(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU)
For the fourth time in recent years, it will be Saarbrucken and Dusseldorf battling in the final pairing of the European Champions League Men’s title. Last year it was Saarbrucken who left the winner, but Borussia Dusseldorf won the 2021/22 and 202o/21 season finales. Tune in tomorrow to see who will be the best of these two powerhouse organizations this year?
It has become the norm for the Finals of the ETTU Champions League to be dominated by German teams – this is especially true since Russia was banned (and many of their top players left their Russian squads to join German teams). This year, the Final Four teams were KS Global Pharma Orlicz 1924 Suchedniow of Poland and FC Saarbrucken TT and the second pairing was between KS Dartom Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki of Poland and Borussia Dusseldorf.
The loaded Saarbrucken team includes Truls Moregard, Patrick Franziska, and Darko Jorgic topped the underdog Polish squad of Jeongwoo Park, Mateusz Zalewski, and Deni Kozul. Saarbrucken won all three matches – Franziska over Park 3-2, Moregard over Zalewski 3-1, and Jorgic over Kozul 3-2. All tight matches, but a one-sided 3-0 result for Saarbrucken.
Borussia Dusseldorf had a tighter 3-1 win. Dang Qiu started strongly with a 3-0 win over Milosz Redzimski. Marek Badowski then put Mazowiecki on the board with a 3-0 upset win over Anton Kallberg. Timo Boll, in one of his last events before retirement, topped Takuya Jin 3-0 to put Dusseldorf back on top. And in a very tight final match, Anton Kallberg defeated Milosz Redzimski 3-2. Dusseldorf won the match 3-1, and they proceed to the Final to face Saarbrucken.
The ETTU final pairing is now set, and the strongest two teams are both German. Will the loaded Saarbrücken squad defend its title, or will perennial powerhouse Saarbrucken step back on top. The ETTU FINAL FOUR is played on one weekend, so we’ll see the Final matches on Sunday.
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