It could have easily been the final of the German Cup Championships, but the duel between TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and Borussia Düsseldorf was only a round of 16 match. The Hessian team underlined their title ambitions by knocking the defending cup champions out of the competition.
Table tennis fans were treated to a thrilling encounter at the close of the German Cup round of 16. With the signings of Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Cheng-Jui Kao, TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell had already signaled their new ambitions before the season started. Borussia Düsseldorf, on the other hand, was determined to defend their title. But in this direct confrontation, only one team could continue to pursue their goals.
With Borussia Düsseldorf eliminated, the defending champions are out. For the first time since the 2018/2019 season, the Final Four will take place without the Rhinelanders. Back then, Borussia fell to ASV Grünwettersbach in the quarterfinals. "When you add everything up today, Fulda was just a little bit better. We have to accept that. It was a 50:50 game. The disappointment is huge, but that’s table tennis, you can always lose," Borussia’s manager Andreas Preuß commented after the match.
Just three weeks ago, both teams faced off in the Bundesliga, with Fulda also winning that encounter. While Qing Yu Meng stuck to the same lineup, Danny Heister made significant changes, with Dang Qiu replacing Kay Stumper, Anton Källberg moving to the third position, and Timo Boll to the second. The evening’s first match saw former national teammates Ovtcharov and Boll face off. Both know each other well and gave it their all, but Ovtcharov applied slightly more pressure early on and eventually secured the win in four tight sets.
The following match between Kao and Qiu was only slightly more decisive. Kao barely let the German into the game in the second set, while the first and third sets went into extra points. Källberg then reignited some hope for Borussia, facing Fanbo Meng. The Swede only had some trouble in the first set and ultimately won 3:0.
The most exciting match of the day came at the end with Ovtcharov and Qiu. The older of the two Germans took a two-set lead in close fashion, but Qiu fought back, only to fall 7:11 in the deciding fifth set. "It was a great fight. There was a chance in the first two sets. In the end, Dang fought back well," said Düsseldorf’s coach Danny Heister, who wasn’t entirely dissatisfied. "This loss is tough because we love to compete for titles, but I think Fulda was better today."
With this result, all quarterfinalists in the cup competition are now confirmed. In addition to Fulda, Bad Homburg, Bremen, second-division side Cologne, Grünwettersbach, Bad Königshofen, Saarbrücken, and Ochsenhausen are just one win away from the Final Four in January.
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:1
Dimitrij Ovtcharov - Timo Boll 3:1 (11:9, 10:12, 11:9, 11:9)
Cheng-Jui Kao - Dang Qiu 3:0 (13:11, 11:5, 12:10)
Fanbo Meng - Anton Källberg 0:3 (10:12, 2:11, 8:11)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov - Dang Qiu 3:2 (11:9, 12:10, 8:11, 7:11, 11:7)
TTC Lampertheim – TTC OE Bad Homburg 2:3
Navid Shams – Benno Oehme 3:2 (6:11, 12:10, 11:8, 11:13, 11:9)
Alvaro Gainza – Kristian Karlsson 1:3 (3:11, 11:7, 4:11, 8:11)
Martin Buch Andersen – Yuma Tsuboi 3:1 (11:7, 12:10, 5:11, 11:4)
Navid Shams – Kristian Karlsson 1:3 (4:11, 11:5, 9:11, 2:11)
Martin Buch Andersen/Alvaro Gainza – Yuma Tsuboi/Benno Oehme 0:3 (10:12, 3:11, 7:11)
1. FSV Mainz 05 – SV Werder Bremen 1:3
John Oyebode – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (11:7, 5:11, 11:7, 5:11, 9:11)
Ole Kaspers – Mattias Falck 0:3 (6:11, 5:11, 8:11)
Albert Vilardell – Marcelo Aguirre 3:0 (11:7, 11:9, 11:6)
John Oyebode – Mattias Falck 2:3 (11:9, 6:11, 7:11, 11:8, 7:11)
1. FC Köln – TTC Fortuna Passau 3:2
Andre Bertelsmeier – Elia Schmid 3:1 (11:8, 9:11, 11:5, 11:7)
Lleyton Ullmann – Yuki Matsuyama 0:3 (6:11, 6:11, 3:11)
Tobias Hippler – Viktor Yefimov 3:0 (11:8, 11:5, 15:13)
Andre Bertelsmeier – Yuki Matsuyama 2:3 (11:9, 9:11, 11:9, 13:15, 8:11)
Tobias Hippler/Florian Cnudde – Viktor Yefimov/Elia Schmid 3:1 (5:11, 13:11, 11:2, 11:8)
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – ASC Grünwettersbach 1:3
Luka Mladenovic – Leo de Nodrest 0:3 (4:11, 7:11, 9:11)
Maciej Kubik – Ricardo Walther 2:3 (12:10, 9:11, 11:8, 5:11, 4:11)
Feng Yi-Hsin – Tiago Apolonia 3:0 (11:8, 12:10, 11:7)
Samuel Walker – Ricardo Walther 0:3 (5:11, 6:11, 7:11)
TSV Bad Königshofen – Post SV Mühlhausen 3:1
Jin Ueda – Irvin Bertrand 3:0 (12:10, 11:9, 11:4)
Filip Zeljko – Steffen Mengel 2:3 (11:9, 5:11, 9:11, 11:6, 9:11)
Bastian Steger – Ovidiu Ionescu 3:0 (11:6, 11:7, 11:9)
Jin Ueda – Steffen Mengel 3:0 (11:9, 11:6, 11:7)
1. FC Saarbrücken TT – Borussia Dortmund 3:2
Darko Jorgic – Simon Berglund 3:0 (11:5, 11:5, 11:5)
Patrick Franziska – Li Yongyin 2:3 (11:9, 15:13, 4:11, 6:11, 8:11)
Yuto Muramatsu – Cedric Nuytinck 2:3 (11:9, 5:11, 9:11, 11:7, 7:11)
Darko Jorgic – Li Yongyin 3:1 (11:5, 9:11, 11:5, 11:9)
Patrick Franziska/Cedric Meissner – Cedric Nuytinck/Dennis Klein 3:2 (11:5, 5:11, 14:12, 10:12, 11:8)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:2
Hugo Calderano – Frederik Duda 3:0 (11:3, 11:5, 11:1)
Simon Gauzy – Kanak Jha 2:3 (9:11, 11:7, 10:12, 11:9, 8:11)
Shunsuke Togami – Adrien Rassenfosse (11:13: 11:6: 8:11, 8:11)
Hugo Calderano – Kanak Jha 3:1 (7:11, 11:6, 11:5, 11:4)
Simon Gauzy/Shunsuke Togami – Adrien Rassenfosse/Frederik Duda 3:0 (11:3, 11:5, 11:2)
Alle Partien der TTBL und des Deutschen Tischtennis-Pokals (sofern ein TTBL-Club Heimrecht hat) werden live und auf Abruf bei Dyn übertragen.
Beitragsbild oben: Mannschaft des TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell (Foto: Philipp Wohlfahrt)