Cup: Grand Opening Makes Its Debut – Three Teams from the Preliminary Round Have Already Qualified
The German Men’s Team Cup will kick off the 2026/27 season with a new competition format. At the inaugural Cup Grand Opening, to be held in Nuremberg at the end of August, the participants for the Liebherr Cup Final4 will be determined. However, due to the non-participation of numerous second- and third-division teams, only a single preliminary-round match will take place beforehand.
With the Cup Grand Opening, the German Men’s Cup Championship will begin the 2026/27 season with a new competition format. For the first time, all round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches of the German Cup will be held over a single weekend at a central venue—the Kia Metropol Arena in Nuremberg—on August 29 and 30. The twelve clubs from the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and four teams from the Cup preliminary round will compete for spots in the Liebherr Cup Final4.
Already directly qualified for the Cup Grand Opening from the preliminary round are SV Union Velbert—with both its first and second teams—and TTC immoXone Bietigheim-Bissingen. ASC Grünwettersbach II and 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT II will compete for the fourth and final spot on August 23. The match begins at 3:30 p.m. in Grünwettersbach.
On Saturday, August 29, the Round of 16 matches will be played in two parallel sessions at four tables during the Cup Grand Opening. On Sunday, the eight winners will compete in the quarterfinals to determine the four teams that will advance to the Liebherr Cup Final4 in January 2027. Tickets for the Cup Grand Opening are already available.
Cup Preliminary Round with a Modified Format
The fact that only one preliminary-round match will be played before the Grand Opening is due to the withdrawal of numerous clubs from the 2nd and 3rd Bundesliga. Eleven of the 16 teams qualified for the Cup preliminary round have opted not to participate. The clubs in question had already voiced criticism of the Cup competition’s restructuring in the run-up to the event. Among other things, they see disadvantages in the elimination of home matches against top clubs in the TTBL.
In June, representatives of the second- and third-division clubs, the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB), and the TTBL discussed their differing positions in a joint meeting. During this meeting, all parties agreed to jointly evaluate the debut of the new format and to discuss possible further developments of the competition based on the experience gained. The DTTB and TTBL aim to further develop the cup competition in dialogue with all stakeholders, taking into account both the requirements of the international match calendar and the interests of the clubs.
Prause: “Only through dialogue can we find a sustainable solution”
“By further developing the cup competition, we aim to ease the burden on our top international players amid an increasingly packed schedule,” explains DTTB Sports Director Richard Prause. “At the same time, we understand the concerns of the clubs in the 2nd and 3rd Bundesliga. Our hope, therefore, is to work with all stakeholders to develop a format that serves the interests of the entire German table tennis community. We will only find a sustainable solution through dialogue.”