The ETTU Champions League Stage 1 continued with solid performances of the favorites in Novi Sad. Saint-Denis TT 93 recorded their second win in Group A in the opening round of the competition. The French side overcame Budaörsi Sport Club, leaving the Hungarian team still without a victory at the tournament. Hana ARAPOVIC opened the match with a win over Leila IMRE, Jie LI defeated Dora MADARASZ, and Agathe AVEZOU prevailed against Emma SZOSZNYAK. “I think I adjusted to IMRE’s game very quickly and well, so I am very satisfied with my performance. Overall, the whole team performed at a high level. LI had a good start, but in the third game MADARASZ found her rhythm and raised her level, before Jie regained control and sealed the match. Agathe was also fully on top of her task,” explained ARAPOVIC. Tomorrow, Saint-Denis TT 93 will face Mirandela. “I am the same generation as Ines MATOS, so I know her quality well. COMBA is a little younger, I have never played against her, but I watched her at tournaments, so I know what to expect. Anamarija ERDELJI belongs to another generation; I have not had the chance to see her play, but I’ve heard she is a very strong defensive player. That could be tricky, but if we keep playing at this level, we should not face big problems,” added ARAPOVIC. Coach Qiwen commented: “We are really happy with our first two matches — the results went even better than expected. Every player contributed a lot and performed very well. Hana is our new teammate, and although it was her first time playing with us, she adapted quickly and played excellently. LI Jie, as our experienced player, is always very reliable. Agathe has shown big improvement this time and kept a very stable performance throughout the matches. Tomorrow against Mirandela will be a tough clash, but we are motivated and will try our best to continue in the same spirit.” Portugal’s CTM Mirandela, meanwhile, fell to Spain’s MIRÓ Ganxets Costa Daurada. Olga VOROBEVA overcame Ana Marija ERDELJI’s defensive style to set the tone for the Spanish side. Andrea TODORIC defeated Ines MATOS, and Fiona Elvira RAD completed the 3–0 sweep by beating Mariana Santa COMBA. “Before the match, Olga said she preferred to play against ERDELJI’s defensive style, and it proved to be a good decision. She gave us a strong start. I had no problems against MATOS, even though we played for the first time. The same for RAD,” explained TODORIC. “Now we are focused on the match against Budaörsi Sport Club. This win against Mirandela opened the door to the next stage, but we still need to beat the Hungarian team.” Hosts STK Novi Sad also recorded their second win, defeating SKST Plus Hodonín in straight games after succeeding yesterday against STK Dr. Časl. Aneta MAKSUTI once again led her team with a win over Karin GROFOVA, Valeria SHCHERBATYKH beat Binyue ZHANG, and Valeria KOTCUR prevailed against Marketa SEVCIKOVA. In the last match of the day, Polish side PGE Fibrain KU AZS Politechnika Rzeszów secured their first victory, while STK Dr. Časl remains winless. Ganna HAPONOVA was the only scorer for the Croatian side, while Yerin KIM won two matches and Zuzanna WIELGOS added one more point.
Wins for Favorites Shape Round of 16 Line-Up on the second day of play in Novi Sad
On the second day of play at the ETTU Champions League Men Stage 1 in Novi Sad, most favorites already booked their places in the Round of 16. Germany’s Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. secured their qualification from Group A with a second consecutive victory. After defeating Polish side Dojlidy Białystok on opening day, the no. 3 seeds in Novi Sad overcame Slovakia’s STK Vyhne in straight matches. Ovidiu IONESCU edged Wie Chih YEH by golden point, Steffen MENGEL beat Filip SZYMANSKI, and Cheng-Ting LIAO prevailed against Adam KLAJBER. “Against YEH it was a very tough match, I think we both played at a good level. I am happy I won and I am sure it gave a boost to the whole team. We played with confidence after a tough match yesterday and we are happy with the results. The main goal was to be first in the group and we achieved it,” said IONESCU. In Group D, ASC Grünwettersbach claimed their second win in Novi Sad by beating French side AS Pontoise Cergy TT in straight matches. The highest-ranked team in Stage 1 is still without a win, while the German side leads the standings alongside tomorrow’s opponent, Real Club Cajasur Priego. Tiago APOLONIA overcame Alexandre CASSIN, Hiroto SHINOZUKA widened the gap with victory over Benjamin BROCHARD, and Ricardo WALTHER sealed the tie by defeating Flavio MOURIER. “We had two perfect games in two days. We are happy that we managed to win both matches 3–0, and I am glad I could give our team a good start by beating the opponents’ best players in both rounds,” said APOLONIA. WALTHER added: “We are very happy to win our second match and to qualify already for the Round of 16. That was our first goal. Now we want to fight tomorrow to finish 1st in our group.” In Group C, Belgium’s TTC Sokah Hoboken swept Croatia’s STK Starr. Gabrielius CAMARA, Rémi BETELU, and Benjamin BROSSIER all prevailed in straight matches against Tin ISLAMOVIC, Jaryl WONG, and Zvonimir KRAMARIC. Czech side SKST Havířov, represented by Gustavo GOMEZ, Štěpán BRHEL, and Michal BLINKA, also recorded a clean victory, defeating SPG Felbermayr Wels with Maciej KOŁODZIEJCZYK, Felix WETZEL, and Chia-Hao CHANG. Both Havířov and Sokah Hoboken remain unbeaten, and their direct clash tomorrow will decide the group leader. SPG Felbermayr Wels and STK Starr, both winless, are out of contention. In the last tie of the day, Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier overcame SF SKK El Niño Praha. Alexis LEBRUN, Manav THAKAR, and Antoine HACHARD defeated David REITSPIES, Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA, and Tomáš KONEČNÝ to keep the French team at the top of Group B with two wins. Italian side ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi, with Nicolas BURGOS, Petr FEDOTOV, and Tomáš KOLDAS, recorded their first victory by overcoming Denmark’s Bordtennis BTK 61 (Jens LUNDQVIST, Dominykas SAMUOLIS, and Tobias RASMUSSEN).
