Interview with Patrick Franziska (1. FC Saarbrücken TT): “As it is, it's not enough for us”

Patrick Franziska and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT have unexpectedly come under pressure in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). In an interview, the national player talks about the situation of the Champions League winners in the championship, the effects of the increasingly busy schedule on the personnel planning of clubs and his literal “family business” in the league.

Patrick Franziska, the European Championships in Linz are only just over, but for your 1 FC Saarbrücken TT there can hardly be any talk of relaxation: eighth place after a good first half of the preliminary round would hardly be considered fitting for the Champions League winners and runners-up, would it?

Of course, we're not exactly satisfied with eighth place. We didn't play the best games, especially at home. There were a few narrow defeats, but our victories were also very close, so it could have been even worse for us. It's important that we recognize the situation and we're doing that. Of course, we're aware that it's not enough for us as it is. There is still some time left, but we have to make sure that we get back on the road to success as quickly as possible.

Saarbrücken haven't even played all the play-off candidates yet, but are already four points behind the play-off places. To what extent do you think your team's participation in the play-offs is in danger?

The league is really, really strong this season. I'm sure everyone was aware before the start of the season that a lot of teams want to make the play-offs. Of course, it's clear that we still want to get there. The good thing about the league system is that you still have a chance of becoming champions even if you're fourth in the table. But we still have strong opponents ahead of us, we haven't even played TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen or TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell yet, and we've already seen that it's really difficult against any opponent. For us, this means that we don't have to drive ourselves crazy yet, but we have to pick up a lot of points to still have a chance of making the play-offs.

You have to play Borussia Dortmund to get back into the game, but BVB is probably too strong to be an opponent in the build-up. How great is the pressure to succeed?

Once you've lost a few games, you realize that it's not so easy and that you can't play as relaxed and free. In my opinion, the most important thing is that we accept it. We were almost out against Dortmund in the cup final double, so we have to make sure that we put everything into it again, also because we're probably not going to shine at first, it's all about the fight. We want to start doing that again after the European Championships.

What are the reasons for the poor record of just two wins in the first five games?

After five games, it's difficult to say what the reason is. But I think the main reason is that Darko Jorgic and I have never played at 100% together. Against Werder Bremen, I lost the important game against Marcelo Aguirre when Darko played superbly; against Borussia Düsseldorf, I played quite well and he wasn't 100 percent. We just have to make sure that we all play in top form soon and fight our way into it. If we play together as a team again, hopefully the wins will come again.

There are various conspicuous features: Darko Jorgic's weak start to the season after the Olympics, the seemingly lost sovereignty in combination with a decreased success rate in doubles and a remarkable home complex with defeats in all three matches so far in their own hall...

Since I came to Saarbrücken in 2016, we've always been characterized by our strength at home. That's why these home defeats are unusual for us, because we actually still feel very comfortable in our arena and are also very accustomed to success thanks to our fans behind us. We also don't know why it's different at the moment and hope very much that it remains an exception. Once we manage to win at home again, we'll be able to move forward again at home. As far as the doubles issue is concerned, we felt we had to play doubles in practically every match, but we won one or two close doubles matches. Basically, you can see how important it is to have a doubles team, and maybe even several in the future, that play well. That's where we need to be as variable as possible, especially because of the few opportunities to practise in training.

In other sports, clubs with problems in the domestic league often gain confidence in international competition. Is the Champions League doubly important for Saarbrücken this season, apart from once again playing host to the final round due to the bumpy Bundesliga routine so far?

No, I wouldn't say that. Even after our three finals last season, we still want to be right at the top. That's why our goal is still three finals, also because nothing has been decided in the Bundesliga yet. In the Champions League, we don't know our opponent for the round of 16 yet, but it's clear that we want to win the game and then ideally the quarter-final as well so that we can at least be in our home final. That's our goal, then take our fans with us and, if possible, make the most of our home strength.

Saarbrücken had already signed Truls Möregardh as a reinforcement exclusively for the Champions League before his two Olympic silver medals, and Post SV Mühlhausen is pursuing the same personnel strategy with two world-class Chinese players. Do you think this practice is the way of the future?

It's already become apparent that individual clubs only bring in certain players for certain competitions. Saarbrücken are doing this for the first time this season, but in my opinion this is only due to the fact that there are now so many tournaments and some players don't want to commit to a whole season because of the very, very many competitions. For me personally, such a part-time model was never a question: I'm happy to commit to a club and give it my all. But as long as the rules allow it, every club and every player should do it the way they want to.

After the close nomination, all you had left for Paris was the role of spectator. How do you assess this decision today, a few months on?

A lot has already been said about this. It's clear that it wasn't easy and it's still reverberating a little at the moment. But I don't really want to say any more than that it's all about the future.

What did you do to deal with this disappointment?

I tried to carry on as before, i.e. to go my own way, train well and try to play good competitions. My family also helped a lot. When you come home and our little son is watching you and wants to go to the playground - then you forget everything for a while, victories and defeats. I think that's also really good and provides an important balance.

The busy schedule leaves professionals with less and less free time. How do you switch off? What is your favorite leisure activity that has nothing to do with table tennis?

It's true that I don't have too much time for leisure activities because I have a family and a private life in addition to my job and lots of traveling. That's why in my free time I concentrate on being there for my family, my wife and my child. When I do have time, I like to meet up with friends, even just for an hour for a coffee. That's very, very good, which is why I always try to make time for it. When I travel to tournaments, where there can be a lot of time between matches, my program is quite unspectacular. I read a book or watch a few videos or movies.

You could face your brother-in-law Kristian Karlsson in the match against TTC OE Bad Homburg at the start of the second round. How do you deal with this constellation within the family? Is there a lot of banter or is table tennis sometimes simply taboo?

The situation has been going on for a long time, and Kristian and I have often played against each other during this time. We always banter a bit after the matches, we used to send the world rankings back and forth depending on which of us looked better. But we're also getting older, and when we get together as a family, there's relatively little talk about table tennis because there are always other things to talk about, and that's good for us and certainly healthy. So you shouldn't think of Christmas in our family as a time when we only talk about our last match or only about table tennis, because then the other topics are more important. That makes it even more special for us. But of course, it goes without saying, I'll do everything I can against Bad Homburg to beat him when we play each other.

Thank you very much for the interview, Patrick Franziska.

Interview: Florian Manzke