3:1 in Bremen: Duda and Ruiz let Bergneustadt rejoice
At the start of the 19th matchday of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt celebrated its seventh win of the season: With the 3:1 at SV Werder Bremen, Benedikt Duda's team will finish the matchday in tenth place in the table.
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt took the next step towards staying in the table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) on Thursday evening. Although the team around Benedikt Duda remains on the eleventh place in the table for the time being despite the 3:1 victory at SV Werder Bremen. However, due to the duel between the tenth-placed TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and the ninth-placed TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau (14:22 points each) later in the match day, Bergneustadt (14:24 points) will still move up to tenth place on the basis of the better match ratio. Bremen, on the other hand, who conceded their third defeat in a row, have fallen back to eighth place for the time being and will probably have to bury their dreams of a possible play-off participation for good.
"Playing against Bremen is always incredibly difficult," said Benedikt Duda after the game. "I'm very happy about our performance and that we got these important points. I hope we can build on that in the next games." Bremen's Mattias Falck stated, "Congratulations to Bergneustadt. They played very strong, and Benedikt Duda in particular had a fantastic evening."
Duda first beats Pletea, then Falck
Two factors were decisive for Bergneustadt's away success. Firstly, an almost perfect evening from Benedikt Duda. The 35th-ranked player in the world first of all made it 1-1 with his 3:1 (11:2, 5:11, 11:8, 11:9) victory over Cristian Pletea, before he finally won the top singles match as well. Against Mattias Falck, Duda earned five match points and used the first one to win 3:1 (13:11, 11:6, 8:11, 11:5). Second success factor of the guests was, on the other hand, Romain Ruiz, who stopped Kirill Gerassimenko's chase in the second set and won 3:1 (3:11, 12:10, 11:9, 11:8). For Bremen, Falck's 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:3) win in the opening singles against Omar Assar thus remained the only point of the evening.
The next match in the table tennis Bundesliga will take place on Friday, February 24. Then the TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell receives the TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau from 19 o'clock. The action continues on Saturday, February 25, with the clash between Post SV Mühlhausen and Borussia Düsseldorf (3 p.m.), before Mühlhausen takes on 1. FSV Mainz 05 the following day (3 p.m.). All matches will be broadcast live on the Spontent channels on Twitch.
The 19th matchday at a glance
SV Werder Bremen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 1:3
Mattias Falck – Omar Assar 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:3)
Cristian Pletea – Benedikt Duda 1:3 (2:11, 11:5, 8:11, 9:11)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Romain Ruiz 1:3 (11:3, 10:12, 9:11, 8:11)
Mattias Falck – Benedikt Duda 1:3 (11:13, 6:11, 11:8, 5:11)
Friday, February 24
7 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
Saturday, February 25
3 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf
Saturday, March 4
7 p.m.: TTC Neu-Ulm – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
Sunday, March 5
1 p.m.: ASV Grünwettersbach – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
4.30 p.m.: 1. FSV Mainz 05 – TSV Bad Königshofen