Bundesliga

The 2026/27 TTBL season may only be three matchdays old, but record champions Borussia Düsseldorf are already underlining their status as overwhelming title favourites. Led by superstar Fan Zhendong, the Rhineland side raced to a 3–0 win on Wednesday night against last season’s regular-season runners-up SV Werder Bremen. Defending champions 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT, meanwhile, welcomed a familiar face back to the TTBL: Hugo Calderano contributed two points as FCS won 3–1 at TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg. Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund cruised to a 3–0 victory over ASC Grünwettersbach, while Post SV Mühlhausen remain without a point after a 1–3 defeat against TSV Bad Königshofen.

Düsseldorf dominate top match

The roughly 700 fans at Bremen’s Klaus-Dieter-Fischer-Halle had several highlights to look forward to on Wednesday: a clash between last season’s regular-season champions and runners-up – and only Fan Zhendong’s second appearance in a Borussia Düsseldorf shirt. On the table, however, only the visitors from the Rhineland lived up to the high expectations. “We came up against a Düsseldorf team in top form,” Werder head coach Cristian Tamas told Dyn. “They overwhelmed us both technically and physically.”

From the outset, the record champions showed why the signing of Fan Zhendong had made Düsseldorf favourites heading into the season. Anton Källberg and Fan both won their singles against Kirill Gerassimenko and Irvin Bertrand 3–0 without ever coming under serious pressure in a single set. Källberg in particular impressed team-mate Dang Qiu. “I’ve rarely seen him play that well,” the Germany international said of the Swede. Qiu himself completed the victory after the break with a 3–1 win over Mattias Karlsson.

Calderano scores twice on comeback

Hugo Calderano spent a total of nine seasons in the TTBL with TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, winning the double twice with the Swabian club. Now the Brazilian world No. 7 pulled on the 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT shirt for the first time – and immediately showed why FCS see him as the high-profile successor to Fan Zhendong.

“I’m very happy. I think I played very well today,” Calderano told Dyn after his comeback. His first match against Benno Oehme ended in a comfortable 3–0 win, but Csaba Andras pushed Saarbrücken’s new star much harder. Calderano recovered from 0–2 down in his second singles to complete the turnaround and seal the visitors’ victory. “The two matches weren’t easy. Benno has beaten top players before and Csaba played really, really well,” Calderano said. Álvaro Robles added Saarbrücken’s third point with a 3–0 win over Ivor Ban, while Andras had opened the night with a 3–1 victory over Danilo Faso.

BVB claim first home win

After the disappointing 0–3 home defeat against Saarbrücken on the opening matchday, Borussia Dortmund have turned things around. A 3–1 victory away at fellow contenders Bergneustadt was followed by a convincing 3–0 win and BVB’s first home victory of the season. New signing Wim Verdonschot impressed in particular with his first win in front of the Dortmund crowd. “I felt much more comfortable this time than last time,” the 21-year-old told Dyn after his 3–0 win over Tom Jarvis. “I arrived a day earlier and everything just came together.”

João Geraldo and Kristian Karlsson also ensured a quick night for the hosts. Geraldo likewise joined BVB ahead of the season, while Karlsson is now acting as an experienced presence in his second campaign in black and yellow. Geraldo dropped the opening set against Ricardo Walther before taking three in a row to win 3–1. Like Verdonschot, Karlsson needed only three sets against defensive specialist Florian Bluhm to complete the clear 3–0 victory after the break.

Mühlhausen in crisis

After three matchdays, Post SV Mühlhausen are emerging as one of the early strugglers of the season. Alongside Fulda, Post SV are the only TTBL side still without a point – despite already having had two seemingly manageable home assignments against Grenzau and Bad Königshofen. While the match against Zugbrücke at least went to the deciding doubles, Mühlhausen lost 1–3 to Bad Königshofen – partly because Kay Stumper let a 2–0 lead slip against Bastian Steger.

The frustration was clear on the 23-year-old’s face afterwards. Leading Steger 2–0 in sets and 8–6, Stumper still allowed the match to get away from him. A touch of the net by Steger appeared to knock the youngster out of his rhythm. Stumper asked for the net height to be checked, but ended up disrupting his own flow. Steger used all his experience, stayed calm and reeled off three consecutive sets to secure TSV’s 3–1 victory.

Stumper’s evening had started successfully. In the battle of the young talents, he beat André Bertelsmeier in four sets to put Post SV ahead. But 1–3 defeats for Marcos Freitas against Steger and Steffen Mengel against Daniel Habesohn left Stumper needing a win to force the deciding doubles. On Wednesday night, however, he was unable to deliver.

Düsseldorf, Saarbrücken and Ochsenhausen lead the way

After three matchdays, three teams remain unbeaten in the TTBL. Ochsenhausen had already maintained their perfect start on Tuesday, with Düsseldorf and Saarbrücken following suit on Wednesday. Calderano made no secret of his ambitions for his first season with FCS. “We want to win a title,” the superstar said. “It’s not that easy – there are a lot of top teams. Borussia Düsseldorf with Fan Zhendong are really strong,” he added, looking towards Saarbrücken’s rivals from the Rhineland.

Next stop: Leapmotor Pokal Grand Opening

Before TTBL points are back on the line, the inaugural Leapmotor Pokal Grand Opening takes centre stage this weekend. In the new event format at the Kia Metropol Arena in Nuremberg, the twelve TTBL clubs and four qualifiers from the second and third divisions will contest the round of 16 and quarter-finals of the German Table Tennis Cup.

Record cup winners Borussia Düsseldorf face TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen right away in the opening round – a difficult assignment, as Qiu acknowledged. “That’s the cup. If you want to win titles, you have to beat everyone. Ochsenhausen are playing really well, and they have a lot of players who are hungry.” Verdonschot, whose BVB side face Grenzau in the round of 16, is equally optimistic about the weekend: “There’s one goal: the Final4.”

The Leapmotor Pokal Grand Opening will also be shown live on Dyn. Fans wishing to attend in person can find tickets in the official TTBL ticket shop.

Matchday 3 fixtures

SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Düsseldorf 0:3
Kirill Gerassimenko – Anton Källberg 0:3 (5:11, 2:11, 7:11)
Irvin Bertrand – Fan Zhendong 0:3 (4:11, 4:11, 4:11)
Mattias Karlsson – Dang Qiu 1:3 (10:12, 12:10, 11:13, 6:11)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT 1:3
Csaba Andras – Danilo Faso 3:1 (11:9, 4:11, 11:6, 12:10)
Benno Oehme – Hugo Calderano 0:3 (8:11, 4:11, 6:11)
Ivor Ban – Álvaro Robles 0:3 (6:11, 4:11, 8:11)
Csaba Andras – Hugo Calderano 2:3 (11:7, 11:4, 7:11, 9:11, 5:11)

Borussia Dortmund – ASC Grünwettersbach 3:0
João Geraldo – Ricardo Walther 3:1 (9:11, 11:8, 11:6, 11:6)
Wim Verdonschot – Tom Jarvis 3:0 (11:5, 11:6, 11:9)
Kristian Karlsson – Florian Bluhm 3:0 (11:5, 11:9, 11:7)

Post SV Mühlhausen – TSV Bad Königshofen 1:3
Kay Stumper – André Bertelsmeier 3:1 (11:7, 9:11, 11:5, 11:9)
Marcos Freitas – Bastian Steger 1:3 (9:11, 11:9, 6:11, 8:11)
Steffen Mengel – Daniel Habesohn 1:3 (11:13, 8:11, 11:9, 9:11)
Kay Stumper – Bastian Steger 2:3 (11:8, 11:5, 10:12, 6:11, 8:11)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:1
Shunsuke Togami – Maciej Kubik 2:3 (5:11, 11:7, 11:8, 8:11, 10:12)
Darius Movileanu – Samuel Walker 3:0 (11:3, 11:4, 11:2)
Iulian Chirita – Martin Allegro 3:1 (11:5, 9:11, 11:5, 11:5)
Tiago Abiodun – Samuel Walker 3:0 (11:8, 16:14, 11:4)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:2
Benedikt Duda – Andrei Istrate 3:0 (11:4, 11:0, 12:10)
Cedric Meissner – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (12:10, 11:9, 11:8)
Adrien Rassenfosse – Ruwen Filus 1:3 (11:13, 7:11, 11:4, 10:12)
Benedikt Duda – Fanbo Meng 2:3 (10:12, 11:5, 10:12, 11:6, 11:13)
Cedric Meissner/Adrien Rassenfosse – Andrei Istrate/Ruwen Filus 3:1 (11:5, 3:11, 11:6, 11:7)

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

The current Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) standings can be found here.

Photo: Dang Qiu of Borussia Düsseldorf (photo: Jörg Fuhrmann).