Pro Player Transfers of 2016

[brabhamista]

Just like last year we're making a list of professional players choosing a different club for the upcoming season (2016/2017), including news source!

Heard/Read about others? Post them below and we'll update the list.

Liam Pitchford transfers from Ochsenhausen to Hennebont - Photo by: Hennebont Facebook page


Men

Liam Pitchford
(TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (German Bundesliga) -> GV Hennebont (France Pro A)) (source)

Kristian Karlsson
(AS Pontoise Cergy (France) -> Borussia Dusseldorf (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Anton Kallberg
(TTC Hagen (German Bundesliga) -> Borussia Dusseldorf (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Stefan Fegerl
(Weinviertel (Austria) -> Borussia Dusseldorf (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Patrick Franziska
(Borussia Dusseldorf (German Bundesliga)-> Saarbrucken (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Kou Lei
(Roanne LNTT (France Pro A)-> Grenzau (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Kohei Sambe
(TTC Ober-Erlenbach (German Second League)-> Grenzau (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Andrej Gacina
(Roanne LNTT (France Pro A)-> UMMC Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Russia Prem Division)) (source)

Joao Geraldo
(Grunwettesbach (German Bundesliga)-> Ochsenhausen (German Bundesliga)) (source)

Panagiotis Gionis
(Borussia Düsseldorf (German Bundesliga)-> Bogoria Grodzisk (Polish Super League)) (source)



Silly season: A Karlsson for a Karlsson

It's' now official that Kristian Karlsson will leave Pontoise after three seasons - and most notably a Champions League title - playing for the French club.

It's one Karlsson out and another in as his replacement will be Mattias Karlsson. IMHO, it's not a bad replacement what with Mattias going from strength to strength lately. An added bonus for the club is that they'll save on printing costs, new shirts, etc. After all, there's not a lot of difference between Karlsson and Karlsson ;-)



At first glance it may seem strange for a young player such as Kristian Karlsson to leave one of the absolute top teams in Europe, but it becomes clearer when his new destination turns out to be Düsseldorf in Germany - a club most certainly as good as Pontoise and arguably a slightly better team in the long run.

He'll join Anton Källberg, Stefan Fegerl and Timo Boll at Düsseldorf. IMHO, it's a great move for KK and a good signing for the club for the future (as is Källberg). Both of them should get plenty of time at the table since Franziska and Gionis are leaving and Achanta and Boll will play a limited amount of games.



Any other silly season news floating around?
Any notable, confirmed signings?
Who's in and who's out?
Does anybody know where Franziska and Gionis are going?
Any interesting Asian signings by European teams for 2016?

 

[Suga D]

Hey brabhamista,

great post. Absolutely accurate.

I'd like to add that Patrick Franziska has signed with 1.FC Saarbrücken TT and will join Apolonia's Team from next season on.

Filus has a new contract in Fulda for two more years.

Emmanuel Lebesson will most likely be playing for Vaillante Angers next season.

 

[brabhamista]

Thanks Suga. And good stuff from you. I didn't know where Filus and Lebesson were going until now

About this:

I'd like to add that Patrick Franziska has signed with 1.FC Saarbrücken TT and will join Apolonia's Team from next season on.

It seems pretty much everybody is surprised about Franziska leaving as it appeared to have been a sudden thing without any previous warning or indication to the club.

Do you know what happened? Was there some kind of falling out or disagreement with other players or coaches?
What's the word on the street?

 

[Suga D]

Their PR-output is quite professional. Not very much information is shared.
As far as i've heard/read was Düsseldorf's manager Andreas Preuss pretty surprised about this, whereas Franziska was saying that he was happy for the change and also was happy about more self-sufficiency and independance.

So this leaves plenty of room for speculations, whatever they might look like.
But what can be said is that he didn't play a very succesful season so far, and Düsseldorf isn't very amused about not even reaching the semi-finals of the Champions-League this season. So......

 

[TTFrenzy]

gionis will leave borussia. The german team wanted the foreign players to spend more time in dusseldorf in order to attain better practice with the coach and to have better teamwork/tactics and team spirit. I assume gionis does not like to spend at least half days of the week in Germany probably because his girlfriend is in Athens along with his family and friends. So the partnership eventually ended in good terms.

He signed , or will sign a contract with the polish team Bongoria (dont know if im spelling it correctly) for the next season. The polish super league is on the rise and many good players have played or are playing there. It will be interesting

 

[TTFrenzy]

It's' now official that Kristian Karlsson will leave Pontoise after three seasons - and most notably a Champions League title - playing for the French club.

It's one Karlsson out and another in as his replacement will be Mattias Karlsson. IMHO, it's not a bad replacement what with Mattias going from strength to strength lately. An added bonus for the club is that they'll save on printing costs, new shirts, etc. After all, there's not a lot of difference between Karlsson and Karlsson ;-)

View attachment 9208

At first glance it may seem strange for a young player such as Kristian Karlsson to leave one of the absolute top teams in Europe, but it becomes clearer when his new destination turns out to be Düsseldorf in Germany - a club most certainly as good as Pontoise and arguably a slightly better team in the long run.

He'll join Anton Källberg, Stefan Fegerl and Timo Boll at Düsseldorf. IMHO, it's a great move for KK and a good signing for the club for the future (as is Källberg). Both of them should get plenty of time at the table since Franziska and Gionis are leaving and Achanta and Boll will play a limited amount of games.

View attachment 9209

Any other silly season news floating around?
Any notable, confirmed signings?
Who's in and who's out?
Does anybody know where Franziska and Gionis are going?
Any interesting Asian signings by European teams for 2016?

It seems to me that it was prause's idea to collect promising players in borussia. Maybe he want to beat the chinese in the long run, just like he did when ovtcharov boll and baum played there only this time he can achieve it via the swedish national team. If im speculating correctly its really nice to see a german/swedish collaboration in order to win a world competition in the future , does not really matter which one. If kallberg or karlsson can manage to win a world cup in the future it will be a blast in tt

 

[Suga D]

It seems to me that it was prause's idea to collect promising players in borussia. Maybe he want to beat the chinese in the long run, just like he did when ovtcharov boll and baum played there only this time he can achieve it via the swedish national team. If im speculating correctly its really nice to see a german/swedish collaboration in order to win a world competition in the future , does not really matter which one. If kallberg or karlsson can manage to win a world cup in the future it will be a blast in tt

I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate.
Prause is Director of sports for the DTTB and works for the DTTZ the German Tabletennis Center, which happens to be in Düsseldorf, but AFAIK he doesn't have an engagement with Borussia Düsseldorf. So i don't think these two shall be mixed up.

 

[TTFrenzy]

I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate.
Prause is Director of sports for the DTTB and works for the DTTZ the German Tabletennis Center, which happens to be in Düsseldorf, but AFAIK he doesn't have an engagement with Borussia Düsseldorf. So i don't think these two shall be mixed up.

Yeah, it was just a speculation of mine. Prause and mario amizic are known for gathering all the europe's top players together so I dont know if he was part of these decisions and player transfers but if the idea is true, no matter who brought it to the table it certainly looks promising. The two karlssons and kallberg showed that they have the personality needed to play against the chinese, so I dont know maybe im just daydreaming, time will tell

 

[Guybrush123]

Wow!

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/bordtennis/article22218759.ab

 

[TTFrenzy]

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/bordtennis/article22218759.ab

since this is an english language forum, at least translate to us. whats the point of posting a link in swedish?

 

[brabhamista]

since this is an english language forum, at least translate to us. whats the point of posting a link in swedish?

It's an article in a tabloid so there is quite a bit of fluff, but in short, the article is about Kristian Karlsson's " impressive advancement to the semifinal" of Europe Top16 despite being the lowest ranked player in his group. On his way, he's beaten his former teammate Marcos Freitas, his new teammate Stefan Fegerl as well as Robert Gardos - all very good wins and results for KK.

He ranks reaching the semi and beating these higher ranked players as one of his greatest achievements yet and he's very happy about it.
He says: "I believed it quite possible to reach the quarter finals. That was my goal, so to now have reached the semi is fantastic."

Next up is Dimitriy Ovcharov - world rank No5 - in the semi. Kristian says: "Obviously I'm aware of his capabilities as I've watched play him a lot. It's crucial to find something that works and then to keep at it."
​

That's about it - heavy on words, light on actual content - as most articles in a tabloid are.
Still, a great run for KK and some eye-catching wins for him.

 

[brabhamista]

The two karlssons and kallberg showed that they have the personality needed to play against the chinese, so I dont know maybe im just daydreaming, time will tell

Hmm... I think you're daydreaming. Nonetheless, it is a lovely dream and I'm happy dreaming it with you

Karlssonx2 and Källberg will form a powerful and creative national team in a few years if they continue to develop the way they have recently. The way I see it, Kristian Karlsson is actually on a flatter dev curve at the moment. IMHO, both Mattias Karlsson and Anton Källberg have made greater leaps than him the last year or so.

In any case KK isn't standing stlll and he has plenty more potential as his play this week in Top16 has shown. I believe Düsseldorf can rest assured they made a good move for him. (Hell, I'm sure they are completely relaxed. They know a lot more about TT than I'll ever know!)

All three will benefit greatly from their moves to new clubs. Playing for two of the top clubs in Europe at a young age will only improve their chances of maximising their potential, IMHO.

Now it's time for more food and drink (it's Chinese New Year here).
Then I'll get back to that daydream again.

 

[Guybrush123]

since this is an english language forum, at least translate to us. whats the point of posting a link in swedish?

Sorry! Euro top 16 is playing right now, and Kristian is in semi~final

 

[Guybrush123]

Got carried away...Lost in translation~kind of carried away

 

[Suga D]

Hmm... I think you're daydreaming. Nonetheless, it is a lovely dream and I'm happy dreaming it with you

Karlssonx2 and Källberg will form a powerful and creative national team in a few years if they continue to develop the way they have recently. The way I see it, Kristian Karlsson is actually on a flatter dev curve at the moment. IMHO, both Mattias Karlsson and Anton Källberg have made greater leaps than him the last year or so.

In any case KK isn't standing stlll and he has plenty more potential as his play this week in Top16 has shown. I believe Düsseldorf can rest assured they made a good move for him. (Hell, I'm sure they are completely relaxed. They know a lot more about TT than I'll ever know!)

All three will benefit greatly from their moves to new clubs. Playing for two of the top clubs in Europe at a young age will only improve their chances of maximising their potential, IMHO.

Now it's time for more food and drink (it's Chinese New Year here).
Then I'll get back to that daydream again.

Hahaha. Happy new year then, brabhamista.

It's really a sweet dream.
I agree with you again. I just like to add one thing.
I really hope Karlsson, Källberg and Düsseldorf gonna benefit from each other, but as we've just seen, it doesn't always work out well, like in Franziska's case.

Some might say he wasn't as young as Källberg is, and maybe the pressure of the expectations might have been a bit too much to handle for him, but maybe that's all misinterpreted and he just was unlucky with his injuries and didn't feel all that comfortable.

But anyhow, i hope everybody is comfortable now and we get to see some more beautiful tabletennis next season.

 

[SquareBall]

I am not expert by any means but Kristian Karlsson?s forehand is a blast in my eyes. It seems to me he is improving all the time. I haven?t seen the europe 16 games cause of internet problems but at his recent game vs Timo Boll I liked his forehand a lot.

 

[brabhamista]

I am not expert by any means but Kristian Karlsson?s forehand is a blast in my eyes. It seems to me he is improving all the time. I haven?t seen the europe 16 games cause of internet problems but at his recent game vs Timo Boll I liked his forehand a lot.

I agree with you if you mean when he hits is hard. It seems to be a very pure hit with a very crisp contact. I like it too.

I don't really like his slow forehand loop though. It's a bit too 50/50 as it stands. What I mean is, I don't think it's consistently low enough. He gets creamed by the opponent quite a lot as it is too high too often.
That said, not matter what I'd love to have it

 

[brabhamista]

Some more silly season related news from Sweden.

Wu Jiaji from China is going to BTK Warta in Sweden. He's a penholder and played for Jiangsu in the Chinese Superleague 2013. He also took the bronze at the World Junior Championships in 2010. Could be a very interesting player to watch.

Janak Kha from the USA will play for Halmstad BTK. Not sure which table, but most likely the third from time to time.

Here's Wu Jiaji playing Koki Niwa in 2010.

Eslöv's penholder Xu Hui is staying a 5th season so no real news there. What's different this season though is that he has been released by China to play any World Tours he likes. Would be very interesting to see him play tournament TT in 2016. He's a great player to watch.

 

[Guybrush123]

I agree regarding Xu Hui. I have seen him play many times, especially against Halmstad Btk against Kristian and Mattias Karlsson, and Harald Andersson. Mattias actually has 2 victories against him. They have met 8 times. I have heard by swedish coaches that if he had a world ranking, he would be about 15~20...His statistics in swedens premier division is 164 wins and 11 losses...that is a third place through the history, only succeeded by Waldner and Dawei Huang...

 

[TTFrenzy]

Hahaha. Happy new year then, brabhamista.

It's really a sweet dream.
I agree with you again. I just like to add one thing.
I really hope Karlsson, Källberg and Düsseldorf gonna benefit from each other, but as we've just seen, it doesn't always work out well, like in Franziska's case.

Some might say he wasn't as young as Källberg is, and maybe the pressure of the expectations might have been a bit too much to handle for him, but maybe that's all misinterpreted and he just was unlucky with his injuries and didn't feel all that comfortable.

But anyhow, i hope everybody is comfortable now and we get to see some more beautiful tabletennis next season.

Yeah I had great expectations from Franziska also. In fact everytime I see a new talent with good BH Im always thinking if he can counter the chinese in the future. Fact is that the chinese study thoroughly every possible threat so its really hard to overcome the obstacles when you know that they are watching you and analyze your game.

So even if a new talent does some damage in a pro tour, the chinese will study him a lot which makes the possibility of winning against them even more difficult. It is also a small weakness in their mentality they dont feel comfortable with unfamiliar opponents.

Antoine Hachard yuya oshima posed a big threat to ma long in the recent china open,cause he has never faced them again. Jang woojin also won against zhang jike 2 times. In the next 2 yuya vs zhang matches, you could see how well prepared zhang jike was to beat him, which means, he had full knowledge of oshima's game.