takeru Kashiwa caused the biggest first round surprise; the no.41 seed, he accounted for Germany’s Nils Hohmeier, the no.6 seed (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8).

Under 21 Women’s Singles

…………Sweden’s Christina Källberg caused the biggest upset, she beat Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz (8-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-6), the fourth highest ranked player in qualification stage duty.

…………Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling, Japan’s Haruna Ojio and Russia’s Anastasia Kolish, the leading three names in the qualification tournament all secured group first places in their groups and the progressed to the main draw.

Dear friends,

For one more year the ITTF has been present at the SportAccord Convention – the world sport and business summit, focused on driving positive change internationally and dedicated to engaging and connecting international federations, rights holders, organising committees, cities, press and media, businesses and other organisations involved in the development of sport.

This time, the ITTF had three delegates on site: our President, Thomas Weikert, our Secretary General, Raul Calin, and our Marketing Director, Matt Pound. They kept our CEO, Steve Dainton, updated on the different meetings this week, and we decided it was good to share with our membership the key outcomes.

Probably the pinnacle of the Convention was, once again, the ASOIF General Assembly, which was held on Tuesday 7^th May.

ASOIF is the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, the group of the “core” 28 IFs present in the Olympic Games.

During the GA, its President, Francesco Ricci Bitti, and its Executive Director, Andrew Ryan, talked about the impressive impact the report “FUTURE OF GLOBAL SPORT” issued on 28^th February, has had around the world of sport.

You may remember that already on 6^th April our CEO shared with you the report and also an article that appeared in SPORTCAL.

During the two months since the report was released, there have been many discussions among the International Federations, and there is a clear consensus on a few points, already mentioned on the “Executive Summary” of the report:

Thus, when three delegates at our AGM questioned some of the decisions taken by our Executive Committee in regard to good governance measures, probably the best answer we can give is asking them to read the ASOIF report.

Hence, the idea of establishing World Table Tennis, as a vehicle to drive the ITTF commercial interest in the future, can be considered as one of the pioneering initiatives in this respect. It fits perfectly with what the global sport leaders are suggesting.

Skeptical about TTX? Consider it as the perfect door for the ITTF to discover, engage and attract future table tennis fans and players.

But there is much more. When digging on the report, you can see specific sections for the different areas which you could already see in the ITTF Strategic Plan launched in May 2018. To just mention a few:

Governance (the first of our five strategic priorities)

So yes, it is time to accomplish the second phase of our Constitution review and, certainly, put the athletes higher in the agenda. The ITTF will be approaching their members in the coming months with some proposals.

Entrepreneurialism (implicitly part of our fourth and fifth strategic priorities)

Back to the report of ASOIF, it is quite “symbolic” that the page 40, speaking about the recommendations for a Well Governed Entrepreneurial IF, features our sport in the picture.

Furthermore, it is good to mention that, during his speech, Andrew Ryan quoted this sentence from Simon Morton, COO of UK Sport:

And if we reflect on the recent actions that our AGM, BoD and EC have accomplished in the last two years:

• Ensuring a new model of the World Table Tennis Championships to be more aligned to the modern-day society, which immediately had the positive effect of the ITTF being able to take the event to a new market, Houston, USA.
• Conducting an open and transparent public tender for the ITTF’s 2021 Commercial rights to find private investment into the sport. The tender has been very well received in the sports business world with 45 companies expressing their interest to be involved to collaborate with the ITTF’s new commercial vehicle World Table Tennis.
• Collaborating with T2, initially a potential competitor and, today, an ITTF partner, what has proved to be a smart move, and we look forward to the T2 events in 2019.
• Adapting our World Ranking to support our events. It seems obvious, but now our best players are playing our events and we can prove to the market that our products are even seen to be valuable by our internal stakeholders.
• Putting more focus on the players and athletes – starting with some support on marketing and also pushing now to have even closer relationships through attempting rule changes to ensure they are treated as the real stars of the show. Not to mention an eventual move towards more high-performance support through our High Performance and Development programs.

Besides the formal General Assemblies of ASOIF, GAISF and IMGA, our delegates had numerous meetings with different cities, regional and national representatives present in Gold Coast, as well as with some technology companies and partners.

All in all, a productive week where the ITTF also shared with the colleagues the progress being made and actually was referenced by ASOIF leadership at their GA.

What is next?

Well, another of the enthusiastic projects the ITTF in embarking on is seeking the global Home of Table Tennis. A place where the ITTF staff works under the same roof, connected with a training hall where the High Performance Director can work daily with talents from different corners of the world, and then returning to the offices to seat and discuss planning of the calendar with the Competition Director and the Marketing Director. Identically, the ITTF is thinking of establishing an I+R area, where we can bring in-house all the expertise on the different materials, racket coverings, balls, nets, tables, flooring, etc.

A center of knowledge, a center of investigation, helping the ITTF to better position itself for the future in the ever more competitive global sport field.

Editorial