Four tickets for the round of 16: Cup preliminary round on Saturday and Sunday
Who will advance to the round of 16 in the German Table Tennis Cup? In the preliminary round this weekend, 16 teams from the 2nd and 3rd Bundesliga will fight for the remaining eight tickets.
One of the regulars in the round of 16 in the German Table Tennis Cup is TTC GW Bad Hamm. Four times in a row, the Westphalians had prevailed in the preliminary round, and two years ago Bad Hamm even made it to the quarterfinals by defeating TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau. In the current season, the team is fighting this coming Sunday in Group 1 to once again make it to the next round. Opponents in Jülich are SV Union Velbert, BV Borussia Dortmund and host TTC indeland Jülich.
Also on Sunday, the youngest team to be relegated from the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) will be challenged. In front of their home crowd, TTC OE Bad Homburg will face 1. FC Köln, SV Union Velbert II and TSV Schwarzenbek. Group 3 will already be played on Saturday: In Saarbrücken, the host 1. FC Saarbrücken TT II will receive TTC Fortuna Passau, TTC SR Hohenstein-Ernstthal and SU Neckarsulm. TV 1879 Hilpoltstein even made it to the Liebherr Cup final in 2017, but last year the Franconians missed out on making it to the main round. This time they host Group 4, in which TTS Borsum, TV Leiselheim and Hertha BSC are guests in Hilpoltstein on Sunday.
Finally, in the round of 16, the teams from the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) also enter the competition. The round of 16 matches will be played during September before the World Championships (September 30 to October 9). The winners will qualify for the quarter-finals, which will finally decide which four teams will advance to the cup final, which will again be played as a final-four event with two semifinals and a final on one day.
The preliminary round in overview
Group 1 (in Jülich) on Sunday, 28. August: SV Union Velbert, TTC GW Bad Hamm, BV Borussia Dortmund, TTC indeland Jülich
Group 2 (in Bad Homburg) on Sunday, 28. August: 1. FC Köln, TTC OE Bad Homburg, SV Union Velbert II, TSV Schwarzenbek
Group 3 (in Saarbrücken) on Saturday, 27. August: TTC Fortuna Passau, TTC SR Hohenstein-Ernstthal, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT II, SU Neckarsulm
Group 4 (in Hilpoltstein) on Sunday, 28. August: TV 1879 Hilpoltstein, TTS Borsum, TV Leiselheim, Hertha BSC
The Cup Round of 16 in overview
SV Werder Bremen – TTC Neu-Ulm
Sieger Vorrunden-Gruppe 4 – Borussia Düsseldorf
Sieger Vorrunden-Gruppe 1 – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
Sieger Vorrunden-Gruppe 2 – Post SV Mühlhausen
1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt
ASV Grünwettersbach – 1. FSV Mainz 05
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen
Sieger Vorrunden-Gruppe 3 – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell