Without Fan: Düsseldorf cruise past Bad Homburg – ASC win thriller in Bad Königshofen

To conclude Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 TTBL season, record champions Borussia Düsseldorf claimed a commanding 3:0 away win at TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg. Despite the absence of marquee signing Fan Zhendong and top player Dang Qiu, Düsseldorf’s trio impressed. In a clash between two of last season’s strugglers, ASC Grünwettersbach secured an important opening victory away at TSV Bad Königshofen.

Even after so many years as Borussia’s head coach, the relief was written all over Danny Heister’s face. “We’ve made an incredibly good start,” the Dutchman told Dyn after his team’s emphatic 3:0 victory in Bad Homburg. The perfect start without dropping a set was the result of good preparation. “We were well prepared. It’s the kind of start to a season you hope for,” Heister said.

Heister on his line-up: “It’s Sudoku for me”

Given the line-up, such an emphatic victory was anything but a foregone conclusion, with two prominent names missing from the team sheet: Dang Qiu was given a break following the WTT events in Japan and Sweden, while the debut of spectacular new signing Fan Zhendong will also have to wait. The Olympic champion will play “a lot of home matches”, Heister revealed. “We have five good players. After that, it’s Sudoku for me.”

Fan’s absence opened the door for his compatriot Li Yongyin, who claimed the first point of the evening against Bad Homburg’s Juan Perez. Li’s 3:0 victory set the tone for team-mates Kanak Jha and Anton Källberg, who likewise did not allow Ivor Ban and Csaba Andras to win a single set.

Grujic’s debut ends in defeat

Bad Homburg lined up without any new signings at the table, but there had been a major change on the bench since last season. Coaching legend Helmut Hampl stepped down at the end of the previous campaign and will now continue with TTC as sporting director. In his place, Slobodan Grujić took charge of the Hesse club for the first time on Tuesday.

“I feel very comfortable,” Grujic said of his short time with his new club after the match, although he was anything but satisfied with what had happened on the table. “They were much better,” the Serb admitted. “In the end, it’s a little disappointing that it was so clear. We had hoped for more. But it’s only the beginning.”

Grünwettersbach successful on Ort’s return to TSV

There was considerably more drama between TSV Bad Königshofen and ASC Grünwettersbach. By the time Ricardo Walther and Tiago Apolonia converted match point in the deciding doubles late on Tuesday night, the crowd at the Shakehands-Arena had witnessed around four and a half hours of hard-fought table tennis. “An exhausting evening,” summed up ASC coach Kilian Ort, for whom returning to his former club was once again “a special match — I’m still a member of TSV”.

For his opposite number, it was not a return but a debut: Timo Neumann coached his first TTBL match in front of the home crowd and immediately had an ace up his sleeve. Taiwan’s Liao Cheng-Ting is expected to inject fresh sporting impetus into the Bavarian side. Grünwettersbach, meanwhile, fielded a familiar line-up.

Steger begins his 27th TTBL season

Veteran Tiago Apolonia opened the evening with a 3:1 win over Bad Königshofen’s U21 European champion André Bertelsmeier. Two five-set thrillers followed, with the teams taking one each. Tom Jarvis made it 2:0 against Liao before Bastian Steger claimed the crucial first point for the hosts against Walther after the interval. It marked a winning start to the 45-year-old Steger’s 27th TTBL season — two extraordinary numbers from the former Germany international’s career.

Bertelsmeier forced the deciding doubles by enjoying better fortune in his second match of the night, overcoming Jarvis in four sets. In the doubles, however, the TSV pairing Habesohn/Steger could not carry over the momentum from the previous two singles and quickly fell 0:2 behind. A brief response in the third set (11:2) was not enough, and Walther and Apolonia ultimately celebrated ASC’s opening win.

Düsseldorf turn their attention to Saarbrücken

With all twelve TTBL teams now having played once, a familiar pattern is already emerging at the top of the table. Alongside Düsseldorf, only 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT won their opening match without needing the deciding doubles — also by a clear 3:0 scoreline, away at Borussia Dortmund.

For Grünwettersbach, it was an early statement after a difficult previous season that ended with the club at the bottom of the table. TSV Bad Königshofen were locked in a relegation battle with the Karlsruhe side throughout the campaign and eventually finished second-bottom.

Matchday 1 overview

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Düsseldorf 0:3
Juan Perez – Li Yongyin 0:3 (13:15, 6:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban – Kanak Jha 0:3 (6:11, 10:12, 5:11)
Csaba Andras – Anton Källberg 0:3 (5:11, 10:12, 8:11)

TSV Bad Königshofen – ASC Grünwettersbach 2:3
André Bertelsmeier – Tiago Apolonia 1:3 (11:9, 12:14, 7:11, 8:11)
Liao Cheng-Ting – Tom Jarvis 2:3 (11:5, 8:11, 11:7, 11:13, 7:11)
Bastian Steger – Ricardo Walther 3:2 (11:8, 7:11, 8:11, 13:11, 11:8)
André Bertelsmeier – Tom Jarvis 3:1 (8:11, 12:10, 11:6, 13:11)
Steger/Habesohn – Apolonia/Walther 1:3 (10:12, 7:11, 11:2, 5:11)

SV Werder Bremen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:2
Kirill Gerassimenko – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (14:12, 11:4, 11:8)
Irvin Bertrand – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 0:3 (7:11, 2:11, 10:12)
Mattias Karlsson – Jonathan Groth 3:2 (11:3, 6:11, 12:10, 7:11, 11:3)
Gerassimenko – Ovtcharov 1:3 (5:11, 13:11, 3:11, 7:11)
Bertrand/Karlsson – Groth/Istrate 3:1 (6:11, 11:6, 11:8, 11:5)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:2
Shunsuke Togami – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:0 (11:5, 11:5, 11:6)
Tiago Abiodun – Benedikt Duda 2:3 (6:11, 7:11, 15:13, 11:5, 8:11)
Iulian Chirita – Romain Ruiz 1:3 (7:11, 7:11, 11:5, 7:11)
Togami – Duda 3:2 (11:6, 9:11, 11:7, 2:11, 11:6)
Chirita/Abiodun – Ruiz/Meissner 3:2 (7:11, 7:11, 12:10, 11:9, 11:8)

Borussia Dortmund – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT 0:3
João Geraldo – Patrick Franziska 2:3 (11:5, 2:11, 11:8, 4:11, 7:11)
Wim Verdonschot – Eduard Ionescu 0:3 (7:11, 9:11, 12:14)
Kristian Karlsson – Álvaro Robles 2:3 (7:11, 11:9, 11:9, 5:11, 4:11)

Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 2:3
Steffen Mengel – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:9, 6:11, 11:4, 11:5)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Feng Yi-Hsin 0:3 (3:11, 8:11, 9:11)
Marcos Freitas – Samuel Walker 3:1 (11:5, 5:11, 11:5, 11:5)
Kay Stumper – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (11:6, 12:10, 8:11, 8:11, 1:11)
Ovidiu Ionescu/Marcos Freitas – Maciej Kubik/Martin Allegro 0:3 (6:11, 9:11, 6:11)

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

The current Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) standings can be found here.

Picture: Li Yongyin of Borussia Düsseldorf (Photo: Borussia Düsseldorf).