European Championships

The European Table Tennis Championships first took place in 1958 in Hungary.

Initially it was a biennial event, but from 2007 to 2011 it was held every year.

However, in February 2010 it was decided that, starting in 2012, the competition would be split.

So the individual events are now played during October every year, but the team events are only played in alternate years, starting in 2013.

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body for table tennis in Europe.

Set up in 1957, they are the only authority recognised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) for governing and developing table tennis in Europe.

According to the latest information, more than 4 million people are playing competition table tennis in the territory controlled by the ETTU. And with its 57 Member Associations, the ETTU is the largest of the 6 Continental Table Tennis Federations recognised by the ITTF.

So, the European TT Championships are organised each year by one member Association from the ETTU.

In 1956, following a decision by the ITTF to hold the World Table Tennis Championships biannually after the 1957 World Championships in Stockholm, the ITTF invited the European Table Tennis Associations to consider the possibility of holding European Table Tennis Championships in the intervening alternate (even) years.

After several meetings between representatives of European Associations, it was on 13th March 1957 that the European Table Tennis Union was set up by the following Associations:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Czechoslovakia
• Finland
• France
• German Democratic Republic
• Federal Republic of Germany
• Hungary
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Soviet Union
• Wales
• Yugoslavia

A board of seven people were elected to organise the first European Championships, and the Hungarian Association offered to hold it in Budapest in 1958.

Here's a list of where the European Championships have taken place...

The next European Table Tennis Championships will take place in Schwechat, Austria from 4th to 13 October 2013.

The European Championship events are...

Annually

• Men's Singles
• Women's Singles
  
  
• Men's Doubles
• Women's Doubles
  
  

Biannually

• Men's Team
• Women's Team
  
  

Individual Events...

Individual events are played on a knockout basis.

Matches in individual events are the best of 7 games, except for the qualification rounds of the singles and doubles events up to the quarter-finals, which are the best of 5 games.

There are a maximum 64 places in the first round proper of the singles events and not more than 32 places in the first round proper of men's and women's doubles events.

Qualification rounds will be in groups of no less than 4 players or pairs, and played on a round robin basis.

Team Events...

In the period between two European Team Championships, a team competition (the European Qualification League) will take place.

The results will be used to allocate teams into the various divisions at the next European Championships and also to determine the seeding positions.

Matches in the team event are on a divisional format.

12 teams make up the Championships Division whilst 12 teams are in the Challenge Division and the remaining teams make up a Standard Division.

Only teams in the Championships Division can win the title of European Champions.

In the Championships Division, the teams are seeded into four groups. Each team competes against the other three teams in their group and matches are the best of five sets.

The winner and runner-up of each group then advance to the quarter finals whereupon the competition is a straight knock-out, best of five sets.

An Association can only enter one team in each team event and they can enter up to 5 players in a men's team and up to 5 players in a women's team.

For the individual events the organising Association can enter up to 16 players, consisting of not more than 10 men and not more than 10 women.

Any other Association can enter up to 12 players, consisting of not more than 7 men and not more than 7 women.

Within these limits different players can be entered for the team events and for the singles and doubles.

Seeding for individual events will be based on the last World Ranking List published before the European Championships.

Seeding for doubles events will be based on a seeding list prepared by the Ranking Committee.

Seeding for team events will be based on the final positions in the European Qualification League.

Here are the results from previous European Championships...

2008 - St Petersburg, Russia

2009 - Stuttgart, Germany

2010 - Ostrava, Czech Republic

2011 - Gdansk-Sopot (Poland)

2012 - Herning (Denmark)