Pokal

Only in the deciding doubles did 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT punch their ticket to the Liebherr Cup Final Four at SV Union Velbert. Up against the quarter-final’s lone second-division side, the favourites dropped two points to the sensational youngster Wim Verdonschot. The result ensures Chinese superstar Fan Zhendong will feature at the final tournament on 4 January 2026 in Ulm/Neu-Ulm — where Saarbrücken aim to take the last step that eluded them in last year’s final.

“Fan Zhendong is happy we’re going,” said a relieved Patrick Franziska on Dyn after a long night of cup drama. In a classic David-versus-Goliath tie — Champions League winners against the bottom team of the second division — the Bundesliga side needed steady nerves and had to snuff out the upset in the doubles.

“We weren’t nervous even before the doubles,” Franziska said of the decisive 3:1 alongside Eduard Ionescu against Timotius Köchling/Anton Limonov. “We needed a moment to settle in during the first game, then we solved it tactically very well and closed it out.”

Verdonschot shines with two wins

That the tie even went the distance was down to Velbert’s rising talent Wim Verdonschot. The 20-year-old ignited the packed hall with victories over Ionescu and Darko Jorgic — something no one had managed in this TTBL season, as Jorgic had won all eight of his singles to that point. “He completely tore me apart for two games,” Verdonschot said of his upset, in which he was taken to a decider after leading 2–0. “Then, from 5–3 in the fifth it was suddenly 5–6. The time-out was perfect.” Verdonschot, who recently triumphed at the WTT Feeder in Gdańsk, converted his first match point.

Franziska: “The cup has its own laws”

Franziska against Limonov (3:0) and Jorgic against Köchling (3:1) delivered Saarbrücken’s other points. “A win is a win. The cup has its own laws, as the saying goes,” Franziska smiled. At the Final Four, the Saarlanders want to go one better than at the last edition, when they lost the final 1:3 to TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen.

The title holders had already secured their Final Four berth last week against Post SV Mühlhausen. TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg also booked a surprise place by beating Borussia Düsseldorf.

Cup quarter-finals fixtures

TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:2
Jo Yokotani – Anton Källberg 3:1 (11:8, 11:6, 6:11, 11:9)
Ivor Ban – Dang Qiu 3:2 (6:11, 11:7, 5:11, 10:12, 13:11)
Csaba Andras – Kanak Jha 1:3 (12:10, 8:11, 2:11, 4:11)
Jo Yokotani – Dang Qiu 1:3 (9:11, 12:10, 6:11, 12:14)
Ban/Andras – Källberg/Haug 3:1 (13:11, 11:4, 8:11, 11:5)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – Post SV Mühlhausen 3:2
Shunsuke Togami – Ovidiu Ionescu 3:2 (11:5, 8:11, 11:7, 5:11, 11:6)
Tiago Abiodun – Kay Stumper 0:3 (9:11, 5:11, 8:11)
Andreas Levenko – Marcos Freitas 0:3 (9:11, 5:11, 10:12)
Shunsuke Togami – Kay Stumper 3:2 (7:11, 15:13, 12:10, 8:11, 11:9)
Levenko/Abiodun – Ionescu/Freitas 3:2 (4:11, 9:11, 16:14, 13:11, 11:5)

SV Union Velbert – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT 2:3
Wim Verdonschot – Eduard Ionescu 3:1 (12:10, 11:9, 10:12, 13:11)
Timotius Köchling – Darko Jorgic 1:3 (13:11, 6:11, 6:11, 8:11)
Anton Limonov – Patrick Franziska 0:3 (5:11, 11:13, 9:11)
Wim Verdonschot – Darko Jorgic 3:2 (14:12, 11:8, 8:11, 4:11, 11:8)
Limonov/Köchling – Ionescu/Franziska 1:3 (11:9, 5:11, 3:11, 4:11)

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:2
Jonathan Groth – Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:7, 13:11, 11:2)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (11:8, 12:10, 7:11, 7:11, 8:11)
Fanbo Meng – Samuel Walker 3:2 (7:11, 11:6, 11:8, 7:11, 11:2)
Jonathan Groth – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (9:11, 11:7, 10:12, 11:8, 6:11)
Ovtcharov/Meng – Allegro/Walker 3:0 (11:4, 11:6, 11:9)

Picture: Patrick Franziska of 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT (Foto: Ulrich Höfer)