Table Tennis – Wiener Neustadt continues to shine in the Champions League

Before the Champions League match, according to Dzealdo players, the balls fluttered due to the ventilation in the Wiener Neustadt Reims stadium. The Poles’ nerves were on fire during the match. Already in the first match, it became clear to the guests: this time it will not be as easy as last season…

… In January, Dzialdowo knocked Wiener Neustädter out of the European Cup quarter-finals 6-0. But at that time, Austria’s senior team did not have Gene Ueda in its team. The Japanese dominated Jacob Degas after a tight opening stage, winning the first set 11:6 and taking a four-point lead into the second round, but after a time-out, the Pole turned things around and took a set point.

Ueda has strong nerves

Ueda defended and scored two more points after the equalizer and made it 2-0. Ueda played confidently in the third set – 11:6, 12:10, 11:6. Wiener Neustadt led 1-0. In the second match of the evening, Wiener Neustadt’s young player Ivor Bahn did not have many chances (as expected). Pan lost to top man Jonathan Groth (#30 in the world) in Dzialdo in times of 8:11, 4:11, 4:11.

Wiener Neustadt coach Martin Doppler certainly took the defeat in the duel between two left-handers into account in tactical poker. He pitted his number two, Fran Kujek, against Poland’s number three, Japan’s Kai Konishi. It was a match between two teams that was hard to beat in terms of drama in the first set. Kojic initially missed a set point and won the set at 13:11 with a superior serve.

Kogic breaks his opponent

In the second round, Kogic squandered a 5-1 lead. The Croatian broke free again with the most exciting moment of the evening – 9:9. But Konishi managed to cross both serves and level at 11:9. In the third set, Koech trailed 1:4 before scoring five consecutive points. After that, both players had problems with their serves. Kojic won two set points via one of several break points and used the first on his own serve. This broke Konishi’s resistance. Kogic won the fourth set 11:4.

Wiener Neustadt led 2-1 heading into the top match between Ueda and Grothe. The Danish player faced problems with the length of his shots from the beginning against the experienced Japanese player. The balls continued to sail out of bounds. Ueda easily won the first set with a score of 11:4. The second round was more balanced. No one was able to break away decisively. Ueda then won two set points and, with a bit of luck, took the second point (11:9).

Wiener Neustadt was just one step away from the big surprise. But Groth went one better and won the third set with complete confidence 11:7. At the beginning of the fourth set, Ueda was better again, starting with a 6-2 lead. Groth scored four points to tie the score. But Ueda soon built a small lead again and brought it home with the converted match point to make the score 11:9.

Now t. Neustadt has all the opportunities

Wiener Neustadt won the match against Dzialdo 3-1 and remained at the top of the third group. Franz Jernjak, Chairman of the Board of Wiener Neustadt, said it was an exceptional achievement. For Wenner Neustadt, it was the second win in the second match of the Champions League main round (top 12 teams in Europe). The success against Dzialdo is much more important than the success they achieved against Hennebont in the first round of the match (the French were severely weakened in a 2-3 defeat).

Quite surprisingly, Wiener Neustadt now has a chance of topping the group or reaching the Champions League semi-finals. At the very least, the door to moving to the quarter-finals of the European Cup is wide open. The next leading match is scheduled for Sunday (3pm). Hennebont comes to Wiener Neustädter Remise in a rematch.