World Table Tennis For Health Festival: The celebration of the sport is over

A celebration of table tennis, a global message about the myriad health benefits of the popular Olympic sport. First and foremost, this is the spirit of the inaugural World Table Tennis For Health Festival, which concluded tonight at Dio Aorakia in Heraklion, Crete. The Parkinson’s World Championship experienced its 3rd edition, the Alzheimer’s World Championship was organized for the first time and the approximately 60 athletes from 16 countries around the world, along with their coaches and companions, enjoyed a wonderful experience for five days (01- 05/11) putting in an excellent or even emotional effort at the competitive tables. The third major event, the inaugural World Congress on Health, highlighted the scientific data for the positive impact of table tennis and in all of this, the pride of E.F.O.E.P.A., which was a worthy host, but also the satisfaction of the volunteers, who contributed to the good organization. The results of course come second, but the passion, the strength of the soul and the skills of the athletes with serious neurological diseases were a key element of admiration. As part of the Festival, today 05/11 a tournament was planned for family members, companions and coaches of people with Parkinson’s (Open Singles), they even had a Greek winner.

Let’s see in brief all the winners and the last ones Results of Greek athletes.

THE WINNERS IN THE PARKINSON’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

In Men’s Singles Class 1 there were initially 4 qualifying groups and then a table of “8”.

The final was exciting and was decided in five sets and with a narrow margin in the final. The world title was celebrated by the Chinese Liu Shengping, who beat the French Remy Salaun with 3-2 sets. The bronze medal went to the French Jerome Rabier and the Swedish Torgni Swedberg.

In Men’s Singles Class 2, which started with 2 qualifying groups, Jørgen Søsted from Sweden emerged as the winner. In the final he prevailed with a 3-1 set of the Indian Milid Joshi. Javier Perez (Spain) and Thierry Ograjan (France) also climbed the winners’ podium.

In Men’s Singles Class 3, which had 3 groups in the initial phase, German Mike Guchmann took the lead. In the final he beat the Spaniard Gabriel Ferrera with 3-0 sets. The 3rd place was shared by the German Jen Greve and his compatriot Robert Allman.

In Women’s Singles Class 1 there were first 2 qualifying groups and then the final 4. Evita Garcia from Spain emerged as the winner. In the decisive match, she defeated Elisabeth Iltal from Denmark with 3-1 sets. Oprah Mark from Israel and Joy Paul from Scotland ranked on Tuesday.

In Women’s Singles Class 2 there were also 2 groups and then knockouts of ‘4’. The first place was won by the Austrian Negin Schaller. In the final she defeated her compatriot Claudia Hellinger with 3-1 sets. The bronze medal went to Andrea Mühlner from Germany and Veronique Grizo from France.

In the Men’s Doubles Classes MD2-3, which first had a group and then a board of “8”, the French Morel Hervé/Remy Salaun emerged world champions. In the final they prevailed over the also French Jerome Rabier/Valerie Mercier with 3-0 sets. The Swedish Torgni Swedberg/Jorgen Sosted and the Israeli Hillel Semer/Zuri Eldis reached the bronze medal.

In the categories Men’s Doubles Classes MD4 and Men’s Doubles Classes MD5-6, single groups were formed. In MD4, Liu Shengping and Meir Halfon from China and Israel won the undefeated 1st place. Second place went to Thierry Ogranjean/Nicolas Le Brun from France and Belgium respectively and 3rd place to the French Alain Marin/Tahar Abdelkader

In the MD5-6 category, the Spaniards Javier Perez/Gabriel Ferrera took the first place, with the ultimate in success. The silver medal was won by Milit Joshi/Karl Strauss from India and Austria respectively and the bronze by Mike Guchman/Jens Greve from Germany.

In the only women’s doubles category, the Women’s Doubles Classes MD2-3-4, Elvira Garcia/Elizabeth Ildal from Spain and Denmark emerged winners from one group respectively. Claudia Hellinger/Negin Schaller from Austria followed in 2nd place and Ofra Mark/Joy Paul from Israel and Scotland respectively in 3rd place.

Mixed Doubles Class XD4-5 had two phases. The top step of the podium went to Mike Guchman/Negin Schaller from Germany and Austria respectively. In the final, they defeated Karl Strauss/Agnes Jahn from Austria with 3-0 sets. On the third step of the podium were Austrians Kurt Reisinger/Claudia Hellinger and Jens Greve/Elizabeth Ilthal from Germany and Denmark respectively.

Mixed Doubles Classes XD2-3 started and ended with one group. The title was won by Javier Perez/Elvira Garcia from Spain. Brian Carson/Joey Paul of Scotland took the silver medal and Juri Eldish/Ofra Mark of Israel took the bronze. In today’s final match, Isidora Vassiliou and Israeli Hillel Semer exhausted their chances for 3rd place, but finally settled for 4th place with 1 win and 3 losses.

Those who had been eliminated from the singles groups at the Parkinson’s World Championships went into “consolation” games. From the Greek side, the presence on this board is summarized as follows: In Men’s Singles Class 1, Manolis Markakis advanced one round and was ranked 3rd. In Men’s Singles Class 2, Nikos Koukoulakis placed 5-8. In Men’s Singles Class 3 Evangelos Gorgas and Nikos Ousme were also defeated in the consolation quarterfinals.

Three Greek athletes participated in the semifinals of the corresponding Women’s Singles Class 1 events. Isidora Vassiliou came 1st, Theodora Nikolaou 2nd (the relevant final ended 3-0 sets) and Lydia De Latour 3rd. In the Women’s Singles Class 2 consolation there was no Greek participation.

ALZHEIMER’S CHAMPIONSHIP AND OPEN SINGLES WINNERS

In the men’s championship for people with Alzheimer’s there was a single group with 4 Greek athletes and one Bulgarian. Giorgos Charitakis dominated and had secured the first place since Saturday 04/11. Then he finished his matches, today he had his day off and showed 8 points with 4 wins. The silver medal was won by Yiannis Michalodimitrakis. In the last tournament he defeated Zacharias Tsagarakis with 3-0 sets and collected 7 points (3 wins – 1 loss). Vassilis Papadopoulos took the 3rd place by defeating the Bulgarian Veselin Nedeltsev in the final with 3-0 sets. He had 6 points.

In the women’s championship for people with Alzheimer’s there was also a group with 4 Greek women. The 1st place was won by the undefeated Katerina Kallergi. She defeated Zafirenia Daskalaki and Cleo Rigaki with 3-1 sets and Zafira Tzakou with 3-2. 2nd place was won by Tzakou, winning 3-0 against Rigaki and Daskalaki. The 3rd place was taken by Rigaki when she defeated Daskalaki with 3-0 sets.

As planned, on Sunday there was also a tournament for family members, coaches and companions of Parkinson’s patients. It was registered as an Open Tournament and the results were also officially registered with the ITTF Foundation. A board of “16” was formed and a Greek emerged as champion. The athlete from Crete, Stefanos Spanakis, among the people who volunteered to help with the coaching, won 1st place without even losing a set. In the final, the Frenchman Alain Savo was defeated 3-0. The 3rd place was shared by the Austrian Jan Dichtmar and the French Krychov Porte. Giannis Koukis also competed with the Greek national emblem on this board.

Finalist Savo is a coach in a French Pro A team, while Spanakis’ first opponent, the Austrian Huber, works in a club in his country, which competes in the Champions League and has also faced Panagiotis Gionis’ Bogoria in the recent past.

The closing of the big event is written in the best way at this time in Heraklion. A farewell party is organized and November 6th is departure day.

The 2024 Parkinson’s World Championships will be held in France. Jean-Claude Dufloux, president of France Parkinson and athlete at the Heraklion event had the opportunity to discuss some things about the French perspective with the Swedish president of the sport’s international federation, Petra Sorling. It should be noted that the leading factor also received souvenirs from the Greek organizers.