Bundesliga

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen’s slump continues. In the headline match of TTBL Matchday 16, the defending champions lost 1:3 at play-off contenders SV Werder Bremen — also because the visitors were forced into an emergency line-up that included head coach Bogdan Pugna. It was a fourth straight defeat for Pugna’s side. Werder stayed in touch with leaders Borussia Dusseldorf and, in the head-to-head, extended their cushion over fifth-placed Ochsenhausen to ten points.

It would have taken a standout night from top man Shunsuke Togami and Andreas Levenko for TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen to leave the Klaus-Dieter-Fischer-Halle with a win on Wednesday evening. With Iulian Chirita away at the Star Contender in India and Tiago Abiodun sidelined through injury, Pugna was also unable, due to TTBL regulations, to field Brazil’s Leonardo Iizuka as a second non-EU player. That left him with no choice but to put his own name on the team sheet.

The plan was obvious: two singles wins from Togami and one from Levenko were required if the visitors were to take anything from the in-form Hanseatics. After Pugna’s clear 0:3 opening defeat to Mattias Falck, Togami responded immediately for the guests with a perfect straight-sets win over Marcelo Aguirre. After the break, however, Levenko could not complete his comeback from a quick 0:2 deficit against Kirill Gerassimenko and went down in four sets.

Levenko against old friend Gerassimenko

For the Austrian, the match-up with Gerassimenko was anything but unfamiliar, as he revealed to Dyn after the match. “We were best friends at the Werner Schlager Academy. He arrived there at 14 and I was his first Russian-speaking friend,” said Levenko, who was only 12 at the time. As a result, there is “no other player in the world I’ve played as many matches against”. But he added with a grin: “If I’m honest, I hate it,” Levenko said of facing his close friend.

With Levenko’s defeat, the tie was effectively decided — and it showed in Togami’s body language, despite his usually ultra-professional demeanour. “He’s just won a medal at the Asian Championships, he beat Lin Shidong. He only arrived from China yesterday, with a really long layover at the airport in Beijing,” Levenko said, explaining Togami’s 0:3 loss in the second singles — and why he could understand it. “He’s only human. He’s very professional, but he has limits too. If it’s not there mentally, then it’s not there. He’s still a top player, a machine.”

Bremen now ten points clear of the non-play-off places

For the hosts, it was another boost in an excellent season. After 16 matches, Werder are just one match behind leaders Borussia Dusseldorf on match difference. Even more important: the direct win over Ochsenhausen has stretched their lead over the play-off cut line to ten points. With six matches left — and 12 points still available — Cristian Tamas’ team can already begin to look ahead, cautiously, to planning for the Liebherr TTBL Final4.

Matchday 16 fixtures

SV Werder Bremen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:1
Mattias Falck – Bogdan Pugna 3:0 (11:0, 11:1, 11:5)
Marcelo Aguirre – Shunsuke Togami 0:3 (9:11, 1:11, 7:11)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Andreas Levenko 3:1 (11:8, 11:5, 9:11, 11:7)
Mattias Falck – Shunsuke Togami 3:0 (11:9, 11:7, 12:10)

TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt 1:3
Ruwen Filus – Adrien Rassenfosse 3:0 (11:4, 11:7, 12:10)
Jonathan Groth – Benedikt Duda 0:3 (9:11, 7:11, 2:11)
Fanbo Meng – Leo de Nodrest 1:3 (13:11, 2:11, 6:11, 9:11)
Ruwen Filus – Benedikt Duda 0:3 (5:11, 3:11, 2:11)

Borussia Dusseldorf – ASC Grunwettersbach 3:2
Kanak Jha – Hiroto Shinozuka 1:3 (6:11, 11:9, 6:11, 6:11)
Li Yongyin – Tiago Apolonia 2:3 (4:11, 9:11, 11:5, 11:4, 8:11)
Anton Kallberg – Tom Jarvis 3:0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:9)
Kanak Jha – Tiago Apolonia 3:0 (11:8, 11:9, 11:7)
Anton Kallberg/Li Yongyin – Ricardo Walther/Hiroto Shinozuka 3:1 (11:7, 8:11, 11:9, 12:10)

1. FC Saarbrucken-TT – TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau 3:1
Fan Zhendong – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:7, 7:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Patrick Franziska – Samuel Walker 3:1 (11:7, 7:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Cedric Meissner – Martin Allegro 1:3 (8:11, 8:11, 11:4, 5:11)
Fan Zhendong – Patrick Baum 3:1 (11:6, 5:11, 11:5, 11:6)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – Post SV Muhlhausen 2:3
Jo Yokotani – Ovidiu Ionescu 2:3 (14:12, 14:12, 10:12, 6:11, 2:11)
Ivor Ban – Kay Stumper 3:1 (11:5, 2:11, 11:4, 11:1)
Csaba Andras – Marcos Freitas 3:1 (10:12, 11:9, 11:6, 11:8)
Juan Perez – Kay Stumper 0:3 (2:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban/Csaba Andras – Ovidiu Ionescu/Marcos Freitas 0:3 (11:13, 7:11, 8:11)

Borussia Dortmund – TSV Bad Konigshofen 1:3
Anders Lind – Bastian Steger 3:1 (7:11, 11:8, 11:7, 11:9)
Adam Szudi – Xue Fei 1:3 (11:6, 5:11, 5:11, 5:11)
Kristian Karlsson – Andre Bertelsmeier 1:3 (7:11, 11:8, 8:11, 10:12)
Anders Lind – Xue Fei 0:3 (7:11, 7:11, 7:11)

Picture: Mattias Falck of SV Werder Bremen (Photo: SV Werder Bremen)