"Always great": Quotes on the Liebherr Cup Final Four
Cheers for Borussia Düsseldorf, disappointment for 1. FC Saarbrücken TT: After the Liebherr Cup Final Four, players and coaches gave an insight into their feelings. We have collected their thoughts on the event.
Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf)
... on winning the German Table Tennis Cup and the journey from the WTT Finals, where he came third: "I'm very happy - the title was of course our goal. It's always great to play here in Neu-Ulm. The preparation wasn't ideal with the stress of travelling and the change of equipment, but in the end the main thing is that we won the trophy."
Timo Boll (Borussia Düsseldorf)
... on his win against Saarbrücken's Darko Jorgic: "The boys did well, with a 2-0 lead behind them it's good to play. I performed well and can be really happy with my performance for the first time in a while. At a moment like this, you realise that all the work has paid off. Now, of course, I hope I can maintain this level."
Danny Heister (Coach Borussia Düsseldorf)
... on winning the German Table Tennis Cup: "I'm incredibly proud of the whole team. Now we've won our first title, we can take a deep breath. There's always a lot of pressure in Düsseldorf, but that's part of it."
... on his team and the performance against Saarbrücken: "Timo worked incredibly hard - great respect to him for closing out the game. Anton is our scoring guarantor anyway and stepped up his performance in the final. Dang was incredibly strong against the defence. And our young stars Kay and Borgar were also important for the team and our performance."
Cedric Meissner (1. FC Saarbrücken TT)
... on the match against Düsseldorf: "Unfortunately, we didn't do very well in the final. But games like this happen in sport - I hope things go better for us again next time."
... on his first appearance in the final for Saarbrücken: "It was the first Final Four for me, so I wasn't expecting to play. I was a bit nervous before the match, but in the end it was an important experience despite the defeat."
Wang Zhi (Coach 1. FC Saarbrücken TT)
... on the defeat in the final against Düsseldorf: "Düsseldorf were simply better. We'll keep working from tomorrow, train even better and harder so that we can attack again next time."
Hugo Calderano (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen)
... on the semi-final exit against Saarbrücken: "The disappointment is great, of course. The chance to reach the final was definitely there, so it's all the more annoying that we couldn't capitalise on it. In the end, Saarbücken were just that little bit more rattled and deserved to win. Nevertheless, I'm proud of my team."
... on the atmosphere in the sold-out ratiopharm arena: "I'm always happy to play here. The whole arena and especially our fans always give us a big push. I hope we'll be here again next year - and then we'll do better."
Alvaro Robles (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen)
... on the semi-final exit against Saarbrücken: "It's bitter for us as a team. We've fought hard all season for this one event and now we're empty-handed again. The course of the match and the two defeats in the fifth set are particularly annoying. Many thanks to the fans who travelled with us, to whom we would have liked to have given back more. But that's sport. Now we have to get back on our feet and focus on the league."
Featured image above: Borussia Düsseldorf at the awards ceremony (Photo: BeLa Sportfoto)