Liberation strike in Fulda, Saarbrücken consolidates play-off ambitions
On the 10th matchday of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), the lower half of the table saw a clash between TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and ASV Grünwettersbach. On the front places, the play-off ambitions of TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen were proven at 1. FC Saarbrücken TT.
Grünwettersbach without Wang Xi and Tiago Apolonia
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell has only two points from nine matches to its credit at the start of the tenth day of play in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). Last season, the team from Hesse started the play-offs in fourth place in the table, but has not yet been able to build on the successes of the previous season. Against the trio from Grünwettersbach, who have already scored ten points, the turnaround is now to be initiated.
In the opening singles of the evening, the two national players Ricardo Walther and Fan Bo Meng faced each other. It was the second meeting of the two players and also this time Walther lived up to his role as favorite and won clearly with 3:0 sets (11:7, 11:8, 11:5). Alexandre Cassin then had little trouble to prevail against Ryota Shimmyo (4:11, 2:11, 3:11). The 18-year-old Japanese normally plays for ASV in the regional league and joined the team as a replacement for Wang Xi and Tiago Apolonia.
Quadri Aruna wins by a razor-thin margin
The most exciting and longest match of the evening was played by Deni Kozul and Quadri Aruna. After almost 55 minutes Aruna managed to put the TTC in the lead 2:1 (12:10, 8:11, 7:11, 11:8, 7:11). The decisive factor was the important timeout in the second set at 8:9. If Kozul had lost the set and taken a 2:0 lead, the overall victory for ASV would have been within reach.
Ricardo Walther, however, was not discouraged by the result and delivered a top performance against Alexandre Cassin. Cassin, who was one of the best players in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) in the previous season with a record of 20:5, has not yet been able to match his performance and now has a record of 3:7.
Fulda climbs out of the relegation zone
In the final doubles match, the TTC again benefited from the absence of the Grünwettersbach players, so that the well-rehearsed doubles Meng/Aruna faced the pairing Kozul / Shimmyo. Only the first set was close for the hosts with 9:11. In the end, the score was 3:0 for the guests from Fulda (9:11, 4:11, 7:11), who could celebrate their third victory of the season and a small escape from the relegation zone.
Fan Bo Meng described his impressions directly after the victory: "We really missed winning. We had a great season last year with many wins and the last defeats were very difficult for us. Maybe this was the turning point now. We don't know, but we hope so."
On Grünwettersbach's side, Ricardo Walter found the following words: "Of course it's a pity that we lost. We didn't get our hopes up too high because we knew that two players were out (editor's note: Wang Xi and Tiago Apolonia) and we were weakened by substitutes. But our match plan almost worked out."
Saarbrücken and Ochsenhausen want to underline play-off ambitions
The top match of the 10th matchday was played by 1. FC Saarbrücken TT against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen. Both teams have already proclaimed before the season the reaching of the Play-Offs as a goal and would like to come this goal with a victory a piece closer.
Since the TTF traveled without top player Simon Gauzy, who reached the second place at the WTT Feeder in Fort Lauderdale two days before, Samuel Kulczycki, Shunsuke Togami and Can Akkazu were supposed to fix it. The 1st FC, on the other hand, sent a top line-up into the box with Darko Jorgic, Takuya Jin and Patrick Franziska.
Darko Jorgic shines again this season
Already in the first match between Darko Jorgic and Samuel Kulczycki the Vice European Champion of 2022 showed impressively why he is currently one of the best players in the league with a record of 7:1. With a 3:1 success over the young Pole (11:3, 7:11, 11:8,11:8) he brought the 1st FC Saarbrücken TT with 1:0 into the lead.
In the duel of the two Japanese players, Shunsuke Togami equalized for the TTF against Takuya Jin (9:11, 11:8, 8:11, 12:14), before Patrick Franziska brought the 1st FC against Can Akkazu back into the lead (9:11, 11:8, 11:6, 11:7).
The winning point for the 3:1 final result was finally set by Darko Jorgic against Shunsuke Togami with 3:1 (11:6, 11:9, 3:11, 11:9). Jorgic once again set an exclamation mark and increased his record to nine wins and one loss (1:3 against Anton Källberg).
The 10th matchday in overview
ASV Grünwettersbach – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 2:3 Ricardo Walther – Fan Bo Meng 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:5)
Ryota Shimmyo – Alexandra Cassin (4:11, 2:11, 3:11)
Deni Kozul – Quadri Aruna 2:3 (12:10, 8:11, 7:11, 11:8, 7:11)
Ricardo Walther – Alexandra Cassin 3:1 (5:11, 11:8, 12:10, 11:8)
Ryota Shimmyo / Deni Kozul – Quadri Aruna / Fan Bo Meng 0:3 (9:11, 4:11, 7:11)
1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:1 Darko Jorgic – Samuel Kulczycki 3:1 (11:3, 7:11, 11:8, 11:8)
Takuya Jin – Shunsuke Togami 1:3 (9:11, 11:8, 8:11, 12:14)
Patrick Franziska – Can Akkazu 3:1 (9:11, 11:8, 11:6, 11:7)
Darko Jorgic – Shunsuke Togami 3:1 (11:6, 11:9, 3:11, 11:9)
Upcoming matches of matchday 10: Saturday, December 17
1 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – 1. FSV Mainz 05
Sunday, December 18
1 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – SV Werder Bremen
5 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – Borussia Düsseldorf
Monday, December 19
7 p.m.: TTC Neu-Ulm – Post SV Mühlhausen
You can see all the games live on Spontent's channels on Twitch.