Matchday 13: Home games for leading quartet, Mainz seeks revenge in Grünwettersbach

Just one day after the end of the 12th matchday, the next round of matches is already waiting in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL): The 13th matchday will open on Thursday evening with the duel between ASV Grünwettersbach and 1. FSV Mainz 05. Home games await the current top four in the league as the matchday progresses.

ASV Grünwettersbach - 1. FSV Mainz 05

For the third time this season, ASV Grünwettersbach and 1. FSV Mainz 05 will meet on Thursday evening - and the guests might not have good memories of the previous duels. In both the first leg and the cup round of 16, Mainz lost 2:3, in each case Yuto Muramatsu provided the singles victories before the defeat in the doubles followed. And this time, the Rheinhessen team will probably have to play without the 26-year-old Japanese player: Already on Tuesday against Ochsenhausen Muramatsu was absent due to injury. At Grünwettersbach, on the other hand, the personnel situation has improved again: After Ricardo Walther, Wang Xi and Tiago Apolonia had already been absent in the course of the season so far, coach Achim Krämer will probably have the entire squad available on Thursday.

Post SV Mühlhausen - TTC Neu-Ulm

Post SV Mühlhausen has worked its way forward bit by bit in the course of the first half of the season and was rewarded shortly before Christmas with a jump to fourth place. Coach Erik Schreyer's team has now been in fourth place for three match days, and defended this position last Friday with a 3-2 win in Grünwettersbach. Steffen Mengel is currently the main success factor for Mühlhausen: The 34-year-old recently won four singles in a row and was also successful in the doubles against Grünwettersbach. The form curve of the upcoming opponent points rather in the opposite direction. TTC Neu-Ulm won the German Table Tennis Cup last Sunday, but lost the last four matches in a row in the TTBL. Only on Tuesday there was a 2:3 against Saarbrücken. With 12:12 points, the Neu-Ulm team is currently in seventh place, just behind Mühlhausen (14:10).

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen - TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau

Twice this season, TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau has already caught a top team cold: The Westerwald team won against Saarbrücken as well as against Düsseldorf in the first round, against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen they now hope for the next coup on Friday. Such a coup is necessary in view of the table situation. With 6:18 points, Grenzau is currently in a relegation spot, only two points ahead of last-place Mainz and two behind the save shore. "We saw in the first leg how quickly things can go if we don't put in our best performance," warns TTC manager Markus Ströher with a view to the 0:3 in December. "But this is a new game and a new chance for us to show that we can also be an unpleasant opponent against such teams. I'm sure the team is fired up to show a reaction and stand up to Ochsenhausen this time." Last matchday Grenzau lost in Bergneustadt, while Ochsenhausen celebrated its eighth win of the season in Mainz.

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell - SV Werder Bremen

Since the beginning of the season, TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell has been stuck in the bottom of the table. So far, the East Hessians have never finished better than ninth place. Currently, the TTC is in tenth place and only two points ahead of the relegation zone. On past Saturday there was a clear defeat against bath king haven. A win on Friday against SV Werder Bremen would be correspondingly important - otherwise Grenzau could drop to eleventh place if it wins in Ochsenhausen. But the Bremen team also needs points: Because even though the goal of the season is still to stay in the league, Werder can even dream of the play-offs at the moment. Even after the narrow defeat against Düsseldorf, the gap to fourth place is only two points. By the way, Bremen had made it clear in the first leg: Mattias Falck, Marcelo Aguirre and Kirill Gerassimenko left only two sets to Fulda and consequently won 3:0.

1.FC Saarbrücken TT - TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

Tricky weeks await TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt: After the match at 1. FC Saarbrücken TT on Friday, first Düsseldorf and then Ochsenhausen await the team - and thus the current top three of the TTBL. The recent success in Grenzau was all the more important, through which Bergneustadt has increased its lead over the relegation zone back to two points. With 8:16 Benedikt Duda and Co. are currently in ninth place, followed by Fulda (8:16), Grenzau (6:18) and Mainz (4:20). Saarbrücken, on the other hand, is second in the table and well on its way to the play-offs. With 18:6 points, the second-placed FCS is currently four points ahead of fifth place, and last Tuesday they managed a last-minute win against Neu-Ulm.

Borussia Düsseldorf - TSV Bad Königshofen

Borussia Düsseldorf had to work hard yesterday, Wednesday, before its eleventh win of the season was perfect. Thanks to the 3:2 in Bremen, the record champion is still four points ahead of Saarbrücken in first place and continues to extend its lead over the non-play-off places. TSV Bad Königshofen is currently in exactly this position, but with fifth place it not only has the best position of the season, but is also on the rise in terms of form. Last Saturday, the team from Lower Franconia won 3-0 against Fulda to record its fourth win from the last five games. With 14:10 points, the team is tied with fourth-placed Mühlhausen. In the first leg, Bad Königshofen put up a brave fight and even sniffed a 2-0 lead at the start. But Yuikya Uda lost in the fifth set 13:15 against Timo Boll, and in the end TSV lost 1:3.

The 13th matchday in overview

Thursday, December 12
7 p.m.: ASV Grünwettersbach – 1. FSV Mainz 05

Friday, December 13
6.30 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC Neu-Ulm
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
7.30 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – SV Werder Bremen
7.30 p.m.: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

Sunday, 15. Dezember
3 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – TSV Bad Königshofen