European Championships | 18 Sep 2024

Linz is ready for outstanding table tennis action

In four weeks, the LIEBHERR European Table Tennis Championships in Upper Austria will start and we expect an attractive eye-catcher. Austria's aces want to fight for the medals, and the home advantage should give them an additional boost. The European elite will battle for a total of five gold medals.

For the second time since 2013, the European table tennis elite will be playing in Austria. Eleven years ago, the Schwechat Multiversum was the center of the action, this time the title fights will be held in the TipsArena of Linz. Around 250 athletes from over 40 nations will be in action in the Upper Austrian Danube metropolis from October 15th, including all the superstars and famous names in the scene.

Stars in the ring

In addition to the Olympic silver medalist Truls MÖREGÅRDH (SWE) and the bronze medalist of the Paris Games, the 18-year-old young star Felix LEBRUN (FRA), defending champion Dang QIU (GER) and the Slovenian vice-European champion of 2022, Darko JORGIĆ, will also be competing in Linz. The German sensationally won silver on Sunday at the WTT Champions in Macau, with prize money of $800,000. The Düsseldorf player beat China's world number four and Champions Incheon winner LIANG Jingkun 4-2 in the quarterfinals after being 0-2 games down and became the first European to reach a Champions final with a 4-2 win against the Taiwanese star KAO Cheng-Jui, who had previously eliminated two prominent title contenders from the medal race: Such as LIN Gaoyuan (China) and Olympic silver medalist Truls MÖREGARDH (Sweden). This makes Dang QIU one of the hottest gold favorites.

The best of the best will also play in the women's field. The top-class field is led by Sofia POLCANOVA, who celebrated gold in singles and doubles together with Bernadette SZŐCS of Romania at the European Championships in Munich two years ago. The Olympic fifth-place finisher from Paris also won bronze in the mixed competition with Robert GARDOS at the last European Championships. The fourth red-white-red medal and thus the win in the team rankings were won in 2022 by the double Daniel HABESOHN and Robert GARDOS. The Austrian only had to admit a final defeat to the Swedish pairing Matthias FALCK/Kristian KARLSSON. This further improved the red-white-red record at European Championships. Since the first championships in Hungary in 1958, the home team has won 43 medals, ten of them gold. Austria's most successful European Championship medal winner is Robert GARDOS. The now 45-year-old veteran won three gold, four silver and six bronze medals.

At their home game in Linz, the ÖTTV aces have six starting places in the men's category and five in the women's category. The red-white-red squad will be nominated by the end of September. After returning from Beijing, where the local top stars, led by POLCANOVA, are taking part in the China Smash 2024 with prize money of two million dollars. The women will complete a final training camp in Linz and the men in Stockerau.

Everything is ready

The title fights will be staged in the multifunctional TipsArena in Linz. The modern indoor sports arena, hosted big music gigs, shows and top sporting events such as the Masters of Dirt, the Tennis Ladies Upper Austria, the World Karate Championships, the Upper Austria Judo Grand Prix and three ITTF Platinum Table Tennis Events. At the LIEBHERR European Table Tennis Championships, which will take place from 15th to 20th of October, there will be place for up to 3,200 spectators every day.

Stefan FEGERL (ÖTTV sports director):

"The European players were great at the Olympic Games in Paris. It was a great advertisement for our sport, and we want to build on that in Linz. The title fights will have an excellent line-up and promise a lot of attractiveness. We have set the bar very high for ourselves in terms of sport with the four European Championship medals in 2022, but we have high hopes for our team, led by Sofia POLCANOVA."

Lisi SCHRENK (Head of the LOC):

"A few small screws still need to be turned, but on the whole everything is on the way. We are looking forward to a top-class sport event. We have a great location and have been promoting the event for months. Now we hope for the support of numerous local fans and from other countries, especially from the table tennis-fans of Germany. The sales in advance are going well, and there are only a few tickets left on the final days on Saturday and Sunday."