The best table tennis players in Europe have arrived in Ekaterinburg, Russia for the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships, which begins today 25 September, and runs until 4 October 2015.

Europe's best will be on show for 10 days in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

The 10 days table tennis fiesta will crown European Champions in six events: men's & women's teams, men's & women's singles, as well as men's & women's doubles. In the men's team event, all eyes will be on Portugal to see if they can repeat their historic gold from 2014. Portugal's chances of winning their second European Championships were given a boost, as their fierce rival Germany's lynchpin Timo BOLL has pulled out with a knee injury. Portugal's leading player Marcos FREITAS stated: "First we need to get to the quarter final, and then we need to show everything we are capable of. Of course, we would like to win as we did it a year ago in Portugal, but it will be difficult. There are very strong teams here, so we need to be at our best to be the champions." As the German men's team tries to regain the title they lost last year, the German women's team will be looking to win their third title in a row and again stamp themselves as the unbeatable force in Europe.Their biggest threat for gold will be the Netherlands, who they beat in the final of the European Games earlier this year. Over the past few years, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) has established himself as the top table tennis male player in Europe, and currently holds all the European singles titles on offer:European Championships, European Cup and European Champions. After recovering from a back injury which resulted in a loss of form mid way through 2015, the world number five is ready to create more history in Russia: "I myself won all the top events in Europe. I am the hunted one, everyone wants to beat me. I'm not in the same shape as I was in 2013 when I played tremendously strong. But already at the European Games in Baku, I have won the singles competition without being in top shape." Romania's Elizabeta SAMARA is pushing to win her first European title in Russia. She will head into the event as the number three seed behind the two strong Germany's HAN Ying and SHAN Xiaona who have both shown strong form in this year's ITTF World Tour. "I am feeling in good shape," stated the world number 21. "If I can bring my best game here in Russia, I believe I have a good chance of winning my first European singles title which has always been a dream for me."