Only Filus is unbeatable: Grenzau defeats Fulda again

As in the previous year, TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau tripped up TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell. In the last match of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) in 2025, the team from the Westerwald celebrated a 3:2 victory over the East Hessians on Monday.

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau had beaten TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:1 twice in the previous season, and in the end, the East Hessians narrowly missed out on the playoffs due in part to these defeats. In the new season, head coach Slobodan Grujic's team has once again proved to be a stumbling block for Fulda: On Monday evening, Grenzau won 3:2 against the East Hessians and, with 8:14 points, is now close to the non-relegation zone. Fulda remains in sixth place in the middle of the table with 10:12 points. The Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) is now taking a short Christmas break.

“Looking at the latest results, we can be hopeful that Fulda will suit us,” said Grenzau manager Markus Ströher before the match. After two victories in the TTBL, his team narrowly lost in the cup (2:3) in Fulda in November. However, the East Hessians initially seemed to have the upper hand on Monday: Fanbo Meng put in a courageous performance against Feng Yi-Hsin, leading 2:1 in sets and then shortly afterwards in the deciding set. But Feng came back, snatched the first match point and finally won the singles 3:2. Ruwen Filus, who once again replaced Jonathan Groth, then equalized. The 37-year-old made it 1:1 with a 3:0 win over Maciej Kubik.

“A mega day”: Mladenovic beats Ovtcharov

After the break, it was more of the same. Grenzau had the crowd cheering again when Luka Mladenovic stunned the fans with a 3-0 win over Dimitrij Ovtcharov to make it 2-1. “It was a mega day for us,” Mladenovic said afterward into the Dyn microphone. “It was high time I played at home again to give something back to the fans. I'm training very hard at the moment, and the intensive training phases seem to be paying off.”

In the top singles match, Fulda struck back again: Filus kept his nerve despite trailing Feng 0-2 in sets, and again at 4-8 in the fourth set, eventually celebrating a 3-2 triumph. However, the doubles went to Grenzau again, with Mladenovic named Man of the Match alongside Martin Allegro. The Grenzau combination beat Ovtcharov/Meng 3-0.

Liebherr Cup Final Four on January 4, 2026

Fulda's next match is already scheduled for January 4: As part of the Liebherr Cup Final Four, the East Hessians will face TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg at 11 a.m. At the same time, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will face each other at the neighboring table. The two winners will then face each other in the grand final and compete for the 2026 German Table Tennis Cup. All matches of the day will be broadcast live by TTBL media partner Dyn.

The Table Tennis Bundesliga will then resume the following week: On Sunday, January 11, the first TTBL matches of 2026 will take place.

Match day #11 at a glance

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – ASC Grünwettersbach 3:1
Shunsuke Togami – Tobias Hippler 3:0 (11:4, 11:9, 11:6)
Tiago Abiodun – Hiroto Shinozuka 1:3 (8:11, 12:10, 8:11, 9:11)
Iulian Chirita – Tiago Apolonia 3:0 (11:9, 11:9, 11:7)
Shunsuke Togami – Hiroto Shinozuka 3:0 (12:10, 11:7, 11:8) 

TSV Bad Königshofen – Borussia Dortmund 2:3
Bastian Steger – Kristian Karlsson 3:2 (11:3, 11:9, 11:4, 10:12, 13:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Anders Lind 2:3 (11:7, 6:11, 11:7, 5:11, 8:11)
Filip Zeljko – Adam Szudi 1:3 (5:11, 11:6, 10:12, 4:11)
Bastian Steger – Anders Lind 3:0 (15:13, 11:8, 11:5)
Filip Zeljko/Daniel Habesohn – Kristian Karlsson/Adam Szudi 2:3 (9:5, 5:11, 11:9, 11:8, 5:11) 

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:1
Jo Yokotani – Leo de Nodrest 3:0 (12:10, 11:3, 11:3)
Juan Perez – Benedikt Duda 3:0 (11:5, 11:8, 11:9)
Ivor Ban – Romain Ruiz 0:3 (4:11, 6:11, 9:11)
Jo Yokotani – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:1 (11:4, 11:7, 5:11, 11:7) 

1. FC Saarbrücken TT – Borussia Düsseldorf 3:2
Fan Zhendong – Borgar Haug 3:0 (11:2, 11:5, 12:10)
Patrick Franziska – Kanak Jha 2:3 (11:4, 4:11, 6:11, 11:9, 8:11)
Cedric Meissner – Anton Källberg 2:3 (8:11, 13:15, 12:10, 12:10, 8:11)
Fan Zhendong – Kanak Jha 3:1 (11:3, 6:11, 11:5, 11:5)
Patrick Franziska/Cedric Meissner – Anton Källberg/Li Yongyin 3:1 (11:13, 12:10, 11:9, 11:9)

Post SV Mühlhausen – SV Werder Bremen 0:3
Kay Stumper – Mattias Falck 1:3 (9:11, 5:11, 14:12, 9:11)
Marcos Freitas – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (7:11, 11:8, 17:15, 8:11, 2:11)
Steffen Mengel – Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (12:10, 7:11, 11:13, 7:11)

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:2
Feng Yi-Hsin – Fanbo Meng 3:2 (7:11, 11:8, 8:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Maciej Kubik – Ruwen Filus 0:3 (5:11, 9:11, 13:15)
Luka Mladenovic – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3:0 (11:5, 13:11, 11:9)
Feng Yi-Hsin – Ruwen Filus 2:3 (11:3, 11:5, 9:11, 10:12, 5:11)
Luka Mladenovic/Martin Allegro – Dimitrij Ovtcharov/Fanbo Meng 3:0 (13:11, 12:10, 11:6)

Header photo: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau's Luka Mladenovic (by Wolfgang Heil)