Four-time Europe Cup champions UCAM Cartagena T.M. are set to begin their European campaign in the ETTU Champions League Women Stage 2, competing in Group 4 alongside top-seeded Etival ASRTT (France) and TTC Novi Sad (Serbia).
This season, the Spanish club holds the No. 8 seeding and presents a powerful line-up featuring Maria XIAO (No. 10 in Europe), Tin-Tin HO (No. 46 in Europe), Daniela ORTEGA of Chile (World No. 117), Angela RODRIGUEZ, Carmen LOZANO, Miriam SEGURA, Silvija ERDELJI, and Yao LI.
“We are looking forward to starting our Champions League journey. Everyone is ready to fight,” said Maria XIAO.
Last year, UCAM Cartagena reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual champions ttc berlin eastside. In the previous season’s Stage 2, they were also drawn with Etival ASRTT, losing both encounters but still managing to progress from the group.
What are your expectations for this season?
“We are playing Etival again as we did last year in the group stage. They are a very strong team, so we have nothing to lose. Novi Sad is a dangerous opponent, but I believe we will have our chances.”
Where do you see your team’s strengths this year?
“Etival are favourites to win the group. They have top players and are a very solid team. I think we are quite strong ourselves, especially with our Chinese player, so hopefully we can aim for a better result in this year’s ETTU Champions League.”
How is the team performing domestically?
“We’ve started well in the national league, we’re currently at the top of the table together with two other teams.”
How important is the Champions League for UCAM Cartagena this season?
“As I said, with our Chinese player available, we can aim for a better result than last year. She couldn’t play in the quarterfinals last season, which was unfortunate. Hopefully this year she’ll participate in more matches. Everyone is performing well so far. Daniela ORTEGA has improved a lot and can be dangerous, while Tin-Tin is back on the international stage and I believe she’ll reach her top form soon. Every player has a role to play, each one is important, and everyone will be key in the upcoming matches. I hope people will follow the Women’s Champions League, it’s an exciting competition, and hopefully they’ll cheer for us.”
The two best-ranked teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals those who failed to qualify will proceed to Stage 2 of the Europe Cup. For the first time in history, the ETTU will introduce a Final Four format to conclude the ETTU Champions League Women.
