Bundesliga

After 13 matchdays, the relegation battle in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) is turning into a full-blown thriller. Having slipped to the bottom of the table on Matchday 3, TSV Bad Konigshofen climbed off last place on Saturday with a hard-fought 3:2 win over TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau, passing the wooden spoon on to their visitors. As a result, almost half the league were separated by just two points in the fight for survival.

The emotions in the Shakehands Arena were impossible to contain. After more than three hours of grit and intensity, the Habesohn/Bertelsmeier pairing converted match point in the decisive doubles, immediately rewarded with a standing ovation from the delighted crowd. “I knew it was at least a four-point match, and in games like that you really have to win,” Bastian Steger said on Dyn, visibly relieved.

With that, the Bavarians were able to send Grenzau home with the wooden spoon in their luggage. Bad Konigshofen have completely flipped their situation in the new year: their sensational 3:1 win away at leaders SV Werder Bremen was what first put them in a position to escape the foot of the table.

Steger extends his streak

Steger himself laid the foundations for victory. The 44-year-old is currently enjoying a second spring in his career: his straight-sets win over Feng Yi-Hsin, followed by a 3:2 thriller against Maciej Kubik, marked an eighth and ninth consecutive victory for the former Germany international. “Sometimes I’m surprised myself that it’s working so well,” Steger said modestly. “You wouldn’t have expected this today.”

Feng claimed the visitors’ first point before the interval, beating Filip Zeljko. After early problems in the opening set, Grenzau’s No. 1 showed his class and won in four sets. Martin Allegro then put Grenzau 2:1 in front, in a match loaded with emotion against his former club. “It felt strange, because I have so many great memories here,” the ex-TSV player admitted after his win over Daniel Habesohn.

In the doubles, however, Allegro and Samuel Walker could not live with Habesohn/Bertelsmeier. “They were better prepared than we were,” Allegro said. “That put us under pressure, and whenever we went for risk we didn’t get the payoff. They were just a touch better than us.”

Relegation fight more open than ever

While the two clubs still occupy the bottom two places in the table, now simply in a different order, the gap to the lower mid-table remains manageable. Alongside Grunwettersbach, who still have a game in hand, three clubs sit on eight points, while Fulda lead the next trio on ten. Bad Konigshofen now face another mammoth task against 1. FC Saarbrucken TT, while Grenzau go into their match against TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt as underdogs.

Matchday 13 fixtures

TSV Bad Konigshofen – TTC Zugbrucke Grenzau 3:2
Bastian Steger – Maciej Kubik 3:2 (11:5, 11:8, 9:11, 12:14, 11:6)
Filip Zeljko – Feng Yi-Hsin 1:3 (11:9, 7:11, 9:11, 5:11)
Daniel Habesohn – Martin Allegro 2:3 (3:11, 11:8, 6:11, 11:9, 6:11)
Bastian Steger – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:0 (12:10, 11:8, 11:4)
Habesohn/Bertelsmeier – Walker/Allegro 3:0 (11:7, 13:11, 11:4)

Post SV Muhlhausen – 1. FC Saarbrucken TT 2:3
Ovidiu Ionescu – Cedric Meissner 3:0 (11:8, 11:7, 11:5)
Liao Cheng-Ting – Darko Jorgic 0:3 (6:11, 7:11, 3:11)
Steffen Mengel – Patrick Franziska 3:1 (12:10, 11:9, 12:14, 11:8)
Ovidiu Ionescu – Darko Jorgic 2:3 (11:6, 4:11, 11:8, 13:15, 5:11)
Mengel/Liao – Franziska/Meissner 0:3 (8:11, 9:11, 7:11)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – SV Werder Bremen 2:3
Csaba Andras – Irvin Bertrand 3:0 (11:9, 11:4, 11:4)
Juan Perez – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (11:8, 11:3, 10:12, 8:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban – Mattias Falck 3:1 (4:11, 11:3, 11:6, 11:8)
Csaba Andras – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (5:11, 11:7, 11:6, 8:11, 3:11)
Ban/Perez – Falck/Bertrand 1:3 (3:11, 8:11, 12:10, 2:11)

Sunday, 18 January:
13:00: ASC Grunwettersbach – Borussia Dortmund
14:00: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt
15:30: Borussia Dusseldorf – TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell

All matches are streamed live on Dyn.

Picture: Andre Bertelsmeier and Daniel Habesohn of TSV Bad Königshofen (Photo: Philipp Wohlfart)