Grenzau wins in Bremen and is suddenly a play-off candidate
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau celebrated a 3:1 win at SV Werder Bremen at the end of the 13th matchday and is slowly turning into the surprise team of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). With their sixth win of the season, Slobodan Grujic's team can now even dream a little of the play-offs.
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau now has three wins in a row and can even look upwards. Thanks to the 3:1 win at SV Werder Bremen, the team from the Westerwald now has 12:12 points and is on a par with some of the top teams in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). Four other teams have just as many points after the 13th matchday, including last year's play-off participants TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (currently fourth) and Post SV Mühlhausen (seventh). Bremen are also one of the five teams with 12:12 points, although it was Werder's third defeat in a row.
"I had a good feeling beforehand," explained Grenzau coach Slobodan Grujic afterwards, adding: "It's often been close against Bremen in the past. We've usually failed to take our chances - but luckily it worked out this time."
Kubik holds his nerve against Aguirre
Maciej Kubik made an important contribution to this. The 20-year-old was 1:2 sets and 7:10 points behind against Marcelo Aguirre, but fended off his opponent's match points and kept his nerve afterwards. With the 3:2 (8:11, 8:11, 11:5, 13:11, 11:5), Kubik put the TTC 2:1 in front. "He had already lost it in his head," said Grujic, "but suddenly there were one or two good balls and he turned the game around. That was very, very important for us." Aguirre said: "It's difficult to explain. I wasn't playing well and he also played some good rallies. Somehow nothing worked for me."
Earlier, Mattias Falck had scored for Bremen with a 3:0 (11:6, 11:8, 11:7) against Samuel Walker and Feng Yi-Hsin with a 3:0 (11:9, 11:7, 11:7) against Kirill Gerassimenko for Grenzau. And with the lead behind him, Feng also played well in the top singles, finally securing Grenzau's third win in a row with a 3:2 (7:11, 11:4, 6:11, 11:8, 11:6) against Falck.
Overview of the 13th matchday
1. FSV Mainz 05 – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:2
Yongyin Li – Can Akkuzu 3:2 (8:11, 9:11, 11:5, 14:12, 14:12)
Rares Sipos – Samuel Kulczycki 3:1 (13:11,, 9:11, 16:14, 11:8)
Luka Mladenovic – Simon Gauzy 0:3 (8:11, 9:11, 3:11)
Yongyin Li – Samuel Kulczycki 2:3 (7:11, 11:8, 6:11, 11:2, 7:11)
Mladenovic/Rossi – Gauzy/Akkuzu 3:0 (11:9, 11:5, 13:11)
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:1
Fanbo Meng – Borgar Haug 3:2 (3:11, 11:6, 6:11, 13:11, 11:3)
Qing Yu Meng – Timo Boll 0:3 (7:11, 5:11, 8:11)
Ruwen Filus – Kay Stumper 3:2 (4:11, 13:11, 3:11, 11:9, 12:10)
Fanbo Meng – Timo Boll 3:0 (11:9, 11:7, 11:9)
TSV Bad Königshofen – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:1
Jin Ueda – Ricardo Walther 1:3 (6:11, 11:6, 8:11, 7:11)
Filip Zeljko – Wang Xi 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:8)
Bastian Steger – Deni Kozul 3:1 (4:11, 11:8, 11:4, 11:9)
Jin Ueda – Wang Xi 3:0 (11:5, 11:7, 11:3)
Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 0:3
Ovidiu Ionescu – Romain Ruiz 2:3 (12:10, 6:11, 11:6, 7:11, 6:11)
Steffen Mengel – Adrien Rassenfosse 2:3 (8:11, 11:6, 11:8, 5:11, 7:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Benedikt Duda 2:3 (7:11, 3:11, 11:8, 12:10, 10:12)
SV Werder Bremen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 1:3
Mattias Falck – Samuel Walker 3:0 (11:6, 11:8, 11:7)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Feng Yi-Hsin 0:3 (9:11, 7:11, 7:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Maciej Kubik 2:3 (11:8, 11:8, 5:11, 11:13, 5:11)
Mattias Falck – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (11:7, 4:11, 11:6, 8:11, 5:11)