Bundesliga

In the Matchday 13 headline clash in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt claimed a hugely important win in the play-off race despite major personnel issues. Against direct rivals TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, Schwalbe had to cope without top player Benedikt Duda, but inspired by two wins from the outstanding Romain Ruiz, Bergneustadt cut the deficit to the defending champions to two points.

A quick glance at the team sheet on Sunday afternoon offered no immediate hint of a surprise. Listed at No. 2 for TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt was the name “Duda” entered by head coach Frederik Duda. This time, however, it was not his brother and usual spearhead Benedikt: the coach stepped in as player-coach. Benedikt’s WTT Tour commitments ruled him out, and Ochsenhausen’s TTBL top player Shunsuke Togami was also missing due to the packed schedule.

While Ochsenhausen have shown they can plan well for Togami’s absence, Bergneustadt had to get creative. “We didn’t have our full team available. Bene isn’t here and Adrien is injured,” Ruiz explained to Dyn when asked about the line-up. With player-coach Frederik Duda in the team, Bergneustadt went in knowing that “I have to get two points and Leo one,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz and de Nodrest keep their nerve

There was no room for slips from Ruiz and team-mate Leo de Nodrest. After Ochsenhausen’s Iulian Chirita handled the opening assignment against Frederik Duda, the Schwalbe duo took control. In the match of the day, Ruiz edged Leonardo Iizuka in five fiercely contested sets, with Iizuka having recently celebrated his first win of the season. After the break, de Nodrest against Andreas Levenko and Ruiz against Chirita wrapped things up with two surprisingly clear 3:0 victories. “I’m very proud of the guys,” Ruiz said.

For Ochsenhausen, the setback in the play-off race is far from disastrous. With Togami absent, the defending champions’ young, newly restructured team have already produced several surprise wins and can play without added pressure. “Sometimes it just happens that you can’t produce your best performance. You have to look at it long-term. We’ll definitely come back after this match,” Levenko said in his assessment of the defeat.

Race for fourth place heats up

Defeat would have been a major blow for Bergneustadt; instead, the gap to Ochsenhausen and the play-off places has been reduced to two points. “The season is long, we will fight in every match. Today we proved that even without our best line-up we belong among the top teams,” Ruiz said. On Matchday 14, Bergneustadt host relegation-threatened TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau, while Ochsenhausen face in-form Borussia Dortmund.

Matchday 13 fixtures

ASC Grunwettersbach – Borussia Dortmund 2:3
Tom Jarvis – Cedric Nuytinck 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:4)
Tiago Apolonia – Kristian Karlsson 1:3 (11:2, 4:11, 7:11, 8:11)
Ricardo Walther – Adam Szudi 0:3 (5:11, 4:11, 5:11)
Tom Jarvis – Kristian Karlsson 3:0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:8)
Walther/Apolonia – Nuytinck/Szudi 1:3 (8:11, 11:9, 5:11, 9:11)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 1:3
Iulian Chirita – Frederik Duda 3:0 (11:2, 11:3, 11:3)
Leonardo Iizuka – Romain Ruiz 2:3 (2:11, 15:13, 12:10, 10:12, 8:11)
Andreas Levenko – Leo de Nodrest 0:3 (6:11, 7:11, 9:11)
Iulian Chirita – Romain Ruiz 0:3 (9:11, 6:11, 8:11)

TSV Bad Konigshofen – TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau 3:2
Bastian Steger – Maciej Kubik 3:2 (11:5, 11:8, 9:11, 12:14, 11:6)
Filip Zeljko – Feng Yi-Hsin 1:3 (11:9, 7:11, 9:11, 5:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Martin Allegro 2:3 (3:11, 11:8, 6:11, 11:9, 6:11)
Bastian Steger – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:0 (12:10, 11:8, 11:4)
Habesohn/Bertelsmeier – Walker/Allegro 3:0 (11:7, 13:11, 11:4)

Post SV Muhlhausen – 1. FC Saarbrucken TT 2:3
Ovidiu Ionescu – Cedric Meissner 3:0 (11:8, 11:7, 11:5)
Liao Cheng-Ting – Darko Jorgic 0:3 (6:11, 7:11, 3:11)
Steffen Mengel – Patrick Franziska 3:1 (12:10, 11:9, 12:14, 11:8)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Darko Jorgic 2:3 (11:6, 4:11, 11:8, 13:15, 5:11)
Mengel/Liao – Franziska/Meissner 0:3 (8:11, 9:11, 7:11)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – SV Werder Bremen 2:3
Csaba Andras – Irvin Bertrand 3:0 (11:9, 11:4, 11:4)
Juan Perez – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (11:8, 11:3, 10:12, 8:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban – Mattias Falck 3:1 (4:11, 11:3, 11:6, 11:8)
Csaba Andras – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (5:11, 11:7, 11:6, 8:11, 3:11)
Ban/Perez – Falck/Bertrand 1:3 (3:11, 8:11, 12:10, 2:11)

Sunday, 18 January:
15:30: Borussia Dusseldorf – TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

Picture: Romain Ruiz of TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (Photo: Sven Kubeile)