Bundesliga

Borussia Dusseldorf produced a flawless performance on Matchday 14 in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), comfortably defending their place at the top of the table. Against TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg, the record champions never looked in trouble on Sunday, won in just 90 minutes and swept all nine sets played. For Helmut Hampl’s young Bad Homburg side, the defeat was a setback, though the club remain well placed in the relegation battle. Hampl, however, was far from happy with one of his player’s attitude.

Even though the table suggested a one-sided afternoon at the ARAG CenterCourt, Dusseldorf were on their guard after their surprise cup elimination at the hands of Bad Homburg. “We all still had that quarter-final exit in our minds,” Dang Qiu admitted to Dyn after the 3:0 win. “Now we’ve won twice and lost once, unfortunately in the cup quarter-finals. We’ve had two good chances to take revenge.” Dusseldorf had already won the first-leg league meeting straight after the cup tie.

From the outset, everything clicked for the hosts. Qiu set the tone with a confident 3:0 win over Juan Perez. Li Yongyin then followed suit against Csaba Andras, and Anton Kallberg completed the sweep against Ivor Ban. Only Ban had chances in the opening game, holding set points but failing to convert. “Day-to-day form always plays a part,” Qiu said, explaining the clear pattern of the match. “Fundamentally, home advantage is huge. Your own fans, your own hall and the conditions make a difference. You’re simply more familiar.”

Hampl: “One player’s attitude wasn’t right”

For Bad Homburg coach Helmut Hampl, the defeat in itself was not entirely unexpected, even if the margin was harsh. “There are different factors. We only had three players fit to play, and our No. 1 wasn’t there,” Hampl told Dyn. He also described it as “the first match this season we didn’t prepare for specifically as a team”. Even so, the coaching legend did not want to hand out excuses. “With one player, the attitude at the table wasn’t right today. That’s something we have to address,” Hampl said. In the table, Bad Homburg slipped to ninth.

Dusseldorf look ahead

With the emphatic win, Dusseldorf have held on to first place. Three wins from three in the second half of the season has the focus at Danny Heister’s team firmly on what lies ahead. “The season is still very, very long. The decisive matches are still to come,” Qiu said. “The second leg of our Champions League quarter-final is very important for us. It’s in the same week as Saarbrucken. Saarbrucken is an absolute highlight when the Olympic champion and world champion come to Dusseldorf. That’s special and every table tennis fan can look forward to it.” The TTBL showpiece on 15 February has been moved to the Castello Dusseldorf.

Matchday 14 fixtures

Borussia Dusseldorf – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg 3:0
Dang Qiu – Juan Perez 3:0 (11:5, 11:4, 11:3)
Li Yongyin – Csaba Andras 3:0 (11:7, 11:6, 11:8)
Anton Kallberg – Ivor Ban 3:0 (12:10, 11:6, 11:7)

SV Werder Bremen – ASC Grunwettersbach 3:2
Kirill Gerassimenko – Tobias Hippler 3:2 (11:5, 12:14, 10:12, 14:12, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Tiago Apolonia 2:3 (4:11, 8:11, 11:2, 11:6, 8:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Tom Jarvis 3:1 (11:8, 11:6, 15:17, 11:8)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Tiago Apolonia 0:3 (9:11, 8:11, 9:11)
Falck/Bertrand – Walther/Jarvis 3:1 (11:4, 11:3, 8:11, 11:8)

Borussia Dortmund – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:1
Anders Lind – Tiago Abiodun 1:3 (11:3, 6:11, 8:11, 12:14)
Adam Szudi – Iulian Chirita 3:1 (12:10, 11:7, 8:11, 11:5)
Kristian Karlsson – Leonardo Iizuka 3:0 (11:5, 11:4, 11:5)
Anders Lind – Iulian Chirita 3:1 (11:5, 5:11, 11:8, 11:8)

1. FC Saarbrucken-TT – TSV Bad Konigshofen 3:1
Eduard Ionescu – Hermann Muhlbach 3:2 (6:11, 12:14, 11:9, 11:4, 11:7)
Cedric Meissner – Filip Zeljko 3:2 (6:11, 14:12, 6:11, 11:8, 11:0)
Lichen Wang – Bastian Steger 2:3 (10:12, 11:7, 13:11, 8:11, 7:11)
Eduard Ionescu – Filip Zeljko 3:1 (11:6, 6:11, 11:9, 11:7)

Post SV Muhlhausen – TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:2
Steffen Mengel – Fanbo Meng 3:1 (13:11, 8:11, 11:8, 12:10)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 2:3 (11:9, 8:11, 11:7, 6:11, 13:15)
Liao Cheng-Ting – Ruwen Filus 2:3 (12:10, 13:11, 9:11, 10:12, 7:11)
Steffen Mengel – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3:0 (11:9, 11:8, 11:7)
Liao/Ionescu – Meng/Meng 3:1 (9:11, 12:10, 11:9, 11:7)

Sunday, 25 January:
17:00: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

Picture: Anton Källberg of Borussia Düsseldorf (Photo: Borussia Düsseldorf)