On Saturday 27 December in TUI-Arena in Hannover, 4.200 spectators witnessed the surprising conclusion in the German Cup. In the Semi-finals Borussia Düsseldorf faced the Werder Bremen as the TTC Müller Frickenhausen / Würzburg confronted the SV Plüderhausen. At the meeting which opposed Borussia Düsseldorf and Werder Bremen, the international player from the island of Madeira sadly watched to his team's defeat by 3-2 and moved away from the Final. European Top ace Timo Boll was at his best level and achieved two victories to Borussia Düsseldorf winning both games with 3-0. He beat his compatriot Lars Hielscher (8-11, 6-11, 8-11) before overcame Romanian Constantin Cioti (5-11, 9-11, 3-11). The defeats of Marcos’ team, were registered by the Germans Christian Süß and Dimitrij Ovtcharov who have lost their singles games and the double game by 1-3. In singles against Constantin Cioti (11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 14-12) and the Dutch Trinko Keen (11-8, 12-10, 12-14, 11-6) respectively. The doubles game would be decisive for the outcome but the Germans lost their match against the pair Lars Hilescher and Trinko Keen with the margins of 13-11, 4-11, 12-10 and 11-8. In the other Semi-Final SV Plüderhausen won TTC Müller Frickenhausen / Würzburg by 3-2. The boys from Bremen left Borussia Düsseldorf at third place whilst Pluderhausen beat Werder Bremen in the Final and won the German Cup. New title holders are Aleksandar Karakasevic, Jakub Kosowski, Leung Chu Yan and Zsolt Pete from Plüderhausen. With this triumph Plüderhausen secured the place in next edition of ETTU European Champions League.

photo: DTTL

Borussia Düsseldorf’s team where plays the Portuguese Marcos Freitas, will leave today Friday 26 December to the city of Hanover in Germany, to dispute the Semi-Final at Germany’s Cup (Final Four) in TUI-Arena. Tomorrow Saturday 27 December at 12:00pm Borussia Düsseldorf will face SV Werder Bremen, while the other semi final will be disputed between Frickenhausen / Würzburg and Plüderhausen. The winners of each Semi-Final will play the Final in the same day at 4:00pm. After found the winning team at Germany's Cup there will be a concert with the German duo Ich & Ich, which is a band very popular in Germany. They have sold more than 1,665,000 records in German-speaking nations and Boll is a big fan himself. Borussia will align with European top ace Timo Boll, and the internationals Marcos Freitas, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Christian Süss. Bremen account in his squad with the Dutch Trinko Keen (no. 58), Japan's Seiya Kishikawa (no. 63), German Lars Hielscher (no. 74) and the Romanian Constantin Cioti (no. 88).

photo: DTTL

This match was not played in Düsseldorf, but in the small town of Hagen, about 50 kilometers due east, and the German top club gathered a huge crowd in the spectacular hall. The quarterfinal entry was secured with a safe home win against Denmark's top club. Timo Boll proved his leading position in Europe during the all-around expected duel against Denmark's top ace Michael Maze, with an unendangered 3:0, with only the first game being evenly matched. Then the Portuguese Marcos Freitas performed strongly, defeating Finn Tugwell by 3:1, and the German international Dimitrij Ovtcharov beat Ke Yi He by 3:0. Inspite of having only one day of training Timo played exceedingly well once again, and Marcos is also unbeaten in this top league until now. Points: Timo Boll 1, Marcos Freitas 1, Dimitrij Ovtcharov 1;. Tomorrow Marcos departs to his home town, the beautiful Island of Madeira in Portugal, to enjoy some mini Christmas vacation, returning to Germany early morning of 25 December, since his team will play the Germany's Cup on 27 December in Hanover (Germany).

photo: Mathias Ernest

The German top club where plays the Portuguese Marcos Freitas, Borussia Düsseldorf, ocupies the second place in the Group A, as they have three important victories and one defeat before the fifth round. After the sensational debacle in Hennebont at European Champions League, the German top club will do anything in order to secure the advance to the quarterfinal with a home win. Apparently they will appear with their best nominees, including European top ace Timo Boll, and are therefore the clear favourites. On Friday 19th December Borussia will face Denmark’s Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61 at 7:30pm. The location for this match is a large hall in the small town of Hagen, about 50 kilometers east of Düsseldorf. The opponent team will align with Michael Maze (no.18), Allan Bentsen (no. 65) and Finn Tugwell (no. 91). Local TV will show a recording.

photo: Mathias Ernest

One day later, on Friday 12th December 2008, Marcos Freitas was back in the fast lane. He beat Russia’s Kirill Skachkov, the no.2 seed, in six games; he was not as devastating as 24 hours earlier but his fast attacks after the service and a higher level of consistency stood him well. Marcos Freitas won 13-11, 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 7-11, 11-2. Winning a close game adds to confidence and that was certainly the case for the left hander from the beautiful Atlantic island of Madeira; he won the first point in the opening game but then Skachkov blazed a trail of destruction with Freitas hanging on to Russian shirt tails. Skachkov established a 10-8 lead, Freitas recovered in the mode of a Portuguese highwayman to steal the games; a rueful Russian returned courtside to received help from compatriot Igor Rubtsov. Freitas, alone, went purposefully to the outer reaches of the court with the thought in his mind that it could well be his day. Confident, attacking quickly with the forehand and showing plenty of innovation when returning service, especially when circumnavigating the ball on the backhand to effect a stroke with sidespin and backspin, he grow in stature. In the Final, against Chiang Hung-Chieh, again the Asian had forced Freitas back from the table into topspin defensive lobbing mode by attacking the Portuguese player’s backhand strongly early with his opening attack. However, Chiang Hung-Chieh did make some errors when attacking in the first two games, mistiming the heavy topspin from the Freitas defence. Also, the Portuguese player did experience some good fortune with the odd un-returnable edge ball. The Portuguese sportsman was leading the match 2-0. The heavy topspin play of the man from Madeira had been the main reason for his successes in 2008 and he held the upper hand over Chiang Hung-Chieh in previous encounters. This time Marcos lost in a six games duel with the margins of 4-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8. Silver for Marcos Freitas, that was the scenario at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals.

photo: M. Schillings