First leg of semi-final

Table tennis aces salvage a draw in a thriller

Abdel Kader Salifou both games.(Bild: UTTC Salzburg)

The first leg of the semi-final in the Austrian table tennis league almost went down the drain for UTTC Salzburg. But the Aces managed to draw after falling behind. If they still want to reach the final, they have to win at home on Wednesday.

"It was one of the most nerve-wracking matches of my career," said UTTC chairman Walter Windischbauer after the 3:3 semi-final thriller in Wiener Neustadt. This means that the chances of reaching the final of the Bundesliga are still intact for the second leg at home today (Sportzentrum Mitte, 18). Abdel Kader Salifou started the match with a 2:3 loss against Shunsuke Okano. His team-mate Amirreza Abbasi then had no chance at all against Frane Kojic (0:3).

Kazuki Yoshiyama secured Salzburg's first win of the evening, reducing the deficit to 1-2 with a 3-2 win against Ivor Ban. Things didn't go any better for the Salifou/Yoshiyama duo in the doubles (0-3). Then the UTTC got their second wind. Amirreza Abbasi fought in his second match and reduced the overall score to 2:3. Salifou made the thriller perfect, equalizing to 3:3 after several missed match points. "Now we have home court advantage. Hopefully many spectators will support us," Windischbauer believes in the final.

Particularly positive: "All the players won a game, nobody dropped off." The 66-year-old was the only Salzburger who didn't want to drive home that night. The players started their journey after the match. Wels beat Linz 4:0 in the second semi-final.