First win of the second half of the season: Mühlhausen fights off Bremen
At the end of the 14th matchday of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), Post SV Mühlhausen landed their first win of the second half of the season and at the same time a liberating blow. On Monday, the Thuringians won 3:2 at SV Werder Bremen and thus moved up to fifth place in the table.
Post SV Mühlhausen had recently failed to win twice in a row and thus squandered a better starting position in the race for the play-offs. While coach Erik Schreyer's team was still in fourth place at the turn of the year, it had recently slipped back into mid-table after two defeats. Mühlhausen now showed an important sign of life on Monday evening: At the end of the 14th matchday of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), Mühlhausen celebrated its seventh win of the season with a 3:2 victory at SV Werder Bremen. The Thuringians had made it into the play-offs in each of the last two years.
With 14:12 points, Mühlhausen improved to fifth place in the table and is only behind TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, who have the same number of points, due to their poorer game ratio. Benedikt Duda's team had surprisingly won 3:2 against Borussia Düsseldorf on Sunday. "There was a lot at stake for both teams, as they both want to make the play-offs," said Mühlhausen's Steffen Mengel after the match. "That's why it was a kind of key game today - and we're accordingly happy to have won." For Werder, on the other hand, it was their fourth defeat in a row and a serious setback in the battle for the top four. With 12:14 points, Bremen are eighth in the table. "I can't blame the team," said coach Cristian Tamas. "We threw everything into it today and fought to the last ball. Despite the defeat, it wasn't a bad game from us."
"Super job": Irvin Bertrand wins in singles and doubles
Post SV coach Schreyer proved to be particularly fortunate with the inclusion of Irvin Bertrand. One day before his 24th birthday, the Frenchman made his second appearance of the season and put in two great performances. Including the decisive one: In the doubles with Steffen Mengel, Bertrand clinched the third win for the visitors, ending with a 3:1 (11:9, 11:8, 8:11, 11:8) against Kirill Gerassimenko and Marcelo Aguirre. Incidentally, it was Post SV's first doubles match of the season; all previous games had gone to a maximum of four matches. "You could tell in training that he's playing better and better," said Steffen Mengel afterwards about Bertrand and his comeback after a long injury break. "He did a great job today."
Before the doubles match, Bertrand had made the break for the guests in the opening singles. This time he won 3:1 (11:9, 7:11, 11:6, 11:7) against Mattias Falck, against whom he had lost outright in his first match of the season in November. Ovidiu Ionescu won the other singles match for Mühlhausen with a 3:2 (11:8, 6:11, 11:8, 6:11, 11:7), also against Falck. The singles successes of Aguirre and Gerassimenko were not enough for Bremen. Aguirre equalized with a 3:0 (11:7, 12:10, 11:9) against Daniel Habesohn to make it 1:1 in the meantime; Gerassimenko won 3:0 (11:2, 11:8, 13:11) against Mengel.
The table tennis Bundesliga continues with the 15th matchday, which starts next Friday, February 9. Two top matches are scheduled from 7 p.m. onwards: in one match, league leaders 1. FC Saarbrücken TT will host third-placed TSV Bad Königshofen, and in the other Borussia Düsseldorf will play Post SV Mühlhausen. These and all other TTBL matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Overview of the 14th matchday
1. FC Saarbrücken-TT – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:0
Eduard Ionescu – Thibault Poret 3:2 (3:11, 15:13, 5:11, 11:3, 11:7)
Patrick Franziska – Ruwen Filus 3:0 (11:6, 11:2, 11:2)
Darko Jorgic – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (18:16, 11:8, 11:5)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen 2:3
Hugo Calderano – Filip Zeljko 3:1 (11:3, 14:12, 9:11, 11:6)
Simon Gauzy – Jin Ueda 3:0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:7)
Samuel Kulczycki – Bastian Steger 2:3 (6:11, 11:6, 12:10, 9:11, 8:11)
Hugo Calderano – Jin Ueda 1:3 (15:17, 11:7, 8:11, 7:11)
Simon Gauzy/Samuel Kulczycki – Bastian Steger/Filip Zeljko 2:3 (11:6, 7:11, 9:11, 11:8, 9:11)
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:2
Romain Ruiz – Dang Qiu 3:1 (8:11, 11:8, 11:7, 11:5)
Benedikt Duda – Anton Källberg 3:2 (3:11, 11:8, 12:10, 7:11, 11:9)
Adrien Rassenfosse – Kay Stumper 0:3 (12:14, 7:11, 6:11)
Romain Ruiz – Anton Källberg 1:3 (11:2, 6:11, 6:11, 5:11)
Adrien Rassenfosse/Benedikt Duda – Dang Qiu/Kay Stumper 3:0 (13:11, 11:8, 11:8)
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:2
Feng Yi-Hsin – Carlo Rossi 3:0 (12:10, 11:5, 11:6)
Samuel Walker – Li Yongyin 0:3 (3:11, 7:11, 6:11)
Maciej Kubik – Rares Sipos 2:3 (9:11, 11:2, 9:11, 11:9, 9:11)
Feng Yi-Hsin – Li Yongyin 1:3 (9:11, 11:9, 11:7, 11:5)
Maciej Kubik/Samuel Walker – Carlo Rossi/Rares Sipos 3:2 (8:11, 11:8, 6:11, 11:5, 11:7)
SV Werder Bremen – Post SV Mühlhausen 2:3
Mattias Falck – Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (9:11, 11:7, 6:11, 7:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Daniel Habesohn 3:0 (11:7, 12:10, 11:9)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Steffen Mengel 3:0 (11:2, 11:8, 13:11)
Mattias Falck – Ovidiu Ionescu 2:3 (8:11, 11:6, 8:11, 11:6, 7:11)
Kirill Gerassimenko/Marcelo Aguirre – Steffen Mengel/Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (9:11, 8:11, 11:8, 8:11)
Featured image above: Irvin Bertrand from Post SV Mühlhausen (Photo: Christian Habel)