Bundesliga
Coup at the league leaders: Grünwettersbach inflicts first defeat on Fulda
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell also suffered its first defeat of the season on match day 5 of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL): The team from Eastern Hesse suffered its first defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 3-2 to ASC Grünwettersbach and thus losing its lead in the table.
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell have literally flown through the season so far: With four wins in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) and a success in the cup round of 16 against Borussia Düsseldorf, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Co. have been the dominant team in recent weeks. On Saturday, Fulda lost for the first time: ASC Grünwettersbach celebrated a 3:2 coup in Fulda, toppling the league leaders. While the TTC has now dropped to second place behind SV Werder Bremen (8:0) with 8:2 points, Grünwettersbach has improved its points tally to 4:6 and is now ninth in the table.
“Due to my injury, we had to improvise a bit in terms of personnel,” said Grünwettersbach's Ricardo Walther, who initially sat out due to a muscle injury. “Our goal was to win the second and third singles matches in order to advance to the doubles. We knew that Fanbo and Ruwen weren't the ideal pairing for Fulda. Fortunately, the plan worked out today.”
Tiago Apolonia puts Grünwettersbach in the lead
Grünwettersbach showed for the first time in the second singles that something could happen. Leo de Nordrest stepped up to the table against Fanbo Meng and swept away the Fulda player 3:0 (11:9, 11:4, 11:5). “Leo did very well today. He had him completely under control in the serve-and-return game,” praised Walther afterwards. Dimitrij Ovtcharov had previously won the opening singles match 3:0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:2) against TTBL debutant Thomas Maynard in favor of the hosts. After the break, the ASC then took the lead for the first time: Tiago Apolonia first won a memorable second set 19:17 and then also took the next two sets against Ruwen Filus to win 3:1 (6:11, 19:17, 11:8, 11:7).
Fulda were 2-1 down for the second time this season - the Hessians had turned it around to 3-2 at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. However, this did not happen against Grünwettersbach: Although Ovtcharov equalized with his 3:0 (11:6, 11:9, 11:7) against de Nodrest - the 36-year-old now has a 9:0 singles record - the doubles went to the ASC. Apolonia and Walther lived up to their position as favorites against Meng and Filus despite Walther's injury. With their 3:1 (11:7, 11:8; 10:12, 11:4) win, they finally secured Grünwettersbach's second victory of the season.
Overview of matchday 5
Post SV Mühlhausen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 1:3
Steffen Mengel – Leonardo Iizuka 3:1 (11:7, 9:11, 11:8, 11:3)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Simon Gauzy 1:3 (11:13, 10:12, 13:11, 3:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Hugo Calderano 0:3 (3:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Steffen Mengel – Simon Gauzy 0:3 (9:11, 9:11, 5:11)
TTC OE Bad Homburg – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 3:1
Kristian Karlsson – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:2 (11:9, 6:11, 9:11, 11:9, 11:4)
Benno Oehme – Kanak Jha 1:3 (11:7, 9:11, 8:11, 5:11)
Csaba Andras – Benedikt Duda 3:2 (11:13, 11:6, 12:10, 5:11, 11:5)
Kristian Karlsson – Kanak Jha 3:0 (13:11, 11:7, 15:13)
1. FC Saarbrücken TT – Borussia Düsseldorf 2:3
Darko Jorgic – Anton Källberg 2:3 (11:4, 4:11, 6:11, 11:9, 8:11)
Patrick Franziska – Timo Boll 3:0 (11:5, 11:5, 11:9)
Eduard Ionescu – Kay Stumper 3:0 (11:8, 11:5, 12:10)
Darko Jorgic – Timo Boll 1:3 (2:11, 11:6, 7:11, 4:11)
Patrick Franziska/Cedric Meissner – Anton Källberg/Borgar Haug 0:3 (8:11, 10:12, 9:11)
TSV Bad Königshofen – Borussia Dortmund 3:0
Bastian Steger – Cedric Nuytinck 3:1 (11:5, 6:11, 11:3, 11:8)
Filip Zeljko – Dennis Klein 3:0 (11:9, 11:7, 11:7)
Jin Ueda – Erik Bottroff 3:1 (5:11, 11:5, 13:11, 11:7)
TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – ASC Grünwettersbach 2:3
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Thomas Maynard 3:0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:2)
Fanbo Meng – Leo de Nodrest 0:3 (9:11, 4:11, 5:11)
Ruwen Filus – Tiago Apolonia 1:3 (11:6, 17:19, 8:11, 7:11)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Leo de Nodrest 3:0 (11:6, 11:9, 11:7)
Ruwen Filus/Fanbo Meng – Tiago Apolonia/Ricardo Walther 1:3 (7:11, 8:11, 12:10, 4:11)
Friday, November 1st
7 p.m.: SV Werder Bremen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
Featured image above: Leo de Nordrest from ASC Grünwettersbach (Photo: Hansruedi Lüthi)