In a year when so many traditions have been disrupted, at least one has been salvaged: Borussia Düsseldorf has once again won Europe's Table Tennis Champions League. Since 1988, the western German squad have hoisted the the trophy 11 times, tops in the league. Despite their superlative pedigree, Düsseldorf were not the pre-season favorites. That pressure-laden distinction fell upon 2019 champions Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg, who fell in the semis to 1. FC Saarbrücken. That upset pitted Saarbrücken, led by Germany's third-ranked player, Patrick Franziska, against a Düsseldorf team captained by German ace Timo Boll. The final was a nail-biter from the get-go, with Boll taking on Saarbrücken's Shang Kun, a Chinese national living in Germany. This lefty-against-lefty battle went down to the wire, requiring a deciding fifth game. Under the league rules, every game five would be a sudden-death race to six points. Shang Kun built a 4-0 lead in the decider, and Saarbrücken was surely salivating over the upset their teammate was cooking. He left the pie cooling on the window too long, however, as Boll game back and stole the match with six straight points to put Düsseldorf on the board first. "I was stretched to full distance, but you have to fight until the last point, especially in fifth game, when there is only six points," said Boll. "Table tennis is a lot about self-confidence." One Düsseldorf teammate not poor in this property is world #58 Anton Källberg of Sweden. The 23-year-old proved his mettle with an upset of Saarbrücken captain Patrick Franziska, ranked 16th in the world. After a blazing first game in which he allowed Franziska only two points, he kept his foot on the gas to maintain the advantage. Franziska rallied to win the third, but Källberg tightened his grip and secured the win in four games. With Düsseldorf up two-nil, Källberg's countryman Kristian Karlsson had the chance to be the hero and win the championship in his match against Darko Jorgic of Slovenia. Jorgic had other plans, however, notching Saarbrücken's first point with a 3-1 win. His club leading 2-1, Källberg returned to the table to face Shang Kun. The two traded matches until it was the deciding fifth game, the dreaded six-point sprint. Leading 5-4, Källberg whiffed Shang's serve. At 5-all, it was match point for both players and championship point for Düsseldorf. Rather anticlimactically, Shang returned the favor and whiffed Källberg's serve, delivering Düsseldorf the championship. "I wished such outcome, but even I did not believe I could beat both Shang Kun and Patrick Franziska," said the elated Källberg, who went 8-0 over the eight days of the tournament. "We had great tournament, perfectly organized and it was great to play with so many good clubs." While Timo Boll is the unquestioned leader of Borussia Düsseldorf, at 39 he cannot maintain his alpha status forever. As he prepares to pass the torch to talented young teammates like Anton Kallberg and Kristian Karlsson, Boll has designed Düsseldorf to duplicate its decades of dominance.

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