Champions League Women | 19 Oct 2017
Linz considers Cartagena as its milestone
Photo: Courtesy Bernkopf
2017/18 Seamaster ECLW Round 3 will be held this Friday and Saturday (October 20-21st)
Round 3 of the 2017/18 Seamaster European Champions League Women will be held this Friday and Saturday (October 20-21st), as double ECLW champion Linz AG Froschberg hosts two times ETTU Cup winner UCAM Cartagena (Group B, Oct 21, Saturday 16:00). Both sides were beaten by Bursa in their first Group B matches.
“We are absolutely not the favourite now but, we have a young team with a new spirit”, stated Linz`s President Günther RENNER. "Like always we fight against the odds...until now we always go up to the quarter-final but this year it will be difficult. The game against Cartagena is an important milestone this year, we expect a close game...and that small things will decide it at the end.”
Actual World no. 37 Sofia POLCANOVA took leading role from 2005 individual European champion LIU Jia who left the club after many seasons, winning 2009 and 2013 ECLW titles. The 23-year-old member of Austrian National Team won both her games in the opening round against Bursa (Turkish club beat them 3:2), against actual European champion HU Melek and LEE Ho Ching. Other two names in the Linz`s lineup were ZHANG Mo (no. 59) and HO Tin-Tin (no. 205), but new head coach Zsolt HARCZI can count also on Linda BERGSTROM (no. 165) and Lucia TRUKSOVA (no. 387).
"Linz always reached the semi-finals in WECL for 12 years in a row, I hope I`m not the first to lose before, even though the this year`s lineup has the priority on developing players for the future. We will give our best, we will attack and try to be the group first at the end doesn’t matter what the odds are, in table tennis everything is possible", stressed Zsolt HARCZI, former Head Coach of Hungarian Men`s National Team Men, who was for 7 years no. 1 of the men’s team of Linz AG Froschberg).
Last Friday (Oct 13) Cartagena lost from Bursa 3:1, playing with Matilda EKHOLM, WANG Zhipei and Tetyana BILENKO in their lineup.
Other three Round 3 matches will be held this Friday (October 20th).
2017/18 Seamaster ECLW, Round 3
GROUP A: TuS Bad Driburg - CP LYSSOIS LILLE METROPOLE (Oct 20, 19:00)
GROUP B: Linz AG Froschberg - UCAM Cartagena TM (Oct 21, 16:00)
GROUP C: ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly - Szekszard AC (Oct 20, 19:30)
GROUP D: SKST Mart Hodonin-Stavoimpex - TT SAINT QUENTINOIS (Oct 20, 18:00)
