by Steve Hopkins, photos ETTU)
Saarbrucken has won its third consecutive European Champions League Men’s title. After defeating KS Global Pharma Orlicz 1924 Suchedniow yesterday 3-0, Saarbrucken has defeated Borussia Dusseldorf 3-1 today.
Anton Kallberg won the opening match to give Borussia Dusseldorf the early lead. Patrick Franziska won the first two games 15-13 and 11-8, but the momentum shifted and Kallberg did not trail in the next three games winning 11-6, 11-7, and winning the tie breaker 6-5. In the second match, Truls Moregard bested Dang Qiu with relative ease – winning 11-7, 11-4, and 11-7. This evened the match score at 1-1.
Next up was Darko Jorgic versus Timo Boll. For Jorgic, his play in recent years has been marked by how well he has elevated his game in the biggest moments in European play. For Boll, its a generation worth of past accomplishments pushing him forward in his last Champions League appearance. What resulted from the matchup was a delight for fans with no player winning two games in a row. Jorgic won a marathon first game – where both players had opportunities but at 15-15, it was Jorgic who was the first able to win two in a row. Boll answered in the second game with an 11-8 win to even the match score. In the third, Jorgic again extended the lead with an 11-7 win – in a game that Jorgic led 5-1 before Boll tied it 5-5. The fourth game was dominated by Boll – an 11-2 win. This set up a decisive fifth game 6-point tie-breaker, but there was a complete momentum shift and after winning the first 3 points, Jorgic coasted to a 6-1 win.
The final game was between Patrick Franziska and Dang Qiu. It was a similar script to the Boll/Jorgic match, where the players traded games. Franziska won the first, third, and the deciding fifth games. In the final tie-breaker, Qiu won the first 3 points, but Franziska won 6 of the final 8 points to take the game, and the match. Saarbrucken wins 3-1.
The loaded Saarbrucken team includes Truls Moregard, Patrick Franziska, and Darko Jorgic. They have won three in a row and don’t appear to be planning to slow down next year. In was announced this weekend that Fan Zhendong is joining the team this August. That is, this loaded team is reloading – and next year they’ll be even stronger.
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