Welcome to the German Table Tennis Cup, Fan Zhendong.
Fan’s 1. FC Saarbrücken - TT (2-1, +2) won all three of their matches against BV 09 Borussia (1-2, -2) in the Round of 16 on Friday. This was Fan’s first appearance in the German Table Tennis Cup, a round where no Dortmund player managed to take a single game.
Fan (1) took the table first for Saarbrücken, facing off against Dortmund’s Adam Szudi (2). Fan dominated the first two games of this match, holding Szudi to just four and two points respectively. Szudi kept it somewhat close in the third game, but Fan put Saarbrücken on the board by the time Szudi scored seven points.
Patrick Franziska (2)’s match against Dortmund’s first player, Cedric Nuytinck, started much closer, as Nuytinck pushed Franziska to 12 points and forced him to win by two. The second game had much less tension, as Franziska took control of the second game before winning 11-4.
That intensity returned for the third game, as Nuytinck pushed Franziska past 11 points for the second time in the match. But Franziska ultimately prevailed, sweeping Nuytinck with a 15-13 win to put Saarbrücken up 2-0.
Though Nuytinck left the table, his perseverance did not. Dortmund’s Alberto Mino (3) made earning a win difficult for Saarbrücken’s Darko Jorgic (3) in their first game, which Jorgic ended up winning 11-9. But that close game was the final glimmer of hope for Dortmund. Mino scored nine points again, but in his last two games combined. Jorgic dominated the table for Saarbrücken’s final games in the Round of 16, winning 11-5 and 11-4 respectively.
This is the second time these two teams have faced off this season. Saarbrücken also took their prior matchup on Sept. 14, winning in just three games.
Saarbrücken will return home for its battle with Dima Ovtcharov’s TTC Rhönsprudel Fulda-Maberzell on Monday. Dortmund will next play on ASC Grünwettersbach’s turf on Sunday.
The quarterfinals of the German Table Tennis Cup will take place this fall.
.jpg)