Interview with Helmut Hampl (Sports Director TTC OE Bad Homburg): “We want to make our players better”

TTC OE Bad Homburg has been promoted to the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) for the second time. In an interview, sports director Helmut Hampl talks about the Hessians' objectives, the tough opening program and the club's philosophy.

Helmut Hampl, the first TTBL match for your TTC OE Bad Homburg after returning to the top flight is just around the corner. Is there a lot of excitement and can you feel the often-cited promotion euphoria around the club?

Of course. We are a fully motivated club and make a lot of effort and try to make a difference. The atmosphere is extremely good.

What are Bad Homburg's objectives going into the season?

Only to stay in the league. Anything else would be nice, but for us as a promoted team, the only thing that counts is staying in the league, and because it's not clear whether and how many teams will be promoted from the second Bundesliga, our ideal target is tenth place.

Which teams do you see as your biggest rivals?

There are no weak teams left.

Could your team finish higher than tenth after all?

I don't know. Of course, we want to sell ourselves as well as possible. If all five of our players stay fit and healthy, we'll have to see what we can achieve.

Bad Homburg wants to establish itself in the top German league at the second attempt. In principle, what lessons have been learned from the largely frustrating course of your first two TTBL years?

I don't look back to the time before I started my job. I'm doing it the way I know it and think it's right.

You have kept the majority of your promoted team and only signed Sweden's former doubles world champion Kristian Karlsson and French international Can Akkuzu as experienced top players. What were the considerations behind this personnel planning?

It was clear that we had to move in the market, but there weren't that many players we could approach because most of them were under contract for at least another year or others who could also have been interesting moved to Saudi Arabia. We and I had been in good contact with Can for a very long time, and he also wanted to come to us, and Kristian will certainly prove to be a big magnet for spectators with his style of play.

The fixture list has given you a home game against the Champions League winners and runners-up. Can there be more “David against Goliath”?

There's no way of knowing because we don't know what line-up Saarbrücken will field. On paper, it would obviously be very difficult for us, but Kristian can also win against anyone in Saarbrücken's team. We'll have to wait and see how they line up.

In the third round, Bad Homburg will host champions and Champions League finalists Borussia Düsseldorf: Hand on heart: would you have wished for at least a slightly easier opening program?

You have to play everyone, and the TTBL is not a concert of wishes. But there are always surprise results that nobody expected beforehand, also because hardly all the teams are together on the match dates. So you never really know who will be playing on the other side.

What would be your team's motto for the upcoming TTBL season?

The team's success is paramount and we want to stay in the league. But we also have the philosophy that we want to make our players even better. This means that the players don't just come to us for the games, but that we also want to develop the players and, above all, make the young players fit for the Bundesliga. If we succeed in doing that, I'm very optimistic for the new season.

Thank you very much for the interview, Helmut Hampl.

Interview: Florian Manzke

Featured image above: Helmut Hampl (Photo: TTC OE Bad Homburg)