Table tennis legionnaire

Korea presence for Hwang instead of league finale

Missing Bundesliga team UTTC in the final: Jin Ha Wang(Bild: UTTC Salzburg/Palnstorfer)

The timing could hardly be more unfortunate. Men's table tennis club UTTC Salzburg - recently reliably represented in the final four of the Bundesliga and once runners-up - loses one of its best players just before the decisive matches of the season. Jin Ha Wang has been called up from his native Korea.

The starting position is piquant: With one more game to play, Stadt-Salzburg will face Stockerau, who are equal fourth on points, at home in the Sportzentrum Mitte on Friday. "I hear they're coming with an extremely strong team," says chairman Walter Windischbauer. Before third-placed Linz, who are one point better off, come to Salzburg on Sunday. The pressure to qualify for the Final Four lies with the Salzburg team just before these "cut-off games" - after which there are only two more matches to play.