Saarbrücken prevents catch-up race

It has not been Post SV Mühlhausen's year so far. In the second round of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), they have only celebrated one victory so far - and then the league leaders, 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, will be traveling to the 16th matchday with their best line-up. However, the Thuringians have just managed to avoid a defeat in quick succession.

1.FC Saarbrücken-TT had a lot planned for the 16th matchday in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). It faced Post SV Mühlhausen with the top duo of Darko Jorgic and Patrick Franziska. However, it was the Japanese defensive player Yuto Muramatsu who put his stamp on the game.

Saarbrücken got off to a flying start in the first two singles. Both Patrick Franziska and Yuto Muramatsu won their matches in three sets. Neither Ovidiu Ionescu nor Irvin Bertrand came close to winning a set. In the first leg, Ionescu inflicted the only defeat on Franziska so far this season. However, he was unable to repeat this performance this time. And Bertrand was also unable to find a solution to Muramatsu's defensive play.

Steffen Mengel gives the game a new direction

As Darko Jorgic was the favorite against Steffen Mengel, there were many indications that it would be a short evening. But Mengel did not give in without a fight - on the contrary. With a strong performance, he took the lead twice and was not fazed by the two equalizers. When he took a 6:0 lead in the fifth set, shouts of "Here we go" rang out from the crowd for the first time. And although Jorgic came back into the match once more, Mengel did not let the victory slip away.

Daniel Habesohn, who had replaced Ionescu, then met Yuto Muramatsu. Initially, it did not look as if the entire duel could seriously tilt again. Habesohn fell 5:0 behind. However, he stole the first game and took the lead again a little later, 2:1. But Muramatsu equalized twice and was not deterred by the 2:5 deficit in the deciding set. He fended off one match point at 10:11 and 11:12 and used the second of his own to prevent the Thuringians from catching up again.

At the end of the 16th matchday on Thursday, record champions Borussia Düsseldorf travel north to SV Werder Bremen and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt host TSV Bad Königshofen.

Overview of the 16th matchday

Post SV Mühlhausen vs 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT 1:3
Ovidiu Ionescu – Patrick Franziska 0:3 (7:11, 4:11, 8:11)
Irvin Bertrand – Yuto Muramatsu 0:3 (5:11, 3:11, 7:11)
Steffen Mengel – Darko Jorgic 3:2 (12:10, 6:11, 11:8, 7:11, 11:7)
Daniel Habesohn – Yuto Muramatsu 2:3 (11:9, 5:11, 11:9, 8:11, 12:14)

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell vs ASV Grünwettersbach 3:2
Ruwen Filus – Deni Kozul 3:0 (11:8, 11:4, 11:7)
Chih-Yuan Chuang – Tiago Apolonia 3:1 (6:11, 11:4, 11:7, 11:9)
Fanbo Meng – Ricardo Walther 1:3 (11:13, 11:4, 9:11, 9:11)
Ruwen Filus – Tiago Apolonia 2:3 (9:11, 11:8, 11:8, 11:13, 10:12)
Fanbo Meng/Chih-Yuan Chuang – Deni Kozul/Ricardo Walther 3:1 (11:9, 9:11, 11:3, 11:4)

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau vs TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 1:3
Yi-Hsin Feng – Can Akkuzu 3:0 (12:10, 11:7, 12:10)
Samuel Walker – Hugo Calderano 0:3 (7:11, 5:11, 9:11)
Maciej Kubik – Alvaro Robles 1:3 (7:11, 4:11, 12:10, 13:15)
Yi-Hsin Feng – Hugo Calderano 1:3 (12:14, 5:11, 11:6, 9:11)

Thursday, 29. February 2024
7 p.m.: SV Werder Bremen vs Borussia Düsseldorf
7 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt vs TSV Bad Königshofen

All matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.

Featured image above: Yuto Muramatsu (photo: BeLa Sportfoto)