Austria’s national table tennis team will compete at the Liebherr European Table Tennis Championships in Upper Austria with a mix of world-class talent, experienced players, and promising newcomers. Led by defending champion Sofia Polcanova and veterans Daniel Habesohn and Robert Gardos, six athletes will make their European Championship debut at Linz’s TipsArena.
Two weeks before the start of the tournament, the ÖTTV Sports Committee unanimously approved the nomination proposal submitted by Chen Weixing (Men’s National Coach) and Zhang Jie (Women’s National Coach) on Monday.
In the individual competitions, Austria can field five women and six men, with three teams in both the men’s and women’s doubles and two teams in the mixed doubles. A qualifying round will be played in all events, and the draw for the individual events will be determined after the draw on October 13.
Fresh Talent
Sofia Polcanova, who will defend her titles from Munich in both the singles and doubles (with Bernadette Szőcs), will also compete in the mixed doubles. At the 2022 European Championships, the Linz native won the bronze medal with Robert Gardos. Her most recent highlight was at the Paris Olympic Games, where she finished as the top European player in fifth place. The other spots for the women’s singles will go to France-based Anastasia Sterner (19), reigning national champion Liu Yuan (38), the 15-year-old Nina Skerbinz who, like Sterner, will make her senior European Championship debut, and Karoline Mischek (26). In addition to Sofia Polcanova/Bernadette Szőcs, reigning U15 European champions Nina Skerbinz/Elina Fuchs (15) will make their senior European Championship debut as a second ÖTTV doubles pair, and Karoline Mischek will compete with an international partner.
In the men’s singles, alongside veterans Daniel Habesohn (36) and Robert Gardos (45), internationally experienced Andreas Levenko (26) and the up-and-coming Maciej Kolodziejczyk (23) will compete. In addition, Liu Zhenlong (19) and the 15-year-old Julian Rzihauschek, two promising talents, will have the opportunity to showcase their skills on a major stage. However, the task will be challenging for the ÖTTV men – the last Austrian to win an individual European Championship medal was Werner Schlager in Ostrava in 2010 with bronze. The world champion from 2003 secured his fourth European Championship medal (3x bronze, 1x silver). Robert Gardos is the only other Austrian to have won an individual European Championship medal, taking bronze at the 2008 championships in Saint Petersburg.
The ÖTTV men are expected to have better chances in the doubles, where they have a lot of class and experience with Daniel Habesohn/Robert Gardos. The duo won European gold in 2012 and 2018 and took silver in Munich. The former U15 European champions Maciej Kolodziejczyk/Vladimir Ursu (MDA) will compete as the second men’s doubles pair, and Liu Zhenlong will also compete with an international partner. In the mixed doubles, in addition to Gardos/Polcanova, the European Championship debutants Sterner/Kolodziejczyk have been nominated.
Upon their return from Beijing, where the Austrian athletes are currently competing in the two-million-dollar China Smash, the women will put the finishing touches on their preparations for the European Championships in Linz. The men will initially train in Stockerau with the Polish national team before moving to the Upper Austrian capital on October 13.
The Liebherr European Table Tennis Championships, which will feature around 250 players from 41 nations, will begin on October 15 with the qualification rounds. The seeded players will enter the competition from Thursday, and the mixed doubles final will be the first major highlight on October 18. In keeping with the motto “The best for last,” the European champions in doubles and singles will be crowned on Sunday.
Stefan Fegerl (ÖTTV Sports Director): ‘It’s a very good mix. Thanks to our top performers, especially Sofia, we have serious chances of winning one or more European Championship medals, but we are also aware of the strong competition. For the young players, the home European Championship is both a reward and an incentive. They have earned their nomination through their performances and can hopefully take a lot of positives with them for the future. With the home crowd behind us, we want to build on where we left off in Munich and will do everything we can to ensure that the Liebherr European Table Tennis Championships in Linz are perceived as a successful promotion of our sport.’
