Countdown to the new TTBL season: five perspectives before the start
While the medals are being decided at the Olympic Games in Paris, the new season in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) is already in the starting blocks. The 2024/25 season kicks off on August 23 with the match between SV Werder Bremen and newly promoted Borussia Dortmund. Here are five highlights from the new season.
The 1st matchday
The 2024/25 season kicks off with a historic match: Borussia Dortmund will celebrate its debut in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) on Friday, August 23. The newly promoted team will kick off the new season with an away match at SV Werder Bremen. BVB's first home match will be against ASC Grünwettersbach on match day 3, September 8.
Matchday 1 continues on Sunday, August 25, with a packed day of table tennis: runners-up 1. FC Saarbrücken TT start at TTC OE Bad Homburg (2 p.m.); last year's semi-finalists TSV Bad Königshofen welcome Post SV Mühlhausen (3.30 p.m.); defending champions Borussia Düsseldorf start against ASC Grünwettersbach (5 p.m.). The top match of match day 1 will take place on Monday, August 26. Two play-off contenders, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell with new signing Dimitrij Ovtcharov, will meet (6 p.m.). The season opener between TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau (7 p.m.) will conclude the season.
The teams
Fans can look forward to two new teams in the new season. Not only debutant Borussia Dortmund is a newcomer, but TTC OE Bad Homburg is also back. The team from Hesse was relegated from the TTBL in 2022 after two years and is now celebrating its return. The TTBL now has twelve teams again, with the clubs battling for points, sets and victories on 22 match days.
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell only finished in tenth place last season, but with the additions of Ovtcharov and Kao Cheng-Jui as well as Chuang Chih-Yuan, Ruwen Filus and Fanbo Meng, they are now aiming to return to the play-offs. TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen also want to return to the top four after finishing sixth in the previous season. There is likely to be tough competition from last year's semi-finalists TSV Bad Königshofen and SV Werder Bremen as well as Post SV Mühlhausen - and of course from the title favorites Borussia Düsseldorf and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT. TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, ASC Grünwettersbach and TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau are hoping to at least stay in the same division.
The top stars
Year after year, Timo Boll is the focus of special attention, and in the new season, this focus will be even stronger. After ending his international career following the Olympic Games, the table tennis legend is entering his final season in the TTBL. "I'm really looking forward to next season - going to the halls everywhere again, saying goodbye everywhere," Boll had already said at the Liebherr TTBL final.
A total of 17 of the 50 best players in the world rankings play in the TTBL, including Olympic fourth-placed Hugo Calderano (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen), the German national players Patrick Franziska (1. FC Saarbrücken TT) and Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), the 2021 doubles world champion Mattias Falck (SV Werder Bremen), Europe Top 16 winner Darko Jorgic (1. FC Saarbrücken TT) and many more.
Dyn
In the new season, all TTBL and German Table Tennis Cup matches can once again be seen live and exclusively on Dyn. In addition to table tennis, the sports channel also broadcasts numerous other sports, including the national leagues of basketball, handball, field hockey and volleyball as well as numerous top international events. "In my opinion, the next stage of growth will be to make the content outside of live broadcasts even bigger, more attractive, broader, more interactive and more social," said Dyn CEO Andreas Heyden in our recent interview. "To this end, we will also pursue 'Move your sport' more intensively and show what we are doing for our mission described at the beginning to bring the positive values of sport to society."
The Dyn annual subscription costs 12.50 euros per month, while the monthly cancelable subscription costs 14.50 euros. By the way: 10% of the net subscription revenue is distributed to the national partner leagues as part of the 'Move your sport' program, where it is used specifically to promote young talent.
The top events
Who will be German champion? Who will win the cup? At the heart of every season are, of course, the title decisions - and therefore the top events.
The cup final is expected to be held again in January as a final four event, so fans can look forward to a thrilling day of table tennis with semi-finals and the grand final. The crowning finale of the season will be the TTBL final in the summer, when the German championship will be decided - possibly one last time with Timo Boll.
Der 1. Spieltag in der Übersicht
Friday, August 23
7 p.m.: SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Dortmund
Sunday, August 25
2 p.m.: TTC OE Bad Homburg – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
3.30 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – Post SV Mühlhausen
5 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – ASC Grünwettersbach
Monday, August 26
6 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
Featured images: (Photos: BeLa Sportfoto)