European Champions League (ECL) is the seasonal table tennis competition for the highest ranked European club teams and is regarded as the most important international club competition in Europe. It is organised by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and replaced the European Club Cup of Champions (ECCC), the previous prominent club competition, since the 1998/99 season. Originally there was only a men's competition; a women's competition was introduced in the 2005/06 season. The competition starts in September and the champions are usually determined in May in recent years.
German club Borussia Düsseldorf is the most successful club in the history of the men's competition, having won the competition seven times and being the runners-up three times, while Belgian club La Villette Charleroi and Russian club Fakel Gazprom both have won five titles.
In the women's competition, TTC Berlin Eastside from Germany has won the league five times, making it the most successful club.
History
The Men's Champions League was first organised in the 1998/99 season, with the aim to replace the European Club Cup of Champions, the previous highest level European club competition held since 1960/61 season. In the second season (99/00), the playing system was changed. The maximum number of games had been reduced from seven to five, and the double had been cancelled, with the aim of having a better presentation on TV and more excitement for the spectators. The competition came into a new era in 2005/06, when the Women's Champions League started with eight clubs and the men's league was expanded from 8 to 16 clubs, enabling a greater number of nations to participate. These changes were undertaken in the hopes of making table tennis more popular in a European level as well as motivating the coming generation. However, the number of teams in the women's competition decreased from eight to six in season 09/10.
In season 10/11, because of the global financial crisis, there were just four teams entering the women's competition, a number lower than the previous year (there were six teams in season 09/10). As a result, the women's competition was suspended for one year. The men's competition was also affected, causing the number of teams to decrease from 16 to 14.
The women's competition resumed in season 11/12, with six teams entering the competition. The number of teams in the men's competition was also restored to 16.
Qualification
Only teams from any top National Leagues have the right to enter in the competition.
For the men's competition, the 4 semi-finalists of the previous year are automatically included in the competition. The remaining 12 places are filled by the 12 teams with the highest total number of ranking points for their three best ranked players on the current world ranking, with only one "foreign player" being considered.
For the women's league, the previous year's two finalists compete in the competition with the six teams with the highest total number of ranking points for their three best ranked players, also with only one "foreign player" being considered.
Moreover, there is a limitation on the number of clubs from the same nations. Not more than 4 or 3 clubs, men's and women's respectively, from the same association are entitled the right to enter in the competition. In the men's competition, if the semi-finalists of the previous year came from the same association and a 5th team has the highest ranking points, the ranking of the final national team championships would decide on the qualification.
Format
The league is completed in two stages. The first stage is the group round robin matches while the second stage is the straight 2-leg knock-out stage.
For the men's league, the 16 teams are divided into four groups within which they play round robin matches. The four teams with the highest ranking points will be seeded and play in the four groups respectively. During the group stage, 2 match points are awarded for a win, 1 for a loss and 0 for a loss in a not played or unfinished match, and the ranking order is determined by the numbers of match points gained.
If two or more teams have gained the same number of match points, their relative position are determined by the results only of the matches between them, taking successively the numbers of match points, the ratios of wins to losses in individual matches, games and points, as far as it is necessary to resolve the order. Lot is used to determine the position if teams are equal in all of the above criteria.