Champions League Men | 19 Jan 2015
Linz shows its power in Schwechat
Two times Women`s European Champions League winner, Linz AG Froschberg is 99 percent in the 2014/15 final after tonight`s 3:0 away victory in Schwechat. LIU Jia & Co. showed one of their best games in all-Austrian WECL semis, bearing in mind that actu
Two times Women`s European Champions League winner, Linz AG Froschberg is 99 percent in the 2014/15 final after tonight`s 3:0 away victory in Schwechat. LIU Jia & Co. showed one of their best games in all-Austrian WECL semis, bearing in mind that actual ETTU Cup champion SVNO STROCK took just one set. The rematch will be held on January 22nd (18h00 CET).
When these two clubs play one against another, that is the more than a table tennis. They met in the 2012/13 WECL semis too, when Linz won both games (3:0 home, 3:2 away). But, STROCK reached three Austrian Championships in the last four seasons.
Tonight two youngest players in the line-ups opened the encounter, as Sofia POLCANOVA (world`s no. 43) defeated Dora MADARASZ (no. 75) in straight games. Former Asian Youth Junior champion, Chinese LI Xiaodan continued in that style, beating easily Matilda EKHOLM (no. 70).
Tetyana BILENKO (no. 95) was the last hope of the host, but this time this well known defender had no answer for LIU Jia`s attacks. Ukrainian took opening set, while the 2005 individual European champion and the best ranked player in the game (no. 12) won next three in a row.
SVNO STROCK – Linz AG Froschberg 0:3
Dora MADARASZ – Sofia POLCANOVA 0:3 (5:11, 7:11, 8:11)
Matilda EKHOLM – LI Xiaodan 0:3 (7:11, 8:11, 4:11)
Tetyana BILENKO – LIU Jia 1:3 (11:8, 4:11, 8:11, 10:12)
