Bremen starts the second half of the season with a defeat against Bad Königshofen
The field in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) is getting closer and closer together: League leaders SV Werder Bremen started the second half of the season on Tuesday with a 1-3 defeat against TSV Bad Königshofen. The bottom team from Lower Franconia is thus gaining new hope in the relegation battle.
Bastian Steger wore the SV Werder Bremen jersey for five years before transferring to TSV Bad Königshofen in 2019. On Tuesday evening, the 44-year-old played for the bottom team in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) in Bremen – and dealt his former club a blow in its battle for a place in the playoffs. Bad Königshofen won the match on the 12th TTBL match day 3-1, securing important points in the relegation battle with its third win of the season. With 6:18 points, Steger and Co. remain at the bottom of the league, but are now only two points behind safety. “The victory is super important for us,” said Bad Königshofen's Daniel Habesohn into the Dyn microphone. “The season hasn't really gone well for us so far. Today we were the luckier team, which we needed in our situation.”
Werder, on the other hand, remains at the top of the table and is now level on points with Borussia Düsseldorf (both 18:6). The record champions won 3:2 at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt on Sunday. “We're not looking at the table, we're looking at ourselves. Anything can happen in the Bundesliga anyway,” said Bremen's Kirill Gerassimenko. “We'll now regain our confidence in training and then hopefully win again on Friday in Bad Homburg.”
Bastian Steger defeats Marcelo Aguirre and Mattias Falck
Before the match, Werder was looking forward to seeing Bastian Steger again. “‘Basti’ is a great guy and still very popular with our fans. It will be nice to see him again,” said Bremen's team manager Sascha Greber. On a personal level, Tuesday's reunion was likely a friendly one, but on a sporting level, Steger became the match winner for the visitors. First, he tied the score at 1-1 with a 3-2 win over Marcelo Aguirre after Mattias Falck had put Bremen ahead with a 3-0 win over Andre Bertelsmeier. In the top singles match against Falck, Steger then secured the away win for the bottom-of-the-table team with a confident 3-1 victory.
Just as important as Steger's successes was the match at position three for Bad Königshofen. Daniel Habesohn engaged in an open and spectacular exchange of blows with Kirill Gerassimenko. The third set was decisive: Habesohn initially squandered three set points, then fended off one from Gerassimenko at 12:13, before sealing the set 15:13 after a time-out. In the fifth set, Habesohn finally earned two match points and moments later celebrated a 3:2 victory to make it 2:1 to Bad Königshofen.
The 12th match day of the Table Tennis Bundesliga will be concluded tomorrow, Wednesday, January 14: Starting at 7 pm, TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau will host TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen. This and all other TTBL matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Match day #12 at a glance
SV Werder Bremen – TSV Bad Königshofen 1:3
Mattias Falck – Andre Bertelsmeier 3:0 (11:5, 11:7, 11:5)
Marcelo Aguirre – Bastian Steger 2:3 (4:11, 15:13, 9:11, 12:10, 9:11)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Daniel Habesohn 2:3 (11:8, 7:11, 13:15, 13:11, 8:11)
Mattias Falck – Bastian Steger 1:3 (8:11, 13:11, 4:11, 8:11)
Borussia Dortmund – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 3:2
Kristian Karlsson – Patrick Franziska 3:0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:8)
Alberto Mino – Fan Zhendong 0:3 (4:11, 9:11, 5:11)
Adam Szudi – Eduard Ionescu 3:1 (11:5, 11:6, 9:11, 11:8)
Kristian Karlsson – Fan Zhendong 0:3 (8:11, 9:11, 3:11)
Cedric Nuytinck/Adam Szudi – Patrick Franziska/Eduard Ionescu 3:1 (11:9, 11:8, 8:11, 11:9)
ASC Grünwettersbach – Post SV Mühlhausen 1:3
Tiago Apolonia – Ovidiu Ionescu 3:2 (12:10, 8:11, 13:11, 6:11, 11:7)Tom Jarvis – Steffen Mengel 1:3 (11:13, 11:6, 10:12, 8:11)Hiroto Shinozuka – Marcos Freitas (9:11, 11:9, 10:12, 8:11)Tobias Hippler – Steffen Mengel 1:3 (8:11, 11:9, 3:11, 6:11)
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – Borussia Düsseldorf 2:3
Romain Ruiz – Li Yongyin 3:2 (5:11, 11:6, 7:11, 12:10, 11:4)Benedikt Duda – Anton Källberg 3:0 (11:7, 14:12, 12:10)Leo de Nodrest – Dang Qiu 0:3 (9:11, 9:11, 4:11)Romain Ruiz – Anton Källberg 1:3 (11:6, 0:11, 5:11, 1:11)Benedikt Duda/Leo de Nodrest – Dang Qiu/Li Yongyin 1:3 (11:5, 6:11, 9:11, 12:14)
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg 1:3
Ruwen Filus – Csaba Andras 0:3 (8:11, 10:12, 11:13)Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Jo Yokotani 3:1 (11:8, 12:10, 8:11, 11:6)Fanbo Meng – Juan Perez 1:3 (4:11, 11:7, 7:11, 11:13)Ruwen Filus – Jo Yokotani 2:3 (13:11, 11:5, 4:11, 9:11, 5:11)
Wednesday, January 14
7 pm: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
All matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Header photo: TSV Bad Königshofen's Bastian Steger (by Patrick Wichmann)