Bundesliga

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt won the top match of the 7th match day of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL): With a 3:1 home victory against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell, Benedikt Duda and his teammates distanced themselves from the East Hessians in the table and are now part of the trio chasing league leaders Werder Bremen.

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell were on equal footing before Wednesday evening's duel, so the top match of the 7th match day of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) was correspondingly close. The home team came out on top, with Bergneustadt winning 3-1 to cement their place among the league leaders. With 10-4 points, Benedikt Duda's team now has the same number of points as 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and record champions Borussia Düsseldorf, who won 3-0 against Borussia Dortmund at the same time.

“Bergneustadt deserved the win,” said Fulda's Fanbo Meng, whose team remains in fifth place with 8:6 points. “We now have to look at where we went wrong and learn from our mistakes.” Bergneustadt's Romain Ruiz said: “Fulda is a very strong team. But we played really well today and are very happy that we managed to win.”

Benedikt Duda defeats Fanbo Meng and Jonathan Groth

Two factors tipped the scales in Bergneustadt's favor. First, of course, was Benedikt Duda: the world number ten was once again in top form, beating Fanbo Meng 3-0 and then Jonathan Groth in the top singles match. Duda did squander two set points in the second set and lost it 10-12 to make it 1-1. However, he did not let that unsettle him, winning the next two sets and securing victory for his team with a 3-1 win over Groth.

Romain Ruiz was also a key factor in the victory: playing in the third position, he beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3-1 to give Bergneustadt a 2-1 lead. Groth was the only successful player for Fulda, coming back from 0-2 down to beat Leo de Nodrest 3-2.

Match day #7 at a glance

Borussia Düsseldorf – Borussia Dortmund 3:0
Dang Qiu – Kristian Karlsson 3:1 (11:7, 11:9, 9:11, 11:5)
Anton Källberg – Cedric Nuytinck 3:0 (11:8, 12:10, 11:8)
Kanak Jha – Adam Szudi 3:1 (11:6, 9:11, 11:8, 11:5)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 3:1
Benedikt Duda – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (11:8, 11:7, 11:8)
Leo de Nodrest – Jonathan Groth 2:3 (13:11, 12:10, 10:12, 6:11, 9:11)
Romain Ruiz – Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3:1 (11:4, 6:11, 11:5, 11:7)
Benedikt Duda – Jonathan Groth 3:1 (11:8, 10:12, 11:7, 12:10)

SV Werder Bremen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:1
Kirill Gerassimenko – Samuel Walker 2:3 (11:9, 10:12, 9:11, 11:4, 9:11)
Marcelo Aguirre – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:8, 11:6, 8:11, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Patrick Baum 3:2 (6:11, 11:7, 11:6, 6:11, 11:6)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Maciej Kubik 3:0 (11:5, 11:7, 11:7)

ASC Grünwettersbach – 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 1:3
Hiroto Shinozuka – Eduard Ionescu 3:2 (11:5, 12:14, 5:11, 11:4, 11:5)
Tobias Hippler – Darko Jorgic 0:3 (7:11, 8:11, 5:11)
Damian Floro – Patrick Franziska 0:3 (5:11, 7:11, 3:11)
Hiroto Shinozuka – Darko Jorgic 1:3 (7:11, 8:11, 11:5, 5:11)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – TSV Bad Königshofen 3:1
Jo Yokotani – Filip Zeljko 1:3 (7:11, 11:7, 6:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban – Andre Bertelsmeier 3:1 (11:5, 7:11, 11:7, 15:13)
Csaba Andras – Bastian Steger 3:1 (4:11, 11:4, 12:10, 11:6)
Jo Yokotani – Andre Bertelsmeier 3:1 (11:5, 13:11, 9:11, 11:6)

Thursday, November 13
7pm: Post SV Mühlhausen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen

Header image: TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt's Benedikt Duda (by Sven Kubeile)