In the final match of the Europe Cup Men’s Quarterfinals first leg, ASC Grünwettersbach delivered a commanding performance, defeating SKST Havířov 3:0 on home soil in Germany. The team needed just three matches to secure a strong advantage ahead of the return leg, scheduled for April 18. “The team is happy to win 3:0! We managed to put ourselves in a good situation, but there’s still the away match and we’re ready to give 100 percent effort to clinch our ticket for the semifinal,” said Leo DE NODREST. Other First Leg Results: UKS Dojlidy Białystok lost at home to HB Ostrov z.s. 0:3 in Poland, Cajasur Priego TM narrowly defeated Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. 3:2 in Spain, TK Vyhne suffered a 0:3 loss to SF SKK El Nino Praha in Slovakia. ASC Grünwettersbach vs SKST Havířov (3:0)
Dang QIU Opens the Door to the Final
Just like last year, TSV Bad Königshofen and Borussia Düsseldorf met in the TTBL Play-off Semifinals. At that time, the underdogs shocked the record champions with a first-leg win. This year, however, Düsseldorf was determined to avoid a repeat—and they succeeded. Led by a strong performance from Dang QIU, the team secured a 3:1 away victory, earning a solid advantage for the return leg in two weeks. As the saying goes, third time’s the charm. This was already the third meeting between Borussia Düsseldorf and TSV Bad Königshofen this season in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL)—and once again, Düsseldorf came out on top with a 3:1 scoreline. The standout of the evening was Dang QIU, who lived up to his top billing. The penhold player delivered commanding performances against both Bastian STEGER and Jin UEDA, winning both matches 3:0 without giving his opponents much of a chance. His victories laid the foundation for Düsseldorf’s success. In contrast to QIU’S dominant outings, Timo BOLL suffered a clear defeat at the hands of Filip ZELJKO. The Croatian played with trademark fighting spirit and neutralized the 44-year-old veteran, who will retire at the end of the season. ZELJKO’S 3:0 win briefly gave Bad Königshofen hope for a comeback, but QIU quickly put those hopes to rest in the final match. The evening began with Anton KÄLLBERG taking on Jin UEDA. At first, it looked like history might repeat itself—Ueda took the first game as Källberg struggled to find rhythm. But once the Swede settled into his aggressive playing style, he took control and won the match. “Of course, we remember what happened here last year,” KÄLLBERG said after the match. “We didn’t want to find ourselves in that position again. Starting the series with a 1:0 lead is a great feeling.” In the other semifinal, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen also made a strong statement, defeating 1. FC Saarbrücken TT with a commanding 3:0 win. All three matches ended in victories for the home side, giving them a strong hand heading into the second leg. The second matches in both semifinals will be played on Sunday, April 27. TSV Bad Königshofen – Borussia Düsseldorf 1:3 TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 3:0
Dr. Časl Wins 10th Consecutive, 12th Overall National Title
In the Croatia’s Women’s Superleague, nothing new Dr. Časl’s table tennis team has claimed their 10th consecutive Croatian national championship title, and 12th overall. Heading into the final round, the Zagreb-based team held a significant lead over their only title contender, Aquaestil from Duga Resa. Although they were practically guaranteed the trophy, the team left nothing to chance. They fielded their strongest lineup and secured convincing 3:1 victories against Sveta Nedelja and in the derby against Aquaestil. This season, they recorded 15 wins and only 1 loss. After a morning win over Sveta Nedelja, Dr. Časl only needed to win a set against Aquaestil to officially secure the title. However, they could already begin celebrating even before that match started. Namely, Aquaestil lost 3:1 to Mladost Tia Mobiteli for the second time this season, eliminating their theoretical chances of taking the title. What’s more, that defeat cost them second place as they later lost the derby against Dr. Časl. Aquaestil, who had finished second in the league for two years in a row and missed the runner-up spot only once in the last seven seasons, now ends the season in third place with the same win-loss record (12–4) as second-placed Mladost Tia Mobiteli. The Zagreb side from the Sava River recorded their best result since the 2014/15 season when they shocked the league by winning the title—back then, they surprised Dr. Časl in the playoffs. Since then, the title has been reserved exclusively for Dr. Časl, and all signs suggest that the dominance will continue. “Of course, we’re continuing in the same rhythm, and now we’ve finally won something ten times. The only motivation left is to win the Europe Cup, it’s the only trophy missing from our collection. We’ve won the Champions League, Central European League, Mediterranean Cup, Europe Trophy, Superleague, Croatian Cup… It’s only fair we try to add that one too, but we’ll see. My philosophy is that when we enter a competition, we want to have a realistic chance of winning. Of course, it would be great to win, but it’s not a matter of life or death. We’ve played both men’s and women’s ETTU Cup multiple times but never went beyond the quarterfinals,” said Martin Tino ČASL, club President. The championship team featured NI Xia Lian, Mirela ĐURAK BLAŽIČEVIĆ, LIU Jiaqi, Tamolwan KHETKHUAN, LEE Ho Ching, Bruna BOROVEC, Dorina SREBRNJAK, and coach Luka VRANČIĆ.
