Bundesliga

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen continues to advance in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL): The reigning German champions celebrated a 3:1 victory against TSV Bad Königshofen on Friday, climbing up the table.

With five wins from their last six matches in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), plus a 3:2 victory against Post SV Mühlhausen in the cup quarterfinals, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen went into Friday's match against TSV Bad Königshofen with considerable momentum – and celebrated another victory on the ninth match day. With a 3:1 win against the Lower Franconians, Shunsuke Togami's team reinforced their playoff ambitions and climbed to third place, at least until Sunday. With 12:6 points, Ochsenhausen is currently ahead of 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (both 10:6). “I am very happy about our victory and the great, strong week we have had,” said Ochsenhausen's Andreas Levenko afterwards.

Shunsuke Togami was once again the key player for TTF: The double world champion from Japan took to the table twice on Friday, leaving it victorious on both occasions and bringing his season record to 9:0. First, Togami secured an easy 3:0 victory over Filip Zeljko; in the top singles match, he followed up with a 3:2 win over Daniel Habesohn, sealing the deal for TTF.

Steger: “Togami is virtually unbeatable at the moment.”

“It was the tough match we expected,” said Bad Königshofen's Bastian Steger. “Togami is virtually unbeatable at the moment. That's why we were hoping to win the other three matches – unfortunately, we didn't manage to do that today.” The Lower Franconians are still struggling to find form: last season's fourth-placed team hoped in vain for their second win of the season and now find themselves bottom of the table with 2:16 points.

Levenko secured Ochsenhausen's 2:0 lead with a 3:1 victory over Habesohn. “Daniel is a very experienced player who has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I'm very happy about my victory,” said Levenko. Bad Königshofen, who had to do without Andre Bertelsmeier, only scored through Bastian Steger. The 44-year-old won 3:1 against Tiago Abiodun.

Match day #9 at a glance

SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Dortmund 3:0
Kirill Gerassimenko – Alberto Mino 3:2 (11:9, 11:8, 9:11, 6:11, 11:9)
Irvin Bertrand – Adam Szudi 3:0 (11:8, 11:9, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Cedric Nuytinck 3:2 (8:11, 13:11, 9:11, 11:6, 11:7)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen 3:1
Shunsuke Togami – Filip Zeljko 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 12:10)
Andreas Levenko – Daniel Habesohn 3:1 (11:3, 7:11, 11:5, 11:8)
Tiago Abiodun – Bastian Steger 1:3 (11:9, 7:11, 5:11, 7:11)
Shunsuke Togami – Daniel Habesohn 3:2 (11:5, 11:13, 11:8, 8:11, 11:5)

Saturday, November 22
4 p.m.: TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Düsseldorf

Sunday, November 23
2:00 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – Post SV Mühlhausen
5:00 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT
6:00 p.m.: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – ASC Grünwettersbach

Header photo: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen's Andreas Levenko (by Nicolai Schaal)