The 34th European Table Tennis Championships took place from September 25th to October 4th, 2015 in Yekaterinburg , Russia . Both singles and doubles as well as team competitions were held.
The defending champions for men were the Portuguese national team, Dimitrij Ovtcharov in singles and Tan Ruiwu / Wang Zeng Yi in doubles, in women the German national team, Li Fen in singles and Petrissa Solja / Sabine Winter in doubles.
Gold went to Austria (team), Dimitrij Ovtcharov (singles) and Stefan Fegerl / João Monteiro (doubles) for men, and Germany, Elizabeta Samara and Melek Hu / Shen Yanfei for women . Elizabeta Samara was the only participant who could win a medal in all three competitions: silver with the team as well as doubles with Georgina Póta and gold in singles. Stefan Fegerl was the only one to win two gold medals, one with the team and one in doubles.
team
The team competitions took place from September 25th to 29th.
The 39 participating men's teams were divided into the Championship Division, the Challenge Division (with 4 groups of 4 teams each) and the Standard Division (2 groups with 3 and 4 teams), with only the Championship Division playing off the European champions. For the women, 31 teams took part, 16 in the Championship Division (4 groups of 4 teams each) and 15 in the Challenge Division (1 group with 3, 3 groups with 4 teams each). The group first and second from the Championship Division advanced to the quarter-finals, where it continued in knockout mode.
For men, Ukraine and Serbia made it out of the Challenge to the Championship Division in 2014, while Italy and Slovakia were relegated.
For women, Turkey and Spain were relegated from the Championship Division in 2014, Serbia and Slovakia from the Challenge Division.
Each game was played in the best-of-five mode and thus consisted of 3 to 5 singles, which, again played as a best-of-five, consisted of 3 to 5 sets.
Men
Defending champions Portugal and the reigning runner-up Germany went into the tournament as favorites, both of which were able to prevail in the group stage with three wins each. In the quarter-finals, however, Portugal was surprisingly thrown 3-2 from the tournament by the Austrian team, which only just reached second place in Group C and also finished every game 3-2 or 2-3. Austria then defeated Belarus, which was weakened by the injury-related loss of Uladsimir Samsonau , 3-1 and met in the final against the German team, which - despite the injury-related absence of Timo Boll - had eliminated Greece and France. One of the favorites, France, who, due to differences between the players and the French association, had entered without the second best Frenchman Adrien Mattenet according to the world rankings , ended the tournament with the bronze medal, just like Belarus.
In a dramatic more than four-hour final, in which the first three singles were only decided in the fifth set and the winners of the first two singles first had to fend off match points, Austria - eleventh of the previous year - was finally able to win despite two victories by Dimitrij Ovtcharov (8: 0 record in the team competitions) and win the first European title after failing in the final in 2005 . For Germany the game meant the second consecutive defeat in the final, after winning the gold medal in the previous six tournaments.
Sweden, third last year, failed in the quarter-finals against France; Croatia, the second bronze medalist in 2014, was eliminated in the group stage despite a strong Andrej Gaćina (6-0 record) and only finished 13th in the end.
Championship Division
Group A
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Portugal Portugal
|
9: 2 |
29:16 |
6th
|
| 2 |
France France
|
8: 5 |
31:26 |
5
|
| 3 |
Serbia Serbia
|
5: 8 |
21:26 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Hungary Hungary
|
2: 9 |
16:29 |
3
|
Group B
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Germany Germany
|
9: 3 |
31:15 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Poland Poland
|
7: 4 |
22:19 |
5
|
| 3 |
Spain Spain
|
4: 8 |
18:25 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Ukraine Ukraine
|
4: 9 |
20:32 |
3
|
Group C
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Sweden Sweden
|
8: 5 |
33:19 |
5
|
| 2 |
Austria Austria
|
8: 7 |
32:28 |
5
|
| 3 |
Russia Russia
|
8: 6 |
27:28 |
5
|
| 4th |
Romania Romania
|
3: 9 |
14:31 |
3
|
Group D
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Belarus Belarus
|
7: 6 |
26:25 |
5
|
| 2 |
Greece Greece
|
7: 6 |
30:25 |
5
|
| 3 |
Czech Republic Czech Republic
|
6: 8 |
25:28 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Croatia Croatia
|
7: 7 |
28:31 |
4th
|
Main round
Placement games
Challenge Division
Group E
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Slovakia Slovakia
|
9: 2 |
29:11 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Turkey Turkey
|
8: 3 |
28:13 |
5
|
| 3 |
Ireland Ireland
|
3: 6 |
11:22 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Norway Norway
|
0: 9 |
5:27 |
3
|
Group F.
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
England England
|
9: 1 |
28:10 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Italy Italy
|
7: 3 |
24:15 |
5
|
| 3 |
Bulgaria Bulgaria
|
3: 7 |
16:23 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Estonia Estonia
|
1: 9 |
8:28 |
3
|
Group G
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Denmark Denmark
|
9: 2 |
29:11 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Lithuania Lithuania
|
7: 7 |
25:25 |
5
|
| 3 |
Slovenia Slovenia
|
6: 6 |
20:22 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Luxembourg Luxembourg
|
2: 9 |
12:28 |
3
|
Group H.
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Belgium Belgium
|
8: 4 |
29:16 |
5
|
| 2 |
Israel Israel
|
8: 5 |
28:23 |
5
|
| 3 |
Switzerland Switzerland
|
7: 5 |
25:21 |
5
|
| 4th |
Finland Finland
|
0: 9 |
5:27 |
3
|
Placement games
Standard Division
Group I.
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Netherlands Netherlands
|
6-0 |
18: 1 |
4th
|
| 2 |
Cyprus Republic Cyprus
|
3: 5 |
12:18 |
3
|
| 3 |
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
|
2: 6 |
9:20 |
2
|
Group J
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Moldova Republic Moldova
|
9: 1 |
27: 8 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Scotland Scotland
|
7: 4 |
24:12 |
5
|
| 3 |
Malta Malta
|
4: 8 |
16:26 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Kosovo Kosovo
|
2: 9 |
9:30 |
2
|
Placement games
Women
Championship Division
Group A
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Germany Germany
|
9: 1 |
26: 6 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Czech Republic Czech Republic
|
6: 4 |
21:15 |
5
|
| 3 |
Belarus Belarus
|
3: 7 |
15:24 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Slovakia Slovakia
|
3: 9 |
12:29 |
3
|
Group B
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Romania Romania
|
9: 2 |
29:17 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Austria Austria
|
7: 5 |
26:22 |
5
|
| 3 |
France France
|
4: 8 |
23:26 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Serbia Serbia
|
4: 9 |
18:31 |
3
|
Group C
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Russia Russia
|
9: 3 |
31:16 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Poland Poland
|
7: 5 |
25:19 |
5
|
| 3 |
Hungary Hungary
|
5: 8 |
20:27 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Luxembourg Luxembourg
|
4: 9 |
14:28 |
3
|
Group D
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Ukraine Ukraine
|
9: 4 |
30:16 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Portugal Portugal
|
6: 6 |
21:19 |
5
|
| 3 |
Sweden Sweden
|
6: 8 |
22:27 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Netherlands Netherlands
|
6: 9 |
7:30 p.m. |
3
|
Main round
Placement games
Challenge Division
Group E
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Turkey Turkey
|
6: 1 |
19: 5 |
4th
|
| 2 |
Italy Italy
|
4: 5 |
16:18 |
3
|
| 3 |
Bulgaria Bulgaria
|
2: 6 |
9:21 |
2
|
Group F.
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Spain Spain
|
9-0 |
27: 7 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Lithuania Lithuania
|
6: 5 |
21:18 |
5
|
| 3 |
Switzerland Switzerland
|
4: 6 |
17:21 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Estonia Estonia
|
1: 9 |
8:27 |
3
|
Group G
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Slovenia Slovenia
|
9: 1 |
27: 7 |
6th
|
| 2 |
Croatia Croatia
|
7: 3 |
25:10 |
5
|
| 3 |
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
|
3: 6 |
10:18 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Kosovo Kosovo
|
0: 9 |
0:27 |
2
|
Group H.
| rank |
country |
Games |
sentences |
Points
|
| 1 |
Greece Greece
|
9: 3 |
31:17 |
6th
|
| 2 |
England England
|
8: 4 |
27:20 |
5
|
| 3 |
Belgium Belgium
|
5: 6 |
22:23 |
4th
|
| 4th |
Finland Finland
|
0: 9 |
7:27 |
3
|
Placement games
singles
The individual competitions took place from September 30th to October 4th.
The 32 best-placed players in the world rankings were placed directly in the main field, for which the other players first had to qualify in a group stage (115 players in 25 groups of four and three groups of five or 82 players in one group of three, 16 groups of four and 3 groups of five). From there it went on in KO mode, with each game being played in best-of-seven mode and thus consisting of 4 to 7 sets.
Men
64 players from 26 countries started in the main field, whereby the six countries with at least four representatives - Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Sweden - made up 31 of the 64 players. Sweden even brought all of their six players to the second round, but then five of them were eliminated. In the second round, 16 countries were still represented, in the second round 12, in the quarterfinals 6, in the semifinals 3 and in the final 2. The qualifiers who got the furthest (up to the second round) were 53-year-old He Zhiwen and Lubomír Jančařík , who then only narrowly failed 3: 4 to Robert Gardos .
Good chances were given to players who had already performed well in the team competition, such as Alexander Schibajew (8: 0 record in the team competition), Simon Gauzy (7: 2), Stefan Fegerl (7: 3) or Andrej Gaćina (6 : 0), on the other hand the top seeded players Dimitrij Ovtcharov (8: 0), Marcos Freitas (4: 2), Uladsimir Samsonau (6: 2) and Tiago Apolónia (4: 3). Fegerl and Gauzy were eliminated in the first round, Schibajew and Samsonau, who was handicapped by an injury, in the second. The semi-finals were finally reached by three of the four top placed players, Ovtcharov, Freitas and Apolónia, complemented by Pär Gerell (4: 2). In the final, the reigning European champion Ovtcharov prevailed against Freitas 4-1.
Main round
qualified through the group stage
Women
64 players from 21 countries started in the main field, with Russia with 7 and Germany and Romania with 5 athletes each being the most represented. In the second round 17 countries were still represented, 13 in the round of 16, 7 in the quarter-finals, 4 in the semi-finals and 2 in the final. Surprisingly, none of the 5 qualified Germans made it to a medal rank, not even the top seeded Han Ying and Shan Xiaona . The Swedish defending champion Li Fen failed in the quarter-finals to Fu Yu , who received bronze just like Polina Michailowa , while silver went to Li Jie and gold to Romanian Elizabeta Samara , who was just able to prevail 4-3 in the final.
Only three qualifiers, Anamaria Erdelji , Xiao Maria and Eva Ódorová , survived the first round, but all failed in the second. The 52-year-old Luxembourger Ni Xialian was the oldest participant and narrowly failed in the second round with 3: 4 to Shan Xiaona.
Main round
qualified through the group stage
Double
The double competitions took place from September 30th to October 4th.
The 16 best-placed doubles were placed directly in the main field, for which the other players only had to qualify in a group stage (48 male and 36 female doubles). From there it went on in knockout mode, with the games of the first two rounds being played in best-of-five mode and thus consisting of 3 to 5 sets. From the quarter-finals, the game was played in the best-of-seven mode.
A double was allowed to contain players from different associations, whereby the 8 medals for women went to players from 7 different countries.
Men
Main round
Women
Main round
ETTU Congress
At the ETTU congress it was decided to have the individual European championships take place in even years from 2016, in which single, double and mixed competitions take place. The team championships for which the qualification mode has been changed are to take place in odd years: The 29 best-placed teams and the winner of the standard division in the last European Championship take part in the Championship Division qualification. There the teams, divided into 10 groups of 3 teams each, play against each other with a return game. The 10 group winners and the 5 runners-up who prevail in a playoff round against the other runners-up in the group qualify for the Championship Division together with the host country. The remaining 15 teams qualify for the Challenge Division, plus a qualifier from the Challenge Division qualification, in which all other teams play for the last place in the Challenge Division.
The U21 European Championships are to be held from 2017.
politics
Russian-born Dutch women Elena Timina and her sister Yana did not receive a visa. The reasons are suspected to be political tensions between the Netherlands and Russia.
Web links
Individual evidence
-
↑ tt-news.de - EM 2015: Gionis and Co. have no chance against Germany - Portugal eliminated (accessed October 1, 2015)
-
↑ sports.fr - La Russie pour préparer Rio (accessed October 3, 2015)
-
↑ tischtennis.de - "In the end we were always missing one or two points" / DTTB men miss the seventh European Championship title in the eighth final / Walther in the qualification from Wednesday ( memento of the original from October 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info : The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed October 1, 2015)
@1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tischtennis.de
-
↑ ettu.org - ETTU Congress approves new regulations for European Championships 2016 and 2017 (accessed on October 2, 2015)
-
↑ a b magazine tischtennis , 2015/10 page 33.
European table tennis championship
