Competing in men’s singles class 9, Laurens Devos accounted for Ukraine’s Lev Kats to seal the title (11-9, 11-8, 11-7); in the women’s singles events, at the final hurdle in class 4-5 Borislava Peric-Rankovic beat colleague Nada Matic by the very narrowest of margins (11-8, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9), rather more comfortably, Natalia Partyka secured the class 10 top prize at the expense of Turkey’s Merve Demir (11-8, 11-2, 11-4).

Joining the list

Three players with all three prestigious titles, in Helsingborg four more were added to the list. Rio 2016 Paralympic Games gold medallists and last year in Lasko crowned World champions; in the men’s singles events in Helsingborg Frenchman Fabien Lamirault, Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier and Belgium’s Florian Van Acker completed the full house, as in the women’s singles competitions did Kelly van Zon of the Netherlands.

At the final hurdle in class 2, Fabien Lamirault beat Poland’s Rafal Czuper (11-6, 11-8, 11-5), in class 6, Peter Rosenmeier accounted for Romania’s Bobi Simion (11-5, 11-7, 11-8). Not to be upstaged in class 11 Florian Van Acker overcame Hungary’s Peter Palos (10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 14-12).

Impressive performances, it was the same from Kelly van Zon in class 7; she secured gold at the final expense of Turkey’s Kubra Korkut (11-3, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9).

Successful defence

The European title added the collection; there were those who like Laurens Devos, Borislava Peric-Rankovic and Natalia Partyka successfully defended the titles won two years earlier in Lasko.

In the men’s singles events, Great Britain’s Rob Davies beat Hungary’s Endre Major (11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 15-13) to win the class 1 title for a fourth consecutive time.

Likewise, Germany’s Thomas Schmidberger accounted for Frenchman Florian Merrien to emerge the class 3 winner (11-7, 14-12, 11-6), Ukraine’s Viktor Didukh once again prevailed in class 8 as did Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski in class 10. At the final hurdle Viktor Didukh recovered from a two games to nil deficit, to overcome colleague Maksym Nikolenko by the very minimal two point margin in the decider (9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9); rather less dramatically, Patryk Chojnowski secured the top prize at the expense of Montenegro’s Filip Radovic (11-3, 13-15, 11-6, 11-4).

Repeat success, in the women’s singles event, it was the same for the host nation’s Anna-Carin Ahlquist; she overcame Italy’s Michela Brunelli (11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5) to reserve the top prize.

Adding to title collection

Meanwhile, like Rob Davies, Turkey’s Abdullah Ozturk, Rio 2016 Paralympic Games gold medallist, secured the men’s singles class 4 title. He recovered from losing the opening two games against colleague Nesim Turan (5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10) to emerge victorious.

Similarly, in women’s singles class 11, Russia’s Elena Prokofeva added to her World title won one year ago in Lasko; she beat Turkey’s Ebru Acer (11-6, 11-7, 11-4) to emerge a most worthy champion.

Adding to their title collections, there were those who revived former glories. Germany’s Valentin Baus, crowned World champion in 2014 in Beijing, beat Serbia’s Mitar Palikuca (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) to emerge the men’s singles class 5 winner. Thu Kamkasomphu of France, having won gold at the European Para Championships on seven consecutive occasions commencing in 2001, as well as being the Paralympic Games gold medallist in 2000 in Sydney and 2008 in Beijing claimed the women’s singles class 7 top prize. At the final hurdle, she accounted for Poland’s Dajana Jastrzebska (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6).

First major title

More gold at major tournaments; that was the scenario in the men’s singles events; however, in the women’s singles, there were those who succeeded on the big stage for the very first time.

In group organised events, silver medallist two years ago in Lasko, Poland’s Dorota Buclaw won class 1, finishing ahead of Finland’s Ain Tapola; in a similar manner, bronze medallist in Lasko, Italy’s Giadi Rossi claimed the class 2 title, Serbia’s Ana Prvulovic emerged the runner up.

Progress, for Russia’s Maliak Alieva and Hungary’s Alexa Szvitacs it was a first medal at a major international tournament. Maliak Alieva secured the class 6 title overcoming Germany’s Stephanie Grebe in the final (7-11, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4); Alexa Szvitacs claimed class 9 gold, in the final she beat Poland’s Karolina Pek (11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7).

The individual events concluded, attention now turns to the team competitions, the curtain closes in Helsingborg on Saturday 21st September.

2019 ITTF European Para Championships: Latest Draws and Results

The top spot gained by Cao Yantao was to be anticipated, he was the leading name in the group. He beat Romania’s Mihai Rosca (11-4, 11-4, 11-5), followed by success in opposition to India’s Yashansh Malik (11-5, 11-13, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5).

Conversely for Liang Guodong, Zhang Minghao and Xiong Mengyang first place was contrary to status; all remained unbeaten, all accounted for the leading name in their group. Notably, Liang Guodong beat Slovakia’s Filip Delincak, the highest rated player in the qualification stage; most impressively, he prevailed in three straight games (11-6, 11-6, 11-8). Zhang Minghao overcame the host nation’s Frantisek Onderka (12-10, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9), Xiong Mengyang succeeded in opposition to Russia’s Damir Akhmetsafin (11-6, 11-6, 12-10).

Surprise first places and there were more; Korea Republic’s Park Minjun, the host nation’s Simon Belik, Poland’s Milosz Redimski and Romania’s Darius Movileanu emerged unexpected group winners as did Chinese Taipei’s Yang Zhi-Xing and Chen Yen-Ting. Likewise it was top spot contrary to expectations for Japan’s Yuto Abe, Spain’s Arnau Pons and Israel’s Tal Israeli.

Attracting attention

Meanwhile, in the initial phase of the junior girls’ singles event, Vera Volkova of Belarus was very much the player to attract the attention; she secured first place in her group, notably overcoming Australia’s Parleen Kaur (-9, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9), the highest rated plater on qualification duty.

A surprise first place, it was same lower down the order for the Chinese Taipei quartet of Cheng Pu-Syuan, Chu Yi-Ching, Lee Wan-Hsuan and Liang Yuan-Ting. Likewise against the odds it was top spot for Charlotte Lutz of France, Korea Republic’s Kim Jimin, as well as for Japan’s Haruna Sugita, Sweden’s Nomin Baasan, Hong Kong’s Poon Yat and Germany’s Naomi Pranjkovic.

Seeds fall

Surprises in the junior boys’ singles event with Chinese players in form; it was the same in the junior boys’ doubles.

Cao Yantao and Liang Gudong, the no.20 seeds, beat Poland’s Maciej Kubik and Samuel Kulczycki, the top seeds (11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5) to reserve their place in the penultimate round. Likewise in the second round, colleagues Quan Kaiyuan and Xing Mengyang, the no.10 seeds, accounted for India’s Payas Jain and Manush Utpalbhai Shah, the no.3 seeds (7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-3), before in the quarter-finals ousting Russia’s Rusian Cherkes and Maksim Grebnev, the no.9 seeds (11-3, 11-4, 11-5).

Similarly, Italy’s Tommas Giovannetti and John Oyebode upset the order of merit. The no.17 seeds, they recorded a second round win against Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Jen and Tai Ming-Wei, the no.4 seeds (6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5), prior to reserving their semi-final place courtesy of success in opposition to Hungary’s Csaba Andras and Patrik Juhasz, the no.5 seeds (7-11, 13-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6).

Success against the odds for Italy, it was the very same for Chinese Taipei; Feng Yi-Hsin and Li Hsin-Yu, the no.8 seeds, recorded a four games quarter-final margin of victory against Belgium’s Olav Kosolsky and Adrien Rassenfosse (8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6).

At the semi-final stage Cao Yantao and Liang Gudong meet Tommas Giovannetti and John Oyebode; Quan Kaiyuan and Xing Mengyang face Quan Kaiyuan and Xing Mengyang.

Progress as anticipated

Likewise in the junior girls’ doubles event, China was to the fore but as anticipated. Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiatong, the top seeds, duly advanced as expected, a situation that applied also to colleagues, Chen Yi and Kuai Man, the no.4 seeds.

In a similar vein, the French pairing of Camille Lutz and Prithika Pavade, the no.2 seeds, progressed but there was no place in the last four for India’s Diya Parag Chitale and Swastika Ghosh, the no.3 seeds. They experienced an opening round defeat by the very narrowest of margins at the hands of Romania’s Ioana Singeorzan and Hungary’s Dorottya Tolgyes (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11). Ioana Singeorzan and Dorottya Tolgyes duly suffered in the third round, losing to Japan’s Misa Inayoshi and Haruna Sugita (12-10, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5), the quarter-final winners in opposition to Romania’s Tania Plaian and Elena Zaharia (11-8, 11-8, 15-13).

Now, in the penultimate round Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiatong confront Misa Inayoshi and Haruna Sugita, Camille Lutz and Prithika Pavade face Chen Yi and Kuai Man.

The junior boys’ singles, junior girls’ singles, junior boys’ doubles and junior girls’ doubles events conclude on Thursday 19th September.

Journey to the top

Rewind back to 2015 and Petrissa Solja, aged just 21 at the time, secures a major accolade with an impressive bronze medal finish at the Women’s World Cup in Sendai, Japan.

In April 2016 Solja’s stock rose higher still, as she achieved a personal best ranking position of no.13 and a few months later helped Germany to women’s team silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, the best finish by a European team in the history of the event.

Firmly established as one of the leading names in the European game, that fact was backed up at the 2017 Europe Top 16 Cup in Antibes where Solja finished runner up for the second time. Then came one of the most special moments in her career on a personal level, winning mixed doubles bronze alongside China’s Fang Bo in front of the German crowd at the 2017 World Championships in Düsseldorf.

Fortunes take downward turn

However, Solja’s fortunes were about to change as she went on to endure a difficult spell on the international stage for the remainder of the year, appearing just twice on the ITTF World Tour in 2017! Selected to represent her country at the 2017 European Championships but injury problems caused her to withdraw from the German squad, coincidentally Germany went on to lose out to Romania at the final hurdle.

Upon her return to the scene in 2018 Solja struggled to rekindle her previous form, succumbing to a shock opening round defeat at CCB 2018 Europe Top 16 Cup didn’t have much to write home about on the ITTF World Tour front, failing to qualify for main draw action on four of her seven ITTF World Tour outings that year.

There were positive signs for the German towards the back end of the year with Solja once again achieving a top eight finish at the Liebherr 2018 European Championships, replicating her result at the 2016 European Championships.

On the up and a point to prove

Looking to put the past couple of years behind her, Solja claimed a big win at the 2019 Hungarian Open in January beating Europe’s highest world ranked player Sofia Polcanova. The story became better still for Solja, clinching the women’s singles trophy at the CCB 2019 Europe Top 16 Cup. Further silverware came at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, where Solja took home gold medals in the women’s team and mixed doubles categories.

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions for Solja over past couple of years. Ranked 70th in the women’s world rankings list in January 2018, as of September 2019 she finds herself at position no.21. Without wanting to move too far ahead of ourselves, it looks as if Solja is finally beginning to find her footing on the global stage again.

Success in Montreux means that Petrissa Solja has received her invitation for next month’s Women’s World Cup in Chengdu which could be the perfect place for the German to make a statement. There’s still plenty of work to do but it will be exciting to see what Solja can achieve in the remaining months of 2019 and beyond.

When some of the most talented teams from the biggest continent in the world – in both population and popularity of the sport – collide, there are plenty of lessons to be learnt. Here’s a look at the top 10 takeaways from the Asian Championships till now:

China a step ahead of the rest

The top seeds were in top form as there was unprecedented success for Team China across the men’s and women’s team events, claiming victory in this tournament for no less than the 22nd time since 1972. In even more exciting stats, this was their 11th win in a row since 1996, only surrendering the title twice –  in the inaugural year against Team Japan and in 1996 when Team Korea Republic succeeded instead.

By the performances of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha for the women’s team and Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin and Liang Jingkun for the men’s team, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games place was secured in an emphatic manner.

The biggest takeaway was about Liang Jingkun’s performance who, on his debut in the tournament, passed the test with flying colours. Liang’s most impressive match being against Kazuhiro Yoshimura, where he outplayed the Japanese player in a splendid 3-0 win (11-6, 14-12, 11-1).

Iran show great togetherness

If there were things to learn for the top seeds, there was plenty to learn about the underdogs of this tournament as well. Team Iran has been steadily rising to compete with the Asian elite and this tournament was further evidence of their progress. Their team bonding is one of their greatest strengths as no can miss when they make more noise to support one another in the hall than everyone else combined!

The main stay of Team Iran have been the Alamian brothers – Noshad and Nima have risen to task at hand, sounding out the more competitive nature of their country’s athletes. Claiming seventh position, Iran have shown their quality over the past week – and we are curious to see what comes next.

India keeping up the pace

Team India have always been a major player when it comes to Asian Championships and their athletes did not disappoint in Indonesia. The no.4 seeds, moved on to the quarter-finals of the men’s event in style, successfully topping their group thanks to the team of Sharath Kamal Achanta, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai stepping up to the mark.

Upon facing Japan, India could not have made a better start. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran – the star of the tournament for the subcontinental nation – beat Tomokazu Harimoto in a striking straight games victory (11-4, 11-7, 12-10). While that was not enough to take them through as Japan won 3-1 overall, Team India finished fifth and thus if the same system is applied in 2021, they will find themselves into to the main draw directly.

Singapore youth learn harsh reality

It was not all sunshine and rainbows for the Asian superpowers, as the youthful Singaporean men’s team dropped from sixth to eighth position. The spirited battlers from Team Iran shocked Singapore’s young brigade 3-1 in the battle for seventh, after they had come up against Team China in a rude awakening of the ruthlessness of table tennis at the highest level.

But on a positive note, there was success against the odds for Team Singapore’s women, led by Feng Tianwei. Singapore’s journey started well when they came out on top against Maldives and Sri Lanka without dropping a single game. In the quarter-finals, the team of Lin Ye, Yu Mengyu and Feng Tianwei sprung a shock 3-1 victory over Korea Republic. Eventually, they ran into the behemoth that is Team China.

Hong Kong run into Thailand hurdle

Speaking of running into things, Team Hong Kong had a rather underwhelming tournament as their women’s team ran into in-form Thailand. Progressing safely through the qualification phase, the Thailand team of Suthasini Sawettabut, Orawan Paranag and Nanthana Komwong had experienced a 3-0 defeat when facing no.2 seeds, Japan’s Miu Hirano, Kasumi Ishikawa and Hitomi Sato – meaning they would face Team Hong Kong next.

Despite the humongous task at hand the Thai women’s team were in superb tandem as they stunned the Hong Kong women, with Doo Hoi Kem and Soo Wai Yam Minnie both losing out to Thailand’s Paranang Orawan. This resulted in no medals for Hong Kong across the team events at the Asian Championships, with signs that their plan may need some shaking up – and possibly more strength in depth.

Chinese Taipei maintain push without star prodigies

As for Team Chinese Taipei, there were successful bronze medals at both the men’s and women’s events. This was a singularly big achievement for the team, given the absences of Lin Yun-Ju and Chuang Chih-Yuan.

Their path to the semi-finals proved trickier than they had anticipated. Coming up against fierce competition in the form of Hong Kong, Team Chinese Taipei required a heroic display from Chen Szu-Yu who came out on top twice. This added to the a third win from Cheng I-Ching, proved invaluable in their conquest as they secured third place.

China’s biggest challenge still Japan

Despite all the battles Team China has to face off, it seems their rivalry with Team Japan remains the most interesting challenge of them all. Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Miu Hirano have been extremely consistent over the years in making Team China sweat, and it was no different here in Indonesia.

Japan’s line-up of Miu Hirano, Kasumi Ishikawa and Hitomi Sato were a delight to watch against Thailand in the quarter-finals and with Saki Shibata and Miyu Kato also available for selection, they had plenty of options to make it to the final. The same was true for the men’s team of Tomokazu Harimoto, Maharu Yoshimura and Kazuhiro Yoshimura, however, they met China at the penultimate stage instead, suffering a 3-0 loss.

DPR Korea lie in anxious wait for no change

The women’s team for DPR Korea rose from seventh position to fifth, which should be enough to gain direct entry for 2021 Asian Championships after their momentous performance here. That is, of course, if there are no changes in the qualification system.

Luckily for their fans, there were plenty of positives to takeaway. DPR Korea made sure to leave a mark at the Among Rogo stadium, with a clinical 3-0 victory over Korea Republic and then doubled down with a mirror performance versus Thailand.

Saudi Arabia raise West Asian flag

The men’s team for Saudi Arabia produced an impressive showing of their talents in the past week, raising themselves from 13th to 11th position. That may not sound like a huge jump, but their increasing competitiveness is surely setting the standard for west Asia.

Represented by Ali Alkhadrawi, Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi and Abdulaziz Alabbad, Team Saudi Arabia secured top spot in their men’s team group, the crucial fixture being their first when they resisted a spirited challenge by the Philippines trio formed by Richard Gonzales, Jann Mari Nayre and John Misal. Speaking after their win, the west Asian athlete was positive about their progress:

“Jann uses long pimples on the backhand and returns with really heavy backspin, it was so hard playing against him. At the “Time Out”, the advice was to stay calm, not play too fast, play for long points, be patient. This win means a lot to me and the team” Ali Alkhadrawi

No assurances for any athlete in future events

The immense amount of quality on display here in Yogyakarta has proved one lesson true above all – there are simply no ‘gimmes’ in table tennis. Every athlete has had his and her work cut out during the past week, and there is no reason to suggest the same will not continue as we move on to the singles and doubles events.

Case in point, at the time of your reading this, there have been two major shocks already. DPR Korean pair Ri Jongsik and Ham Yu Song have knocked out no.3 seeds Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu in the men’s doubles Round of 32; while world no. 151 An Ji Song defeated world no. 16 Wong Chun Ting.

So the question remains, can anyone really predict this unpredictable sport? Stay updated on everything at the Asian Championships right here on ITTF and watch it live on itTV!