Grünwettersbach surprises against Düsseldorf
In the last match of the 17th matchday of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), ASV Grünwettersbach rolled over Borussia from Düsseldorf. With 3:0 games and 9:0 sets, the supposed underdog prevailed against the record champions in front of a sold-out crowd.
Tiago Apolonia opened the match for Grünwettersbach against Düsseldorf's Dang Qiu and indicated from the outset that the hosts did not want to present themselves in the role of the supposed underdogs. As was the case when the two players met in the cup semi-final in Neu-Ulm at the start of the year, Apolonia came out on top against Qiu with a clear 3:0 (14:12, 11:6, 11:4). With this victory, he secured his team the first important point of the day and thus laid the foundation for the subsequent overall victory.
Kozul celebrates third win of the season
In the second singles match, Deni Kozul took on Kay Stumper for ASV. Kozul impressed with his service game right from the start and put Stumper under pressure very early on. Over three sets, Stumper was unable to find a suitable response to Kozul's serves, who in turn barely missed a chance and converted point after point. With an outstanding performance and to rapturous applause from the ASV fans, Kozul won 3:0 (11:3, 11:9, 11:7), extending ASV's lead and putting the Düsseldorf team under pressure.
Now it was up to veteran Timo Boll to get Düsseldorf back on the winning track. However, Ricardo Walther did a lot to counter this and proved his enormous feel for the ball time and time again. With sensitive shots and well-placed blocks, he gave Boll few chances to get back into the game, which meant that Düsseldorf's hopes of getting back into the match dwindled from set to set. The match point for the clear 3:0 final score (11:9, 11:8, 11:6) was cheered frenetically by the almost 500 ASV fans who had traveled to the match and who can now look to the future with relief after a weak start to the second half of the season.
Comments on the match:
Timo Boll (Borussia Düsseldorf):
"I don't think we've ever sent Düsseldorf home without winning a set. It was a historically bad day for us, but I also have to say that Grünwettersbach were simply unbelievably good. We had to learn the hard way today."
Deni Kozul (ASV Grünwettersbach):
"It was an outstanding performance by the whole team. Winning 9:0 sets against Düsseldorf is simply unbelievable. We could feel the fans behind us right from the start and it's always difficult for our opponents to play at ASV because the fans are always behind us. After a difficult start to the second half of the season, this win has done us a lot of good."
The current table shows 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT at the top, followed by Borussia Düsseldorf in second place. With this victory, ASV Grünwettersbach climbs to ninth place and is ready to continue to spring surprises.
The next match in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) will take place on March 4, 2024 at 7 p.m. between 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. All TTBL matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Overview of the 17th matchday
ASV Grünwettersbach – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:0
Tiago Apolonia – Dang Qiu 3:0 (14:12, 11:6, 11:4)
Deni Kozul – Kay Stumper 3:0 (11:3, 11:9, 11:7)
Ricardo Walther – Timo Boll 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:6)
TSV Bad Königshofen vs TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 1:3
Bastian Steger vs Chih-Yuan Chuang – 3:1 (11:9, 9:11, 11:2, 11:5)
Martin Allegro vs Ruwen Filus – 0:3 (8:11, 7:11, 6:11)
Jin Ueda vs Fanbo Meng – 1:3 (11:5, 9:11, 10:12, 5:11)
Bastian Steger vs Ruwen Filus – 1:3 (13:11, 4:11, 6:11, 3:11)
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/Gerassimenko 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)
Beitragsbild oben: Tiago Apolonia vom ASV Grünwettersbach (Foto: BeLa Sportfoto)
Alle Spiele der TTBL live und auf Abruf bei Dyn.