After the Chippendales have finished dancing in the Linz Tips Arena on Thursday, preparations begin there for the European Table Tennis Championships, which will take place from Tuesday to Sunday.
The 4,000 square meters of special flooring that will be laid will be the stage for the “largest table tennis party in Europe” (quote from State Councilor Markus Achleitner). The main actress, at least from a local perspective, is Sofia Polcanova. The Linzer native returned home from the European Championships in Munich two years ago with two golds (singles, doubles) and bronze (mixed), which is why hopes rest on the 30-year-old’s shoulders.
“Of course I feel pressure,” the Olympic fifth-place finisher tries to concentrate on the anticipation of being able to play in front of a home crowd. “For the final day (Sunday; note) 84 percent of the 1,181 places were already sold out on Monday,” says Elisabeth Schrenk, head of the organizing committee.
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On the previous days, the hall will accommodate around 3,000 spectators. The reduction on the final day is because they want to stage the medal games with an appropriate indoor setting, said Schrenk. The dimensions in Munich 2022 (around 6,000 spectators) or even the Olympics in Paris (more than 10,000) were different.
Andreas Levenko: “Time to shine”
In the twelve-man Austrian squad, alongside Polcanova, the double Robert Gardos and Daniel Habesohn probably have the best chance of winning a medal. The two veterans have regularly delivered at European Championships in the past and even won the title in 2012 and 2018.
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Half of the ÖTTV team comes from Upper Austria. For the women, Anastasia Sterner, who now plays in the French league, and veteran Liu Yuan were also nominated. In the men’s race, Andreas Levenko hopes to avoid qualifying.
After narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Olympics (“There was a grain of sand missing”), the 26-year-old had a little low that he believes is behind him. “Hopefully it will be ‘time to shine’ at the European Championships,” says Levenko. Like club colleague Maciej Kolodziejczyk and SPG Linz player Liu Zhenlong, he is an outsider.
2.5 million euros budget
The tournament budget, estimated by association president Wolfgang Gotschke at 2.5 million euros, is shared between the Ministry of Sports, the state of Upper Austria and the association. The city of Linz is not participating, as the OÖN reported in detail. Sports director Stefan Fegerl described the discussions as sobering.
Austria’s association had originally declared Innsbruck to be the host city before Upper Austria campaigned for it after Polcanova’s furious performances in Munich.
It all started with a conversation in November 2022 on the motorway near Vienna between Achleitner and Gotschke. “It goes from a meeting at a motorway rest stop to the presentation of a European Championship so quickly,” says Achleitner.
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