Borussia Düsseldorf with working victory in top match
It was the top match in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). The front runner against second of the table, the two newly crowned Champions League finalists against each other - the 1st FC Saarbrücken against the record champion Borussia Düsseldorf. In the end, however, it was a laborious victory for the league leaders.
Already in the run-up to the top match of the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL), 1. FC Saarbrücken had to dampen expectations. After Cedric Nuytinck, Darko Jorgic and Patrick Franziska also dropped out due to illness, Saarbrücken announced on its social media channels. In their place, Tomas Polansky, Takuya Jin and Abdullah Talha Yigenler started against the Rhinelanders, who at least did without Timo Boll.
Especially the Turk Yigenler showed a strong performance in his Bundesliga debut for Saarbrücken against Kay Stumper. Although he lost the first set clearly with 5:11, he then took a 2:1 lead. In the decisive fifth set, he fended off five match points, but was unable to use one of his own. And so in the end it was Stumper who clenched his fist in relief and celebrated a successful comeback after an injury break of several weeks. "I wasn't 100 percent fit yet and also haven't been able to train very much in the past three or four weeks. In the second set I had problems with the muscles. In the end, I'm glad I was able to win," Stumper said.
Takuya Jin defeats Dang Qiu
Dang Qiu was also not in top form - unsurprisingly after the spectacular Champions League semifinal last weekend. However, Qiu would not accept fatigue as an excuse after the match. "I would have to lie if I said I wasn't tired two days after the Champions League game. But that's not to diminish Jin's performance," Qiu said. The Japanese took advantage of the opportunity given to him and scored the only Saarbrücken point.
Once again Anton Källberg was unstoppable, defeating both Tomas Polansky and Abdullah Talha Yigenler with ease. Borussia coach Danny Heister was relieved after the match. "This was a work victory for us today and after Sunday of course not easy for everyone. Normally we travel the day before the game. But I wanted to give the guys another day at home, so we organized it as a day trip today. I'm glad we got the points in the bag," Heister said.
With the win, the Rhinelanders extend their lead in the standings. They now have a four-point lead over Saarbrücken. Post SV Mühlhausen and 1. FSV Mainz 05 complete the 18th matchday on Sunday. Before that, SV Werder Bremen and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt will open the next matchday on Thursday. All matches of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) will be broadcast live on the Spontent channels on Twitch.
The 18th matchday in overview
1. FC Saarbrücken-TT – Borussia Düsseldorf 1:3
Abdullah Talha Yigenler – Kay Stumper 2:3 (5:11, 11:7, 11:6, 3:11, 14:16)
Tomas Polansky – Anton Källberg 1:3 (7:11, 6:11, 13:11, 7:11)
Takuya Jin – Dang Qiu 3:1 (11:6, 11:9, 8:11, 12:10)
Abdullah Talha Yigenler – Anton Källberg 0:3 (8:11, 6:11, 7:11)
TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC Neu-Ulm 3:1
Filip Zeljko – Maksim Grebnev 3:1 (12:10, 3:11, 11:9, 11:9)
Bastian Steger – Lev Katsman 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:8)
Martin Allegro – Vladimir Sidorenko 1:3 (14:12, 5:11, 9:11, 7:11)
Filip Zeljko – Lev Katsman 3:1 (11:9, 11:8, 9:11, 11:6)
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – SV Werder Bremen 3:0
Yi-Hsin Feng – Christian Pletea 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:8)
Patrick Baum – Mattias Falck 3:2 (11:7, 4:11, 11:9, 4:11, 11:7)
Maciej Kubik – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:2 (7:11, 14:12, 11:9, 6:11, 11:6)
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt –TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 2:3
Benedikt Duda – Fan Bo Meng 3:0 (13:11, 11:6, 11:5)
Alberto Mino – Ruwen Filus 2:3 (11:6, 12:10, 7:11, 6:11, 5:11)
Omar Assar – Wong Chun Ting 0:3 (7:11, 3:11, 3:11)
Benedikt Duda – Ruwen Filus 3:1 (11:7, 11:8, 9:11, 11:4)
Alberto Mino / Omar Assar - Wong Chun Ting / Fan Bo Meng 2:3 (2:11, 6:11, 12:10, 11:6, 10:12)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:1
Can Akkuzu – Deni Kozul 3:1 (11:7, 11:8, 7:11, 11:4)
Simon Gauzy – Wang Xi 3:0 (11:2, 11:1, 11:7)
Alvaro Robles – Ricardo Walther 1:3 (7:11, 11:9, 7:11, 9:11)
Can Akkuzu – Wang Xi 3:1 (11:8, 11:6, 5:11, 11:5)
Sunday, February 26
3 p.m.: 1. FSV Mainz 05 – Post SV Mühlhausen