Bad Königshofen wrestles Mühlhausen down
On the 11th matchday of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), TSV Bad Königshofen cracked the Hexenkessel of Post SV Mühlhausen.
In the opening match of the evening, Ovidiu Ionescu and veteran Bastian Steger faced each other. After a hard-fought first set (12:10 for Steger), Ionescu found no means against the tactically clever Steger in the second and third set, who put the guests 1:0 in the lead (10:12, 6:11, 9:11).
The match between Steffen Mengel and Yukiya Uda went the full distance. Mengel, who had caused a sensation with two singles wins against TTC Neu-Ulm just two days before, started furiously with two straight 11:6 set wins. Uda did not let himself be put off by the quick 0:2 deficit and forced Mengel into the deciding set. With eight point wins in a row, Mengel quickly gained a 9:1 lead. Even a timeout by Uda at the score of 4:1 didn't stop Mengel. With 11:3 he set the final point for a 3:2 victory and thus the 1:1 balance.
Daniel Habesohn puts Post SV in the lead
In the third singles match, it was Habesohn who was convincing, especially with his strong backstroke qualities, and extended the lead for Mulhouse with a smooth 3:0 over Filip Zeljko (13:11, 11:7, 11:6). The fourth match of the evening was also the longest. Yukiya Uda started well against Ovidiu Ionescu, but lost the next two sets very close. After that, the Japanese player recovered and made the most of his chances. With a narrow 3:2 victory (4:11, 11:9, 13:11, 8:11, 8:11) he secured the important connecting point for TSV Bad Königshofen to equalize the match 2:2.
Mühlhausen crestfallen, Bad Königshofen beaming
In the final doubles match, Daniel Habesohn and Steffen Mengel for Post SV and Bastian Steger with Filip Zeljko for TSV had to settle the score. After the guests had won two rounds, Habesohn/Mengel recovered and forced Steger/Zeljko into the deciding set. There, the doubles from Bad Königshofen did not show any weakness (6:11, 8:11, 11:8, 11:7, 3:11) and decided the entire match after almost three hours of play with 3:2 the TSV.
Bastien Steger praised the fans and the atmosphere at Post SV: "It was an absolute witch's cauldron today at Post SV Mühlhausen. It was extremely difficult to play and the games were also all very close and some on a knife edge. Today we leave the table as happy winners and are extremely happy that we were able to clinch a victory before Christmas.
The captain of Post SV, Daniel Habesohn, gave the following insight into his feelings directly after the narrow 2:3 defeat: "After a game that you lose so narrowly, you are of course not happy. It was a very long game at eye level. Especially Basti Steger played very well today and hardly made a simple mistake in the doubles. We changed tactics a bit too late and in the end Königshofen won with a good performance."
Despite the first home match defeat, however, Habesohn still found positive words: "For us, the last two months were absolute madness. We've played twelve or thirteen games, Bundesliga plus Champions League - that's been a grueling program and the bottom line is that there are only three of us. That's pretty hard on the bones and we've already felt signs of fatigue, which probably also tipped the scales in the end today. We can be totally satisfied with the first half of the season, but now we need to recharge our batteries and then we'll be back in January."
The 11th matchday in overview
Post SV Mühlhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen 2:3
Ovidiu Ionescu – Bastian Steger 0:3 (10:12, 6:11, 9:11)
Steffen Mengel – Yukiya Uda 3:2 (11:6, 11:6, 5:11, 9:11, 11:3)
Daniel Habesohn – Filip Zeljko 3:0 (13:11, 11:7, 11:6)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Yukiya Uda 2:3 (4:11, 11:9, 13:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Daniel Habesohn / Steffen Mengel - Bastian Steger / Filip Zeljko 2:3 (6:11, 8:11, 11:8, 11:7, 3:11)
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)
1. FC Saarbrücken TT – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:1
Cedric Nuytinck – Ryota Shimmyo 3:1 (11:4, 11:7, 7:11, 11:9)
Darko Jorgic – Deni Kozul 3:1 (8:11, 11:4, 11:4, 11:7)
Tomas Polansky – Ricardo Walther 2:3 (7:11, 4:11, 11:8, 11:8, 7:11)
Cedric Nuytinck – Deni Kozul 3:0 (11:6, 11:9, 11:6)
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:1
Anton Källberg – Alberto Mino 3:0 (11:6, 13:11, 11:3)
Sharath Kamal Achanta – Omar Assar 2:3 (8:11, 11:7, 3:11, 11:2, 11:13)
Timo Boll – Romain Ruiz 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:7)
Anton Källberg – Omar Assar 3:1 (6:11, 11:2, 11:6, 11:6)
Thursday, December 22
6.30 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – 1. FSV Mainz 05
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Neu-Ulm
You can see all the games live on Spontent's channels on Twitch.