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As the last team in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), TSV Bad Königshofen have finally gotten off the mark this season. Away to ASC Grünwettersbach, the Bavarians cruised to a 3–0 victory on Matchday 5 to claim their first points. For new ASC head coach Kilian Ort, the reunion with his former club ended in his first league defeat.

For the visitors from Bad Königshofen, the task was crystal clear. “At 0–8 you’re up against the wall,” said Daniel Habesohn on Dyn about a side that, uniquely in the TTBL, had yet to register a point after four matchdays. A win was imperative — and the hosts’ lineup opened the door. “We benefited from the fact that Grünwettersbach’s Japanese player wasn’t there,” the Austrian admitted. Hiroto Shinozuka was not released by the federation ahead of the Asian Championships and was therefore unavailable.

Walther: “Nowhere near enough”

Even so, the absence of Karlsruhe’s top player was no excuse for ASC stalwart Ricardo Walther. “All teams face these problems,” Walther said, criticising his side’s attitude: “From the bench and at the table, the fighting spirit was nowhere near enough.”
At the table, the hosts leaned especially on Walther and Tiago Apolonia. But the Portuguese could not reproduce his early-season form on Sunday. He never found his rhythm against Habesohn and lost the opening match in four games. Walther could at least have delayed the heavy defeat with a win over Bastian Steger, but, after a brave battle, he went down in the decider.

First outing for prospect Otalvaro

Before the interval, Emanuel Otalvaro made his Bundesliga debut for Grünwettersbach. The Colombian lost 0–3 to the rising Andre Bertelsmeier, but still showed his potential to Walther and the home crowd in Karlsruhe. “It’s obviously nice,” said Walther, calling the 15-year-old a “huge talent” — though he added there was no need to “talk too much about it,” since Otalvaro is considered part of the regular squad.

Thanks to their first win of the season, Bad Königshofen remain bottom for now but have closed the gap to the other teams in the basement. For Grünwettersbach, the defeat is the first real setback of the campaign; at 6:4 points, however, the play-off places remain very much in sight.

Matchday 5 Fixtures

ASC Grünwettersbach – TSV Bad Königshofen 0:3
Tiago Apolonia – Daniel Habesohn 1:3 (9:11, 11:9, 9:11, 5:11)
Emanuel Otalvaro – Andre Bertelsmeier 0:3 (7:11, 11:13, 5:11)
Ricardo Walther – Bastian Steger 2:3 (8:11, 11:5, 11:13, 11:7, 10:12)

Borussia Düsseldorf – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:1
Kanak Jha – Andreas Levenko 2:3 (11:6, 9:11, 11:6, 15:17, 8:11)
Li Yongyin – Tiago Abiodun 3:1 (9:11, 11:5, 11:6, 11:5)
Anton Källberg – Leonardo Iizuka 3:0 (11:5, 11:9, 11:7)
Kanak Jha – Tiago Abiodun 3:1 (9:11, 11:8, 11:8, 11:5)

Sunday, October 5
5:00 p.m.: SV Werder Bremen – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT

Monday, October 6
6:30 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – Borussia Dortmund
7:00 p.m.: TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell

Tuesday, October 7
7:00 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

All matches will be streamed live on Dyn.

Picture: Bastian Steger of TSV Bad Königshofen (Photo: Philipp Wohlfart)