Kirill Gerassimenko leads Bremen to opening win

The Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) returned from the summer break with a clash between the two well-known soccer clubs SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund. Both teams opened the new 2024/25 season on Friday evening, with Kirill Gerassimenko leading the North Germans to the opening win with two singles victories. However, BVB also sold itself dearly on its Bundesliga debut against the play-off candidates. Denmark's Anders Lind was particularly impressive for the Black & Yellows.

In the end, Kirill Gerassimenko roared out all his relief. Shortly before, he had defeated Anders Lind 14:12 in the decisive fifth round to give his team, SV Werder Bremen, a 3:1 victory to start the season. The Kazakh had already won his first match against Cedric Nuytinck 3:1. The 27-year-old thus won the first singles match of the new season in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). Gerassimenko lost the first set against Nuytinck. However, he then improved his performance and prevailed in the next three rounds.

His second singles match against Lind was much closer. The Bremen player took a 12:10 lead, but Lind equalized first and then took a 2:1 lead. Gerassimenko managed to equalize with 11:7 - it was the clearest set of the duel. The fifth set was evenly poised before it was actually Lind who gained his first advantage at 8:6 and then even took a 9:6 lead. However, Gerassimenko came close once again, fending off one match point at 9:10 and 11:12 and ultimately winning 14:12.

Gerasimenko: “I can't eat and I don't sleep well.”

In the subsequent interview with Dyn, the Kazakh explained his relief: “It was a bit difficult for me yesterday and today. The coach said that I would probably play in the number one position. I can't eat there and I don't sleep well.” But at the table, the nervousness was gone. “Mattias Falck plays more often at number one and has more confidence. The pressure was very high for me. It makes a difference whether I play at number one or number three.”

Mattias Falck secured Bremen's third point with a 3:0 against Yinyong Li, but it was by no means as clear-cut as the result suggests. The Swede already had three match points in the third set, but the Chinese player fended off one after the other, saved three himself, but was just as unable to convert them as Falck was the next two. The 2021 doubles world champion only converted his sixth match point to win 3:0.

Anders Lind impresses for Bundesliga debutants

Despite the defeat at the start of the season, the 66th Bundesliga team in Bundesliga history can also be satisfied. Promoted Borussia Dortmund sold themselves dearly - especially in the person of Anders Lind, who first equalized the score with a very clear 3:0 against Marcelo Aguirre and also came close to a victory against Gerassimenko. Sporting Director Evgeny Fadeev was correspondingly disappointed with Dyn after his team's first Bundesliga match: “The result is a shame for us. We saw some top-class play today. World class.” The Borussian said the following about getting used to the new league: “It's not much different to the second division, but the nervousness is insane.”

The first matchday of the TTBL continues on Sunday afternoon with three more games. It will conclude on Monday when TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen plays TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt hosts TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau.

Click here for the current table: https://www.ttbl.de/bundesliga/table

The 1st matchday in overview

SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Dortmund 3:1
Kirill Gerassimenko – Cedric Nuytinck 3:1 (8:11, 11:6, 11:9, 11:6)
Marcelo Aguirre – Anders Lind 0:3 (4:11, 7:11, 5:11)
Mattias Falck – Yongyin Li 3:0 (11:9, 11:5, 17:15)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Anders Lind 3:2 (12:10, 9:11, 11:13, 11:7 14:12)

Sunday, August 25th
2 p.m.: TTC OE Bad Homburg – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
3.30 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – Post SV Mühlhausen
5 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – ASC Grünwettersbach 

Monday, August 26th
6 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau

All matches in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) are broadcast live and on demand on Dyn.

Featured image above: Kirill Gerassimenko (Photo: PingPongPhoto)