by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
A total of 20 teams have been registered for the men’s events, 12 for the women’s competitions; it is a number that pleases Vít Ratajsky, Chair of the Commission of Table Tennis for the Czech Association of University Sports. He is very much the man at the helm of proceedings.
“I am very pleased by the amount of interest from universities across the whole Europe. In the men´s category we even had to reject competitors.” Vít Ratajsky
The biggest entry comes from Poland, Piotr Chodorski, Robert Floras, Pawel Fertikowski and Sandra Wabikova all appear on the entry list, as do those of the Czech Republic’s Michal Benes and Russia’s Anna Blazhko, the respective Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles winners in Geneva in 2015, the most recent staging of the tournament.
“In the Czech Republic in recent years we can see increased interest in university table tennis; that is good news. I´m pleased to see that it is also witnessed in the number of applications from the Czech Republic for the European Universities Championship in Olomouc.” Vít Ratajsky
The programme in Olomouc comprises six disciplines. Men’s Team and Women’s Team events start the schedule; the individual competitions take place on the concluding two days of proceedings. They involve Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles.
2017 European Universities Championships: Detailed Information
Schedule
Wednesday 21 June: Opening Ceremony,
Thursday 22 June – Friday 23rd June: Team Events
Saturday 24 June – Sunday 25th June: Individual Events
Sunday 25 June: Award Presentations & Closing Ceremony
Previous hosts
Ostrava, Czech Republic (2008), Latina Italy (2009), Nis Serbia (2010), Kazan, Russia (2011), Madeira, Portugal (2013), Zonguldak, Turkey (2014), Geneva Switzerland (2015)
Title Holders
Men´s Team: Rzeszow University of Technology (Poland)
Women´s Team: Institute of Economics Management and Law Kazan (Russia).
Men’s Singles: Michal Benes (Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Women’s Singles: Anna Blazhko (Institute of Economics Management and Law Kazan, Russia).
Men’s Doubles: Ondrej Bajger & Michal Benes (Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Women’s Doubles: Victoria Lebedeva & Anna Blazhko (Institute of Economics Management and Law Kazan, Russia)