The Austrian Table Tennis Association have done it again. For the sixth time, Austria hosted the European Youth Championship. The conditions in the most modern multi-purpose hall in the country, the Schwechat Multiversum and the Werner Schlager Academy couldn't have been better. It was a European Championship of superlatives and records.

"It was a widely successful event. We're very happy it ran so smoothly and, at great expense, we were able to deliver a valuable, significant dress rehearsal for the European Championship 2013. We assume that the Schwechat Multiversum has been recommended as a venue. Above all, I'd like to thank each and every employee. This organisational challenge could've only been overcome by the hard work of each individual", Rudolf Sporrer, General Secretary of the ÖTTV, is happy with the end result.

 

The European Youth Championship in numbers

Measured in numbers, previous great European Youth Championships just don't compare. 46 nations were represented in Schwechat. This means almost all the ETTU member states were represented in Schwechat, as participants or as referees.

 

538 cadets and juniors competed for the coveted "European Champion" title throughout 14 competitions. More than 400 coaches, physiotherapists and masseurs looked after the young talent. In total, more than 1,300 people were accredited for this event.

 

Over 30 accredited journalists from the Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Israel, Holland, France, Serbia and Austria recorded the European Youth Championship in thousands of photos and several articles. 70,000 sheets of paper were used to keep journalists, teams and spectators up to date.

 

90 referees were on duty throughout 1,752 matches. 528 matches were team competitions and 1,224 were individual competitions (including singles, doubles and mixed doubles). These matches were simultaneously played on 26 tables over 10 days. 1,200 balls were used during the tournament.

 

Laola1.tv broadcast all Table 1 and 2 games live. More than 100 hours were streamed live. Two hours coverage of the European Youth Championship was also shown on ORF Sport+. The live ticker recorded more than 70 million views over the entire period of the event. The official homepage for the European Youth Championship, www.2012eyc.at, received more than 10,000 visits per day.

 

Before the European Youth Championship could even begin, 3,420 squared metres of special flooring had to be laid. More than 700 people visited the catering buffet each meal time. 1,400 litres of water per day were needed for the athletes. To punctually transport the athletes, coaches and officials to the hall and back to their hotels, the buses travelled more than 35,000 kilometres.

 

The European Youth Championship was a big success, but mainly from the perspective of the local spectators.  14,000 visitors travelled to the Schwechat Multiversum to watch the matches. More than 1,600 enthusiastic fans watched the final match for the team competition on Tuesday evening.

 

Not to mention the economic value of the event for the town of Schwechat and Lower Austria. As calculated by an institute, the added value, for the town of Schwechat alone, was 1.5 million Euros.

 

With so many active participants and spectators, something was bound to go missing. On average, 14 towels, 5 pairs of shoes, several shorts and trousers appeared daily in the Lost &Found. Apart from the many found items, there was plenty to celebrate: Andreas Levenko celebrated his 14th birthday on 17th July and Rudolf Sporrer celebrated his 60th birthday on 21st July.

 

The 55th Ströck European Youth Championship has not only made history, but it has also set new standards and broken records due to the number of participating nations, the number of active participants (athletes and coaches), and the impressive number of live streams and views recorded on the live ticker.