Ma Lin vs Koji Matsushita 2000-03-20

March 20th, 2000, SVS Niederösterreich and Borussia Düsseldorf met in the champions league final! It was the Japanese defence artist Koji Matsushita who was the match winner for the German team playing under protest because the Austrian team brought in the Chinese star Ma Lin. The Japanese top player was surprisingly nominated to position two of the team, normally occupied by Joerg Rosskopf. But the decision of the German coach Andreas Preuss was exactly right. Matsushita defeated Ma Lin with 22-20, 15-21, 21-14 in an outstanding match. This was the decisive break for Borussia Düsseldorf and a great shock for the 1100 Austrian spectators. Only a few hours before the first service Ma Lin received the permission of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) to play the final of the Liebherr European Champions Laegue. Still on Friday, the ETTU had withdrawn with immediate effect the eligibility of the Chinese players Ma Lin and Liu Guoliang for the Austrian club because both players are supposed to have played at t