Matchday 16: Summit meeting in Ochsenhausen, Mühlhausen receives Bremen

Third in the table receives top: The fans of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) can look forward to the summit meeting between TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and Borussia Düsseldorf on Matchday 16. Post SV Mühlhausen wants to defend its play-off place against SV Werder Bremen.

1st FC Saarbrücken TT - TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell recently scored two big points. With the 3:2 against Mühlhausen, in which winter addition Wong Chun Ting showed his class in the doubles for the first time, the East Hessians landed an important victory in the relegation battle of the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and are still two points ahead of the relegation zone after the recent victories of Grenzau and Bergneustadt. On Friday, however, the next heavyweight awaits the ninth-placed team in the table, where Ruwen Filus could make his comeback after a break due to illness: The 1. FC Saarbrücken TT is since last Monday and the 3-0 against Mainz not only back in second place, but is now even taking aim at the top of the table. Only two points separate the FCS, which has won three of its four second-round games, from leaders Düsseldorf. The first leg was a clear victory for the Saarbrücken side: Cedric Nuytinck, Patrick Franziska and Jin Takuya won 3-0 in Fulda last September.

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen - Borussia Düsseldorf

For Borussia Düsseldorf, the top match comes at an odd time: the record champion has already conceded two defeats in the second half of the season, and its lead over second place has consequently shrunk to two points. Most recently, Düsseldorf lost 3-2 to Grenzau. "A few weeks ago, our lead was still comfortable. Now we have to do everything we can to defend our lead. Even though the season is still long, every point counts," says Borussia manager Andreas Preuß. TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen also suffered a setback recently, losing in the doubles against Bergneustadt. As third in the table, the four-time German champions are still two points ahead of fifth place. "Rather freestyle than duty" is the game against Düsseldorf, says TTF President Kristijan Pejinovic: "We must not be deceived by the fact that the Düsseldorfers have lost twice against Grenzau. We lost against Mainz and yesterday against Bergneustadt and we know how quickly something like that can happen."

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt - ASV Grünwettersbach

Great pressure had been on TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt on Wednesday evening, and the team withstood it impressively. With the 3:2 against Ochsenhausen, Benedikt Duda and Co. left the relegation zone again, into which they had slipped due to the other results of the 15th matchday. Nevertheless, the situation remains precarious for Bergneustadt: with 10:20 points, the tenth-placed team has just as many points on its account as Grenzau, which is now eleventh again. The upcoming opponent has achieved a comparatively comfortable situation: By beating Neu-Ulm 3-0, ASV Grünwettersbach moved up to seventh place and remains four points (14:16) ahead of Bergneustadt. The first leg in November had also gone to Grünwettersbach: Tiago Apolonia and Wang Xi won against Duda, and Ricardo Walther also beat Omar Assar.

1st FSV Mainz 05 - TTC Neu-Ulm

Hopes of remaining in the relegation zone at 1. FSV Mainz 05 are likely to be minimal, as the promoted team is falling further and further behind. Since the last match day, the Mainz team is already six points away from the non-relegation zone. Of the remaining seven TTBL matches, the Rheinhessen team must win at least three to have a chance of staying in the relegation zone - assuming that their rivals do not win any more matches. Yuto Muramatsu is the hopeful candidate: the Japanese player is about to make his first appearance in the second half of the season after overcoming an injury and is expected to make the difference against TTC Neu-Ulm. He had already won two singles matches in the first leg before the doubles match went to the Swabians. The Neu-Ulm team should not feel too safe either: as a result of only one win from the last seven matches, the TTC has fallen back to eighth place and is still four points ahead of the relegation zone.

Post SV Mühlhausen - SV Werder Bremen

In the fourth match of the second round, Post SV Mühlhausen was also hit for the first time: The Thuringians lost 2:3 in Fulda and thus lost their small lead over the chasers. Both Mühlhausen in fourth place and fifth-placed Bad Königshofen have 18:12 points on their account, so in the event of another defeat, Post SV would be threatened with a fall from the play-off ranks. With SV Werder Bremen, however, an opponent is coming to Kristanplatz who, with 14:16, not only still has faint hopes of reaching the top four, but who also scored a clear victory in the first leg. Mattias Falck with two singles wins and Kirill Gerassimenko secured the 3:1 victory for the Hanseatic League on Matchday 2.

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau - TSV Bad Königshofen

As strange as it may seem: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau currently has the longest winning streak in the TTBL. The Westerwälder celebrated recently with the 3:2 against Duesseldorf not only the second success in this season against the record champion, but also the second victory in a row after the 3:2 against Grünwettersbach. Against TSV Bad Königshofen, Grenzau now not only wants to take revenge for the 3-2 defeat in the first leg, but also leave the relegation zone - it would be the first time since Matchday 10 that the TTC is not in a relegation spot. "That was one of those games in which we showed how strongly we can stand up to such an opponent, even though an important player was of course missing at the time in Bastian Steger," said Grenzau manager Markus Ströher, looking back on the first leg ahead of the reunion. "But we have - not only in this game - perhaps used our big chances too rarely so far. If we manage to get to this point again, then we have to reward ourselves for it."

The 16th matchday in overview

Friday, February 3
6.30 p.m.: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf

Sunday, February 5
1 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – ASV Grünwettersbach
3 p.m.: 1. FSV Mainz 05 – TTC Neu-Ulm
4.30 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – SV Werder Bremen

Monday, February 6
7 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TSV Bad Königshofen                                        You can see all the games live on Spontent's channels on Twitch.