TSV Bad Königshofen turns around game that was thought lost
That was an advertisement for table tennis. TSV Bad Königshofen turned the match against ASV Grünwettersbach on the third day of the table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) after a great fight and won 3:2 after being down 0:2.
TSV Bad Königshofen started the season with two defeats, losing at home against SV Werder Bremen (2:3) and at TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen (1:3). Against ASV Grünwettersbach, the team from Lower Franconia managed to turn the tide and won the first two points. On the side of TSV Bad Königshofen, the Japanese newcomer Yukiya Uda celebrated his debut. The 21-year-old is number 22 in the singles world rankings and, together with his compatriot Shunsuke Togami, number one in the doubles world rankings - so Uda's first appearance in the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) was to be looked forward to. Things got off to a promising start in the first set against Xi Wang from Grünwettersbach. Both players did not give each other anything, and in the end the number two of ASV Grünwettersbach won 19:17. After this contested first set, however, the suspense was over, because Xi Wang decided the following two rounds in his favor and won the match clearly 3:0 (19:17, 11:8, 11:6). "This was my first match in Germany, so I had some pressure and couldn't play my best balls," Uda explained. "But I will work hard so I can play better in the future."
The match between Kilian Ort and Tiago Apolonia was similar. The first set was very competitive, but Apolonia won the second more clearly. The Portuguese newcomer of the guests had a record of 17:7 matches in the last season and lost all seven matches only against the one-setters of the respective opponents. Apolonia did not show any weakness against Kilian Ort either and won the match 3:0 (13:11, 11:5, 12:10).
Bad Königshofens manager Andreas Albert was of course not satisfied after the first two singles. "Unfortunately, it turned out as I had suspected. When Uda lost the first set he didn't find any means against the old fox Xi Wang," Albert said. "And Kilian Ort is not completely fit at the moment, so he lacks confidence and can't play his best game. Now we have to see that we come back in the third singles."
Duel between Uda and Apolonia: head referee intervenes
This wish of Albert's actually came true. Filip Zeljko and Ricardo Walther played a thrilling match and high tension was guaranteed when the third singles match went into the fifth set. The crowd in the hall went along, cheering for Zeljko and cheering with him as he won 3:2 (9:11, 11:9, 13:15, 11:8, 11:8) and cut the score to 1:2 for TSV Bad Königshofen. "The atmosphere was incredible today. This is of course a help for us players and a motivation" said Zeljko after the match.
The duel of the two one-setters Yukiya Uda and Tiago Apolonia followed, in which a curious situation occurred in the second set at 9:7 for Uda: The second umpire raised his hand in view of a mishit serve by Apolonia. The main referee allowed the match to continue and this led to a break of several minutes and the need for discussion with the head referee about the scoring of a point. Finally, the match went on at 10:7 for Uda, who won 3:1 (8:11, 11:8, 11:9, 11:6) against Apolonia.
Now the doubles had to bring the decision, and here the Bad Königshofeners made short work of it. Kilian Ort/Martin Allegro defeated Xi Wang/Ricardo Walther 3:0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:4). The spectators jumped up and cheered - Bad Königshofen had turned the match around after a great fight.
TSV Bad Königshofen – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:2 Yukiya Uda – Xi Wang 0:3 (17:19, 8:11, 6:11)
Kilian Ort – Tiago Apolonia 0:3 (11:13, 5:11, 10:12)
Filip Zeljko – Ricardo Walther 3:2 (9:11, 11:9, 13:15, 11:8, 11:8)
Yukiya Uda – Tiago Apolonia 3:1 (8:11, 11:8, 11:9, 11:6)
Kilian Ort/Martin Allegro – Xi Wang/Ricardo Walther 3:0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:4)
Borussia Düsseldorf – SV Werder Bremen 3:0 Anton Källberg – Marcelo Aguirre 3:1 (11:8, 11:8, 10:12, 11:7)
Kay Stumper – Mattias Falck 3:0 (11:5, 11:6, 11:9)
Dang Qiu – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:2 (7:11, 10:12, 11:9, 14:12, 13:11)