Michael Maze sealed victory for Roskilde On-Board Tennis (Photo: Jörg Fuhrmann)
A combined age of 132 years, on duty for Denmark’s Roskilde On-Board Tennis on the opening day of play, Friday 11th December, at the Table Tennis Champions League Men, players whose age totalled that sum shone on the ARAG Centre Court in Düsseldorf.
One win each for Jens Lundquist, Allan Bentsen and Michael Maze secured a narrow 3-2 success against the French Club AS Pointoise Cergy.
In the opening match of the fixture, Jens Lundqvist, now 41 years old and on duty for Sweden at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games accounted for Patrick Baum (11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6). Later in the third contest of the engagement, Allan Bentsen, now 52 years of age, noted for beating Chen Weixing to secure the European men’s team title in 2005 in Aarhus, rekindled the form of over 15 years ago, he overcame Quentin Robinot in tense full distance affair (11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 6-2).
The outcome in the balance, after Tristan Flore had beaten Michael Maze in the second match of the fixture (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) and in the fourth Jens Lundquist (11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 14-12, 6-2), eyes turned to the tattoo ridden Michael Maze, the 2009 European champion. Now 39 years old he overcame Patrick Baum in a further engagement that required the full five games (15-17, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-3) to seal victory.
A full distance win for Roskilde On-Board Tennis; it was the same for the French club, GV Hennebont, the man of the moment being Belgium’s Cédric Nuytinck. Playing in the first and last match of the fixture against Poland’s Decorative Glass Dzialdowo, he accounted for Wei Shihao (11-8, 11-8, 11-5), followed by success in opposition to Andrej Gacina (6-11, 14-12, 15-13, 11-9) to seal the victory.
The one further win for the French team was secured by Omar Assar, in the fourth match of the engagement he overcame Wei Shihao (11-8, 11-5, 11-5); the win coming after for Dzialdowo, Andrej Gacina had beaten Omar Assar (5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 6-4) and Jakub Dyas had prevailed in opposition to Anders Lind (8-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-8).
Hard fought wins, for the leading outfits very different. Fakel Gazprom Orenburg recorded a 3-1 win against Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 E.V.; likewise, it was a 3-0 success for Borussia Düsseldorf when facing De Boer Taverzo, a result that was emulated by TTSC UMMC when facing TTC Enfireex Ostrava.
The group stage continues on Saturday 12th December.
Results & Reaction – Friday 11th December
Group A
FAKEL GAZPROM ORENBURG (RUS) 3-1 POST SV MÜHLHAUSEN 1951 E.V.
Marcos Freitas v Ovidiu Ionescu 11-2, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6
Vladimir Samsonov v Daniel Habesohn 11-7, 11-6, 14-12
Alexey Liventsov v Steffen Mengel 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 3-6
Marcos Freitas v Daniel Habesohn 11-9, 11-1, 11-8
“We have a very tough group every match is important; that is why this victory is very important for us. Ovidiu Ionescu is not an adversary who should be underestimated. After I started by winning the first game it gave me extra confidence. I was well prepared for that match. I stayed on a good course in the match against Daniel Habesohn. I hope I can keep this level on play in forthcoming matches.” Marcos Freitas
“It is always tough to play the first match, maybe in this one we surprised ourselves a little. We did not expect 3-1 win against Post SV Mühlhausen. Not the result but the way we did it exceeded our expectations. I am sure Habesohn can play much better. On the other side, Marcus gave a fantastic performance today. He was very aggressive; did not give any easy point; he is very good shape. Alexey Liventsov lost to Steffen Mengel, but he had a few good chances. Vladimir Samsonov
BOGORIA MAZOWIECKI (POL) 3-0 LEKA ENEA (ESP)
Marek Badowski v Daniel Palacios 11-8, 11-9, 11-9
Pavel Sirucek v Endika Diez 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8
Milosz Redzimski v Oriol Monzo 10-12, 7-11, 21-19, 13-11, 6-2
“My match against Daniel Palacios, was tough. In two games it ended at 11-9. I am happy that I won. Also, it was good to see that our young player Milosz Redzimski managed to have success against Oriol Monzo. He showed good nerves in close moments of the match.” Marek Badowski
Group B
TTC ENFIREEX OSTRAVA (CZE) 0-3 TTSC UMMC (RUS)
Felipe Olivares v Tomislav Pucar 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 4-11
Simon Belik v Jonathan Groth 1-11, 10-12, 7-11
Filip Delincak v Liam Pitchford 4-11, 6-11, 3-11
“The most difficult part was to overcome the lack of the tournaments. I have played very little official tournaments and matches since the start of the pandemic. I was out of the focus at the beginning of the match, but then I settled into my rhythm.” Tomislav Pucar
“It is nice to be back and to play in a team competition. I faced the player who has beaten a few very powerful players in the Champions League before. He proved a dangerous player in second game. I was down and under pressure. If it had been 1:1, it would have made my win much difficult.” Jonathan Groth.
“I am happy to get a win in the first match. I was playing against the younger player Delincak, who I never played before. He looked quite good in practice and I knew it is going to be tough match. I had to be focused and that was the aim to try to get into the game. I received the service really well; that was the main point how I won. I could dominate the rallies and felt comfortable which is very nice in the opening match.” Liam Pitchford
Group C
SPG WALTER WELS (AUT) 0-3 1.FC SAARBRÜCKEN (GER)
Gabor Bohm v Shang Kun 3-11, 1-11, 11-13
Julian Rzihauschek v Patrick Franziska 5-11, 3-11, 4-11
Petr Hodina v Darko Jorgic 1-11, 1-11, 2-11
ROSKILDE ON-BOARD TENNIS (DEN) 3-2 AS PONTOISE-CERGY (FRA)
Jens Lundquist – Patrick Baum 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6
Michael Maze – Tristan Flore 4-11, 9-11, 7-11
Allan Bentsen – Quentin Robinot 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 6-2
Jens Lundquist- Tristan Flore 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 2-6
Michael Maze – Patrick Baum 15-17, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-3
Group D
BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF (GER) 3-0 DE BOER TAVERZO (NED)
Anton Kallberg v Dorian Nicolle 11-6, 11-8, 11-6
Timo Boll v Yannick Vostes 11-7, 11-7, 11-6
Ricardo Walther v Trinko Keen 11-8, 11-5, 11-7
DECORATIVE GLASS DZIALDOWO (POL) 2-3 GV HENNBONT TT (FRA)
Wei Shihao v Cédric Nuytinck 8-11, 8-11, 5-11
Andrej Gacina v Omar Assar 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 6-4
Jakub Dyjas v Anders Lind 8-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-8
Wei Shihao v Omar Assar 8-11, 5-11, 5-11
Andrej Gacina v Cédric Nuytinck 11-6, 12-14, 13-15, 9-11