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Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT are the first two teams to qualify for the Liebherr Cup Final4. Both teams advanced from the quarterfinals on Sunday at the Leapmotor Cup Grand Opening. The other two Final4 participants will be determined this afternoon, broadcast live on Dyn.

Borussia Dortmund clinched the first ticket to the Cup semifinals on Sunday: After just under two hours of play, BVB secured a 3-0 victory over TSV Bad Königshofen and will thus compete in the Liebherr Cup Final4 for the first time in the club’s history. Dortmund dominated right from the start. Kristian Karlsson, Anders Lind, and Joao Geraldo each won their matches 3–1, after which they celebrated in a jubilant huddle.

“We showed today that we have a very strong team,” said Dortmund’s Joao Geraldo. “It’s a real pleasure to be part of this team. I believe that together we can still achieve a lot.”

Live on Dyn: Two more quarterfinals starting at 3 p.m.

A good half hour later, there were cheers at the adjacent table as well. 1. FC Saarbrücken TT secured a 3-1 victory over Post SV Mühlhausen, thereby earning its sixth consecutive appearance in the Liebherr Cup Final4. The second singles match proved to be the turning point—as Mühlhausen had briefly held out hope for an upset. Kay Stumper had opened the scoring for Post SV, and Ovidiu Ionescu was surprisingly leading Hugo Calderano 2-0 in sets and 7-3 in points. But the upset didn’t materialize; Calderano fought his way back into the match and tied the score at 1-1 with a 3-2 victory. This was followed by wins from Patrick Franziska and, once again, Calderano.

“It really wasn’t easy,” Calderano said with a sigh of relief afterward. “In the second match, I had to fight hard and stay mentally strong—luckily, I managed to do that. I’m very happy to have won my two matches.” Now the World Cup champion is looking forward to the Liebherr Cup Final4: “The Final4 is always a great event. It’s a lot of fun to play there. The arena is great, the fans are great. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The action continues right after: The other two quarterfinals will take place starting at 3 p.m. TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will face TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and, after their 3-1 win over Borussia Düsseldorf the previous day, will enter the match with confidence. In the parallel match, SV Werder Bremen will face third-division team SV Union Velbert II. Both matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.

Leapmotor Cup Grand Opening at a glance

Quarterfinals

Post SV Mühlhausen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 1:3
Kay Stumper – Alvaro Robles 3:1 (11:9, 13:11, 9:11, 12:10)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Hugo Calderano 2:3 (11:9, 11:4, 9:11, 5:11, 7:11)
Marcos Freitas – Patrick Franziska 0:3 (5:11, 5:11, 7:11)
Kay Stumper – Hugo Calderano 1:3 (11:8, 8:11, 5:11, 6:11)

TSV Bad Königshofen – Borussia Dortmund 0:3
Bastian Steger – Kristian Karlsson 1:3 (7:11, 11:8, 3:11, 9:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Anders Lind 1:3 (11:9, 6:11, 10:12, 6:11)
Andre Bertelsmeier – Joao Geraldo 1:3 (5:11, 11:2, 10:12, 9:11)

Sunday, August 3o
3 p.m. (live on Dyn)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
SV Union Velbert II – SV Werder Bremen

Round of 16

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:1
Shunsuke Togami – Anton Källberg 3:0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:6)
Darius Movileanu – Fan Zhendong 1:3 (4:11, 13:11, 8:11, 2:11)
Iulian Chirita – Dang Qiu 3:2 (13:11, 11:13, 11:9, 8:11, 11:8)
Shunsuke Togami – Fan Zhendong 3:2 (11:4, 11:8, 8:11, 9:11, 13:11)

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – SV Union Velbert 3:1
Fanbo Meng – Yoan Velichkov 3:0 (13:11, 12:10, 11:3)
Jonathan Groth – Borgar Haug 3:0 (11:6, 11:8, 11:9)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Rogelio Castro 2:3 (9:11, 11:1, 11:7, 7:11, 6:11)
Fanbo Meng – Borgar Haug 3:0 (11:8, 12:10, 11:6)

SV Union Velbert II – ASC Grünwettersbach II 3:2
Anton Limonov – Adrian Gossow 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:9)
Karl Walter – Florian Bluhm 1:3 (11:7, 6:11, 6:11, 4:11)
Timotius Köchling – Damian Floro 3:2 (11:9, 11:8, 9:11, 7:11, 13:11)
Anton Limonov – Florian Bluhm 1:3 (10:12, 5:11, 11:9, 8:11)
Karl Walter/Noah Hersel – Damian Floro/Adrian Gossow 3:2 (13:11, 7:11, 8:11, 11:9, 11:5)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – SV Werder Bremen 2:3
Benedikt Duda – Irvin Bertrand 3:0 (11:5, 11:9, 11:5)
Adrien Rassenfosse – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (11:6, 7:11, 11:4, 3:11, 12:14)
Romain Ruiz – Mattias Karlsson 1:3 (5:11, 11:5, 5:11, 9:11)
Benedikt Duda – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:1 (11:6, 11:6, 8:11, 11:6)
Romain Ruiz/Cedric Meissner – Mattias Karlsson/Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (6:11, 8:11, 11:9, 7:11)

TTC immoXone Bietigheim-Bissingen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 0:3
Matej Haspel – Alvaro Robles 0:3 (5:11, 4:11, 7:11)
Jonathan Gaiser – Hugo Calderano 0:3 (6:11, 3:11, 5:11)
Michael Engelhardt – Eduard Ionescu 1:3 (9:11, 10:12, 11:7, 5:11)

ASC Grünwettersbach – Post SV Mühlhausen 0:3
Ricardo Walther – Kay Stumper 0:3 (8:11, 6:11, 5:11)
Tom Jarvis – Marcos Freitas 0:3 (10:12, 5:11, 5:11)
Tobias Hippler – Ovidiu Ionescu 0:3 (6:11, 8:11, 7:11)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – TSV Bad Königshofen 0:3
Csaba Andras – Andre Bertelsmeier 1:3 (4:11, 12:10, 7:11, 4:11)
Ivor Ban – Filip Zeljko 0:3 (9:11, 4:11, 5:11)
Benno Oehme – Bastian Steger 0:3 (6:11, 9:11, 8:11)

Borussia Dortmund – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:0
Joao Geraldo – Samuel Walker 3:0 (11:8, 11:6, 11:4)
Anders Lind – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:9, 11:5, 9:11, 11:8)
Kristian Karlsson – Martin Allegro 3:1 (11:7, 5:11, 11:8, 11:9)

Header photo: Borussia Dortmund's Kristian Karlsson (by BeLa Sportfoto)