The final is set: Saarbrücken and Fulda battle it out for the cup
Everything is ready for the big showdown in the German Table Tennis Cup: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell will face each other on Sunday afternoon in front of 5,200 fans at the ratiopharm arena in Ulm/Neu-Ulm, battling it out for the first title of the year. The Liebherr Cup Final Four will be broadcast live on Dyn.
“Everyone is on fire,” said Patrick Franziska before the Liebherr Cup Final Four. On Sunday afternoon, Franziska and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT followed up with action in the semifinals. The title favorites defeated TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3-1 to secure their place in the final. In the final on Sunday at around 3 p.m., they will face TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell, who won 3-2 against TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg on the neighboring table. The title decider in the German Table Tennis Cup can be watched live on Dyn.
In front of 5,200 spectators at the ratiopharm arena in Ulm/Neu-Ulm, Fan Zhendong was the center of attention. As expected, the Olympic champion played in the number one position for Saarbrücken and lived up to his status as favorite in both matches. Ochsenhausen's Tiago Abiodun put up a good fight, but Fan was too clinical. With a 3-1 victory, the Chinese player tied the score at 1-1 for Saarbrücken after Shunsuke Togami had won the opening singles match 3-0 against Darko Jorgic for TTF. In the top singles match, Fan then defeated Togami 3-1, securing Saarland's place in the final. Just as important as Fan's performances for Saarbrücken was Franziska's match: the 33-year-old won 3-1 against Iulian Chirita in the third position. “I knew it was a really important game,” Franziska told Dyn. “I tried to get the crowd going. The support helped me a lot.”
While the Saarbrücken box was celebrating reaching the final, the tension at the next table was just reaching its peak. Jo Yokotani came back from 0-2 down against Filus to win 3-2 and take Bad Homburg into the doubles. However, Fulda's place in the final was only postponed, as Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Fanbo Meng showed nerves of steel in the doubles: At one point, the Fulda doubles team had their backs to the wall, but in the fourth set they fended off match point from Ivor Ban and Csaba Andras – and then really turned up the heat. With an 11-3 victory in the fifth set to make it 3-2, Ovtcharov and Meng finally secured Fulda's place in the final. Ovtcharov had already won the opening singles match 3-0 against Yokotani. Filus was also successful, beating Andras 3-0. In addition to Yokotani, Ban also scored for Bad Homburg with a 3-1 victory over Jonathan Groth.
Liebherr Cup Final Four at a glance
Semifinals
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 1:3
Shunsuke Togami – Darko Jorgic 3:0 (11:9, 11:9, 11:1)
Tiago Abiodun – Fan Zhendong 1:3 (5:11, 9:11, 13:11, 5:11)
Iulian Chirita – Patrick Franziska 1:3 (11:6, 8:11, 8:11, 4:11)
Shunsuke Togami – Fan Zhendong 1:3 (12:10, 8:11, 6:11, 5:11)
TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 2:3
Jo Yokotani – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 0:3 (5:11, 8:11, 7:11)
Csaba Andras – Ruwen Filus 0:3 (11:13, 7:11, 10:12)
Ivor Ban – Jonathan Groth 3:1 (8:11, 11:9, 11:8, 11:6)
Jo Yokotani – Ruwen Filus 3:2 (5:11, 6:11, 11:9, 11:7, 11:7)
Ivor Ban/Csaba Andras – Dimitrij Ovtcharov/Fanbo Meng 2:3 (8:11, 11:4, 11:9, 11:13, 3:11)
Final, from around 3 p.m.
1.FC Saarbrücken TT – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell (live on Dyn)
Header photo: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT's Fan Zhendong (by BeLa Sportfoto)