In Düsseldorf, Germany, fifteen of Europe's top men's table tennis clubs gathered for the Table Tennis Champions League. After eight days of action, the field has whittled itself down to just two teams. Today's semifinal saw two friends and teammates emerge to face each other in tomorrow's final. In the first semifinal, Borussia Düsseldorf needed contributions from everyone to get by TTSC UMMC. Led by German ace Timo Boll (pictured, on the left with the lefty loop), Borussia had all it could handle from TTSC UMMC, captained by England's Liam Pitchford. Boll and his Swedish teammates Kristian Karlsson and Anton Kallberg escaped, 3-2, with Kallberg notching the decisive win over Croatia's Tomislav Pucar in straight sets. "At the end it is important that all three of us scored," said the 39-year-old Boll, who went 1-1 today. "In matches like this, the complete team has to play at the highest level in order to win." In the other semifinal, top-seeded Fakel-Gazprom took on 1. FC Saarbrücken. Yesterday's quarterfinals saw Saarbrücken pull off a stunning comeback in the quarterfinals. Darko Jorgic, Shang Kun and captain Patrick Franziska each notched do-or-die wins as they fought back from 0-2 down against GV Hennebont to secure a spot in the semis. Saarbrücken's heroics earned them a matchup with Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg, the 2019 champions who boast superstars Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Vladimir Samsonov and Marcos Freitas. In the first match, Germany's Patrick Franziska put the pressure on the defending champs, knocking off Portugal's Marcos Freitas in five games. Next, Belarusian legend Vladimir Samsonov looked to score the equalizer for Orenburg against China's Shang Kun. After trading two close games, Shang Kun ran away with the match to get Saarbrücken within one point of the upset. In the third match, Slovenia's Darko Jorgic won the first game against Dimitrij Ovtcharov before the German stormed back to win in four, keeping Orenburg's hopes of a title defense alive. Up 2-1 in the race to three, Shang Kun faced Marcos Freitas in the fourth matchup. Shang won the first two games, only to see the "Freit Train" get on track to force a fifth game which, by tournament rules, would be a sudden-death race to six points. Despite the pressure, Shang did not squander the chance to once again be the hero for his team, winning the decisive fifth game, 6-4, to secure a spot in the final. Tomorrow, German teammates Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska will lead their teams into battle for the prestigious Champions League title. Although Boll might have expected to face his other friend and national teammate, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, he will certainly have his hands full with Franziska and company, who thus far have defied the odds at every turn.

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