by Simon Daish
Panagiotis Gionis put the team ahead following a four games triumph over Darko Jorgic (11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9) before impressive outings from Marek Badowski and Pavel Sirucek against Patrick Franziska (7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-5) and Liao Cheng-Ting (9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7) guaranteed the two points for the hosts.
The other Group C fixture saw Angers Vaillante TT claim its first win of the tournament as Roskilde Bordtennis BTK61 slumped to a second successive defeat. Jon Persson was the standout player of the match, beating Michael Maze (11-4, 11-4, 6-11, 14-12) and Zhai Yujia (11-4, 11-8, 11-8) while Jens Lundqvist emerged successful against Tamas Lakatos (11-6, 9-11, 11-13, 11-6, 14-12).
Facing a difficult encounter against major group rivals AS Pontoise-Cergy, reigning champions Borussia Düsseldorf pulled off a fine 3-1 away victory with a brace of wins courtesy of Timo Boll against Can Akkuzu (3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8) and Mattias Falck (11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6) proving crucial. Kristian Karlsson also contributed a positive result for the visitors, beating Mattias Falck in an exciting contest (9-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 13-11).
TTC Fakel Gazprom Orenburg returned from its trip to France with a 3-0 victory over GV Hennebont with Dimitrij Ovtcharov’s encounter against Liam Pitchford proving to be the standout battle of the night (9-11, 11-13, 11-9, 14-12, 14-12). Elsewhere, Russian side TTSC UMMC registered a 3-0 win away to K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo, Stella Sport La Romagne prevailed 3-1 at home to SPG Walter Wels and Sporting Clube de Portugal edged out TTC Ostrava 2016 in a 3-2 thriller.
The Group D fixture between Post SV Mühlhausen and Eslovs Ai Bordtennis took place on the evening of Friday 19th October with a brace from Daniel Habesohn helping the home side to a 3-2 win.