Nittaku Premium 40+ Ball to be used at European TT Championships Sept. 24-28

[caption id="attachment_2194" align="alignright" width="150"] Nittaku Premium 40+
Official Ball of European Championships[/caption] Nittaku Premium 40+ Ball to be used at European Championships The prestigious European Championships is one of the first major international championships using the new plastic poly balls. The European Championships will be held this year in Lisbon, Portugal at MEO Arena from September 24th-28th. ITTF has mandated that all ITTF sanctioned events will use non-celluloid plastic balls as of August, 2014. The Nittaku Premium 40+ ball is the official ball for the European Championships. Made in Japan, the Nittaku Premium 40+ Ball is the only ITTF-approved non-celluloid ball made outside of China. There are currently four manufacturers (three from China and one from Japan) and 21 brands that have their plastic balls approved by the ITTF for use in international competitions. Of all the new poly balls, Nittaku Premium 40+ is the ball closest to ITTF specifications. Besides being more consistent in roundness and hardness, the Nittaku Premium 40+ ball is more durable than the other balls, including celluloid balls. The European Championships was first held in 1958 in Hungary. Initially it was a biennial event, but since 2008 the tournament has been held annually. The European Championships includes six competitions: Men's singles, doubles and team, and Women's singles, doubles and team. As of 2013, the Championships with Team and Individual Events will be held biannually in odd-numbered years. The Team competition is taking place in 2014. In the team competition there will be a Championship Division with 16 teams, a Challenge Division with 16 teams and all other remaining teams will play in the Standard Division. All matches will be determined by the best of 5 games. [caption id="attachment_2203" align="alignleft" width="283"] Dmitry Ovtcharov, 2013 European Champion[/caption] In the Team Competition, Germany is the reigning champion in both Men's and Women's Events. In the Individual Event, the 2013 Men's Singles European Champion is Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany, and the 2013 Women's Singles European Champion is Li Fen of Sweden. Info on Nittaku SHA 40+ Ball (made in China) Info on Nittaku Premium 40+ Ball (made in Japan)