A creditable showing by Moldovan players at the tournament in Odesa
The masters and amateurs of Moldovan table tennis played well and, above all, to good effect on the courts of Odesa. It was here, in the Southern Palmyra, on 18 January, on the eve of one of the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church — the Baptism of the Lord (the baptism of Jesus Christ in the river Jordan by John the Baptist) — that our tamers of the nimble plastic ball, entered in the table tennis tournament called GEWO, managed to take two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
The laureates of the GEWO open tournament were the many-times champion of our republic Vladimir Semipeadnîi and his talented pupil Cezar Cozmolici; Natalia Smirnova's experienced charge Danila Titov, who took the silver medal; and Igor Romanenco's pupil Ivan Bejenari from Bender, who came home from Odesa with a bronze. It should be said that the Moldovan masters and amateurs of this popular sport gladly took up their Odesa friends' invitation to enter this open tournament.
That is understandable, since there is a temporary lull in our home table tennis calendar just now. The same cannot be said of a notable event that took place among us very recently and that all of us who love and care about Moldovan table tennis greeted with great enthusiasm. On the eve of the New Year 2020 the Minister of Education, Culture and Research Corneliu Popovici conferred on Natalia Smirnova the title Antrenor Emerit al Republicii Moldova (Merited Coach of Moldova).
It is gratifying that, in the company of such popular sports as judo, water polo, rugby, football, basketball and freestyle wrestling, this high sporting title has also marked the work of Natalia Smirnova, who serves Moldovan table tennis faithfully and well. Taking the opportunity, we would like to congratulate Natalia Vladimirovna on this important event, and to wish her fresh success in her demanding work — bringing on high-class masters of home table tennis. Besides the hosts, the players of Odesa, the GEWO tournament drew masters and amateurs from Ukrainian cities such as Chornomorsk and Zaporizhzhia.
Moldova was represented by the table tennis schools of Chisinau, Bender and Tiraspol. The events were played in four age categories: born 2007 and later; 2005 and later; the veterans' category of 50 and over; and the “open to all” category, fairly regarded as the strongest at this forum. This Odesa tournament was held in a magnificent place — we are not afraid of the grand word — a temple of table tennis called the Synergy Sport Arena (4/7 Heavenly Hundred Avenue). Last summer our representatives had already tried out this comfortable and modern specialist hall. In June, entered in the open international tournament “Evolution Odesa-2019 Cup”, the Moldovan players showed their best qualities and earned four golds, one silver and three bronzes.
And now, over these holidays, at the tournament called GEWO, our envoys — 26 of them in Odesa — had to show all their skill and craft to become among the heroes of this festive tournament. Let us begin with the category born 2007 and later. Here the champion was Leonid Yakymchuk of Odesa, who trains under the well-known Odesa specialist Svitlana Nefedova. In the final Yakymchuk came through easily against his compatriot Bohdan Pakhylenko from Zaporizhzhia, 3:0. Igor Romanenco's pupil Ivan Bejenari from Bender took third place, beating Svitlana Nefedova's charge Natalia Palamarchuk (Odesa) 3:0 in the match for it. Palamarchuk was fourth, and in fifth was another of Svitlana Nefedova's pupils, Alina Koltun. In the second final the players of Chisinau were the best. Serghei Socolov's pupil Nicole Guranda proved the stronger in the contest for ninth place against Vladimir Semipeadnîi's charge Bogdan Dodon (3:0), who finished tenth.
The category born 2005 and later. Here Cezar Cozmolici (Chisinau), who is playing excellently this season, had a bright tournament. Coming through the group stage confidently, Cezar Cozmolici was brilliant in the main final too. Having beaten Ivan Bejenari and the Odesa player Serhii Hryhorian by the same score, 3:0, he faced in the final Filip Koloidenko (Odesa), a charge of the Odesa specialist Hennadii Perepelytsia. Koloidenko had proved the stronger against Leonid Yakymchuk in the semi-final (3:0). The final between Vladimir Semipeadnîi's pupil and Filip Koloidenko was an interesting contest, and the better of it was the Moldovan Cozmolici, who came through 3:1. Third in this category was Nefedova's pupil Leonid Yakymchuk. Fourth was the Odesa player Serhii Hryhorian, and Igor Romanenco's charge Ivan Bejenari (Bender) closed out the top five.
The veterans' group, 50 and over. Experienced and accomplished players gathered here, led by the many-times champion of Moldova Vladimir Semipeadnîi. Semipeadnîi came out of his group as the top seed. By the same score, 3:0, our leader came through against his compatriots Igor Pascal, Serghei Zop and Igor Cioclea. It was harder against the experienced Anatolii Moseichuk of Odesa, whom Vladimir beat after a fight, 3:2. In the main final Semipeadnîi took two more wins — over Viktor Yevtodii of Odesa 3:1 and Oleksandr Redkov of Chornomorsk 3:2. The second final was won by Igor Bobeico, who finished fifth overall. Next in the table come the Moldovan players Igor Pascal, Tatiana Petrova (Tiraspol) and Serghei Zop (Bender).
There were 43 entrants in the “open to all” category. Here both well-known masters and beginners went in pursuit of the medal places. We had every right to expect high finishes from our envoys — Danila Titov, Victor Câsa, Igor Romanenco, Alexandru Policiuc, Cezar Cozmolici and Vlada Caraulinaia. For our other lads, taking part in tournaments like this is a good and useful school for acquiring the tournament experience they need. Our Ukrainian friends have exactly the same aims. Here we saw strong masters such as Natalia Alekseienko (Odesa), Tymur Voitekhov from Zaporizhzhia, the Odesa players Serhii Retynskyi and Viktor Yevtodii, the strong player Valeriia Ivakhiv and the vastly experienced Hennadii Domberg.
Young Ukrainian players gathering priceless experience played in the tournament too — Filip Koloidenko, Serhii Hryhorian, Oleksandr Bifert, and to that list one can add Diana Styhar's charge Nadiia Mykhailenko of the Sporting club. Nadiia Mykhailenko did not reach the main final, but it was plain that this diligent player fought everyone, even those whose class is higher than her own enthusiastic game. In the first stage the matches were played in nine groups. An interesting situation arose in the group won by Semipeadnîi's pupil Vlada Caraulinaia. She managed to beat Tymur Voitekhov from Zaporizhzhia 3:2 — the same Voitekhov who went on to win this strong category. Our Caraulinaia was the only player at the tournament who found the keys to beating this strong opponent.
The best in the main final were Danila Titov, a charge of Moldova's merited coach Natalia Smirnova, and — as readers will already have gathered — the Zaporizhzhia player Tymur Voitekhov. On his way to the final Danila Titov came through one opponent after another with ease. First he beat Oleksii Holubiev (Odesa) 3:1, in the quarter-final he dealt easily with the strong Hennadii Domberg (3:0), and in the semi-final he came through the experienced Odesa player Serhii Retynskyi 3:1 without any trouble. Tymur Voitekhov began his climb like this: first he beat our Victor Câsa after a fight, 3:2. Then he proved the stronger against Igor Romanenco of Bender, 3:1. In the semi-final he managed to get past the vastly experienced Natalia Alekseienko of Odesa after a stubborn contest (3:2).
The match for first place between Titov and Voitekhov was a fine one. Victory in it went to the Ukrainian, Voitekhov (3:1). Our Titov took second place. Natalia Alekseienko and Serhii Retynskyi contested third; Alekseienko proved the stronger, 3:2. Igor Romanenco closed out the top five. The consolation final was won by Filip Koloidenko, who finished 17th overall. Victor Câsa finished the competition in 7th place, and Vlada Caraulinaia was the eleventh racket of the GEWO tournament. As noted above, the Moldovan players came home with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
We congratulate our players who distinguished themselves on the good table tennis with which they have delighted us once again. The players themselves also took satisfaction from their visit to the Southern Palmyra. And some of them liked playing in Odesa so much that they decided to stay on in that beautiful city for another day, to take part in the Sunday Odesa leagues. That goes for the winner of the GEWO tournament Cezar Cozmolici, for Alexandru Policiuc, Vlada Caraulinaia, Igor Pascal, Igor Bobeico and Vladimir Semipeadnîi's young charges Veaceslav Leu and Bogdan Dodon. We imagine the organisers of the open tournament were glad of the Moldovan masters of the little racket too, whose play left a pleasant impression.
Ivan Capsamun
Photo: TTC Evolution Odessa