The LIEBHERR TTBL Final’s line up is complete: After the energetic performance TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen beat Borussia Düsseldorf on Thursday and bought the ticket for the Bundesliga final (TTBL). The defending champion will meet 1.FC Saarbrücken TT in the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt am Main on Sunday.
Timo BOLL had won the first game against Simon GAUZY but the tenth in the World rankings also lost to Hugo CALDERANO 2: 3.
For Borussia Düsseldorf the door to the Liebherr TTBL final was already open after the second singles. At that point the record winning Bundesliga champions led 2: 0 against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and Kristian KARLSSON was well on the way to becoming the match winner. The Swede showed top shape and had calm nerves in the match against Hugo CALDERANO. After 4: 8 in the first set KARLSSON fought back and with seven points in a row won 11: 8. He also did not let Calderano’s 11: 6 to upset him at 1-1. The Dusseldorf player always chose great rallies fought off five set balls from his opponent in the third set and took the lead again 15:13 to use his first match ball in the fourth for 11: 8 and thus for a 3: 1 victory . Previously Timo BOLL had clinched the expected victory and had given Simon GAUZY no chance in his 3-0 (11: 7 11: 6 11: 3) triumph.
The semi-final duel was far from decided. The defending champion fought back first thanks to Jakub DYJAS. The Poland’s player who left Ochsenhausen after the season had a fierce exchange of strokes with Anton KÄLLBERG but had more luck in the closing phase. After 11: 6 7:11 13:11 and 7:11 it went into the deciding game which DYJAS won 11: 9 for 3: 2. Ochsenhausen was back in the game.
“It was a very good and exciting game in which I was a little bit more lucky in the end ” analyzed DYJAS after his match on the Eurosport microphone. “I’m glad we’re still in the game.”
So it came to the top singles between the world ranked tenth and sixth between Timo BOLL and Hugo CALDERANO. Both of them used their complete repertoire played in various speeds and strokes and with tactical finesse. Accordingly it went back and forth CALDERANO went 11: 9 in the lead BOLL equalized with the same result CALDERANO used his third set ball to 13:11 but BOLL forced the decision set with an 11: 4. And in this Calderano had a few more reserves: The Brazilian recovered from 6: 8 to a 10: 8 lead and did not let Boll’s time-out out to interrupt his rhythm. With 11: 8 he ultimately prevailed and recorded 3: 2 victory and thus brought the Düsseldorf player his first defeat in the current TTBL season.
“I hadn’t found my rhythm in the first game ” said CALDERANO “luckily things went better against Timo. I am very happy with my victory. ”
Simon GAUZY seemed additionally spurred on by the success of his team-mate. In the fifth single the Frenchman made a squeaky clean appearance scored the first four points against Kristian KARLSSON to gain the control over the match.
“The whole team did a great job ” said the 25-year-old afterwards. “Jakub showed a great mentality Hugo a great level against Timo. Now we are looking forward to the final on Sunday.”
Ochsenhausen meets Saarbrücken on Sunday
Timo BOLL was visibly disappointed after missing the final. “Actually we played quite well but Ochsenhausen has increased a lot over the course of the game ” said the 39-year-old. “Hugo played very well today I have to acknowledge that. Against Ochsenhausen you have to take advantage of the opportunities that arise. We didn’t manage that today. We’ll have to nibble a bit on that. ”
- FC Saarbrücken TT won 3-0 against SV Werder Bremen on Wednesday. The final game starts in the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt am Main at 2 p.m. Eurosport will be broadcasting live on Free TV from 3:15 p.m. and the entire game will be available on Sportdeutschland.TV from 2 p.m.
Semifinals
- 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – SV Werder Bremen 3:0
Shang Kun – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:1 (4:11 11:8 11:6 11:1)
Patrick Franziska – Mattias Falck 3:0 (11:5 11:9 11:7)
Darko Jorgic – Marcelo Aguirre 3:1 (5:11 11:9 11:9 11:3)
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 2:3
Timo Boll – Simon Gauzy 3:0 (11:7 11:6 11:3)
Kristian Karlsson – Hugo Calderano 3:1 (11:8 6:11 15:13 11:8)
Anton Källberg – Jakub Dyjas 2:3 (6:11 11:7 11:13 11:7 9:11)
Timo Boll – Hugo Calderano 2:3 (9:11 11:9 11:13 11:4 8:11)
Kristian Karlsson – Simon Gauzy 0:3 (7:11 9:11 8:11)