Berlin. A tailor-made debut that left you wanting more – much, much more. After confidently qualifying for Stage 2 of the European Champions League Women a month ago, the five-time premier class winner ttc berlin eastside made a successful start to the group phase on Sunday evening. Against the highly rated team from Metz, which – along with the Berlin team – is one of the favorites to win the group, they achieved a convincing 3-1 victory in the opening game of Group B in front of their home crowd in the “Heyse25”.
There was still an old score to settle – and it was impressively settled in the pretty Berlin Table Tennis Dome. The team from northeastern France was not only always an extremely unpleasant opponent for the Berliners, but also caused them the bitter Champions League exit in the quarter-finals in January 2023. A narrow 3-2 home win was followed by a sobering 1-3 defeat in Metz, which meant the end of all dreams.
“We definitely have something to do well,” said Nina Mittelham and Xiaona Shan in front of the party, who were both in the eastside team at the time. “We are looking forward, we want to start the group phase with a win.” No sooner said than done. And how!
He Zhuojia with table tennis from another planet
The 25-year-old Chinese He Zhuojia was outstanding in the “Mission of Reparation”, who showed great table tennis on her debut in the eastside dress and didn’t give her two opponents Mariia Tailakova and Adina Diaconu a chance with her powerful backhand. That was table tennis at its best from the silver medalist from the 2018 World Tour Grand Finals, who is only eligible to compete in the premier class for the ttc eastside. Her incredible performance raised the question in the hall as to who could beat He in this competition.
Nina Mittelham’s comeback after a two-month injury break was also pleasing. She put the internationally very experienced Luxembourger Sarah de Nutte in her place without losing a set, but had to fight mightily. Only things didn’t go well for Shan Xiaona, who lost to the Romanian Diaconu.
Jens Ruland is very satisfied
We have a detailed statement from Berlin’s coach Jens Ruland: “That was the entry into the group phase that we wanted. The result looks clear, but you have to remember that He and Nana only got there in the evening or in the We were able to arrive from China the night before the match and Nina played her first competition since her injury at the Olympics, which makes the compliment that I have to give my team even greater. With He Zhuojia, we now have another absolute top player in the squad. That was world class. Diaconu and Tailakova are really established players, but they didn’t really have a chance against He. Nina is on the right track and can certainly be happy with her comeback. My special thanks go to her Nana, who was in the uncomfortable second position, was only missing the famous Quentchen without jet lag, as her match against Bernadette Szöcs in China showed. Finally, Josi, who was not used, but fulfilled her role 100 percent and contributed her part. Now our attention turns directly to the next game in Hodonin at the beginning of November, where we want to take the next step towards the quarter-finals.”
For info: The ttc berlin eastside will be competing in Group B with Metz TT (France) and SKST Plus Hodonin (Czech Republic). So the extremely strong teams from Linz-Froschberg and Tarnobrzeg are avoided for the time being. The games will be played between October 6th and December 22nd. The next game for the capital city team will take place on November 1st. in Hodonin. The other group dates: November 15th. Second leg in Metz, December 22nd Second leg against Hodonin in Berlin.
ttc berlin eastside – Metz TT 3:1
He Zhuojia – Mariia Tailakova 3:0 (1,5,5)
Xiaona Shan – Adina Diaconu 0:3 (-10,-12,-8)
Nina Mittelham – Sarah De Nutte 3:0 (9,13,10)
He Zhuojia – Adina Diaconu 3:0 (4,6,7)
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