Those who have been following Hugo have certainly seen his results in the Bundesliga, as the German table tennis league is called, and in the German Cup. But we know that not everyone knows very much about how these competitions work, their importance and the big names who compete in them. Do you want to know more about these events that are part of Hugo’s calendar? It’s all here:

A long career in Germany

Before talking about the competitions themselves, it’s worth remembering that Hugo has a long history in German table tennis. He joined Liebherr Ochsenhausen in 2014, at the age of 18, and since then had only two short periods at other clubs: Orenburg, from Russia, for part of the 2021/22 season, and Kinoshita Meister Tokyo, from Japan, in 2022/23.

Hugo was signed by Ochsenhausen with a big responsibility: to replace South Korean Ryu Seung-min, Olympic champion in 2004. He quickly took on a starring role in the team, leading them to the Bundesliga and German Cup titles in the 2018/19 season. They were the club’s first trophies after a 15-year hiatus.

During this period, Hugo also led Ochsenhausen to four other finals: two in the Bundesliga (2017/18 and 2019/20) and two in the Cup (2019/20 and 2020/21).

The Bundesliga

Played since the 1940s, the Bundesliga is the most traditional and important national table tennis league outside Asia. Bringing together 10 of the world’s top 30 ranked players, the competition has a very high technical level. Here’s a look at the top-ranked players in the league:

• Hugo (6th in the world ranking)
• Patrick Franziska (11th)
• Dang Qiu (13th)
• Darko Jorgic (15th)
• Dimitrij Ovtcharov (17th)
• Shunsuke Togami (19th)
• Benedikt Duda (22nd)
• Kao Cheng-Jui (23rd)
• Anton Kallberg (27th)
• Anders Lind (29th)

The Bundesliga has 12 teams. Each season, they face each other in a round-robin qualifying phase, totaling 22 games apiece. The top four teams advance to the semi-finals, which are played over three legs. The final takes place in a one-off tie. The last-placed team is relegated to the second division.

Each tie is played over a best of five matches, with up to four singles and one doubles, structured as follows:

Home team (players A, B and C) vs Away team (X, Y and Z)

• A x Y
• B x X
• C x Z
• A x X
• Doubles

For the doubles clash, the pairs on each side are picked by the coaches after the second match, and players A and X cannot play in this match.

Teams can take more than three players to the match and may make substitutions. Substitutions can be made after the second match, but only for the fourth match (A vs X). Subs must not have played in any of the first three matches.

The German Cup

The German Cup brings together 16 teams: 12 from the Bundesliga and another four from lower divisions. The competition is only played on a knockout basis, starting from the Round of 16, always in one-leg ties, in the same format as the league.

The semi-finals and finals are played on a single day and in the same arena, in an event called Final Four.

Upcoming matches

In this last week of October, Hugo will have important challenges in Germany. On Tuesday 29th, Ochsenhausen will face Grünwettersbach in the Cup quarter-finals. On Thursday, October 31, its opponent will be Borussia Düsseldorf, in a clash involving one of the greatest rivalries in German table tennis.

Both matches will be live streamed here on Hugo’s website!