The table tennis month of February in review: Much more than the World Championships

The table tennis month of February was not only dominated by the World Team Championships: the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) also made a variety of headlines around the title fights. The diverse events in all the important table regions kept fans on the edge of their seats, as did strategic and personnel decisions by several clubs.

The German Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) was able to hold its own against the world's most important event after the Olympics in February. Both before and after the title matches in Busan, South Korea, which were partly broadcast by TTBL streaming partner Dyn, matches in the German top flight also provided some thrilling excitement.

Whether it was the race at the top, the battle for a place in the play-offs or the fight to stay in the league, there was music in practically every match, as hardly any team could afford to lose even the slightest point. In addition, the first wave of transfers for the coming season swept across the league.

Gauzy and Taiwan duo bring TTBL medal glory

The spotlight was, of course, on the World Team Championships. The German team, which was largely made up of TTBL stars, did not make it onto the podium for the first time since 2016 after losing to Taiwan in the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, the TTBL once again shone with medal glory: Frenchman Simon Gauzy (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen) brought silver back from South Korea, and for Taiwan's Chuang Chih-Yuan (TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell) and Feng Yi-Hsin (TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau), bronze was the reward, especially for their coup against the German team.

However, it wasn't just the medal winners who promoted the TTBL on the big stage: Werder Bremen's ace Kirill Gerassimenko shone in Busan with nine wins in nine matches with Kazakhstan's team up to the intermediate round elimination - including successes in the duel with Germany against European champion Dang Qiu and Dimitrij Ovtcharov. With his clean slate, Gerasimenko also outshone China's top stars Fan Zhendong and Ma Long, at least on paper.

Grünwettersbach and Bremen score again

Around the World Cup, most clubs in the TTBL set their sights on the home stretch of the points round. The 3:2 win by 1. FSV Mainz 05 against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the supposed "final relegation match" caused the biggest stir and was probably the most important result in the matches before the World Cup break.

Former cup winners ASV Grünwettersbach and former champions Bremen celebrated positive experiences after long dry spells before the break in the season: ASV won 3:2 against TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, their first success after six defeats in a row, and Bremen achieved their first success of the year at the fourth attempt with a 3:1 win in Ochsenhausen.

Only three teams with a positive monthly record

At the top, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT took the lead before the start of the World Cup and later unofficially became the team of the month with a total of three wins in three matches. The Champions League winners also benefited from the fact that defending champions Borussia Düsseldorf were beaten 3-2 in Bergneustadt for the first time since 2018 in their third consecutive points match. The Rhinelanders then kept their long-term rivals at least within sight with 3:0 victories against Post SV Mühlhausen and in Bremen.

Alongside the leading duo, only TSV Bad Königshofen managed a positive monthly record with two wins in three matches. Bastian Steger's team thus consolidated its pole position in a surprise quartet that gave itself the best chance of securing the two play-off places behind the two leading teams. Unlike Grenzau, Bremen and Bergneustadt, Ochsenhausen was unable to improve its prospects of reaching the final round with just one win in three games.

Fulda benefits from Mainz's withdrawal / License review procedure underway

Despite the same negative result, there was jubilation in Fulda at the end of the month. After all, Mainz's unsurprising decision to withdraw at the end of the season meant that the question of who would be relegated this year was settled early on in favor of the team from Eastern Hesse. As the top second division teams TTC OE Bad Homburg and Borussia Dortmund have also applied for a place in the top division in the licensing process, the TTBL can hope to return to its target strength of twelve teams for the coming season.

The license review process is now underway for the applicants. The club's details will be examined according to legal, personnel, administrative, infrastructural and financial criteria.

Transfer carousel gains momentum

The upcoming season has already cast its shadow in the squad planning. Grenzau presented its fans with a new face with the signing of Luka Mladenovic from Luxembourg (Mainz), as did Bremen with the agreement with Velbert second division player Andrei Putuntica (Moldova). Both transfers are regarded as selective reinforcements, as Grenzau has retained two regular players in Sam Walker and Feng Yi-Hsin, as has Bremen with the contract extensions with Mattias Falck and Marcel Aguirre.

Saarbrücken and Bergneustadt also opted for continuity. The league leaders renewed the contracts of Yuto Muramatsu and Eduard Ionescu, while Benedikt Duda and Romain Ruiz committed themselves to the team from Oberberg.

Li Yongyin (Mainz) and Cedric Nuytinck (Saarbrücken), on the other hand, are on their way to Dortmund, while Cristian Pletea (Bremen) has not yet found a new club.

One position also became vacant in Ochsenhausen: the Upper Swabians announced the end of their collaboration with coach Fu Yong at the end of the season.

Semi-finals for Champions League finals drawn

For the Champions League duo of the TTTBL, the final round at Easter (March 31/April 1) in Saarbrücken has already come to the fore with the draw for the semi-finals. Defending champions and hosts Saarbrücken will face last year's relegated team TTC Neu-Ulm in the inevitable German duel, while record winners Düsseldorf will have to contend with the Austrian surprise team TTC Wiener Neustadt. Tickets for the Champions League Men Final Four 2023/2024 are available online at https://fcs-tt-tickets.reservix.de/events.

Florian Manzke