Final double decides - Grünwettersbach wins narrowly against Mainz
ASV Grünwettersbach had a home match against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on the first game of Matchday 6 in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) and went into the duel as clear favorites.
After the visitors from Mainz had to admit defeat to Grenzau on Monday, coach Felix Schmidt-Arndt had clear words to say that the game would be analyzed in a tough manner and that he now had to get the boys back on their feet after several defeats. New signing Yongyin Li in particular seems to have taken that to heart this Friday.
Two wins for Mainz newcomer Yongyin Li
Before the match, Li had only won one of his three singles matches so far, but today he defeated Deni Kozul in the fifth set (10:12, 11:8, 9:11, 11:7, 7:11) in a difficult, back-and-forth match to level the score at 1:1, after Mladenovic had been beaten 3:1 (9:11, 11:4, 11:4, 11:7) by Apolonia in the first game.
When Ricardo Walther then put the hosts from Grünwettersbach back in the lead with a smooth 3:0 (11:4, 11:3, 11:8) against Rares Sipos, it was again up to Yongyin Li to equalize. However, he was up against Tiago Apolonia, who had only lost to Hugo Calderano this season, in the duel between the two 1s.
The Portuguese player also got into the match better at the beginning and was able to secure the first set of the match. After that, however, the player from Mainz got into the game and won the next three sets in a row to level the score at 1:3 (11:8, 10:12, 6:11, 9:11). In an interview after the match, he also received words of praise from his team-mate Luka Mladenovic: "Leo played very well today, which makes me very happy for him, because he also had a difficult start to the league."
The decision in the final doubles match
Kozul/Walther and Sipos/Rossi then met in the decisive final match of the day. As Walther also said in the interview afterwards, the ASV Grünwettersbach doubles team was wide awake right from the start and got off to a good start, winning 3:1 (11:5, 9:11, 11:6, 11:8).
Ricardo Walther on the question of whether they had expected the game to be so difficult: "Of course we expected Mainz to be strong. I keep saying it - we don't have any easy teams in the league."
Mainz remain in tenth place in the table with two points after this game and Grünwettersbach are in fourth place for the time being.
Overview of matchday 6
ASV Grünwettersbach – 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:2
Tiago Apolonia – Luka Mladenovic 3:1 (9:11, 11:4, 11:4, 11:7)
Deni Kozul – Yongyin Li 2:3 (10:12, 11:8, 9:11, 11:7, 7:11)
Ricardo Walther – Rares Sipos 3:0 (11:4, 11:3, 11:8)
Tiago Apolonia – Yongyin Li 1:3 (11:8, 10:12, 6:11, 9:11)
Kozul/Walther – Sipos/Rossi 3:1 (11:5, 9:11, 11:6, 11:8)
Saturday, 7. October
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
Sunday, 8. October
1 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
4 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf
Monday, 9. October
7 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – SV Werder Bremen
All TTBL matches are broadcast live on Dyn.
Featured image above: Ricardo Walther from ASV Grünwettersbach (Photo: Hansruedi Lüthi)