by Simon Daish
Despite ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly taking an early lead through Tamolwan Khetkhuan, who recovered to see off Sun Jiayi (8-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9), it was the away team that enjoyed by far the stronger evening of the two, responding with three victories on the bounce.
Contributing two wins for the visitors Yang Xiaoxin proved too strong for Galia Dvorak (11-5, 11-7, 11-6) and Sun Jiayi (11-2, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5) with Agnes Le Lannic prevailing over Tian Yuan (4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9) in the other fixture.
UCAM Cartagena TM are the other side through to the title match after the Spanish club posted a 3-1 win in the 2nd leg of their semi-final meeting with Hungarian opponents SH-ITB Budaörsi 2i Sport Club.
Liu Xin was once again the standout player of the tie, seeing off Petra Lovas (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4) and Mercedes Nagyvaradi (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) while the home side’s other success came courtesy of Maria Xiao, who posted a fantastic comeback display to beat Szandra Pergel (7-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8).
In a dramatic encounter in the Men’s ETTU Cup Germany’s FC Saarbrücken reversed the 3-2 defeat suffered in their opening meeting with K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo, gaining the upper hand to edge through to the final.
Trailing 0-1 following Tomas Polansky’s defeat to Wong Chun Ting (11-9, 12-10, 11-7) but the visitors hit back through Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic, who accounted for Jiri Vrablik (11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8) and Wang Yang (12-10, 11-8, 14-12) to move 2-1 ahead.
A second success for Wong Chun Ting in his fixture against Patrick Franziska (4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9) moved K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo ever-closer to a dream spot in the final but there was one final twist in the tale as Tomas Polansky stepped up to beat Jiri Vrablik in the decider (12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9), sending FC Saarbrücken to the final stage of the competition.
Joining FC Saarbrucken in the final is French opposition in the form of G.V. Hennebont following their convincing 3-0 victory over Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Liam Pitchford put the hosts on the right track with his 3-1 victory over João Monteiro in the match opener (11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6) before Fan Shengpeng doubled the advantage with an impressive display against Quadri Aruna (7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2). Cedric Nuytinck completed the win, beating Diogo Carvalho in straight games (11-8, 12-10, 11-6).