In 1965, at the age of 16, was no longer a youngster — he grew a few centimeters and became stronger for a few points. At the Open Championships of Poland in Krakow he won his first important international match — in the second round he defeated the European champion Swede Kjell Johanson 24:22 in the fifth set, winning Johanson's two match balls. And as Antun Stipančić firmly stepped forward onto the world table tennis scene, the highest world authorities agreed that he would have a brilliant career. In 1966 Tova was a member of the national team to the European Championships in Wembley. That year he won two medals on The Youth European Championships in Szombathely — gold, playing mixed doubles with Mirjana Resler and silver, playing doubles with Zlatko Čordaš.