Champions League Men | 11 Feb 2017
Borussia, Pontoise and Saarbrucken reach TTCLM semis
Photo: majo-foto.de
TTCLM quarter-finals (2nd leg): Borussia – Ochsenhausen 3:1, Saarbrucken – Chartres 2:3, Pontoise – Hennebont 3:2
Ten times TTCLM winner Borussia Dusseldorf, reigning champion AS Pontoise Cergy and 2014 ETTU Cup winner FC Saarbrucken reached TTCLM semi-finals after tonight`s returning matches of the quarter-final stage: BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN 3:1, FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT 2:3, AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT 3:2.
Borussia was better than Ochsenhausen in the all-German quarter-final, but the match was open until the end. Dubravko SKORIC` s team won the first leg 3:2 (12:9) having one more good fact on its side, that Simon GAUZY beat Timo BOLL in their four last meetings, including recent 2017 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup. But, these two players didn’t meet this time, as BOLL suffered an injury during his first match.
BOLL beat Hugo CALDERANO in the very tense opener. Six times individual champion of Old Continent was extended to full distance by young Portuguese who won breath taking second set (17:15). At the peak of the drama, in late fifth set (8:8), host took three consecutive points to secure an early lead for his side.
Best ranked European U21 player Anton KALLBERG and 2016 ITTF LIEBHERR European Championships runner-up Simon GAUZY met in the second clash. Frenchman won in four games after many spectacular points, what pushed their bodies to the limits. The score was leveled after two games and GAUZY won third one, thanks to his serves in decisive moments. Young Swede opened fourth set in a style (5:0) and had two set balls (10:8), but bronze medalist from recent ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup responded with four consecutive points.
Kristian KARLSSON brought new lead to the host side in sold out ARAG CenterCort (1,100 spectators), as he beat Jakub DYJAS 3:2 (9:11, 11:5, 12:14, 11:3, 11:3). Guest came from 6:9 to 10:9 in the third set which belonged to him, but Swede dominated in the next two. DYJAS had no energy to stay on that level, while KARLSSON exploded in the early fourth set (eight points in a row, 3:3, 11:3) continuing in same way in the forthcoming one.
Stefan FEGERL had a hard task, to prevent Simon GAUZY to record his fourth victory in two legs. Frenchman managed to recover in the second set (host had four consecutive set-balls) but Austrian won next two games by narrow margin.
Reigning TTCLM champion Pontoise defeated again Hennebont in the all-French quarter-final. Marcos FREITAS contributed with two points, while Niagol STOYANOV added one.
Chartres beat away Saarbrucken 3:2, but German side continues in the semis, thanks to better win in France. Robert GARDOS reversed the score (0-2 to 3-2) in the opener against Patrick BAUM giving a chance to his team mates to compensate the 3:1 defeat in the first leg, but Bojan TOKIC leveled the score against Joao MONTEIRO, after full five games.
After Par GERELL`s victory in four games against Tiago APOLONIA, German club needed just one set for the semis. However, BAUM overcame MONTEIRO in straight games, while Sarbrucken repeated its TTCLM success from the 2011/12 season.
The 2016/17 TTCLM quarter-finals, 2nd leg (Friday, February 10th)
BORUSSIA DUSSELDORF – TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN 3:1 (1st leg 2:3)
Timo BOLL – Hugo CALDERANO 3:2 (11:7, 15:17, 8:11, 11:7, 11:8)
Anton KALLBERG – Simon GAUZY 1:3 (12:10, 8:11, 9:11, 10:12)
Kristian KARLSSON - Jakub DYJAS 3:2 (9:11, 11:5, 12:14, 11:3, 11:3)
Stefan FEGERL – Simon GAUZY 3:1 (11:4, 11:13, 11:9, 11:9)
FC SAARBRUCKEN TISCHTENNIS – CHARTRES ASTT 2:3 (1st leg 3:1)
Patrick BAUM – Robert GARDOS 2:3 (11:6, 11:4, 6:11, 8:11, 10:12)
Bojan TOKIC – Joao MONTEIRO 3:2 (9:11, 11:3, 4:11, 12:10, 11:9)
Tiago APOLONIA – Par GERELL 1:3 (11:7, 8:11, 9:11, 7:11)
Patrick BAUM – Joao MONTEIRO 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:4)
Bojan TOKIC – Joao MONTEIRO 0:3 (6:11, 10:12, 7:11)
AS PONTOISE CERGY – G.V. HENNEBONT 3:2 (1st leg 3:0)
Mattias KARLSSON – Liam PITCHFORD 1:3 (11:9, 6:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Marcos FREITAS – Quentin ROBINOT 3:0 (11:8, 11:7, 11:8)
Tristan FLORE – Kalinikos KREANGA 2:3 (5:11, 8:11, 11:9, 11:9, 8:11)
Niagol STOYANOV – Quentin ROBINOT 3:1 (11:7, 12:14, 12:10, 11:7)
Marcos FREITAS – Liam PITCHFORD 3:1 (6:11, 11:8, 11:6, 11:5)
