Tokyo’s draw suits European champions

March 15, 2014
12:00 am
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The draw for the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Table Tennis Championships (28 April – 5 May) was held today at the TV Tokyo Studios. China was the first name to be drawn in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events whilst Germany’s teams has been listed at

In Group A of the Championships Division Men’s Teams will play: China Austria European bronze medal winners Russia Brazil Poland and Serbia. In Group B: European champions from the last edition in Schwechat Germany will face Hong Kong Croatia Singapore Denmark and Ukraine. In Group C are: Japan Portugal France European vice champions Greece Romania and Hungary. In Group D are: Korea Republic Taipei Sweden European bronze medalists Belarus Spain Korea DPR

In Groups A of the Championships Division Women’s Teams will play: China Korea DPR European vice champions Romania Poland Slovakia Austria. Group B: Japan Taipei Hungary Belarus USA Australia. Group C: Korea Republic Singapore bronze medalists Russia Netherlands France Luxembourg. The European champions Germany is in the Group D listed at position two below Hong Kong and with Ukraine European bronze medalists Czech Republic Serbia Croatia.
No panic and no excessive relief on the German side. For the national head coaches Jörg ROSSKOPF and Jie SCHÖPP the German groups at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Championships in late April in Tokyo are above all: manageable.

“No question the group is demanding. But this does not influence our goal: We want to be first in the group and thus secure the best position – to avoid meeting China before the final. Above all as a coach I have to worry more about the shape of my players than about the draw. We still have 3 short training camps and the German Open before the World Championships. It is important that the players reach their top performance in the remaining time and focus 100 percent on Tokyo ” said ROSSKOPF.

About the draws for China and Japan as the host: ”There is no doubt China will finish at the top of the Group. That’s for sure. The draw for the Japan is pretty tough. But with Masato SHIONO now they have a defender in the team. Many players have incredible problems against him. They also have right-handers and lefties on the team which all in all tactically puts them on solid ground against all opponents. The audience and their good preparation will give the Japanese extra motivation in comparison to other teams”.

Women’s head coach Jie SCHÖPP commented the draw in Group D:”All in all it’s a good group for us. It is important that we won’t meet any team we are clearly inferior to. It is a challenging and exciting group for us – in a positive sense. Our goal is to secure the second place in the group to confirm our seeding position and to reach the main rounds. I believe that the Japanese women will win Group B relatively easy. They will be able to compensate the absence of Ai FUKUHARA. They have young and good players who are motivated and really looking forward to playing the World Championships on home soil. I have often seen that the Japanese team plays at its best exactly at the right moment. The Chinese women have strong opponents in their group for example the Peoples’ Republic of Korea and Romania but for China even that won’t be difficult enough”.

The European vice champions Romania are in the group with China Korea DPR Poland Slovakia and .Austria“We have very tough group. Every match will be very difficult to win. Beside Asian teams we have Austria with LIU Jia and new entery LI Qiambing. Speaking about Korea DPR they are unknown for us since we have the chance to see them only at World Championships and Olympic Games. It is impossible to be first in the Group but there is the chance for second place ” said Elizabeta SAMARA.”Most probably we will come earlier in Asia to have some preparations for the Event. “