Saarbrücken still without defeat, Fulda is in trouble
At the end of the eighth matchday, 1. FC Saarbrücken hosted bottom-of-the-table Fulda. The Hessians were able to call on Chun Ting Wong for the first time this season - despite Wong's individual victory, Fulda lost unhappily in an evenly-matched game.
The 3:1 victory over Fulda means that Saarbrücken remain unbeaten. The guests from Saarland surprised with an unusual line-up. It was not Patrick Franziska who played in the number one position, but new signing Yuto Muramatsu.
Game of long runs
The line-ups of the two coaches meant that the two national players Ruwen Filus and Patrick Franziska faced each other in the very first match. Franziska clearly dominated the TTC player in the first set and seemingly picked up where he left off in the second. However, at 8:3, Franziska lost the thread and ultimately the set. The next set was to go the other way round. Filus led 5:1, Franziska won 11:5. In the fourth set, Filus turned around a 4:7 deficit and fended off a match point, which he also managed to do in the final fifth set. However, the third match point was successful.
In the match between Fanbo Meng and Yuto Muramatsu, the roles were reversed compared to the first game: attacking player for Fulda, defensive specialist for Saarbrücken. After a promising start for Meng, nothing worked out for the coach's son from 6:4 in the first set. After conceding the second set, Muramatsu relied more often on counter-attacks in the third, in addition to his defense against cuts, which led to success. Meng subsequently made too many mistakes, fending off a match point in the fourth set, but the last ball went into the net.
Meissner injured - but can continue playing
At 9:9 in the first set against Wong, Meissner injured the little finger of his striking hand. Saarbrücken immediately took a medical timeout. Patrick Franziska then became the "snow man". Franziska sprinted out of the hall and fetched snow from outside so that Meissner could immediately cool his injury. Curious scene. However, the Saarbrücken player's injury was limited. After an injury interruption of just under ten minutes, a hard-fought game continued, which Wong won 3:1 in the end.
In the duel between the two deuces, Filus often took on the role of attacker at the start and read Muramatsu's changes of pace well. Towards the end of the first set, the FCS player became more offensive, but Filus caught almost everything from the defense. However, the security of Filus' attacking balls dwindled, allowing the Japanese player to win the second and third sets. In the fourth set, Muramatsu fended off two set points and was able to convert his first match point.
Overview of matchday 8
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – 1. FC Saarbrücken 1:3
Ruwen Filus – Patrick Franziska 2:3 (4:11, 11:9, 5:11, 13:11, 8:11)
Fanbo Meng – Yuto Muramatsu 1:3 (6:11, 11:7, 6:11, 9:11)
Chun Ting Wong – Cedric Meissner 3:1 (11:9, 8:11, 11:9, 11:9)
Ruwen Filus – Yuto Muramatsu 1:3 (11:6, 7:11, 4:11, 10:12)
Post SV Mühlhausen – SV Werder Bremen 3:1
Ovidiu Ionescu – Marcelo Aguirre 3:0 (11:6, 11:5, 13:11)
Irvin Bertrand – Mattias Flack 0:3 (5:11, 14:16, 3:11)
Steffen Mengel – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:7)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Mattias Falck 3:0 (11:2, 14:12, 11:6)
TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:2
Bastian Steger – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:1 (11:9, 15:17, 11:4, 11:7)
Martin Allegro – Benedikt Duda 1:3 (11:6, 6:11, 3:11, 4:11)
Filip Zeljko – Romain Ruiz 0:3 (10:12, 5:11, 8:11)
Bastian Steger – Benedikt Duda 3:1 (3:11, 11:7, 11:9, 11:9)
Martin Allegro/Filip Zeljko – Adrien Rassenfosse/Romain Ruiz 3:2 (11:9, 6:11, 11:4, 11:13, 11:7)
Borussia Düsseldorf – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:2
Anton Källberg – Rafael Turrini 3:0 (11:5, 11:5, 11:3)
Borgar Haug – Deni Kozul 0:3 (8:11, 2:11, 5:11)
Kay Stumper – Ricardo Walther 0:3 (6:11, 6:11, 9:11)
Anton Källberg – Deni Kozul 3:1 (11:9, 11:6, 5:11, 12:10)
Borgar Haug/Kay Stumper – Rafael Turrini/Ricardo Walther 3:1 (13:15, 11:6, 11:4, 11:6)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:0
Hugo Calderano – Xavier Dixon 3:0 (11:8, 11:0, 12:10)
Simon Gauzy – Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:6, 11:8, 11:8)
Hayate Suzuki – Samuel Walker 3:0 (11:5, 11:3, 12:10)
All TTBL matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.
Text: Philipp Wohlfart
Featured image above: Patrick Franziska from 1. FC Saarbrücken (Photo: BeLa Sportfoto)