Interview with Darko Jorgic (1 FC Saarbrücken TT): “Spectators and atmosphere at the Final Four are the best”

Last year's finalists 1. FC Saarbrücken TT are hoping to win their third cup in the Liebherr Cup Final Four on January 4 in Ulm/Neu-Ulm. In this interview, Darko Jorgic talks about his chances, his team's form problems in the first half of the season and his future plans as a club player.

Darko Jorgic, you and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT will be aiming for the first major title of the season at the Liebherr Cup Final Four on January 4 in Ulm/Neu-Ulm. What significance does the cup have for a TTBL top star between the WTT Finals, Christmas and the Champions League?

It's always a great thing to play for the trophy at the final tournament. It's a tough tournament, but everyone enjoys it so soon after Christmas in the hall, which is always full. It just feels good every time.

Your team's semi-final opponents are Werder Bremen. How do you rate their chances of success in this match?

Bremen is always a difficult and tough opponent for us, as our 3:2 defeat during the season shows. Mattias Falck in particular is playing really well and strongly, and Kirill is also in good form at the moment. But above all we have to focus on ourselves. We haven't played that well so far, but we want to come out of this phase stronger and take revenge for that 2:3.

You've already mentioned the defeat in the TTBL season. Does this defeat still play a role in the reunion in the cup?

In particular, it means that we will be even more focused going into this semi-final. We had our chances in the TTBL game but didn't take them - so we're all the more keen to get revenge and will give 150 percent to make it to the final again.

Regardless of your assessment, Saarbrücken and you, as Champions League winners, runners-up and last year's finalists, are the favorites for the Liebherr Cup Final Four. Is that a burden or rather additional motivation?

I wouldn't say that we are the favorites in the cup. Ochsenhausen has a strong team with three strong players, and you shouldn't forget that Hugo Calderano is very high up in the top 10 and can score two points every time. But it's also clear that we are one of the strongest teams in this tournament. But it's also harder to play when you know there's a chance of winning a trophy, but it's our clear goal to win the cup this year. We'll have to wait and see, but I hope we can perform strongly enough and play like we did in the points round last season.

This will be their fifth cup final in Ulm/Neu-Ulm. What do you think makes this tournament so appealing?

The spectators and the atmosphere are of course the best part of the Final Four. When the fans on one side cheer on their team loudly and the fans of the other team support their team just as strongly, that's always an extra dose of motivation for my team and me. It also means a lot to us because of the memory of our first championship in 2020, when we won the title without a crowd in an empty arena. That's why we now look forward to a full hall in the cup every season - and this year is no exception.

Saarbrücken won the cup with you in 2022. Apart from this success, do you have any other fond memories of your appearances in cup finals?

Not really, the best thing so far is our cup win. We've lost so many other finals, and coming second in a final just doesn't feel good and makes you wish you'd only finished third and never had to play in the final in the first place. But this time we will try to create another great memory.

Apart from the defeat against Werder, your team's first round in the TTBL has been marked by further setbacks, meaning that Saarbrücken can by no means regard play-off qualification as a certainty ahead of the second part of the season. Would winning the cup for the third time in total take some of the pressure off your team?

The league is really very strong this season. Our team has mostly played below normal form so far, and that also applies to me: last season I was one of the strongest players in the league, now my record is one of the worst. Winning the cup would actually take some pressure off us: With at least one title already, we could be a bit more relaxed and try to pick up the necessary points in the second half of the season with a winning team in order to reach the play-offs and also the Champions League final round as further goals.

Like your team, you didn't find your usual form in the first few months of the season. What caused you difficulties?

To be honest, I don't know. If we and I knew what was going wrong, we would certainly perform better. But the truth is that the other teams are also very strong, that we are a bit tired from all the tournaments this year and that we haven't had any regular training due to our many trips around the world. But we have to keep trying to get into a run and keep training. I really hope for the second half of the season that we get back to a better level and get better results.

Your contract in Saarbrücken expires at the end of the season... Can you say anything about the current status of your future plans?

The club and I have of course already discussed the issue. But we haven't made a decision yet. My poor performances in the first half have disappointed us all, which is why we want to wait and see. But I think a decision will be made between Christmas and New Year as to whether my future lies in Saarbrücken or not.

Finally, let's look a few weeks beyond the Liebherr Cup Final Four: at the end of February, the Europe Top 16 Cup will once again take place in Montreux, and you could become the first player in the tournament's 50-year history to win the second most important individual title in Europe for the fourth time in a row. What would such a historic achievement mean to you?

The Europe Top 16 really is a special tournament for me. I've reached the final of all the editions in Montreux over the past four years and only lost the first final. A record like that would mean a lot to me. But as well as extra motivation, the opportunity also means extra pressure. After each tournament win in Montreux, I thought it wouldn't be possible to win again a year later, and then it happened twice in a row. I'll just wait and see, wish myself luck in the draw, think from game to game and just hope for the best.

Thank you very much for talking to us, Darko Jorgic.

Interview: Florian Manzke

Featured images in the text: Darko Jorgic (Photos: Sascha Markus; Ulrich Höfer)

Overview of the Liebherr Cup Final Four on January 4, 2025

Semi-finals, from 11 a.m.
Semi-finals 1: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC OE Bad Homburg
Semi-finals 2: SV Werder Bremen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 

Final, following
Winner Semi-finals 1 – Winner Semi-finals 2

Tickets for specific seats can be ordered in the TTBL ticket store, by telephone on 0761 888499 99 and at all known advance booking offices.