Matchday 3: Düsseldorf invites Bremen to top match, misfiring starter duel in Mulhouse

The top duel of the 3rd matchday of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) will take place on Friday evening when Borussia Düsseldorf invites SV Werder Bremen to a showdown of the unbeaten. Two play-off contenders from the previous season will meet on Sunday with TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, while on Monday evening eleventh-placed Post SV Mühlhausen will welcome twelfth-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05.

Borussia Düsseldorf - SV Werder Bremen

The summit meeting will take place on Friday evening: both Borussia Düsseldorf and SV Werder Bremen have started the new season of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) with 4:0 points, so one of the two teams will have to accept the first defeat of the season. While Düsseldorf won against Mühlhausen and Mainz and even looks at the perfect game difference with 6:0, Werder prevailed against Bad Königshofen (3:2) and Mühlhausen (3:1). Borussia manager Andreas Preuß can take a lot of credit for the strength of the opposition: "The fact that Bremen also won their first two games is something I see as positive," says the 60-year-old. "That motivates our guys all the more and makes the game a determination of where they stand."

TSV Bad Königshofen - ASV Grünwettersbach

Certainly, the responsible persons of TSV Bad Königshofen had imagined the start of the season differently. The team lost against Bremen (2:3) as well as against Ochsenhausen (1:3), so that they have to take the next attempt for the first points of the round on Saturday evening. The bearer of hope in this endeavor is Yukiya Uda, who is expected to make his debut for Bad Königshofen against ASV Grünwettersbach and could promptly play a key role. "He also has to get used to the league first," however, managing director Andreas Albert warned Rhön1.news against exaggerated expectations of the newcomer. In the preseason, TSV had won twice against Grünwettersbach: A 3:2 away match was followed by a 3:1 at home thanks to two singles victories by Kilian Ort. But the Baden team has also strengthened itself for the new season and brought in Tiago Apolonia, a top performer. The Portuguese has a 2:0 record in the ASV jersey.

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt - TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen

With 12:0 points, the TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen had a dream start in the previous season, and also in the new season, the Upper Swabians are again at the top. After victories against Fulda (3:0) and Bad Königshofen (3:1), the TTF are currently in second place in the - admittedly not yet particularly meaningful - table. And with the coming opponent Ochsenhausen still has a calculation open: Last February, there was a 2:3 at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, through which the team around Simon Gauzy fell behind the play-off places, which could not be made up by the end of the main round. "I can really be very happy with our performance so far in this still young season and I'm proud of the guys," said head coach Fu Yong after the latest win. Bergneustadt started with 2-2 points: A 3:1 against Fulda was followed by a 1:3 in Mainz.

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell - 1. FC Saarbrücken TT

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell does not have good memories of the most recent encounter with 1. FC Saarbrücken TT: In February, the victory for the East Hessians was already within reach, Quadri Aruna had six match points against Patrick Franziska and thus the Fulda 2:0 lead on the racket. But the player from Saarbrücken fended off each of them and in the end the FCS celebrated a 3:2 victory. At the start of the new season, both teams had to contend with teething problems: after defeats on the first matchday, both recorded their first win of the season last weekend. Saarbrücken won 3:1 against Neu-Ulm, Fulda with the same result against Bergneustadt. "Saarbrücken is of course a completely different house number," says TTC President Stefan Frauenholz ahead of the duel with the reigning runners-up and cup winners. He expects the guests to be at their best - and possibly even with Jin Takuya, who could make his TTBL debut. "Everything has to go perfectly for us to win," believes Frauenholz.

Post SV Mühlhausen - 1. FSV Mainz 05

Fresh self-confidence comes just in time for Post SV Mühlhausen: After two defeats in the TTBL - 0:3 in Düsseldorf, 1:3 in Bremen - the Thuringians are currently fighting for a place in Stage 2 of the Champions League (TTCLM). After two victories, the final match will be against Solex-Consult Wiener Neustadt today, Friday, starting at 5 pm. Two days later, Mühlhausen will then hope for its first win in the TTBL in its first home match of the season. "Through the past season we know how quickly the tide can turn again and it can go up even after a bumpy start," recalled Post-SV coach Erik Schreyer recently in our interview of the march through to the play-offs in the preseason. 1. FSV Mainz 05 also started with two defeats: The promoted team lost 3-1 in Bergneustadt and 3-0 against Düsseldorf.

TTC Neu-Ulm - TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau

The most successful player in the league plays for TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau: Feng Yi-Hsin has played four singles matches in the new season, four times he left the table as the winner - more often than any other player. Accordingly, Grenzau's hopes are likely to rest on the Taiwanese on Monday evening as well, when the six-time German champions take on TTC Neu-Ulm. "For us, it's about confirming the positive impression from the first two games of the season," says Grenzau manager Markus Ströher, whose team got off to a good start with 2:2 points and caught Saarbrücken (3:1) ice cold. Ströher does not want to get into mind games about a possible line-up of Neu-Ulm: "It is actually irrelevant against whom we play in detail. You can show a strong and committed game against any team," he says. Neu-Ulm is currently fighting for a place in Stage 2 of the TTCLM, today (Friday) against USD Apuania Carrara Tennistavolo. In the TTBL, the Swabians have also started with 2:2 points: A win against Grünwettersbach (3:1) was followed by a defeat in Saarbrücken (1:3).

The 3rd matchday in overview

Friday, September 9
7 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – SV Werder Bremen

Saturday, September 10
5 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – ASV Grünwettersbach

Sunday, September 11
1 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
4 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT

Monday, September 12
6.30 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – 1. FSV Mainz 05
7 p.m.: TTC Neu-Ulm – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau