Matchday 6: Lower league clash in Bergneustadt, top match in Mühlhausen
Matchday 6 of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) is about to get underway, with ASV Grünwettersbach hosting 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday, the basement duel between TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and the top match between Post SV Mühlhausen and Borussia Düsseldorf.
ASV Grünwettersbach - 1. FSV Mainz 05
ASV Grünwettersbach can look back on an impressive run: The team from Baden recently won seven games in a row at their home table tennis center, with victories over Fulda and Mühlhausen (3:0 each) in the current season. Grünwettersbach have now set their sights on victory number eight against 1. FSV Mainz 05, but should be warned by the Rheinhessen side's recent performances. Mainz have sold themselves dearly on several occasions, celebrated their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory against Bergneustadt and are therefore only two points behind ASV (4-4) with 2-8 points. However, the match against Grünwettersbach marks the start of a difficult few weeks for Mainz: They then face Mühlhausen (October 15), Saarbrücken (December 1) and Düsseldorf (December 17), three of last year's top four.
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt - TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell is the only team in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) still waiting for its first win of the season: The team from Eastern Hesse has lost four times in the TTBL and was knocked out of the cup in Bremen. At least there was a small ray of hope on Wednesday, when Fulda narrowly missed out on their first points of the season with a 2:3 draw against Bad Königshofen. Ruwen Filus and Co., who are still without Wong Chun Ting, will now make their next attempt against TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and would even overtake their rivals with a clear win. Bergneustadt are also in the basement of the table, but have already celebrated a win against Grenzau (3-0) and are just ahead of Fulda (0-8) in ninth place with a 2-6 record.
TSV Bad Königshofen - TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
After teething problems and two defeats at the start of the season, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen have now arrived in the new season: The Swabians have won three TTBL matches in a row and reached the cup quarter-finals and are now aiming for their fifth success in a row on Sunday. "We're traveling to Bad Königshofen with the clear goal of winning," said Samuel Kulczycki. "It's a very important game and we want to continue our successful run of recent weeks." TSV Bad Königshofen, on the other hand, recently celebrated their second win of the TTBL season with a 3-2 victory in Fulda and would leap into the top half of the table with another win.
Post SV Mühlhausen - Borussia Düsseldorf
The top match of Matchday 6 will take place on Sunday afternoon at Post SV Mühlhausen, who will host Borussia Düsseldorf from 4 pm. In the previous season, both teams made it to the play-offs, in which, as is well known, the record champions prevailed and shortly afterwards celebrated their 33rd German championship with success in the Liebherr TTBL final. In the new season, both teams are once again in the thick of the action, with Düsseldorf at the top with 10-0 points and Mühlhausen in mid-table with 4-4, although they recently suffered defeats in Grünwettersbach (0-3) and Saarbrücken (1-3). "We'll travel to Mühlhausen a day early and train there together again in the evening," announced Borussia coach Danny Heiser. "Everyone is in good shape."
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau - SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen recently overcame the first minor setback of the season: With the 3:0 in the cup against Fulda, the Hanseatic team returned to winning ways after two defeats in a row, against Ochsenhausen (0:3) and in Düsseldorf (2:3). Now they are aiming for their next success in the TTBL as well, with which the team hopes to further establish itself in the top half of the table. TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau is also hoping for its third win of the season, having also lost twice recently - in Bergneustadt (0:3) and against Saarbrücken (1:3). "Bremen is a very interesting team that we always enjoy playing against," said TTC manager Markus Ströher. "Even though we've lost games against Werder recently, of course, the spectators - whether in Bremen or Grenzau - have always gotten their money's worth."
Overview of matchday 6
Friday, 6. October
7 p.m.: ASV Grünwettersbach – 1. FSV Mainz 05
Saturday, 7. October
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
Sunday, 8. October
1 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
4 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf
Monday, 9. October
7 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – SV Werder Bremen