The ‘TTBL Player of the Month September’: Dimitrij Ovtcharov from TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
TTBL fans were able to vote for their ‘TTBL Player of the Month for September’ in a social media poll. After TTBL match days three and four as well as the cup round of 16 and the WTT Champions, a sextet with strong records were put to the vote: Hugo Calderano (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen), Kirill Gerassimenko (Werder Bremen), Kanak Jha (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt), Dimitrij Ovtcharov (TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell), Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf) and Ricardo Walther (ASC Grünwettersbach). The majority of supporters in the TTBL community voted former champion and returnee Ovtcharov ‘Player of the Month’ for six wins in six matches across all competitions.
That's what you would call a successful comeback: After a year in sporting ‘exile’ in Greece with Olympiakos Piraeus, national player Dimitrij Ovtcharov returned to TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell for his fourth stint with a club in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL).
With four wins in four matches, the 36-year-old not only polished up his still unblemished season record to 7:0 wins, but also made a significant contribution to the East Hesse team's lead in the table. Ovtcharov also played a major part in the relegation candidates from the previous season reaching the cup quarter-finals.
In the league encounters with rivals TSV Bad Königshofen (3:1) and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (3:2), who are also aiming for a play-off place, the veteran did his job with confidence. Ovtcharov followed up his successes against TSV aces Filip Zeljko (3:1) and Bastian Steger (3:0) with further victories against Adrien Rassenfosse (3:1) and Kanak Jha (3:0) in Bergneustadt. In between, the former European champion beat both the idol Timo Boll (3:1) and the reigning European champion Dang Qiu (3:2) in the spicy cup round of 16 with cup defender and record winner Borussia Düsseldorf.
Internationally, on the other hand, the stakes were a little higher. Following his withdrawal from the WTT Champions in Macau, Ovtcharov was knocked out of the multi-million Grand Smash in round two against China's Zhu Qihao, with the German favourite claiming to be in poor health. All the more reason why the TTBL fans' recognition of the service artist through his selection as “TTBL Player of the Month September” should be a welcome balm on Ovtcharov's not yet completely scarred wounds from the disappointing Olympic tournament.
After returning from Paris without a medal, the right-hander threw himself full of vigour into his new role as the ‘leader’ of Fulda's rebuilt team. Ovtcharov's professionalism fully impressed TTC manager Stefan Frauenholz: ‘Dimitrij is not only a good player, he is also a team leader, gets involved and skilfully passes on his vast experience to younger players such as Fanbo Meng.’
Frauenholz believes that the purchase of Ovtcharov has been a groundbreaking coup for his team, regardless of the rest of the season: ‘You can also tell from the reactions of our sponsors and fans that he is a really big name.’
Florian Manzke