Two clubs with the different ambitions will play one against another on Thursday October 6th: FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG – VAILLANTE SPORTS ANGERS TT (14:00 CET). LEGOUT: Angers targets 2nd place in the Group A
Top seeded FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG hosts VAILLANTE SPORTS ANGERS TT in the opening round of the 2016/17 TTCLM. They met last year in the same group (A) and each won on its soil. Russian club triple TTCLM champion is considered as a huge favorite for the title having three Top 10 players at the ITTF World ranking list: No. 5 Jun MIZUTANI No. 6 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and No. 9 Vladimir SAMSONOV.
“The new TTCLM season TTC FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG starts with considerable strengthening of the team. Now Jun MIZUTANI – one of the strongest players in the world silver in team and bronze in singles competitions at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil – is the player of our team. Three our players are among Top 10 players of the world: Vladimir SAMSONOV Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Jun MIZUTANI. Such a strong team in the European Champions League was not yet. In the forthcoming season we expect to win the European and Russian Club Championship though the opposing teams are very strong too” stated Orenburg`s head coach Victor ANDREEV.
French side signed World No. 38 Emmanuel LEBESSON who joined last season`s line-up Christophe LEGOUT Jens LUNDQVIST and Jon PERSSON. LEGOUT believes that his side is capable to reach at least 3rd spot in the group:
“Our group looks really strong between the Russian club with all their stars and Ochsenhausen with a lot of young and potentials players. For us it would be nice to visit and to receive them because two of us played there in the past. Moreover their number 1 Simon GAUZY is French and a lot of French players and coaches are working hard in Ox. Of course our Swedish players will be happy also to play against their best Danish friends in Roskilde. Our aim is of course to finish 2nd of the group to still have a chance to continue in this Champion’s League competition but if we finish 3rd we also have a great team with our new player Emmanuel LEBESSON to try to win the ETTU Cup”.
After all LEGOUT wanted to stress next:
“We wish to all the teams good luck and let the competition starts…”
