The semi-finalists in the check | Part 1: Ochsenhausen and Bad Homburg

Everything is set for the first title of the year: on January 4, the German Table Tennis Cup will be decided in the Liebherr Cup Final Four at the ratiopharm arena Ulm/Neu-Ulm. We take a closer look at the semi-finalists, this time: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and TTC OE Bad Homburg.

The squad

With a top-class squad, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen have worked their way back into the circle of title contenders in the German Cup and Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL). Hugo Calderano and Simon Gauzy were joined in the summer by returnee Shunsuke Togami, giving the Swabians a powerful trio. Behind them, coach Bogdan Pugna has two promising talents in Leonardo Iizuka and Tiago Abiodun.

TTC OE Bad Homburg can also draw on a broad squad, but will be fielding an undisputed leader in Kristian Karlsson. The Swedish Olympic silver medal winner moved to the promoted team in the summer and has since proved to be the reinforcement that was hoped for. Yuma Tsuboi, Benno Oehme and Csaba Andras have so far compensated for the absence of Can Akkuzu, who is currently in recovery training, with some impressive performances.

The cup history

Ochsenhausen has already won four cups, making it the second most successful team in cup history behind record winners Düsseldorf (28) and on a par with SSV Reutlingen and TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau. The most recent triumph was almost six years ago: In 2019, the TTF defeated SV Werder Bremen in the final, with Calderano and Gauzy already there back then - they now want to repeat their title triumph on January 4 and could even meet the Hanseatic team again.

It will be a premiere for Bad Homburg: The club from Hesse is in the semi-finals for the first time and is therefore competing in the Liebherr Cup Final Four for the first time. In the previous five seasons, the TTC had made it to the round of 16 once (2023) and twice to the quarter-finals: in 2021, they lost to Borussia Düsseldorf (0:3) and in 2020 to ASC Grünwettersbach (0:3).

The road to the Liebherr Cup Final Four

The TTF have made it to the Liebherr Cup Final Four four times in the past five seasons, and the local hero is in the semi-finals again this time. In the competition so far, they have faced teams from the TTBL twice: In the round of 16, Ochsenhausen fought their way to a 3:2 win against Bergneustadt thanks to Hugo Calderano's individual victories and the doubles triumph of Simon Gauzy and Shunsuke Togami; this was followed by a smooth 3:0 with 9:2 sets in the Baden-Württemberg derby against ASC Grünwettersbach in the quarter-finals.

Bad Homburg had to work hard twice: In the round of 16, the Hessians struggled to a 3:2 win at second-division side TTC Lampertheim, followed by the same result at TSV Bad Königshofen in the quarter-finals. Kristian Karlsson was the match-winner for Bad Homburg against the favorites from Lower Franconia: The Swede beat both Filip Zeljko and Bastian Steger in the singles, before Csaba Andras and Yuma Tsuboi secured their first semi-final appearance in the doubles.

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.