Teamcheck I: Mainz, Grenzau, Grünwettersbach & Bremen
The 2022/23 season of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) is about to start. In advance, we take a look at the twelve clubs that will be chasing points again from Sunday. In the first part, we look at promoted 1. FSV Mainz 05, TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau, ASV Grünwettersbach and SV Werder Bremen.
1.FSV Mainz 05
The countdown for the debut in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) is on: On Sunday, August 28, 1st FSV Mainz 05 will play in Europe's strongest league for the first time, away to TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. The Rheinhessen team's goal for the season is to stay in the league, but more important to them is the development of the team. "In the 2nd Bundesliga, we understood how it works, and now we are curious about the TTBL," said Tomasz Kasica, the sporting director of Mainz, recently in our interview, referring to the consistent promotion of young players capable of development.
Accordingly, FSV enters its debut season with the quintet of Andrei Putuntika (23), Yuto Muramatsu (25), Luka Mladenovic (24), Abdullah Talha Yigenler (23) and Carlo Rossi (21). Enthusiasm is high in Mainz, with the first home game coming against Borussia Düsseldorf on September 4. "Basically, we want to try to inspire. The Bundesliga is a huge opportunity, because the Bundesliga will do something with us," says Kasica, looking forward to the "adventure" TTBL.
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau had to wait a long time last season before it was finally certain at the beginning of March that the six-time German champions would continue to play in the Bundesliga in the 2022/23 season. After twelve points in the last round, this time it should be a few more points to have as little as possible to do with the relegation zone. To this end, Grenzau has reshuffled its squad somewhat and brought in Samuel Walker, a hopeful who, in tandem with Patrick Baum, should provide the necessary victories.
"I am convinced that he will find a very good form with us," said TTC coach Slobodan Grujic already when signing the 27-year-old. "He has already proven that he can also win very important matches internationally." The contract was extended with Feng Yi-Hsin, who put in promising performances in his first six months in the TTBL and is again likely to catch one or two players cold. New to the squad is Maciej Kubik, who has moved to the Westerwald from TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen and is expected to make appearances in the shadow of the established players.
ASV Grünwettersbach
The word "epidemic season" probably best describes the past year of ASV Grünwettersbach. The team had to cope with numerous injuries and was therefore unable to play a single match in its best lineup or form. For a long time, Grünwettersbach even had to worry about staying in the league, and after a total of five match days, the team was even on a relegation spot, before the all-clear finally came in March. In order not to have to tremble again about the TTBL membership, Tiago Apolonia, an experienced player and European Championship eighth-finalist, was signed, who had a 17:7 singles record for TTC Neu-Ulm in the previous year and should now provide additional points for Grünwettersbach.
"Tiago has experienced everything, he has been active in the TTBL for many years," ASV manager Martin Werner recently told Baden-TV, explaining, "This brings us the certainty that when things get tight, he can also get the points. In addition, our youngster Deni Kozul can learn from another experienced player." In addition to this duo, Grünwettersbach has two other experienced players in Ricardo Walther and Wang Xi.
SV Werder Bremen
How good is Mattias Falck's form and fitness? This question has often been the deciding factor between victory and defeat at SV Werder Bremen in recent months. In 2020, the Swede even led the Hanseatic League to the play-offs, while last season Werder had to look down the table and at times struggled to stay in the relegation zone. In order to reduce their dependence on Falck, the Bremen club decided to part ways with long-time player Hunor Szöcs and instead signed Cristian Pletea (from TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau), an ambitious talent. Kirill Gerassimenko, who played most of last year's matches at position three and had a 13:9 singles record, and Marcelo Aguirre are still with the team.
Falck has also been in strong form in recent days: the Swede was crowned European doubles champion with Kristian Karlsson - the duo had already won the World Championship last fall - and he also won a bronze medal in the singles after losing 1:4 to the eventual winner Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf). He was "pretty disappointed" after the elimination, Falck admitted to buten un binnen. "But in a few days I will certainly be happy about my performance." - And certainly want to confirm this in the TTBL.