Berlin. The five-time Champions League winner TTC Berlin Eastside has now-after having just mastered the quarter-finals against Cartagena in mid-February-a real top-class player. In the semifinals, you duel with the defending champion KTS Enea Siarkopol Tarnobrzeg – the Poles have already climbed Europe’s throne four times, the last three years in a row. On Friday, the first leg in Berlin’s table tennis temple “Heyse25” increases with great excitement. For the TTC Eastside, who last brought the title to the Spree in the 2020/2021 season, this game is “the absolute highlight of the season”, as manager Andreas Hain underlines.
Now the club from the capital is fighting again for the most prestigious club title in Europe and must first try to master the semi -finals. And that will be really difficult because the opponent is extremely strong. A real house number and certainly the best that Europe’s team table tennis has to offer. The Poles, which have been part of the Créme de la Créme in Europe’s premier class for years, left no doubt in the quarter-final secondary against the Italian representative ASD Quattro Mori in the quarter-final secondary-in the 3-0-in the first leg, only 3-2 prevailed. In the second leg, German international Han Ying celebrated a successful comeback after her injury break.
Ten victories in eleven games, only the number nine went wrong
Berlin Eastside had already contested eight games before the somewhat hairy quarter -finals in Europe’s premier class, four in the qualification tournament in their own hall, four in the group phase. Eight times you went off the table as the winner, almost always clear, only in the last meaningless group game against Hodonin you made it a little more exciting with a 3-2. The games number nine and ten, including Golden Match, which counts as a game of their own, even followed the number eleven. Number nine went into the pants, in Cartagena you received an unexpected 1: 3. At number ten in home hall, they were fully in the picture again and won 3-0 in the second leg. The golden match afterwards was not for the faint of heart, the Berliners kept the upper hand 2-1.
So now the twelfth game is in the house – number 13, the second leg, will only be on April 25th. held in Poland. But the course will be set in Berlin on Friday evening. Of course, it’s about a lot, because it is the round of the four best teams in the continent, and there are no gifts and it really gets down to business – at the very highest level.
The two record champions of the premier class meet – Tarnobrzeg has only won the prestigious competition once less than the Berliners and is on the hunt for the fifth title that it would be the fourth in a row. The team around the strong Romanian Elizabeta Samara and the experienced Portuguese Penholder player Fu Yu and of course the German defensive ace Han Ying is already a favorite, but that means little in a semi-finals.
“Clear outsider with a little chance”: Andreas Hain comments on the semi-final showdown
“We are certainly clear outsiders against Tarnobrzeg, but we are already expecting a little chance,” emphasizes Andreas Hain. “If you can win a match of the semi -finals with 3: 1 or 3: 0, you are already in the” golden match “and everything is possible. Our goal is therefore to give everything in the home game on Friday and maybe create the surprise. ” As little as possible, you want to leave the chance in the Westerwald. Five players are eligible to play, so you are spoiled for choice because you only need a trio: “Nina Mittelham, Xiaona Shan, Sabina Surjan, Mia Griesel and Josi Neumann are available and our Japanese Yuka Kaneyoshi, who is not entitled to use in the champius League Matches against Han Ying on the Polish side. ” Hain and with him the entire capital club rely on the fans not least: “We will transform our hall into a real cauldron and create a center court atmosphere. We always count at Champions League games and hope for a great game. For us, this game is the absolute highlight of the season!”.
Incidentally, the other semi-finals do not contest the tournament co-favorite Linz AG Froschberg, who completed the feat in the quarterfinals, to discharge after a 3-0 fellow success in the French Sain-Quentin-actually incredible. Thus, the teams from Sain-Quentin and Metz contest the other, purely French semi-final duel. If the TTC Eastside actually mastered the high hurdle Tarnobrzeg, everything would really be possible in the final, even the sixth title in Europe’s premier class.
Quarter -finals, second leg
TTC Berlin Eastside – Ucam Cartagena Tim 3: 0
- Xiaona Shan – Carmen Lozano 3:0 (11:6, 11:1, 11:4)
- Nina Mittelham – Sofia Xuan Zhang 3: 0 (11: 5, 16:14, 11: 8)
- Sabina Surjan – Yao Li 3:0 (11:4, 11:8, 11:4)
Golden Match
TTC Berlin Eastside – Ucam Cartagena Tim 2: 1
- Nina Mittelham – Sofia Xuan Zhang 9:11
- Xiaona Shan – Yao Li 11:6
- Sabina arise – Carmen Lozano 11: 4
More quarter -final games
KTS Tarnobrzeg (POL) – ASD Quattro Mori (WE) 3:2, 3:0
Linz AG Froschberg (AUT)-Saint-Quentin TT (FRA) 3: 0, 0: 3, 0: 2
Étival Asrtt (from) – Metz TT (from) 1: 3, 2: 3
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