Roskilde and Lille Rock HYLO ETTU Champions League with Stunning Upsets - European table tennis union

The opening leg of the HYLO ETTU Champions League Men Round of 16 produced a series of surprises on Friday evening, with Denmark's Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61 stunning last season's runners-up Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier 3-0 and France's Lille Metropole TT defeating defending champions 1. Roskilde delivered the biggest shock of the evening, overcoming fourth seeds Nîmes/Montpellier in front of 500 spectators.

The French side arrived without European champions Alexis and Félix LEBRUN, but the Danish club still produced an outstanding performance to secure a commanding advantage ahead of the return leg. Experienced Swede Jens LUNDQVIST set the tone with a 3-1 victory over Rémi BETELU.

Anders ERIKSSON followed with another four-game success against Grégoire JEAN, recovering after losing the opening game 3-11. Tobias RASMUSSEN completed the remarkable result by defeating Felipe DOTI ARADO in straight games.

Roskilde coach Allan BENTSEN could hardly hide his delight. "What a fantastic evening in Roskilde!

We were hoping for some great table tennis and felt we might have a reasonable chance, especially with Nîmes/Montpellier arriving without the LEBRUN brothers. But to win 3-0 was simply amazing.

All my players performed at an exceptionally high level. The atmosphere was fantastic, with 500 spectators enjoying top-class table tennis.

It was a wonderful evening for our club." Lille Metropole TT added another major surprise by overcoming defending champions and top seeds 1. Romain BRARD gave Lille an excellent start with a 3-1 victory over Álvaro ROBLES, but Patrick FRANZISKA quickly brought the German side level by defeating Amir Hossein HODAEI in straight games.

Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA restored Lille's lead with a 3-0 success against Albert VILARDELL before FRANZISKA claimed his second victory of the evening, overcoming BRARD to force a decisive fifth encounter. HODAEI then delivered the winning point against ROBLES, completing a memorable victory for the French club and putting the reigning champions under pressure ahead of the return leg.

The surprises continued in Belgium, where TTC Sokah Hoboken edged eighth seeds Real Club Priego Kutxabank (ESP) 3-2 in another five-match contest.