Grenzau defends fourth place
After the 17th matchday of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), the TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau is still in fourth place, which entitles it to start in the play-offs. The Grenzau team won 3-1 at Post SV Mühlhausen.
The TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau is the surprise of the season so far: After four wins in a row, head coach Slobodan Grujic's team recently suffered a 1:3 defeat against Ochsenhausen, but is in fourth place with 14:14 points and thus a play-off place still there splendidly. Opponent Mühlhausen is also aiming to take part in the play-offs and could overtake Grenzau with a win.
1:0 becomes 1:3
And the hosts got started straight away like the fire brigade. Steffen Mengel never let his opponent Maciej Kubik come close to winning a set in the first singles of the evening and quickly put the Thuringians in the front after three one-sided sets.
But with that, Post SV seemed to have used up its powder. Although Ovidiu Ionescu, Daniel Habesohn and again Steffen Mengel fought back as best they could in their individual matches, they all had to congratulate their opponents on their victory. Daniel Habesohn in particular will probably be mourning his chances against Samuel Walker for a while longer, as he was unable to bring home a 10:9 lead against the Englishman in both sets one and three.
Overview of the 16th matchday
Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 1:3
Steffen Mengel - Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:5, 11:7, 11:7)
Ovidiu Ionescu - Yi-Hsin Feng 1:3 (7:11, 11:8, 6:11, 6:11)
Daniel Habesohn - Sanuel Walker 1:3 (10:12, 11:7, 11:13, 7:11)
Steffen Mengel - Yi-Hsin Feng 2:3 (6:11, 11:5, 12:10, 3:11, 6:11)
1. FSV Mainz 05 – SV Werder Bremen 2:3
Yongyin Li - Marcelo Aguirre 3:2 (11:9, 7:11, 8:11, 11:5, 11:9)
Luka Mladenovic - Mattias Falck 1:3 (11:9, 14:16, 3:11, 9:11)
Carlo Rossi - Kirill Gerassimenko 0:3 (9:11, 4:11, 8:11)
Yongyin Li - Mattias Falck 3:1 (11:5, 9:11, 11:6, 11:6)
Mladenovic/Rossi - Pletea/Gerasimenko 0:3 (7:11, 9:11, 10:12)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 0:3
Alvaro Robles – Patrick Franziska 1:3 (12:10, 7:11, 5:11, 7:11)
Simon Gauzy – Eduard Ionescu 2:3 (11:7, 11:13, 11:7, 9:11, 10:12)
Samuel Kulczycki – Yuto Muramatsu 0:3 (3:11, 6:11, 7:11)
Sunday March 3rd
1 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
4 p.m.: ASV Grünwettersbach – Borussia Düsseldorf
Featured image above: Yi-Hsin Feng from TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau (Photo: Wolfgang Heil)