Bundesliga

SV Werder Bremen brought their losing run to an emphatic end in the final match of Matchday 7 in the TTBL. In a clash between two play-off contenders, the Hanseatic side beat Borussia Dortmund 3–0. Both teams had entered the matchday on the back of two consecutive defeats and sitting fourth and fifth respectively. While Werder returned to winning ways, BVB – without Kristian Karlsson and Anders Lind – suffered a third straight defeat.

Kirill Gerassimenko immediately set Bremen on the right path. The Kazakh made by far the better start against Cedric Nuytinck, although the Dortmund player fought his way into the match in the second set. Nuytinck earned four set points but failed to convert any of them. Gerassimenko punished those missed opportunities and never looked back, completing a 3–0 win to put Werder firmly on course. “It was a very difficult match. They were a little better prepared than we were,” Nuytinck admitted to Dyn afterwards. “We had problems with the returns, and they were much better there. That changes the whole match. We didn’t expect it like that. It wasn’t a good performance. That can happen sometimes. All the Bremen players played really well.”

Mattias Karlsson defies finger injury

While Dortmund were without Kristian Karlsson, the availability of his Swedish namesake on the Bremen side had also been in doubt for a long time. Mattias Karlsson had suffered a finger injury in bizarre circumstances while making his bed and had consequently missed the European Championships, among other events. Against Wim Verdonschot, who had recently impressed at the WTT Champions in Frankfurt, there was little sign of any problem on Wednesday night. Karlsson dropped only the second set heavily, 1–11, but controlled the other three to win 3–1 and put the hosts 2–0 ahead.

Irvin Bertrand then completed the job. Against João Geraldo, the Frenchman controlled proceedings throughout and refused to be unsettled by his opponent’s growing frustration. Bertrand sealed the 3–0 victory in convincing fashion and gave Werder the result they had been looking for after two consecutive defeats. “It was important for the team to win again after the recent losses,” Bertrand said afterwards. “I’m also very happy with my performance.”

Dortmund face a fight for the play-offs

BVB’s assessment after the heavy defeat was understandably sobering. “We started the season well. The play-offs are our goal,” Nuytinck said. “We’ve already reached the Final4, which was good, but now we have to fight hard for the play-offs.”

How long Dortmund will have to cope without Kristian Karlsson remains unclear. “He’s been in pain for a few months now. He still played the European Championships and a few important tournaments, but it didn’t go away,” Nuytinck explained. “We don’t yet know how long he’ll be out.”

The win sees Bremen move above BVB in the table and into fourth place on 8–6 points. Dortmund drop to sixth after their third consecutive defeat, with a 6–8 record, but remain firmly in the race for the play-off places.

Matchday 7 fixtures

SV Werder Bremen – Borussia Dortmund 3–0
Kirill Gerassimenko – Cedric Nuytinck 3–0 (11–3, 14–12, 11–1)
Mattias Karlsson – Wim Verdonschot 3–1 (11–5, 1–11, 11–9, 11–8)
Irvin Bertrand – João Geraldo 3–0 (11–7, 11–8, 11–2)

Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3–0
Steffen Mengel – Jonathan Groth 3–1 (11–7, 12–10, 6–11, 11–7)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3–2 (11–3, 8–11, 11–4, 6–11, 11–3)
Marcos Freitas – Fanbo Meng 3–0 (11–4, 11–9, 11–9)

TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 1–3
Bastian Steger – Benedikt Duda 0–3 (9–11, 7–11, 6–11)
Filip Željko – Romain Ruiz 3–0 (11–2, 11–7, 11–8)
André Bertelsmeier – Cedric Meissner 1–3 (12–10, 15–17, 8–11, 7–11)
Bastian Steger – Romain Ruiz 1–3 (9–11, 10–12, 11–9, 7–11)

ASC Grünwettersbach – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT 1–3
Tom Jarvis – Hugo Calderano 0–3 (10–12, 9–11, 7–11)
Florian Bluhm – Eduard Ionescu 3–2 (11–6, 3–11, 4–11, 11–9, 11–8)
Tobias Hippler – Álvaro Robles 1–3 (6–11, 11–9, 8–11, 9–11)
Tom Jarvis – Eduard Ionescu 2–3 (7–11, 11–9, 11–4, 8–11, 8–11)

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg 1–3
Iulian Chirita – Finn Luu 3–0 (11–3, 11–7, 11–7)
Bogdan Pugna – Csaba Andras 0–3 (2–11, 5–11, 3–11)
Daniel Berzosa – Juan Perez 1–3 (11–13, 11–7, 8–11, 7–11)
Iulian Chirita – Csaba Andras 1–3 (4–11, 12–10, 9–11, 5–11)

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – Borussia Düsseldorf 2–3
Feng Yi-Hsin – Li Yongyin 3–0 (11–7, 12–10, 11–6)
Samuel Walker – Kanak Jha 0–3 (3–11, 8–11, 6–11)
Liam Pitchford – Anton Källberg 3–0 (11–7, 12–10, 14–12)
Feng Yi-Hsin – Kanak Jha 2–3 (11–9, 18–16, 6–11, 6–11, 6–11)
Maciej Kubik/Martin Allegro – Anton Källberg/Li Yongyin 1–3 (11–7, 7–11, 8–11, 6–11)

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

Photo: Mattias Karlsson of SV Werder Bremen (photo: BeLa Sportfoto).