Matchday 12: Cup winner Neu-Ulm awaits Saarbrücken
Only yesterday, Sunday, the TTC Neu-Ulm won the Liebherr Cup final and the first title in the club's history, tomorrow, Tuesday, the team is already in demand again in the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL), when with the 1. FC Saarbrücken TT the second in the table is a guest. Also on Tuesday, there will be a duel between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen. On Wednesday evening, Borussia Düsseldorf will host SV Werder Bremen.
TTC Neu-Ulm - 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
When the two teams meet on Tuesday evening, the greatest success in the club history of TTC Neu-Ulm will be just a few hours ago. The Swabians won both against Ochsenhausen and Düsseldorf on Sunday with 3:0 and thus secured the triumph in the German Table Tennis Cup. Afterwards, Dimitrij Ovtcharov spoke of "something very special for the entire club" and was "totally happy" about the title win. The next challenge for Neu-Ulm now awaits in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), when the second-placed team in the table, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, is the guest. While the TTC recently lost three league matches in a row, the Saarbrücken team won four of its last five matches and also won the first leg in September. Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic were the two victors in the 3:1 win for FCS, while Maksim Grebnev scored for Neu-Ulm.
1.FSV Mainz 05 - TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
A historic match experiences its new edition on Tuesday evening. In the first round, the 1st FSV Mainz 05 had won 3:1 against the TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and thus achieved the first TTBL victory in the club's history. Two wins by Yuto Muramatsu and one by Luka Mladenovic had the Mainz team rejoicing last September. Since then, however, there have been promising performances - such as the 2:3 in Fulda just before Christmas - but the promoted team has only managed one more win. With four points, Mainz is therefore at the bottom of the table and is dependent on another coup against Ochsenhausen at the start of the second round in order to reduce the current 4-point gap to the safety zone. The TTF already played their first competitive match of 2023 yesterday (Sunday), losing to Düsseldorf in the semi-finals of the Final Four for the German Table Tennis Cup. "Now we have to flip the switch really quickly and focus on the Bundesliga again," said Ochsenhausen's Can Akkuzu, whose team is currently in third place with 14:8 points. "We have to give our best tomorrow, as in every other match, and bring as much as possible 100 percent to the table."
SV Werder Bremen - Borussia Düsseldorf
Borussia Düsseldorf's title mission suffered its first setback on Sunday when Timo Boll and Co. lost 3-0 to TTC Neu-Ulm in the Liebherr Cup final. The team should now be all the more hungry for success in the TTBL, where it goes to SV Werder Bremen on Wednesday. However, two top players will not be there: Anton Källberg and Dang Qiu have been released for the WTT Contender tournament in Durban. The Borussia team will therefore consist of Timo Boll, Kay Stumper and Kamal Achanta, who will travel directly from the Asian World Championship qualifier. While Düsseldorf is unchallenged at the top of the table with 20:2 points, Werder can also dream of play-off participation. With 12:10 points, the Bremen team played its best first half of the season in three years and is only just behind the top four. However, the focus remains on the bottom line: "We want to make sure we stay in the league as quickly as possible. That is and remains our goal for the season," coach Cristian Tamas recently told the regional newspaper.
The 12th matchday in overview
TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:0
Bastian Steger – Qing Yu Meng 3:0 (13:11, 11:7, 12:10)
Kilian Ort – Alexandre Cassin 3:0 (11:8, 13:11, 11:2)
Filip Zeljko – Fan Bo Meng 3:1 (11:4, 9:11, 11:7, 11;7)
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:0
Benedikt Duda – Tobias Sältzer 3:0 (11:4, 11:8, 11:5)
Omar Assar – Patrick Baum 3:1 (11:8, 11:7, 5:11, 11:7)
Romain Ruiz – Samuel Walker 3:1 (8:11, 11:1, 11:4, 11:8)
ASV Grünwettersbach – Post SV Mühlhausen 2:3
Ricardo Walther – Ovidiu Ionescu 3:2 (7:11, 9:11, 11:9, 11:5, 11:8)
Deni Kozul – Daniel Habesohn 1:3 (11:8, 6:11, 11:13, 8:11)
Wang Xi – Steffen Mengel 2:3 (11:7, 8:11, 13:11, 6:11, 4:11)
Ricardo Walther – Daniel Habesohn 3:1 (11:3, 11:6, 8:11, 11:5)
Deni Kozul/Tiago Apolonia – Ovidiu Ionescu/Steffen Mengel 1:3 (11:8, 7:11, 10:12, 5:11)
Tuesday, January 10
7 p.m.: TTC Neu-Ulm – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
8 p.m.: 1. FSV Mainz 05 – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
Wednesday, January 11
7 p.m.: SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Düsseldorf