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There were mixed results on Friday evening in the other three first-leg matches of the Champions League round of 16 for the teams from the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL). While Borussia Düsseldorf secured a comfortable victory and has one foot in the quarterfinals, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT fought hard to secure a 3-2 win in Poland. ASC Grünwettersbach goes into the second leg with a 1-3 defeat.

For Borussia Düsseldorf and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, it was their first appearance in this Champions League season, and the two top teams from the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) left no doubt that they are determined to reach the quarterfinals. Düsseldorf won the first leg 3-0 at Spanish club Real Club Cajasur Priego. Anton Källberg (3-1 against Hampus Söderlund), Dang Qiu (3-0 against Diogo Chen) and Kanak Jha (3-0 against Carlos Machado) conceded just one set and can therefore already start planning for the quarterfinals. “It was a strong performance by our team,” said Borussia manager Andreas Preuß. The second leg will take place on December 18 at the ARAG CenterCourt in Düsseldorf.

It was a much closer call for the defending champions: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, who had won the Champions League twice in a row, fought hard to secure a 3:2 victory at Dojlidy Bialystok in Poland, putting in a strong team performance. Patryk Chojnowski in particular made life difficult for the second-placed team in the TTBL: the 35-year-old prevailed against both Darko Jorgic and Patrick Franziska in the shortened fifth set to win 3-2. However, the other three singles went quite clearly to Saarbrücken: Franziska (3-0) and Jorgic (3-1) each won against Potri Chodorski; Yuto Muramatsu secured an important 3-0 victory against Potri Michalski to make it 2-1. The return match will take place on December 19 in Saarbrücken.

Only Hiroto Shinozuka scores for Grünwettersbach

ASC Grünwettersbach, on the other hand, failed to secure a victory. The team from Baden, which had advanced to the round of 16 by winning its group in Stage 1 in its first Champions League appearance, lost 1-3 to French top team GV Hennebont TT. Hiroto Shinozuka opened the evening with a 3-1 win over Simon Gauzy – but that was all the hosts could muster. Tiago Apolonia and Shinozuka (both 1-3) lost to Vladimir Sidorenko, while Tobias Hippler, who replaced the injured Ricardo Walther (disc surgery), lost to Lev Katsman (0-3). Incidentally, all three Hennebont players were previously active in the TTBL: Gauzy played for TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen for many years and won the double with the Swabians in 2019 and 2025; Sidorenko played for Ochsenhausen, TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and TTC Neu-Ulm, Katsman played for Neu-Ulm and TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg. In leg 2 on December 21 in France, Grünwettersbach now needs a clear victory to reach the quarterfinals.

On Tuesday, Post SV Mühlhausen had already won the first leg against HB Ostrov 3-1.

Champions League: Round of 16 at a glance

Leg 1

Dojlidy Bialystok – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 2:3
Patryk Chojnowski – Darko Jorgic 3:2 (11:7, 5:11, 11:6, 5:11, 6:4)
Piotr Chodorski – Patrick Franziska 0:3 (7:11, 7:11, 8:11)
Piotr Michalski – Yuto Muramatsu 0:3 (6:11, 5:11, 5:11)
Patryk Chojnowski – Patrick Franziska 3:2 (5:11, 4:11, 13:11, 11:9, 6:3)
Piotr Chodorski – Darko Jorgic 1:3 (5:11, 11:9, 5:11, 7:11)

ASC Grünwettersbach – GV Hennebont TT 1:3
Hiroto Shinozuka – Simon Gauzy 3:1 (11:5, 13:15, 12:10, 11:9)
Tiago Apolonia – Vladimir Sidorenko 1:3 (4:11, 13:15, 11:5, 6:11)
Tobias Hippler – Lev Katsman 0:3 (5:11, 6:11, 8:11)
Hiroto Shinozuka – Vladimir Sidorenko 1:3 (7:11, 12:10, 8:11, 12:14)

Real Club Cajasur Priego – Borussia Düsseldorf 0:3
Hampus Söderlund – Anton Källberg 1:3 (10:12, 11:6, 11:6, 11:4)
Diogo Chen – Dang Qiu 0:3 (9:11, 5:11, 5:11)
Carlos Machado – Kanak Jha 0:3 (3:11, 7:11, 4:11)

Post SV Mühlhausen – HB Ostrov 3:1
Marcos Freitas – Pavel Sirucek 3:0 (11:7, 11:9, 11:5)
Steffen Mengel – Vladislav Ursu 3:1 (11:7, 11:8, 6:11, 11:5)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Jiri Vrablik 1:3 (10:12, 11:7, 7:11, 8:11)
Marcos Freitas – Vladislav Ursu 3:0 (14:12, 11:8, 13:11)

TTC Sokah Hoboken – KS Bank Spoldzielczy Orlicz Suchedniow 3:0
SF SKK El Nino Praha – KS Orlen Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki 0:3
November 16: SKST Havirov (CZE) - KS Dekorglass Dzialdowo
November 16: SolexConsult TTC Wiener Neustadt – Alliance Nimes/Montpellier

Leg 2

December 17: KS Dekorglass Dzialdowo – SKST Havirov
December 18: KS Orlen Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki – SF SKK El Nino Praha
December 18: Borussia Düsseldorf – Real Club Cajasur Priego
December 19: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – Dojlidy Bialystok
December 19: HB Ostrov – Post SV Mühlhausen
December 21: GV Hennebont TT – ASC Grünwettersbach
December 21: KS Bank Spoldzielczy Orlicz – TTC Sokah Hoboken
December 21: Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier – SolexConsult TTC Wiener Neustadt

Header image: Borussia Düsseldorf's Anton Källberg (by Jörg Fuhrmann)