(by Steve Hopkins)
The finalists are set in the German leagues with the Liebherr TTBL Final4 set for Frankfurt on May 30-31. There is a change in format this year – with the title being decided in a single weekend. On Saturday May 30, Borussia Dusseldorf will face TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and SV Werder Bremen will ace FC Saarbruken. Then, on Sunday afternoon (May 31) the two winners will face off for the title.
FC Saarbrücken enters the weekend with momentum and a roster headlined by Fan Zhendong. Saarbrucken has already won the mid-year German Cup and they are still pressing forward in the Euro Cup – so this could be the next step towards a sweep. In addition to Fan Zhendong, the Saarbrucken squad features Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic. Being the best on paper doesn’t always translate to winning the match – and SV Werder Bremen has overachieved all year long. Bremen has a tricky Mattias Falck, a rising star in Irvin Bertrand, and a savvy veteran in Marcelo Aguirre. Bremen won’t be favored, but that hasn’t kept them from winning over and over again all year long.
For Dusseldorf, they have 3 of the top 8 TTBL scorers this season in Anton Kallberg, Dang Qiu, and Kanak Jha. Bergneustadt has Benedict Duda, Romain Ruiz, and Leo de Nodrest. Bergeustadt will be the underdog of the Final 4, but you can’t count any of these teams out.
Scheduling is always difficult for the top players in the TTBL, with players balancing the tour and National teams in addition to their German clubs. But with the ITTF World Team Championships in London wrapping up earlier in May and none of the big names committed to the WTT Feeder Prishtina (which is the same weekend), it looks like Frankfurt will have all of the stars and nothing will stand between the fans and the best action table tennis has to offer.
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