Hugo’s first challenge in 2025 could already be worth a trophy: he will play with Liebherr Ochsenhausen in the German Cup Final Four this Saturday, January 4. Around 5,000 fans are expected for the matches that will lead to the champion of this traditional competition.

+ Read more: Everything you need to know about Bundesliga and German Cup

THE GERMAN CUP

The German Cup is the second most important competition in German table tennis. The 2024/2025 edition of the tournament brought together 16 teams: 12 from the Bundesliga and another four from lower divisions. 

Ranked sixth in the World Rankings, Hugo has already reached the German Cup Final Four five times with Liebherr Ochsenhausen, winning one title in 2019. Together, they have also played two finals (2020 and 2021) and two semi-finals (2018 and 2024).

COMPETITION SYSTEM

The competition is only played on a knockout basis, starting from the Round of 16, always in one-leg ties.

The Final Four will have the semi-finals and final on the same day. Each tie is played over a best of five matches, with up to four singles and one doubles, structured as follows:

Team 1 (players A, B and C) vs. Team 2 (X, Y and Z)

• A vs. Y
• B vs. X
• C vs. Z
• A vs. X
• Doubles

THE TEAMS

Here are the teams that will be in the Final Four in pursuit of the German Cup title:

Liebherr Ochsenhausen

Ochsenhausen have won the German Cup on four occasions, most recently in 2019 under Hugo’s leadership. He is joined in the team by Frenchman Simon Gauzy (37th in World Rankings), Japan’s Shunsuke Togami (21st), Brazil’s Leonardo Iizuka (81st) and Portugal’s Tiago Abiodun (228th).

Note that only one non-European player is allowed to take part in each match. Therefore, Togami and Iizuka cannot be in the line-up together. Hugo, who has Portuguese citizenship, is on the EU list.

Bad Homburg

Ochsenhausen’s semi-final opponent, Bad Homburg will be playing the Final Four for the first time. The team’s main players are Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson (73rd), France’s Can Akkuzu (131st), Japan’s Yuma Tsuboi and Hungary’s Csaba Andras (157th).

Werder Bremen

This is the first time Werder Bremen will play the Final Four since 2019. The team has never won the German Cup, but has been in two finals, in 2008 and 2009. Their current squad includes Sweden’s Mattias Falck (61st), Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko (39th), Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre (161st) and Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica (318th).

Saarbrücken-TT

Two-time German Cup winners (2012 and 2022), Saarbrücken-TT are coming off solid seasons in German and European competitions. Their top players are Germany’s Patrick Franziska (10th), Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic (11th), Japan’s Yuto Muramatsu (124th) and Romania’s Eduard Ionescu (62nd).

SCHEDULE

Check out the schedule for the German Cup Final Four this Saturday (Local time):

• Semi-final | 11am: Liebherr Ochsenhausen v Bad Homburg
• Semi-final | 11am: Werder Bremen v Saarbrücken-TT
• Final | After the semis

HOW TO FOLLOW

Liebherr Ochsenhausen’s semi-final and the final will be broadcast here on Hugo’s website.

You can also follow our coverage on Hugo’s WhatsApp channel and also on his broadcast channel on Instagram.