Start of the season is imminent: Düsseldorf hosts Mühlhausen, Mainz debuts in Bergneustadt
The hunt for the title in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) opens on Sunday and Monday: On the first matchday, promoted 1. FSV Mainz 05 will make its debut at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, while at the same time the newly assembled star ensemble of TTC Neu-Ulm will welcome ASV Grünwettersbach. The first matchday will be rounded off on Monday evening by defending champions Borussia Düsseldorf, who welcome Post SV Mühlhausen.
TTC Neu-Ulm - ASV Grünwettersbach
In the fourth year of the club's existence, TTC Neu-Ulm has catapulted itself into the circle of title favorites for the first time: With Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Truls Moregard, Lin Yun-Ju and Tomokazu Harimoto, the Upper Swabians have signed no less than four players from the top 10 of the world rankings, the first three of whom have also been licensed for the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) and the German Table Tennis Cup. "I am very happy to come back to Germany," Ovtcharov said when announcing his transfer. Already on Sunday, the 33-year-old could serve again in the TTBL for the first time since 2009. The TTC's opponent will then be ASV Grünwettersbach, which has also strengthened itself - with a former Neu-Ulm player, of all people. After three years in Swabia, Tiago Apolonia has switched to Grünwettersbach for the new season and is expected to become a key figure on the way to staying in the league. "Tiago has experienced everything, he has been active in the TTBL for many years," ASV manager Martin Werner recently told Baden-TV, explaining, "That brings us the certainty that when things get tight, he can also get the points."
TTBL match predictions*
Probability home win: 98.3 %
Probability doubles: 7.9 %
Most likely result: 3:0 (65.8 %)
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt - 1. FSV Mainz 05
A historic day is ahead for 1. FSV Mainz 05. On Sunday at 1 p.m., the Rheinhessen team will make its debut in the TTBL at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. Last season, FSV secured the championship in the 2nd Bundesliga with 27:9 points and thus promotion. "In fact, the Bundesliga is more of an adventure at first because we will continue to compete with young players who are capable of development," said sporting director Tomasz Kasica most recently in our interview. In addition to staying in the league, Mainz is pursuing the goal of further developing the team, and the players should get used to the rigors of the Bundesliga, as Kasica explains. The first opportunity to do this should be Bergneustadt, which was promisingly in the race for fourth place for a long time last season. New in the team of the swallows are TTBL returnees Omar Assar and Romain Ruiz, continue with Benedikt Duda and Alberto Mino.
TTBL match predictions* Probability home win: 96.1 %
Probability doubles: 12.7 %
Most likely result: 3:0 (52.7 %)
TSV Bad Königshofen - SV Werder Bremen
TSV Bad Königshofen is in a state of great euphoria before the start of the season. After all, the team from Lower Franconia is probably the best in the club's history. With Yukiya Uda, the TSV has secured a top international player, and Martin Allegro was also brought in, so that Bad Königshofen is starting the TTBL season with five players for the first time. The first test on Sunday will be SV Werder Bremen, against whom they lost 3:2 at home last year, but 0:3 away from home. The Bremen side have also made some changes to their squad for the new round: Hunor Szöcs left the club after nine years together, and Cristian Pletea was signed in his place. "We just want to manage not to slip in at the bottom at any time," team manager Sascha Greber told the Kreiszeitung with a view to the preseason, in which Werder had to worry for a long time about staying in the relegation zone. Mattias Falck, who recently collected two medals at the European Championships, put it far more boldly: "We want to finish fourth behind Düsseldorf, Saarbrücken and Neu-Ulm."
TTBL match predictions*
Probability of home win: 67.8 %
Probability doubles: 36.5 %
Most likely result: 3:1 (27.5 %)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen - TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
For the first time since 2015, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen missed out on the play-offs in the pre-season and therefore strengthened themselves once again for the new round. With Shunsuke Togami and Alvaro Robles, the Upper Swabians have brought two players who once again strengthen the ambitious team around Simon Gauzy, Kanak Jha and Samuel Kulczycki. An opponent with whom Ochsenhausen still has a score to settle awaits them right at the start on Sunday at 4 pm: In the preseason, the TTF ended up behind TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell due to the worse match ratio, also due to the defeats (2:3, 0:3) in the direct duels. "With Fulda, a top team of the TTBL is coming to Ochsenhausen. It will certainly be an exciting duel at eye level, which the spectators can look forward to," says TTF coach Fu Yong before the match. The Fuldaer however send also in the new round the team into the running, which had reached in the preseason in TTBL and cup in each case the semi final.
TTBL match predictions*
Probability of home win: 46.0 %
Probability doubles: 37.9 %
Most likely result: 1:3 (24.1 %)
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau - 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT start the season with completely different objectives. While Grenzau is looking down and hoping to stay in the league, the Saarlanders are dreaming of the second championship in the club's history. In order to achieve the goal in each case, both teams have strengthened themselves in terms of personnel. "The mix in our team can be dangerous for the opponents," says TTC manager Markus Ströher in the podcast Das Rauschen im Walde. Behind Patrick Baum, Grenzau offers two newcomers in Samuel Walker and Maciej Kubik; Feng Yi-Hsin and Nils Hohmeier are still with the team, so there are various lineup options. "The overall constellation is similar to last season. We have to win quite a few games to have a chance of staying in the class," says Ströher. Meanwhile, Saarbrücken has strengthened itself with Cedric Nuytinck and Jin Takuya, adding quality to the already strong trio of Patrick Franziska, Darko Jorgic and Tomas Polansky."With Cedric, we have also been able to largely close the doubles as our biggest construction site," Franziska recently explained in our interview. Last year, FCS narrowly missed out on the double in a 3-2 loss to Düsseldorf in the Liebherr TTBL final. "Overall, it will be an exciting and interesting season because many teams have stepped up," Franziska continued. "We will have to step on the gas quite a bit to get to the final again. But that strength across the board is exactly what's good for the league."
TTBL match predictions*
Probability of home win: 0.4 %
Probability doubles: 2.8 %
Most likely result: 0:3 (78.1 %)
Borussia Düsseldorf - Post SV Mühlhausen
Déjà vu for Borussia Düsseldorf: Last year, the record champion started the season with a home match against Post SV Mühlhausen, which ended with the championship. Should it happen again this year, the Düsseldorfers would certainly not fight back. However, manager Andreas Preuß warns of the strength of the competition before the start of the season: "The league has become more balanced and stronger. Not only the top-ranked squad from Neu-Ulm - for me also the top favorite - but almost all of them have specifically strengthened themselves, probably at least seven teams will play for the play-offs, the league has rarely been as strong as it will be next season," he says. Mühlhausen, which reached the play-offs for the first time last season and will start the new round with an unchanged squad, can also be counted among these seven teams.
TTBL match predictions*
Probability of home win: 98.5 %
Probability doubles: 6.3 %
Most likely result: 3:0 (66.7 %)
The 1st matchday in overview
Sunday, August 28, 1 p.m.
TTC Neu-Ulm – ASV Grünwettersbach
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – 1. FSV Mainz 05
Sunday, August 28, 4 p.m.
TSV Bad Königshofen – SV Werder Bremen
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
Monday, August 29, 6.30 p.m.
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
Monday, August 29, 7 p.m.
Borussia Düsseldorf – Post SV Mühlhausen
You can watch all games live on the Spontent channels on Twitch.
*For more information on the values determined by Data Analyst Tim Scheffczyk (M. Sc. VWL), click here.