After losing to Polish team KS GLOBAL PHARMA ORLICZ 1924 SUCHEDNIÓW in the Round of 16 of the Champions League Men, French club A.S. PONTOISE-CERGY TT continued their journey in the Europe Cup Men Round of 16. However, they stumbled at the first hurdle. REAL CLUB CAJASUR PRIEGO TENIS DE MESA secured a victory in the opening leg on home soil.
Carlos MACHADO defeated Tristan FLORE and Mehdi BOULOUSSA, while Alejandro CALVO overcame Thomas LAROCHE. Unfortunately, Alberto LILLO suffered an injury at the very start of his opening game against Mehdi BOULOUSSA, but the Spanish team still concluded the match victoriously.
“I am very happy that I am still able to play at the top level,” said MACHADO. “In addition, we are very pleased to have secured the win today, even though we played without our ‘foreigners.’ I expect we will face much more difficulty in France, but we will fight.”
After a narrow defeat in the golden match of the Champions League Men Round of 16 against Poland’s KS Dekorglass Działdowo, Germany’s Postsportverein Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. bounced back with an opening leg win in the Europe Cup Men Round of 16. In France, Lille Métropole T.T. fell 1-3 to the German side.
Irvin BERTRAND secured a win over Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA, who later suffered another loss at the hands of Ovidiu IONESCU. Romania’s IONESCU had earlier been defeated by Romain BRARD in the second match of the day. Daniel HABESOHN completed the victory for Mühlhausen with a win over Amir Hossein HODAEI.
“After beating the Champions League winners Saarbrücken in the Bundesliga just two days ago, we’re happy to have won the first leg against Lille. There were some ups and downs during the match, but fortunately, we managed to secure the victory. Despite today’s win, we need to stay focused on our upcoming league matches,” said HABESOH.
IONESCU added: “We are very happy with this win; it was a tough match. Two days ago, we also won in the German league, which gave us a lot of confidence for today. Our opponents played well, and there is still a second leg to be played. We want to win it and secure our qualification for the next round.”
Meanwhile, HB Ostrov z.s., who ended 2024 with a loss to reigning Champions League winners 1. FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis e.V., began the new year with a strong start in the Europe Cup, defeating Austria’s SPG Linz.
Youssef ABDEL-AZIZ gave the Austrian team an early lead, but Czech player Pavel SIRUCEK turned the match around by defeating Zhenlong LIU. Jiri VRABLIK followed up with a victory over Tobias TISCHBERGER, and SIRUCEK sealed the win by overcoming Egypt’s ABDEL-AZIZ.
The next match will be played on February 14th.
After a tight duel in Spain, SKST Havířov returns home with the advantage, defeating Universidad de Burgos in the opening leg.
Cai SHUNHANG was the standout performer for the hosts, securing both points for his team. However, the visitors struck back with a stronger team effort. All three players—Tomáš POLANSKÝ, Adam STALZER, and Jan VALENTA—contributed to the victory.
Europe Cup Men Round of 16
REAL CLUB CAJASUR PRIEGO TENIS DE MESA – A.S PONTOISE-CERGY TT 3-1
- Carlos MACHADO – Tristan FLORE 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 11-8)
- Alberto LILLO – Mehdi BOULOUSSA 0-3
- Alejandro CALVO – Thomas LAROCHE 3-2 (13-11, 4-11, 15-13, 5-11, 6-14)
- Carlos MACHADO – Mehdi BOULOUSSA 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6)
LILLE METROPOLE T.T – Postsportverein Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. 1-3
- Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA – Irvin BERTRAND 1-3 (5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 10-12)
- Romain BRARD – Ovidiu IONESCU 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5)
- Amir Hossein HODAEI – Daniel HABESOHN 1-3 (6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11)
- Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA – Ovidiu IONESCU 1-3 (11-7, 3-11, 4-11, 9-11)
SPG Linz – HB Ostrov z.s. 1-3
- Youssef ABDEL-AZIZ – Andrej GACINA 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-9)
- Zhenlong LIU – Pavel SIRUCEK 0-3 (9-11, 6-11, 8-11)
- Tobias TISCHBERGER – Jiri VRABLIK 2-3 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 2-6)
- Youssef ABDEL-AZIZ – Pavel SIRUCEK 0-3 (10-12, 7-11, 7-9)
UNIVERSIDAD DE BURGOS – TPF – SKST Havirov 2-3
- Cai SHUNHANG – Jan VALENTA 3-0 (11-6, 11-0, 11-0)
- Enrique GARCIA NIETO – Tomas POLANSKY 0-3 (6-11, 3-11, 2-11)
- Aitor COLINA – Adam STALZER 1-3 (6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13)
- Cai SHUNHANG – Tomas POLANSKY 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-9)
- Enrique GARCIA NIETO – Jan VALENTA 1-3 (9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 8-11)
