Three of the four 2025-26 German Table Tennis Cup quarterfinal matches ended in a winner-take-all doubles set. It’s only fitting that the fourth match would finish that way as well.
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell (5-4, 10:8) eliminated TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau (2-7, 4:14) from the German Table Tennis Cup on Monday. Fulda became the last club to advance to the Final Four after beating the underdog Grenzau in five sets.
Fulda showed its might right away, when Jonathan Groth (1) took the table against Grenzau’s Maciej Kubik (2) to begin the match. After a competitive first game (11-7) and a close second game (13-11), Groth clobbered Kubik (11-2) to complete his sweep and take the first set.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (2) picked up right where Groth left off, putting Grenzau on the brink of another sweep after winning his first two games (11-8, 11-10) against Yi-Hsin Feng (1). But at that moment, all of Ovtcharov’s momentum stopped. With Grenzau one loss away from a 2-0 deficit, Feng won the next three games (11-7, 11-7, 11-8) to tie the match.
Samuel Walker (3) gave Grenzau their fourth consecutive win after beating Fulda’s Fanbo Meng (3) 11-7 in the first game of their set. Meng took the next two games (11-6, 11-8), but Walker won the fourth game 11-7 to force another fifth game. Walker’s effort would be for naught, though, as Meng crushed him 11-2 to give Fulda a 2-1 match lead.
Groth and Feng returned to the table ahead of a pivotal fourth set. Groth looked to close out this match. Feng aimed to keep Grenzau’s Cup hopes alive. Feng won the first game 11-9, but Groth trailed just behind 11-7. Groth forced Feng to win by two in the third game (10-12) before winning the fourth game 11-8. Once again, Groth forced a third consecutive fifth game. With any luck, this match would end right here.
But it didn’t. Feng won that fifth game 11-6. A fifth set would be in order. The last Final Four spot would be determined after doubles.
For as climactic as the previous three sets were, this one ended as the first one did. Walker and Martin Allegro (4) stood little chance against Ovtcharov and Meng, who won the first doubles game 11-4, the second game 11-6 and the third game 11-9.
Fulda takes the final spot in the 2025-26 German Table Tennis Cup Final Four, joining TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg (3-6, 6:12), TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (6-3, 12:6) and 1. FC Saarbrücken - TT (6-3, 12:6). Fulda is the only semifinalist who did not compete in last season’s Final Four, having lost to SV Werder Bremen (7-2, 14:4) in a 2024-25 quarterfinal match that also went to doubles.
Fulda will play Bad Homburg in the Final Four on January 4, 2025.
