Fakel Gazproma wins its second Table Tennis ECL Cup

On April 26 Fakel Gazproma club won in Orenburg its second consecutive European Champions League Cup in table tennis. In the final match the Russian team competed with French Chartres.

A total of twelve teams fought for the Cup. At the group stage Fakel Gazproma competed with German Saarbrucken and French Hennebont. Having beaten their adversaries, the sportsmen from Orenburg advanced to the quarter-final as the group winners. Fakel Gazproma’s victory over German Liebherr Ochsenhausen got them into the semi-final where the Orenburg table tennis players won the match against French Pontoise-Cergy.

Chartres were unbeaten on their way to the final as well. Fakel Gazproma defeated Chartres 3:1 during the first final match in France. The French team won the rematch in Orenburg with the same score of 3:1. To decide a winner in situations like these additional criteria are considered – each ball is counted. Summing up the scores of away and home games, the sportsmen from Orenburg held the lead.

The ECL Cup was presented to Fakel Gazproma by Aleksandar Matkovic, Vice President of the European Table Tennis Union.

“This is for the first time that each ball had to be counted. But this is what makes sport interesting and the victory – precious. The first victory could be by chance, but the second one is an evidence of mastery,” commented on the match results Sergey Ivanov, Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg, President of Fakel Gazproma table tennis club.