Bergneustadt move into the play-off places
After a long spell of falling short of their own expectations in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt have climbed into fourth place and a play-off spot on Matchday 14 thanks to a 3:1 win over TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau. Romain Ruiz delivered a dramatic finishing flourish, sealing the result with an impressive comeback.
After converting match point, Ruiz whipped up the crowd, though the Burstenhalle hardly needed any extra encouragement. The fans celebrated the Frenchman’s remarkable rally against Maciej Kubik: Ruiz had trailed 0:2 in sets and was down 1:5 in the third before turning the match around in style. “I’m glad I was able to get the win in the end,” Ruiz said to Dyn after the match, adding: “I wasn’t feeling great, I was sick last week. It was hard to fight because I didn’t have much energy.”
Ruiz’s own start, however, was far from ideal. Against Feng Yi-Hsin, Bergneustadt’s No. 1 won the first set but could not deliver in the key moments thereafter, losing in four as the Taiwanese put the visitors in front. It proved to be the only point of the night for the bottom club. “We’re fighting for survival and we simply have to keep going,” said Samuel Walker, who did not feature in the line-up as the No. 4.
Bergneustadt set sights on Dortmund showdown
The equaliser came from Bergneustadt’s other Frenchman, Leo de Nodrest, who edged Kubik in five sets. The Pole, who lost both of his singles, let slip a 2:1 lead and completely fell away in the decider, which Grenzau lost 0:11. Benedikt Duda, freshly back from Oman, had few problems in a 3:0 win over Martin Allegro.
With the job done, Bergneustadt’s focus immediately shifted to the coming week, when the form team Borussia Dortmund visit the Burstenhalle. Dortmund, defending champions Ochsenhausen and Bergneustadt are all level on 16:12 points. Thanks to the better match record, Bergneustadt currently lead the trio in fourth place. “If Dortmund come with a full team, on paper they’re better than us. We’ve beaten the best teams so far, so we’re not afraid of anyone,” Ruiz said.
Matchday 14 fixtures
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau 3:1
Romain Ruiz – Feng Yi-Hsin 1:3 (11:8, 10:12, 9:11, 8:11)
Leo de Nodrest – Maciej Kubik 3:2 (8:11, 11:9, 13:11, 9:11, 11:0)
Benedikt Duda – Martin Allegro 3:0 (11:9, 11:6, 11:6)
Romain Ruiz – Maciej Kubik 3:2 (7:11, 9:11, 11:7, 11:4, 11:4)
Borussia Dusseldorf – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg 3:0
Dang Qiu – Juan Perez 3:0 (11:5, 11:4, 11:3)
Li Yongyin – Csaba Andras 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:8)
Anton Kallberg – Ivor Ban 3:0 (12:10, 11:6, 11:7)
SV Werder Bremen – ASC Grunwettersbach 3:2
Kirill Gerassimenko – Tobias Hippler 3:2 (11:5, 12:14, 10:12, 14:12, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Tiago Apolonia 2:3 (4:11, 8:11, 11:2, 11:6, 8:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Tom Jarvis 3:1 (11:8, 11:6, 15:17, 11:8)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Tiago Apolonia 0:3 (9:11, 8:11, 9:11)
Falck/Bertrand – Walther/Jarvis 3:1 (11:4, 11:3, 8:11, 11:8)
Borussia Dortmund – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:1
Anders Lind – Tiago Abiodun 1:3 (11:3, 6:11, 8:11, 12:14)
Adam Szudi – Iulian Chirita 3:1 (12:10, 11:7, 8:11, 11:5)
Kristian Karlsson – Leonardo Iizuka 3:0 (11:5, 11:4, 11:5)
Anders Lind – Iulian Chirita 3:1 (11:5, 5:11, 11:8, 11:8)
1. FC Saarbrucken-TT – TSV Bad Konigshofen 3:1
Eduard Ionescu – Hermann Muhlbach 3:2 (6:11, 12:14, 11:9, 11:4, 11:7)
Cedric Meissner – Filip Zeljko 3:2 (6:11, 14:12, 6:11, 11:8, 11:0)
Lichen Wang – Bastian Steger 2:3 (10:12, 11:7, 13:11, 8:11, 7:11)
Eduard Ionescu – Filip Zeljko 3:1 (11:6, 6:11, 11:9, 11:7)
Post SV Muhlhausen – TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:2
Steffen Mengel – Fanbo Meng 3:1 (13:11, 8:11, 11:8, 12:10)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 2:3 (11:9, 8:11, 11:7, 6:11, 13:15)
Liao Cheng-Ting – Ruwen Filus 2:3 (12:10, 13:11, 9:11, 10:12, 7:11)
Steffen Mengel – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:7)
Liao/Ionescu – Meng/Meng 3:1 (9:11, 12:10, 11:9, 11:7)
All matches are streamed live on Dyn.
Picture: Romain Ruiz of TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (Photo: Ulrich Höfer)