3:2 after 0:2: Bremen celebrates last-minute win against Grenzau
After a hard fight, SV Werder Bremen was able to celebrate on Tuesday evening: With the 3:2 victory against TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau, the Hanseatic League celebrated a successful end to the year in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and can dream of play-off participation at the halfway point of the season.
In the meantime, SV Werder Bremen already seemed to be beaten: Mattias Falck and Kirill Gerassimenko only won one set in total in the first two singles on Tuesday evening, so that the hosts quickly found themselves trailing 0:2. Afterwards, however, Werder showed a clear improvement in performance and finally won 3:2 against TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau - which means that the Bremen team will go into the winter break of the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) with 12:10 points and, as the current sixth in the table, have the play-off ranks in their sights.
"It was an incredible match," noted Werder coach Cristian Tamas. "It went back and forth, and luckily we still managed to come back from a 2-0 deficit. It was fantastic and we fought great. But congratulations to Grenzau as well - they played great." The guests, who go into the break with 6:16 points, had their second win in a row in mind in the meantime - on Sunday, they had surprisingly managed a 3:2 against Borussia Düsseldorf - and thus a liberation blow in the relegation fight. "We played very aggressively and actively in the first two games," noted Grenzaus Patrick Baum after the end of the match. "Unfortunately, the game then turned."
Gerassimenko/Pletea make it exciting in the doubles match
The first 60 minutes belonged to the guests from Grenzau on Tuesday. Baum got the break with a 3:0 (11:5, 11:4, 11:9) against Mattias Falck; Maciej Kubik followed up with a 3:1 (9:11, 13:11, 11:9, 11:4) against Kirill Gerassimenko. The TTC's fourth win of the season seemed to be within reach. But then Marcelo Aguirre initiated the turnaround. The 29-year-old won 3:1 (11:3, 13:15, 11:6, 11:7) against Samuel Walker and thus saved Werder into the top singles, in which Falck made short work of Kubik 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:7). In the doubles, Gerassimenko and Cristian Pletea allowed their opponents only three points in the first two sets, but still had to go the full distance. They finally secured Bremen's sixth win of the season with an 11:4 victory in the fifth set to make it 3-2 (11:2, 11:1, 10:12, 7:11, 11:4).
The next matches in the table tennis Bundesliga are scheduled for Wednesday, December 21. Among others, 1st FC Saarbrücken TT and Borussia Düsseldorf then want to gather fresh self-confidence for the Final Four in the German Table Tennis Cup, which will take place on January 8 in the ratiopharm arena Ulm/Neu-Ulm. Finally, the TTBL first round will be concluded on Thursday evening, December 22, with two matches. As usual, all matches will be broadcast live on the Spontent channels on Twitch.
The 11th matchday in overview
SV Werder Bremen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:2
Mattias Falck – Patrick Baum 0:3 (5:11, 4:11, 9:11)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Maciej Kubik 1:3 (11:9, 11:13, 9:11, 4:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Samuel Walker 3:1 (11:3, 13:15, 11:6, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:7)
Kirill Gerassimenko/Cristian Pletea – Samuel Walker/Patrick Baum 3:2 (11:2, 11:1, 10:12, 7:11, 11:4)
Wednesday, December 21
6.30 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen
7 p.m.: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – ASV Grünwettersbach
7.30 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt
Thursday, December 22
6.30 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – 1. FSV Mainz 05
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Neu-Ulm