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Two matches were on the schedule in the TTBL on Sunday. Twice it went to the doubles, twice the visiting team won. For Bad Homburg and Grünwettersbach these were important points that may not necessarily have been planned for.

After Kirill Gerassimenko had been fielded as number one four times in a row, Bremen changed their lineup for the home match against Grünwettersbach. For the first time this season, Sweden's Mattias Karlsson played in the top position, but as a result could not take part in a doubles match.

Hippler repeats his success

Grünwettersbach, meanwhile, fielded Tobias Hippler in position two. This same matchup already took place in mid-November 2025 in the Bundesliga, also in the Klaus-Dieter-Fischer-Halle. Then as now, Tobias Hippler won 3:1, giving the ASC a good start.
However, since Irvin Bertrand, who has been playing strongly of late, also won his duel as number two against Ricardo Walther, the score was 1:1 at the break.

Kirill Gerassimenko made things surprisingly clear against Tom Jarvis, who was set at position three today by coach Kilian Ort. In the first four matches, the Briton had otherwise always played at number one. The 0:3 defeat to Gerassimenko (8:11, 10:12, 9:11) was Jarvis's fourth loss. He now has a 4:4 record in his first full season at ASC.

Karlsson loses both matches – Bremen forced into doubles again

In the duel between the two number ones, Mattias Karlsson let the lead slip away, losing sets two and three narrowly. Even a timeout at 6:7 for Karlsson didn't help. Walther pulled away to 10:6, but Karlsson fought back and earned a set point at 11:10. Still, he lost the third set and ultimately the match.

In the doubles, Grünwettersbach's Tobias Hippler and Tiago Apolonia got off to a good start, leading 2:0. Bremen's Irvin Bertrand and Kirill Gerassimenko fought their way to the third set and started the fourth set brilliantly. The northern Germans quickly built up a 7:1 lead on the scoreboard. But the set wasn't decided yet. The visitors turned the set around to 10:8 and ultimately converted their second match point. "That wasn't necessarily to be expected, that was quite a surprise," said Dyn commentator Dennis Heinemann. ASC player Ricardo Walther added after the match: "We really like playing here, last year we also had match points here but lost narrowly. In the end I had to take risks against Mattias Karlsson and played much more aggressively than I normally do."

Bad Homburg wins in the doubles

The second match of the day also went to doubles. Bergneustadt and Bad Homburg delivered a three-and-a-half-hour thriller. On both sides, all four or five players saw action. With the 3:2 win, Bad Homburg moves up from last place to seventh, at least for now, and hands the red lantern over to Bergneustadt.

At the start, Benedikt Duda had no problems against Juan Perez. The match went clearly to the home side, 3:0. The third set even ended 11:1. Cedric Meissner and Csaba Andras then delivered a five-set match, in which the first two sets were only decided in extended play.

First appearance for Finn Luu – Csaba leads the TTBL rankings

After the break, Bad Homburg's Australian new signing Finn Luu made his debut against Romain Ruiz. In the world rankings from September 7, the two are separated by a full 500 places (Luu 51st, Ruiz 551st). But Ruiz showed that the world ranking doesn't necessarily mean much, winning 3:1.

Csaba Andras made short work of Benedikt Duda in three sets. With this win, Andras now has a 7:2 record, giving him the best record in the TTBL. Only Fan Zhendong has a similar record — the Düsseldorf player stands at 5:0. "Csaba is playing really well right now and naturally has a lot of confidence because of it. He's beaten absolute world-class players like Dima and Anders Lind. Benedikt only got back from Macau yesterday, which will certainly have left something in his legs," said teammate Oehme after the match.

"Cold" doubles pair steals the points

So for the third time this season, both teams headed into the doubles. Both sides had a 1:1 record there. Bergneustadt fielded Rassenfosse alongside Meissner, while Bad Homburg needed two players in Oehme and Ban who hadn't played in singles yet — but it worked right away. The first two sets went to the Hessians, but Bergneustadt didn't give up and fought back. Benno Oehme said about how the match unfolded: "We started well, Ivor played very strongly in the first two sets. Adrien Rassenfosse wasn't really in it yet, since he hadn't played a singles match. In the third and fourth sets we each had a poor start, and Rassenfosse/Meissner played us more aggressively and placed the ball well. In the fifth set we had to fight for every single point."

The Table Tennis Bundesliga continues next Sunday, September 20. At 3 p.m., TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will host 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT.

Matchday 5 overview

SV Werder Bremen – ASC Grünwettersbach 2:3
Mattias Karlsson – Tobias Hippler 1:3 (11:7, 10:12, 7:11, 15:17)
Irvin Bertrand – Ricardo Walther 3:1 (11:7, 11:8, 10:12, 11:1)
Kirill Gerassimenko – Tom Jarvis 3:0 (11:8, 12:10, 11:9)
Mattias Karlsson – Ricardo Walther 1:3 (11:9, 9:11, 11:13, 8:11)
Irvin Bertrand/Kirill Gerassimenko – Tiago Apolonia/Tobias Hippler 1:3 (7:11, 9:11, 11:8, 9:11)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TTC OE Clarity-Tel.Syst.Bad Homburg 2:3
Benedikt Duda – Juan Perez 3:0 (11:7, 11:7, 11:1)
Cedric Meissner – Csaba Andras 2:3 (15:13, 11:3, 6:11, 11:5, 8:11)
Romain Ruiz – Finn Luu 3:1 (12:10, 7:11, 11:9, 11:5)
Benedikt Duda – Csaba Andras 0:3 (6:11, 10:12, 9:11)
Cedric Meissner/Adrien Rassenfosse – Benno Oehme/Ivor Ban 2:3 (8:11, 7:11, 11:1, 11:4, 10:12)

Sunday, September 20:
3 p.m.: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT

Monday, September 21:
6:30 p.m.: BV Borussia 09 Dortmund – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
7 p.m.: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TSV Bad Königshofen
Tuesday, September 22:
7 p.m.: Post SV Mühlhausen – Borussia Düsseldorf

All matches are broadcast live on Dyn.

Photo obove: Ricardo Walther of ASC Grünwettersbach (photographer: Lüthi)