Liebherr Final Four 2023: "The best and most exciting cup final ever".
Since the first Advent weekend, the field of participants for the Liebherr Final Four on January 8, 2023 (Sunday) in Neu-Ulm is complete. As the last team from the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), TTC Neu-Ulm qualified as the second local hero for the tournament for the German Cup. Last year's winner 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, record winner Borussia Düsseldorf and Neu-Ulm's neighbor TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will also play for the first title of the new season. An event on the national stage can hardly offer more class.
On the home stretch of 2022, the new table tennis year is already casting big shadows ahead. At the Liebherr Final Four on January 8, 2023 (Sunday) in the ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm, four of the strongest teams in Europe will be competing for the German Cup. Cup defending champion 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, German champion Borussia Düsseldorf as well as former title winner TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and final round newcomer TTC Neu-Ulm as regional "top dogs" for the first title of the season. Once again, the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) finally offers the fans the best sport in the hall and as usual on the screens through its elite tournament in the "Cup Mecca" after two Corona years.
TTBL Managing Director Nico Stehle makes no secret of his anticipation of the rendezvous of the continental elite. "It is certainly fair to say that the spectators will experience the best, highest-caliber and most exciting cup finals of all time," says Stehle, describing the exquisite quality of the field of participants.
His assessment is anything but an exaggeration. The semifinals between Saarbrücken and Düsseldorf in a rematch of last year's final and the Danube derby between Ochsenhausen and Neu-Ulm alone are likely to make the air in the box and in the stands burn. Regardless of the results, a real showdown in the final is already programmed before the first serve.
But above all, table tennis at the highest level is guaranteed. Never before have four top 10 players or a total of seven of the 14 best players in the world and nine of the highest ranked aces in the world ranking 22 competed in a cup final.
"The line-up shows how strong the TTBL is. Fans will be treated to a great, perhaps even unique, mix of absolute world class with national and even local relevance," says Stehle. Even the list of German stars, with crowd favorite Timo Boll at the top, makes the hearts of all autograph hunters beat faster, as Stehle points out: "The names of the players speak for themselves."
For this reason, too, the tournament organizers are hoping for an appealing crowd. In the advance ticket sales, around 1,500 tickets had already been sold at the beginning of the second half of November and an indication of the chance to improve the spectator record of 2020 with 4,500 final round visitors.
From Stehle's point of view, the atmosphere is a decisive factor for the fascination of the event: "After two years without spectators, especially the players, but also we are looking forward to the always rousing atmosphere. In any case, all the conditions are in place for a true table tennis festival."
Table tennis and sports lovers far away can also look forward to the highlight. The scheduling of the Liebherr Final Four ensures extensive media coverage on various channels.