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Two players in particular will look back on the day with fond memories as they completed the coveted ‘full house’ of medals. Maria Donner of Finland and India’s Mantu Murma won gold in each of the competitions, according to their eligibility.
Muscat, Oman: The final day of the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships Muscat 2023, held at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC), saw prizes presented in 40 events. The final day was naturally tense, but the spirit of togetherness that has embodied this event was on show throughout.
Two players in particular will look back on the day with fond memories as they completed the coveted ‘full house’ of medals. Maria Donner of Finland and India’s Mantu Murma won gold in each of the competitions, according to their eligibility.
Donner added the women’s singles gold in the 40-45 years category to the Mixed Doubles gold she won with Sweden’s Igor Krokhim and the Women’s Doubles she won with Sofia Westhom.
Murma, meanwhile, won Mixed Doubles gold in the 60-years group with Vinay Chopra and then won Women’s Doubles with Jette Vieg.
Presenting the winners in the Singles events was His Excellency Basil bin Ahmed Al Rawas, Undersecretary for Sports and Youth at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
He said, “The World Veteran Table Tennis Championships 2023 is an essential part within the ITT calendar, with many players keen to take part every two years. We are delighted that 1600 participants from 69 countries have visited Oman to enjoy our well-known warm hospitality firsthand.
“We are immensely proud to have received positive feedback on the country’s hosting and organisational capabilities in making this event ground-breaking. Oman’s unique charm and authentic Arabian experience, combined with the state-of-the-art facilities at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre, has made this edition like no other in the event’s history.”
Elsewhere in the championship, Gregor Förster and Zsolt-Georg Böhm of Germany, and Norway’s Paal Guttormsen and Japan’s Kazuo Masuda all finished with two gold medals.
Böhm and partner Boris Rosenburg won the Men’s Doubles 60-years competition and then went on to take the Men’s Singles 60-64 years crown by beating Wang Yansheng in the final. Paal Guttormsen, won the men’s singles 65-69 years title, after winning the Mixed Doubles 65-years the day before with Estonia’s Kai Thornbech.
Förster and Masuda each won two gold and one bronze. Förster won the Men’s Singles 40-years gold, and earlier secured the Men’s Doubles 40 years title with Michael Marsden of Wales. He also won a bronze in Mixed Doubles 40 years with Germany’s Tatiana Pokrovskaya. Masuda won the Men’s Singles 85-years event and partnered with Reiko Miura to then win the Mixed Doubles. He also secured a bronze in Men’s Doubles 85-years with Sweden’s Urban Living.
As the Doubles events wrapped up, Latvia’s Ina Jozepsone, Switzerland’s Margit Geiger, Germany’s Heidi Wunner and Donna Sakai all secured two titles each.
Ina Jozepsone won the Mixed Doubles with her compatriot Sandis Vasiljevs in the 50-years age group, and then claimed Women’s Doubles gold with Germany’s Sylvia Messer. Margit Geiger claimed Mixed Doubles gold with Romania’s Andreas Fejer-Konnerth in the 55-years competition, and gold in the Women’s Doubles with partner Liliia Andrieieva from Ukraine. Geiger also added a bronze in the Women’s Singles 55-59 years.
In the 75-years category, Donna Sakai won mixed doubles gold with her husband David and the Women’s Doubles top prize with compatriot Connie Sweeris. In the 80-years events, Heidi Wunner secured Mixed Doubles gold with Dimitrije Bilic and then partnered with Ruth Schneider to claim Women’s Doubles gold. She also takes home silver in the Women’s Singles 80-84 years.
Hungary’s Gizella Zacher was the only winner from the last event in Las Vegas to repeat the feat. The Women’s Singles 70-74 winner in 2018 secured the 75-79 years title this time around.
Denmark’s Pia Toelhøj and Sweden’s Petra Sörling – President for the ITTF – had to settle for silver in the 50-years category. However, Pia Toelhøj did manage to win the Women’s Singles 55-59 years title later in the day.
Trine Grauholm won the Women’s Singles 45-49 years title; Estonia’s Kai Thornbech emerged victorious in the 65-69 years category; Singapore’s Liang Mui Heng secured 50-54 years gold. However, several age groups were dominated by Japanese players; the 70-74 years title went to Kazuko Horino, Noriko Watanabe won the 80-84 years event, Reiko Miura struck gold in the 85-years competition.
In the Men’s Singles, Iran’s Mehran Ahadi won the 45-49 years event; Henrik Vendelbo emerged as the 50-54 years winner; China’s Pan Yan emerged to 55-59 years winner; India’s Yogesh Desai won the 70-74 years event. and Niels Ramberg won gold in the 75-79 years category.
Commenting after the closing ceremony, Abdullah Bamakhalif, President of the Oman Table Tennis Association, said, “It has given us a great pleasure to welcome participants from around the world to compete in the Sultanate of Oman. The International Table Tennis Federation entrusted us to stage the event in our beautiful country that is known for its welcoming hospitality and breathtaking landscapes. We are honoured by this trust and can assure all participants and international delegates that we will together be witnessing an historic edition.
“We hope that by hosting this event, we can attract even more players – of all ages – to the sport and compete on the world stage. I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth for the invaluable support they have given us to making these championships a ground-breaking success.”
The next edition of the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships will take place from 6-14 July 2024, in Rome, Italy.
The World Veteran Table Tennis Championships 2023 was organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the Oman Table Tennis Association and the International Table Tennis Federation, with support from Oman Fiber Optic, STAG Sports, Omantel and Belltel.
Commenting after the closing ceremony, Abdullah Bamakhalif, President of the Oman Table Tennis Association, said, “It has given us a great pleasure to welcome participants from around the world to compete in the Sultanate of Oman”.
More information about the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships 2023 and a full list of results can be found on the official event website, https://wvc2023.ittf.com/.
A full list of medallists is available to download here.
Event Schedule
Sunday 15 January 2023: Opening ceremony
Monday 16 January 2023: Singles competitions, Group stage
Tuesday 17 January 2023: Singles and Doubles competitions, Group stage
Wednesday 18 January 2023: Day off/Touristic offer
Thursday 19 January 2023: Singles and Doubles competitions, Knockout round
Friday 20 January 2023: Singles and Doubles competitions, Knockout round
Saturday 21 January 2023: Singles and Doubles semi-finals and finals
Age Categories
40-44 years (born between 1982 and 1978)
45-49 years (born between 1977 and 1973)
50-54 years (born between 1972 and 1968)
55-59 years (born between 1967 and 1963)
60-64 years (born between 1962 and 1958)
65-69 years (born between 1957 and 1953)
70-74 years (born between 1952 and 1948)
75-79 years (born between 1947 and 1943)
80-84 years (born between 1942 and 1938)
85-89 years (born between 1937 and 1933)
Over 90 years (born in 1932 or before)
Past hosts (participants/nations)
1982 – Göteborg, Sweden (450/21)
1984 – Helsinki, Finland (650/36)
1986 – Rimini, Italy (1100/38)
1988 – Zagreb, Croatia (1650/45)
1990 – Baltimore, USA (1100/46)
1992 – Dublin, Ireland (1300/48)
1994 – Melbourne, Australia (1800/49)
1996 – Lillehammer, Norway (1950/49)
1998 – Manchester, England (1400/53)
2000 – Vancouver, Canada (1850/57)
2002 – Lucerne, Switzerland (2750/63)
2004 – Yokohama, Japan (2384/47)
2006 – Bremen, Germany (3650/59)
2008 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1378/52)
2010 – Hothot, China (2065/51)
2012 – Stockholm, Sweden (3335/66)
2014 – Auckland, New Zealand (1640/58)
2016 – Alicante, Spain (4602/82)
2018 – Las Vegas, USA (3964/86)
2020 – Bordeaux, France (no event held)
2023 – Muscat, Oman (1600/69)
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