Bundesliga

Even without Timo Boll or Hugo Calderano, the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) has plenty of stars in store for its fans in the upcoming season. Thanks to a spectacular rejuvenation at just the right time, the TTBL and its clubs can look forward to a surge in attention and reach around the globe.

For weeks now, the upcoming TTBL debut season of Olympic champion Fan Zhendong at Champions League winners 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT has been keeping the table tennis community worldwide in suspense. Another highly prestigious addition to the German elite class is double world champion Hiroto Shinozuka at Champions League newcomer ASC Grünwettersbach. The TTBL gains further class with the return of former double European champion Jonathan Groth to TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell.

Even without former world champion Fan Zhendong, who is no longer listed in the world rankings, a total of eleven stars from the world's top 30 players (as of August 18) will be competing at the end of the month. A few days before the start of the season, three-time Europe Top 16 winner Darko Jorgic (Saarbrücken) stood out as number eight and European vice-champion Benedikt Duda (Bergneustadt) as number ten in the top 10 aces. In addition to Jorgic, the strongest “legionnaires” include Sweden's Anton Källberg (Borussia Düsseldorf/15th place) and Denmark's Anders Lind (Borussia Dortmund/17th), who recently rose to the top 20 for the first time.

However, the glory of Olympic medals does not shine exclusively through Fan Zhendong's three successes at the Summer Games. Fulda's veteran Dimitrij Ovtcharov, for example, is the Olympic record medal collector with six medals since 2008 (two individual bronze medals and two silver and bronze medals with the team). Saarbrücken captain Patrick Franziska also has one Olympic silver medal to his name.

TTBL pros for the coming season have been on the podium much more frequently at World Championship tournaments. In Doha, Shinozuka won the title together with Shunsuke Togami, who had already returned to TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen last year after the Olympic Games in Paris. In the final, the duo prevailed against a Taiwanese pairing featuring Fulda's ace Kao Cheng-Jui. In addition to the three World Championship medals from Qatar, the 14 top 50 players from the twelve club squads collected 17 more medals at world championships. In this category, too, Kao's club colleague Ovtcharov is the most successful medal collector with five podium finishes (one double bronze and four team silver).

But Fan Zhendong's collection of titles this season puts every other TTBL player – not just in the upcoming season – in the shade. Three Olympic victories, nine World Championship triumphs, eight World Cup victories, and eleven Asian Championship successes are an almost unparalleled record – it is no coincidence that Fan is considered the best player after China's icon and G.O.A.T. Ma Long. This makes Saarbrücken team manager Nicolas Barrois' assessment all the more accurate: Fan's move to the Blue and Blacks is “not only an absolute milestone in sporting terms, but also a huge moment for our club and for German and European table tennis as a whole.”

At the same time, the world championship status of Shinozuka and Togami, who secured Japan's first World Championship gold medal in men's doubles, also enhances the reputation of the TTBL. “We are proud of Hiroto,” says Grünwettersbach manager Martin Werner about his prominent new signing, “he is not only an exceptional player, but also a passionate fighter who fits perfectly with our philosophy and will thrill the fans with his energetic style of play.”

In Fulda, Groth's third engagement for the East Hessians is raising hopes among club boss Stefan Frauenholz for a better overall result than last season: “Jonathan has very good serves, and his forehand is a weapon.” Nine years after winning the European Championship title in doubles with Patrick Franziska, the 32-year-old himself wants to live up to expectations: “My goal is to win a title.”

Florian Manzke
Featured image above: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Photo: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell)