Bundesliga

The players of SV Werder Bremen and 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT had just one day off after the Leapmotor Cup Grand Opening in Nuremberg. On Tuesday, league action was already back on the schedule. The Hanseatics beat the reigning German champions in Saarland 3:1.

Things are going well for Werder! After nail-biting wins over Fulda and Grenzau (2:3 each), the northern Germans refused to let their recent setback against record champions Borussia Düsseldorf get them down, and underlined their playoff ambitions with this win.

Ionescu in position one
Saarbrücken coach Wang Zhi's lineup may have come as a surprise to some. Rather than Patrick Franziska playing at number one, it was young Romanian Eduard Ionescu who took to the table. He was immediately put to the test against Mattias Karlsson. Although Ionescu managed to briefly close the gap after falling behind 0:2 in sets, it wasn't enough for the big comeback in the end.

Before the break, Franziska made short work of Gerassimenko. The Kazakh scored only about half as many points as Franziska (11:3, 11:4, 11:9). With 4:0 matches, the German national player leads the TTBL player rankings.

Bertrand impresses
In such a fiercely contested duel, the two number-threes' match often tips the scales – and this was no exception. Robles managed to win the first set but then strayed from his usual game. "I didn't feel good today. I couldn't find my game and couldn't get everything out of myself. Irvin played good table tennis. He kept me running the whole time. He deserved the win today," said the Spaniard at the Dyn microphone.

It's clear that playing so many matches in such a short time doesn't leave players unaffected, especially with training opportunities also lacking. Robles: "It's not easy to get used to different balls and tables again in such a short time. On Sunday we played on completely different tables." His Bremen opponent coped better with the conditions. "The conditions here in Saarbrücken are good. The balls are hard, which I find very pleasant," said Bertrand.

Kirill Gerassimenko sealed the match with his five-set thriller against Ionescu, meaning Werder was spared the doubles this time. However, there isn't much time to celebrate this win. He and several other players are heading straight to the airport for the WTT tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The TTBL continues on Thursday. At 7 p.m., TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg takes on Borussia Dortmund.

Matchday 4 at a glance

1. FC Saarbrücken TT – SV Werder Bremen 1:3
Eduard Ionescu – Mattias Karlsson 1:3 (8:11, 6:11, 11:6, 6:11)
Patrick Franziska – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:0 (11:3, 11:4, 11:9)
Alvaro Robles – Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (11:8, 8:11, 9:11, 13:15)
Eduard Ionescu – Kirill Gerassimenko 2:3 (7:11, 11:3, 9:11, 13:11, 6:11)

Thursday, September 3
7 p.m.: TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Dortmund

Saturday, September 5
1 p.m.: Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

Sunday, September 6
2 p.m.: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
3:30 p.m.: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau
5 p.m.: ASC Grünwettersbach – Post SV Mühlhausen

All matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.

Picuture on the top: Kirill Gerassimenko (SV Werder Bremen), Foto: Philipp Wohlfart