Filip Zeljko wins key match
Only two points separate TSV Bad Königshofen and SV Werder Bremen in the table of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). However, there was no real excitement on match day 12 in the Shakehands Arena. Bremen had to travel home to the north with a clear 0:3 defeat. Lower Franconia, on the other hand, enjoyed a very special debut.
TSV Bad Königshofen had to wait a long time for this moment. At the start of the second half of the season on match day 12 of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), the time had finally come: Japanese player Jin Ueda made his debut for the club from Lower Franconia against SV Werder Bremen - and did so very successfully.
Ueda did not need any time to familiarise himself with the game. He raced ahead 5:1 in the very first rallies against Kirill Gerassimenko. Although the Kazakh came close again, he was unable to win the set - or either of the other two rounds. Ueda left no doubt that he would leave the table as the winner and dominated the match.
Mattias Falck surprisingly loses to Filip Zeljko
However, the second singles match between Filip Zeljko and Mattias Falck was decisive for TSV's clear home win. The favoured Swede took the lead twice - Zeljko equalised twice. In the fifth set, the Swede's thread was broken. Zeljko took a 4:1 lead, extended it to 9:2 and won 11:6. A defeat that Bremen had not planned for, as coach Cristian Tamas admitted after the match: "We had the key game on our side."
As Marcelo Aguirre also lost 3-0 to Bastian Steger after the break, Tamas could only recognise the clear defeat. "The result is perhaps a little too high, but ultimately a deserved victory for Bad Königshofen," congratulated the Bremen player.
The 12th matchday will not be completed until next weekend. On Friday, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will host Post SV Mühlhausen, before 1. FC Saarbrücken TT play at 1. FSV Mainz 05 one day later.
All TTBL matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Overview of the 12th matchday
TSV Bad Königshofen – SV Werder Bremen 3:0
Jin Ueda – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:0 (11:9, 11:7, 11:6)
Filip Zeljko – Mattias Falck 3:2 (6:11, 11:6, 9:11, 11:7, 11:6)
Bastian Steger – Marcelo Aguirre 3:0 (11:9, 11:9, 11:7)
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:1
Chih-Yuan Chuang – Benedikt Duda 0:3 (8:11, 3:11, 7:11)
Fanbo Meng – Romain Ruiz 3:2 (4:11, 10:12, 11:6, 11:9, 12:10)
Ruwen Filus – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:1 (11:9, 14:12, 4:11, 11:6)
Chih-Yuan Chuang – Romain Ruiz 3:2 (7:11, 11:9, 6:11, 11:8, 11:4)
ASV Grünwettersbach – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 2:3
Tiago Apolonia – Samuel Walker 0:3 (2:11, 9:11, 7:11)
Deni Kozul – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (4:11, 11:7, 11:9, 4:11, 4:11)
Ricardo Walther – Maciej Kubik 3:2 (14:11, 9:11, 11:7, 7:11, 11:7)
Tiago Apolonia – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:2 (11:6, 6:11, 7:11, 11:9, 11:8)
Deni Kozul/Ricardo Walther – Maciej Kubik/Samuel Walker 2:3 (17:15, 11:6, 8:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Friday, January 12
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – Post SV Mühlhausen
Saturday, January 13
7 p.m.: 1. FSV Mainz 05 – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
Featured image above: Filip Zeljko (Photo: Rudi Dümpert)