(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU)
The final result of the HYLO ETTU Champions League Men’s Final was very much as expected, the path to victory was a surprise. Four kicked off on Saturday with four of Europe’s elite clubs competing for the continent’s ultimate title. FC Saarbrucken TT made quick work of Polish squad KS Orlen Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki in their Semifinal. Saarbrucken was highly favored, and the results were basically what was expected with a 3-0 win.
The other side of the draw was supposed to be much closer, but Alliance Nimes/Montpellier was too strong, winning 3-1. Dusseldorf’s lone win was USA’s Kanak Jha who defeated Manav Thakar. The Lebrun brothers were just too strong, with Felix winning twice and Alexis winning once as they cruised to a 3-1 victory.
This set up a Final which in theory would have had three likely wins for Saarbrucken with Fan Zhendong arguably favored in both of his matches, Jorgic heavily favored in his match, and Moregard (World No. 2) was the highest ranked player in the whole tournament. The first surprise came with Alexis Lebrun easily won the opening match 3-0 over Fan Zhendong. However, Truls Moregard managed to win 3-0 over Felix Lebrun in a match that Montpellier had to have. All three games went the distance with players tied at 10, but Moregard won 15-13, 15-13, and 12-10.
Darko Jorgic had little trouble with Antoine Hachard, winning 3-0. This gave Saarbruken a 2-1 advantages with Zhendong set to face Felix Lebrun. It was Felix Lebrun who was clearly the stronger player today – defeating the current Chinese National Champion 3-0, just like his brother did an hour earlier. The match was then tied 2-2, and it was Truls Moregard who brought the win for Saarbruken – winning 3-1 over Alexis Lebrun.
Saarbrucken are the ETTU Champions.
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