Bundesliga

SV Werder Bremen beat TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:1 in a thrilling match for a place in the play-offs of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). As so often, Mattias Falck played a big part in this, winning both singles matches.

The first match of the evening between Kanak Jha and Marcel Aguirre went the full distance. The US American Jha got off to a furious start in his second match of the season for the TTC and decided the first two sets in his favor. Aguirre fought back and equalized to 2:2. However, Jha held his nerve in the decisive fifth set and secured the first point for Bergneustadt with a convincing 11:2 (11:5, 14:12, 8:11, 7:11, 11:2).

The second duel of the day was between Benedikt Duda and Mattias Falck. Duda was able to beat the Swede 3:1 in the first leg before everything changed in the second leg. Despite a fighting performance, the left-hander was beaten in three tight sets and conceded the point to Falck (9:11, 10:12, 8:11).

Gerassimenko puts the Northern Lights ahead

It was now up to Romain Ruiz to defend the lead for Bergneustadt. As in the first leg, his opponent was Kirill Gerassimenko, but the tide was to turn here too. Ruiz, with a lot of self-confidence from his 3:0 win in December, fell behind straight away. After two narrow set defeats, the Frenchman rallied once again and forced Gerassimenko into the final fifth set. There, the race for the lead was extremely close. At 4:4, Gerassimenko pulled away and even a timeout by Ruiz could not stop the hot Kazakh. In the end, the scoreboard read 11:5 and the northern lights from Bremen took the lead.

Kanak Jha and Mattias Falck faced each other in the fourth singles match. Falck was able to assert himself again and defeated Jha in four sets 3:1 (9:11, 12:10, 9:11, 8:11). Despite the defeat, the newcomer from Bergneustadt put in a strong performance and gave Falck a tough fight. However, the latter once again proved his class and brought his team into the play-offs with this important point win.

Playoffs reached: Bremen in a celebratory mood

With this victory, SV Werder Bremen can join the ranks of the third candidates for the play-offs, while TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt must now bury all chances of participating due to their defeat. Nevertheless, the team has delivered a strong performance despite all the difficulties of the current season. TSV Bad Königshofen and Post SV Mühlhausen are now competing for the remaining play-off place, with Bad Königshofen's chances being better due to a better match ratio. The final matchday therefore promises plenty of excitement and thrills right to the end. All matches can be watched live or on demand on Dyn on April 28 at 4 pm.

Comments on the game:

Mattias Falck (SV Werder Bremen): "I'm very happy because it was a very tough game for us today. I lost my last two games in the Bundesliga against Benedikt. I was able to win at the WTT Champions last year. We have a very similar level. I know Kanak very well. He is a very confident player with a good serve. I expected it to be a close match. We will now drive back to Bremen and celebrate a little on the way."

Kanak Jha (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt): "It's a tough defeat for us. We knew it was going to be a very tough game. We had a very good atmosphere and a few chances that we couldn't take. Bremen took their chances and in big games these little moments make the difference. Bremen were simply stronger tonight. I had a few chances against Mattias today, but in the end he was the better player."

Click here for the current table: https://www.ttbl.de/bundesliga/table

Overview of the 20th matchday

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – SV Werder Bremen 1:3
Kanak Jha - Marcel Aguirre 3:2 (11:5, 14:12, 8:11, 7:11, 11:2)
Benedikt Duda - Mattias Falck 0:3 (9:11, 10:12, 8:11)
Romain Ruiz - Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (9:11, 9:11, 11:6, 11:6, 5:11)
Kanak Jha - Mattias Falck 1:3 (9:11, 12:10, 9:11, 8:11)

TSV Bad Königshofen – Post SV Mühlhausen 1:3
Bastian Steger - Ovidiu Ionescu 3:2 (11:9, 12:10, 3:11, 6:11, 11:4)
Jin Ueda - Steffen Mengel 0:3 (8:11, 4:11, 10:12)
Filip Zeljko - Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (11:8, 10:12, 9:11, 4:11)
Bastian Steger - Steffen Mengel 2:3 (11:8, 6:11, 9:11, 12:10, 10:12)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf 2:3
Simon Gauzy - Borgar Haug 3:0 (11:8, 11:6, 11:6)
Alvaro Robles - Timo Boll 1:3 (11:7, 6:11, 6:11, 8:11)
Can Akkuzu - Anton Källberg 2:3 (11:6, 4:11, 14:12, 6:11, 7:11)
Simon Gauzy - Timo Boll 3:2 (12:10, 6:11, 11:7, 7:11, 11:6)
Akkuzu/Robles - Haug/Källberg 1:3 (12:10, 5:11, 7:11, 10:12)

1. FC Saarbrücken-TT – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:0
Yuto Muramatsu - Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:3, 11:6, 11:5)
Cedric Nuytinck - Yi-Hsin Feng 3:1 (9:11, 12:10, 11:9, 11:7)
Eduard Ionescu - Samuel Walker 3:1 (11:7, 11:7, 6:11, 11:6)

Thursday, 25. April
19 Uhr: 1. FSV Mainz - ASV Grünwettersbach

Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) are broadcast live and on demand on Dyn.
Featured image above: Mattias Falck (Photo: Robert Klein)