On the second day of play at the ETTU Champions League Men Stage 1 in Novi Sad, most favorites already booked their places in the Round of 16.
Germany’s Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. secured their qualification from Group A with a second consecutive victory. After defeating Polish side Dojlidy Białystok on opening day, the no. 3 seeds in Novi Sad overcame Slovakia’s STK Vyhne in straight matches. Ovidiu IONESCU edged Wie Chih YEH by golden point, Steffen MENGEL beat Filip SZYMANSKI, and Cheng-Ting LIAO prevailed against Adam KLAJBER.
“Against YEH it was a very tough match, I think we both played at a good level. I am happy I won and I am sure it gave a boost to the whole team. We played with confidence after a tough match yesterday and we are happy with the results. The main goal was to be first in the group and we achieved it,” said IONESCU.
In Group D, ASC Grünwettersbach claimed their second win in Novi Sad by beating French side AS Pontoise Cergy TT in straight matches. The highest-ranked team in Stage 1 is still without a win, while the German side leads the standings alongside tomorrow’s opponent, Real Club Cajasur Priego. Tiago APOLONIA overcame Alexandre CASSIN, Hiroto SHINOZUKA widened the gap with victory over Benjamin BROCHARD, and Ricardo WALTHER sealed the tie by defeating Flavio MOURIER.
“We had two perfect games in two days. We are happy that we managed to win both matches 3–0, and I am glad I could give our team a good start by beating the opponents’ best players in both rounds,” said APOLONIA.
WALTHER added: “We are very happy to win our second match and to qualify already for the Round of 16. That was our first goal. Now we want to fight tomorrow to finish 1st in our group.”
In Group C, Belgium’s TTC Sokah Hoboken swept Croatia’s STK Starr. Gabrielius CAMARA, Rémi BETELU, and Benjamin BROSSIER all prevailed in straight matches against Tin ISLAMOVIC, Jaryl WONG, and Zvonimir KRAMARIC. Czech side SKST Havířov, represented by Gustavo GOMEZ, Štěpán BRHEL, and Michal BLINKA, also recorded a clean victory, defeating SPG Felbermayr Wels with Maciej KOŁODZIEJCZYK, Felix WETZEL, and Chia-Hao CHANG. Both Havířov and Sokah Hoboken remain unbeaten, and their direct clash tomorrow will decide the group leader. SPG Felbermayr Wels and STK Starr, both winless, are out of contention.
In the last tie of the day, Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier overcame SF SKK El Niño Praha. Alexis LEBRUN, Manav THAKAR, and Antoine HACHARD defeated David REITSPIES, Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA, and Tomáš KONEČNÝ to keep the French team at the top of Group B with two wins. Italian side ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi, with Nicolas BURGOS, Petr FEDOTOV, and Tomáš KOLDAS, recorded their first victory by overcoming Denmark’s Bordtennis BTK 61 (Jens LUNDQVIST, Dominykas SAMUOLIS, and Tobias RASMUSSEN).
