Champions League men’s semifinalists TTC Neu-Ulm and Women’s quarterfinalists ttc Berlin eastside secured the German Table Tennis Cup.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was “totally happy” on Sunday afternoon. The German national player may have been spoiled for the title having already won two individual Olympic bronze medals – but OVTCHAROV also experienced a premiere in the Final Four. With the TTC Neu-Ulm the 34-year-old celebrated the triumph in the German Table Tennis Cup and thus secured the club’s first title in the club’s history. The Neu-Ulm team won the final against record cup winners Borussia Düsseldorf 3-0. In the semifinals they had previously won the derby against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3-0; in the same stage Düsseldorf won 3-0 against 1. FC Saarbrücken TT.
“It was a very special event for all of us ” OVTCHAROV stated.
Because not only the title win was historic but also the atmosphere. 5000 fans flocked to the sold out ratiopharm arena Ulm/Neu-Ulm cheered on the teams loudly and gave the organizing table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) a new audience record. 4 600 spectators came in 2020 followed by two Final Four without fans present due to the pandemic.
It was “an absolutely deserved victory for the Neu-Ulm team” which Düsseldorf’s superstar Timo BOLL then had to acknowledge and as usual showed himself to be a fair sportsman: “Neu-Ulm has a super strong team ” said BOLL. “Of course we would have liked to have made it closer and we were actually in a good mood. But Neu-Ulm showed us the limits this time.”
Boll was only beaten in the second individual match of the final. With Truls MOREGARDH he delivered a table tennis festival which the spectators rewarded with enthusiastic applause. In the end World vice-champion MOREGARDH had the moment of joy 3: 2 – just as close as in the 2021 World Championships semi-finals in Houston (4: 3). The other two singles were clearer: LIN Yun-Ju beat Anton KÄLLBERG 3-0 and with the same result OVTCHAROV prevailed in the duel between the German national team and European champion Dang QIU.
Both teams had shown their world class in the semi-finals on Sunday. Düsseldorf got revenge for the 1:3 defeat in last year’s final against 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and this time beat their long-term rival 3:0. BOLL scored 3:1 against his national team colleague and good friend Patrick FRANZISKA. At the next table Neu-Ulm beat Ochsenhausen with OVTCHAROV working hard and knocking out Can AKKUZU in the fifth game. “I didn’t find my game but I tried to take the positives into the final ” said OVTCHAROV. “Fortunately I managed to do that.”
The first title of the year in Germany went to ttc Berlin eastside. In the final four of the cup championships they prevailed in front of their home crowd in the final against TSV Langstadt. SV Böblingen and TSV Schwabhausen missed out on making the final.
For the capital city it is the eighth cup victory in the tenth edition of the cup competition which was reintroduced in 2014. As in the semi-finals they were able to win against the Hessians in the final without defeat. Last but not least thanks to a confident opening win by Serbian Sabina SURJAN who didn’t give Tanja KRÄMER a chance. In the second match between Nina MITTELHAM and Franziska SCHREINER it initially looked like a clear affair for the Berliner. But SCHREINER recovered to level. However she didn’t make it against the World number 14 in the fifth game.
The confidence of the players from Langstadt seemed a bit broken afterwards so that SHAN Xiaona scored the final point in Berlin’s victory against Chantal MANTZ 3-1.
“We deservedly won the Cup I am very satisfied and happy ” said coach Irina PALINA. “The performance of the team not only in the final but throughout the tournament was very good. But it wasn’t just the performance of to those who played the whole bench went along well and everyone played their part in our success.”
Like last year TSV Langstadt lost the cup final but can still be satisfied: “Without Peti (Petrissa SOLJA end of career) and Minnie (Minni Soo Wai Yam) we didn’t really know where we were. We finished second in such a strong field we can be absolutely satisfied with that. In the final we took a full risk with the line-up and put Tanja in first place who had won against SURJAN in the Bundesliga game. But today she couldn’t do it again ” analyzes TSV coach Thomas HAUKE.
Final
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC Neu-Ulm 0:3
Anton KÄLLBERG – LIN Yun-Ju 0:3 (6:11 5:11 3:11)
Timo BOLL – Truls MOREGARDH 2:3 (9:11 11:8 7:11 12:10 8:11)
Dang QIU – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 0:3 (5:11 7:11 3:11)
Semifinals
Borussia Düsseldorf – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 3:0
Anton KÄLLBERG – Cedric NUYTINCK 3:0 (11:8 11:9 11:7)
Dang QIU – Darko JORGIC 3:1 (11:8 5:11 11:7 11:5)
Timo BOLL – Patrick FRANZISKA 3:1 (11:5 7:11 15:13 12:10)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Neu-Ulm 0:3
Simon GAUZY – Truls MOREGARDH 0:3 (6:11 6:11 9:11)
Alvaro ROBLES – LIN Yun-Ju 1:3 (9:11 11:13 11:9 9:11)
Can AKKUZU – Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 2:3 (15:13 9:11 19:17 7:11 11:13)
Final
ttc berlin eastside – TSV Langstadt 3:0
Sabina SURJAN – Tanja KRÄMER 3:0
Nina MITTELHAM – Franziska SCHREINER 3:2
SHAN Xiaona – Chantal MANTZ 3:1
Semifinals
ttc berlin eastside – SV Böblingen 3:0
Nina MITTELHAM – Mitsuki YOSHIDA 3:0
DING Yaping – Annett KAUFMANN 3:2
SHAN Xiaona – Qianhong GOTSCH 3:0
TSV Schwabhausen – TSV Langstadt 2:3
Mercedesz NAGYVARADI – Chantal MANTZ 1:3
Sabine WINTER – Tanja KRÄMER 2:3
YIANGZI Liu – Franziska SCHREINER 3:1
Sabine WINTER – Chantal MANTZ 3:1
NAGYVARADI/LIU – KRÄMER/SCHREINER 1:3
