After three years the Italian Singles Championships will return to the PalaTennistavolo “Aldo De Santis” in Terni. The Events are scheduled for Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st January behind closed doors in compliance with the rules set out in the detailed Protocol in force for the resumption of table tennis activities for health protection and the prevention of contagion from COVID-19.
The event will be organized by the Italian Table Tennis Federation with the patronage of the Municipality of Terni and the Umbria Region. The partner is Cassa di Risparmio di Terni and Narni Foundation and the sponsors are Stag Gewiss Iset Marketing and Human Tecar.
In the last edition in 2019 which took place in Bolzano the winners were Leonardo MUTTI and Giorgia PICCOLIN.
All the top ranked players will be on duty in the men’s singles: Mihai BOBOCICA (Aeronautica Militare) Jordy PICCOLIN (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Marco RECH DALDOSSO and LEONARDO MUTTI (Aeronautica Militare) Niagol STOYANOV (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Matteo MUTTI (Milano Sport Table Tennis) John Michael OYEBODE (Il Circolo Prato 2010) Daniele PINTO (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Antonino AMATO (Marcozzi Cagliari) Alessandro BACIOCCHI (Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre) Carlo ROSSI (Marcozzi Cagliari) Andrea PUPPO (Tennistavolo A4 Verzuolo) Maurizio MASSARELLI (Antoniana Tennistavolo Pescara) Luca BRESSAN (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Romualdo MANNA (Frandent Group Cus Torino) Marco Antonio CAPPUCCIO (Sant’Espedito Napoli) Gabriele PICIULIN (Tennistavolo Torino) Luigi ROCCA and Tommaso Maria GIOVANNETTI (Cral Comune di Roma) Matteo GUALDI (Tennistavolo Genova) Lorenzo RAGNI (CIATT Prato) Stefano TOMASI (Milano Sport Tennistavolo) Marco SINIGAGLIA (Tennistavolo Sassari) Alessandro DI MARINO (Tennistavolo Stella del Sud) and Alessandro SORACI (Apuania Carrara).
BOBOCICA has six titles (2007-2009-2011-2012-2013-2017) and among the previous winners are also TOMASI (2010) STOYANOV (2014 and 2018) Leonardo MUTTI (2015 and 2019) and RECH DALDOSSO (2016) have already won.
In the women’s event Gaia MONFARDINI and Nicole ARLIA (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Debora VIVARELLI (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Le Thi Hong LOAN (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Giorgia PICCOLIN (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Chiara COLANTONI (Tennistavolo Norbello) Veronica MOSCONI (Centro Sportivo Esercito) Arianna BARANI and Valentina RONCALLO (Anspi Tennistavolo Cortemaggiore) Jamila LAURENTI (Gruppi Sportivi della Polizia di Stato – Fiamme Oro) Elisa ARMANINI (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Krisztina NAGY (Tennistavolo Norbello) Irene FAVARETTO (Sportni Krozek Kras) Tan WENLING (Tennistavolo Castel Goffredo) Evelyn VIVARELLI (Eppan Tischtennis Raiffeisen) Ileana IRRERA (Tennistavolo A4 Verzuolo) Caterina ANGELI (Alfieri di Romagna TT Edera) Chiara RENSI Edera (TT ACSI Pisa) and Miriam Benedetta CARNOVALE (Tennistavolo Torino) are ready to fight.
Of the athletes who are present in Terni Giorgia PICCOLIN has already won the golden medal in 2018 and 2019 Veronica MOSCONI in 2015 and Tan WENLING in 2008.
“After having managed to start the national team leagues explains the president of Italian Table Tennis Federation Renato DI NAPOLI “We are happy to begin the individual activity as well with the most prestigious Italian championship which returns after the cancellation of last year’s edition due to the health emergency. Thanks to the very large participation we will have the opportunity to see all the best players of our sport at work eager to return to play after such a long period of inactivity. In order to face the difficult situation we are experiencing and to guarantee the health and safety of all the persons who are involved in the event the anti-COVID-19 behavior protocols will be followed with the utmost care. Unfortunately the event will take place behind closed doors and our fans will not be able to access the venue to follow the matches. However we have prepared a capillary coverage through live streaming on four tables which will be broadcast on the FITeT Web TV on the YouTube channel and on the Facebook page. Together with the live scoring it will allow all those who wish to connect from their homes and remain constantly informed on the development of the proceedings”.
The program will begin on Saturday 30th at 9.30 am with the women’s singles rounds followed by the men at 2 pm. The women’s knockout draw will kick off at 5.30 pm and the men’s draw at 6 pm. The women’s quarter-finals will be played on Sunday 31st at 9 am and the men’s quarter-finals at 9.45 am. The semifinals will be at 10.30 (women) and 11.15 (men) and the finals at 12 (women) and 12.45 (men).
On Friday 29th in the same venue a Qualification Tournament dedicated to second category athletes will be held which will guarantee the assignment of the last places in the seeding list of the Championships.
