TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt spoils Mainz Bundesliga premiere
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt celebrated a successful start to the new season in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). In their own hall, last year's sixth-placed team defeated the promoted team 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:1.
As a newcomer, 1. FSV Mainz 05 played its first match ever in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and provided a successful start to the matches at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt on the first match day. Luka Mladenovic from Mainz, who is only ranked 261 in the world rankings, was convincing in his opening match and clearly defeated Omar Assar in three sets (11:7, 13:11, 11:8). The two-time Olympian from Egypt is, after all, ranked No. 21 in the world and certainly did not expect to lose. "Luka played very well against me and I congratulate him," Assar showed himself to be a fair loser after the match.
His opponent was of course happy about the success in his singles. "I'm happy about my singles win, but I'm a little sad that we lost the match as a team," said Luka Mladenovic. "We knew it would be difficult when we had to compete without our number one." Japan's Yuto Muramatsu is currently playing in Japan in a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and therefore could not support his Mainz team.
With this 1:0 lead, the Mainzers went into the next game, in which Abdullah Talha Yigenler, however, lost out to Bergneustadt's Romain Ruiz. The Frenchman won 3:1 (5:11, 11:4, 11:5, 11:8) against the Turk and gave his team the counter to equalize 1-1.
Duda and Assar secure success
The guests did not have much to order in the next two games either. Bergneustadt's Benedikt Duda kept the upper hand against Andrei Putuntika with 3:1 (11:6, 8:11, 11:7, 11:6) and Omar Assar showed an improvement in his second match. Against Abdullah Talha Yigenler was also a 3:1 win (11:9, 11:3, 8:11, 11:5).
"We worked well in the run-up to the season and I am happy that we won," said Omar Assar, who was visibly relieved after the success in his second match. This means that the Bergneustadt team's start to the season was successful, but for the Mainz team, their opening match did not go according to plan. However, Luka Mladenovic's victory over Omar Assar showed that the Mainzers can be good for one or two surprises in the course of the season.
TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:1 Omar Assar – Luka Mladenovic 0:3 (7:11, 11:13, 8:11)
Romain Ruiz - Abdullah Talha Yigenler 3:1 (5:11, 11:4, 11:5, 11:8)
Benedikt Duda – Andrei Putuntika 3:1 (11:6, 8:11, 11:7, 11:6)
Omar Assar - Abdullah Talha Yigenler 3:1 (11:9, 11:3, 8:11, 11:5)
TTC Neu-Ulm – ASV Grünwettersbach 3:1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov - Ricardo Walther 3:2 (5:11, 2:11, 11:8, 11:5, 11:9)
Truls Moregardh – Xi Wang 3:0 (11:6, 11:8, 11:8)
Lev Katsman – Tiago Apolonia 1:3 (11:8, 11:13, 5:11, 6:11)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Xi Wang 3:0 (11:5, 13:11, 11:7)
TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:0 Simon Gauzy – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (11:4, 11:5, 11:8)
Kanak Jha – Quadri Aruna 3:0 (12:10, 11:4, 11:9)
Alvaro Robles – Alexandre Cassin 3:2 (6:11, 6:11, 11:7, 11:4, 11:9)
TSV Bad Königshofen – SV Werder Bremen 2:3 Martin Allegro – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (4:11, 11:4, 6:11, 11:4, 11:13)
Filip Zeljko – Mattias Falck 3:0 (11:7, 11:2, 13:11)
Bastian Steger – Marcelo Aguirre 3:0 (13:11, 12:10, 11:4)
Martin Allegro – Mattias Falck 1:3 (9:11, 14:12, 4:11, 8:11)
Bastian Steger/Kilian Ort - Kirill Gerassimenko/Cristian Pletea 1:3 (11:8, 7:11, 10:12, 7:11)