Defending champion on track

The 1st Saarbrücken TT is in the Liebherr Cup final. The reigning title holder beat ASV Grünwettersbach 3-0 in the quarterfinals. The Liebherr Cup final will take place on January 8, 2023 in the Ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm.

After the surprising home defeat in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) on Friday evening against TSV Bad Königshofen, Saarbrücken coach Wang Zhi again relied on Patrick Franziska and Cedric Nuytinck. For Tomas Polansky, however, Darko Jorgic started at position one. And the Slovenian showed his class directly in the first singles match. The reigning European Top 16 winner won 3:1 (11:2, 11:5, 3:11, 11:1) against defensive strategist Xi Wang. Patrick Franziska then extended the hosts' lead against Tiago Apolonia in three close sets, before Cedric Nuytinck got the upper hand against Ricardo Walther with 11:9 in the deciding set.

"It was a really good game from us," Cedric Nuytinck said, pleased with his team's performance. "Everyone was focused on the point. Darko and Patrick did well and then it was up to me to decide the game. But against Ricardo it was really a tough job. He presented me with big problems, especially in the serve-return game. It's good that we were directly successful again today after the defeat on Friday."

Liebherr Cup final on January 8, 2023

In addition to 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and Borussia Düsseldorf are also already qualified for the Liebherr Cup Final. On Sunday, November 27, TTC Neu-Ulm and Post SV Mühlhausen will play out the remaining spot. The Liebherr Cup final will take place on January 8, 2023 in the Ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm.

The cup quarterfinals in overview

1. FC Saarbrücken-TT – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:0
Darko Jorgic - Xi Wang 3:1 (11:2, 11:5, 3:11, 11:1)
Patrick Franziska - Tiago Apolonia 3:0 (11:9, 12:10, 11:9)
Cedric Nuytinck -Ricardo Walther 3:2 (10:12, 11:3, 6:11, 11:6, 11:9)

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – Borussia Düsseldorf 0:3
Alexandre Cassin – Dang Qiu 0:3 (7:11, 3:11, 4:11)
Ruwen Filus – Anton Källberg 0:3 (3:11, 5:11, 7:11)
Fanbo Meng – Timo Boll 0:3 (5:11, 14:16, 6:11)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:1
Simon Gauzy – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:13, 13:11, 11:7, 14:12)
Kanak Jha – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:2 (12:10, 9:11, 11:5, 5:11, 12:10)
Alvaro Robles – Patrick Baum 2:3 (6:11, 13:11, 11:8, 12:14, 7:11)
Simon Gauzy – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:1 (11:6, 4:11, 11:2, 11:9)

Sunday, November 27
3 p.m.: TTC Neu-Ulm – Post SV Mühlhausen