Matchday 3: Top-of-the-table clash in Fulda, Düsseldorf aims to score against Bad Homburg
After two completed match days in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), a special picture emerges in the table. TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell has completely reversed the curse it suffered in the first round last season and is now top of the table. The two participants in this year's Liebherr TTBL Finals, Borussia Düsseldorf and 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, are in mid-table after one win and one defeat each. This is the outlook for the third matchday, which starts this Tuesday evening.
1. FC Saarbrücken-TT - SV Werder Bremen
A tailwind for the visitors: SV Werder Bremen travel to Saarland with two opening wins under their belts. First, the team of Mattias Falck, Kirill Gerassimenko and Marcelo Aguirre celebrated a 3:1 victory against newly promoted Dortmund, followed by a 3:1 away win in Grünwettersbach. With a 4-0 record, Werder are level on points with Fulda and Bad Königshofen at the top of the table. FCS go into the new matchday with a defeat against Bergneustadt on Saturday. The top trio of Darko Jorgic, Patrick Franziska and Yuto Muramatsu have not yet been able to play together, with Eduard Ionescu and Cedric Meissner from the second team providing support. Now they are aiming for a home win on Tuesday evening. The game starts at 7 p.m. in the Joachim-Deckarm-Halle in Saarbrücken.
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC OE Bad Homburg 1987
Borussia from Düsseldorf are in a similar situation to FCS. After a clear opening win against ASC Grünwettersbach, they suffered a 3-0 defeat against a strong Fulda team in front of 2,500 spectators last Friday. Their ambitions to score points against the newly promoted team from Bad Homburg are correspondingly high. The opponents, on the other hand, will go into the game with the tailwind from their victory against Grenzau, which was the first triumph of the season for the team from the Taunus. There will definitely be plenty of excitement when Kristian Karlsson, Csaba Andras and Yuma Tsuboi travel to Timo Boll and Co.
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TSV Bad Königshofen
A bigger hall, a great atmosphere: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell truly celebrated a table tennis festival on Friday when they were able to celebrate their 3-0 win over record champions Düsseldorf. With two wins from two matches, the team, which has been upgraded with Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Cheng-Jui Kao, has already surpassed last year's preliminary round - back then they only managed to score against Mainz, who were later relegated. Of course, the second half of the season was successful with five wins, but now the Hessians are even in first place in the league. The visitors on matchday three have a comparatively short journey: Only 80 kilometers separate TSV Bad Königshofen from the TTC from Fulda. Bad Königshofen has started the season no less successfully. It started off with two wins against Mühlhausen and Ochsenhausen. Spectators can therefore expect an exciting match in the current top match of the TTBL on Saturday.
BV Borussia 09 Dortmund – ASC Grünwettersbach
Yongyin Li and BVB had every reason to celebrate just yesterday. Not only did Li lead Borussia to a 3-1 win against Mühlhausen with two victories, it was also the promoted team's first win in the TTBL. The momentum from the game is now to be carried forward when Dortmund welcomes its guests from ASC Grünwettersbach on Sunday. The team is in second-to-last place in the league after losing 3-0 and 3-1 to Düsseldorf and Bremen. The game kicks off on September 8 at 3:30 p.m. in the Brügmann-Sporthalle.
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – Post SV Mühlhausen
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt is also at the top of the table. Kanak Jha, Benedikt Duda and Adrien Rassenfosse led the TTC to victory twice against Grenzau and Saarbrücken. The rescheduled home game against Mühlhausen on September 16 will show whether the streak can be continued. Meanwhile, the Thuringian guests are under pressure. With two defeats, the team is currently bottom of the table after having to cope with the defeat against Dortmund yesterday. The team is likely to be all the more ambitious when it faces Bergneustadt after a two-week break.
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau and TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen are also among the teams still waiting for a TTBL win this season. Grenzau recently lost to Bergneustadt and Bad Homburg, while Ochsenhausen suffered two defeats against Fulda and Bad Königshofen. That will change in the duel in the table neighborhood, as Ochsenhausen will face Grenzau at home. Last season, Ochsenhausen won twice, but that really means nothing for the current season. By the way: Before the third matchday is concluded with this game, the fourth matchday in the TTBL will already start and Ochsenhausen will travel to Dortmund three days earlier.
Overview of the 3rd matchday
Tuesday, September 3rd
7 p.m.: 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT - SV Werder Bremen
Wednesday, September 4th
7 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC OE Bad Homburg
Saturday, September 7th
7 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TSV Bad Königshofen
Sunday, September 8th
3.30 p.m.: BV Borussia 09 Dortmund – ASC Grünwettersbach
Monday, September 16th
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – Post SV Mühlhausen
Montag, 23. September
7 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
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Author: Julian Hörndlein
Featured image above: Jin Ueda from TSV Bad Königshofen (Photo: Bad Königshofen)