by Simon Daish
Szekszard AC suffered a narrow defeat on match day six, but a fine performance from Cheng I-Ching sent the Hungarian team through to the last eight in dramatic fashion.
Despite all three of the ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly competitors picking up a win on the night it was the home side which secured the runner up spot in Group C as Cheng I-Ching emerged victorious over Barbora Balazova (11-8, 11-9, 12-10) and Galia Dvorak (11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5) to eliminate the French outfit from the competition thanks to a superior head-to-head record.
However, while it was disappointment for ALCL TT Grand-Quevilly there positive outcomes for two other French sides in action with TT Saint Quentinois and CP Lyssois Lille Metropole qualifying from their respective groups.
Daniela Monteiro Dodean put in a standout display for TT Saint Quentinois, registering a brace of wins against Renata Strbikova (11-4, 11-6, 12-10) and Guo Lin (9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 13-11) while Britt Eerland also added a victory to the cause as the hosts saw off SKST Mart Hodonin – Stavoimpex by a 3-2 scoreline in the concluding fixture of Group D.
CP Lyssois Lille Metropole proved too strong for TuS Bad Driburg earlier in the campaign and it was a similar outcome in the final round of Group A matches as the visiting German club suffered its fourth consecutive defeat.
The hosts got off to a bright start with Maria Xiao claiming a straight games success against Sarah De Nutte (11-8, 11-8, 15-13) before back-to-back wins for Bernadette Szocs and Agnes Le Lannic over Nina Mittelham (6-11, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7) and Sophia Klee (11-7, 11-6, 11-9) brought the tie to a close.
Linz AG Froschberg required just three games to book their place in the quarter-finals, a feat the Austria team achieved.
Sofia Polcanova and Linda Bergstrom managed to pick up two games from the opening two fixtures leaving the away side needing just one more game to qualify from Group B and Zhang Dongying’s fine comeback effort against Tetyana Bilenko (11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 12-14) proved enough to send Linz through.
European Champions League: Results and Fixtures