Bundesliga

Only one match took place this Thursday, but it filled the entire evening and table tennis enthusiasts got their money's worth. In a fiercely contested duel between TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg and Borussia Dortmund, the black-and-yellows ultimately came out on top.

With the win in Bad Homburg, Dortmund secured their third consecutive victory of the season. Even a strong Csaba Andras, who won two singles matches, couldn't prevent Dortmund's success. After four matchdays, the team now sits in fourth place in the table and can no longer be overtaken by any other team, even though four matches remain.

Andras claims two points

Csaba Andras's form continued unabated. Having already beaten Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Jonathan Groth this season, and having only narrowly lost to Hugo Calderano in five sets, the Hungarian picked up two points to ensure his team once again forced a deciding doubles. Andras is the only Bad Homburg player to have won a singles match so far this season. Against Cedric Nuytinck, Andras came back from a 0:1 set deficit to win 3:1.

Anders Lind brought the score to 1:1 at the halfway point in his match against Juan Perez. The Dane's 3:0 win looks fairly clear-cut on paper, but the individual sets were hard-fought. The first set in particular went to 30 points (16:14).

Verdonschot's quality and a minutes-long debate over an edge ball

Wim Verdonschot is in truly excellent form at Borussia Dortmund. He didn't feature in either cup match, but has played in every Bundesliga match. His clear 3:0 win over Ivor Ban was his third straight victory. "I'd never played against him before, so I watched some of his matches. I knew he had a really good serve. But I also have a good backhand and tried to build my game around that. In the end it worked out and I was able to bring the match home," said Verdonschot.

With a 3:1 record, Verdonschot is Dortmund's best player and has played a key role in the team's wins over recent weeks. "I want to establish myself in the TTBL. In my first Bundesliga match I was incredibly nervous. But playing in this league is like a drug. It gives me a real kick," said the young German.

In the match between the two number ones, Csaba Andras and Anders Lind, the very first set caused plenty of controversy. At 12:11 for Lind, his ball caught the edge of the opponent's side of the table, but appeared to have clipped the side rather than the top of the edge. The umpires awarded the point to Lind. Attempts to convince the officials using video footage were unsuccessful, and the on-court decision stood. Andras played well over the following two sets to take a 2:1 lead. In the fifth set he closed out the match 11:9, treating the spectators to a doubles decider as well, which Dortmund also narrowly won 3:2.

"I have mixed feelings right now. I won two matches, but we lost as a team. For me, the team always comes first. My personal performance today was outstanding. The hard training is paying off. I hope I can keep this form up for a long time," Andras said after the match, speaking to Dyn.

The TTBL continues on Saturday. At 1 p.m., Borussia Düsseldorf host TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt. The remaining three matches of the matchday take place on Sunday (see overview).

Matchday 4 overview

TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Dortmund 2:3
Csaba Andras – Cedric Nuytinck 3:1 (9:11, 11:9, 11:6, 11:9)
Juan Perez – Anders Lind 0:3 (14:16, 8:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban – Wim Verdonschot 0:3 (7:11, 7:11, 6:11)
Csaba Andras – Anders Lind 3:2 (11:13, 11:7, 11:6, 8:11, 11:9)
Benno Oehme/Ivor Ban – Adam Szudi/Cedric Nuytinck 2:3 (6:11, 11:9, 6:11, 11:5, 6:11)

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)

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.

Caption image at top: Anders Lind (Borussia Dortmund). Photo: Philipp Wohlfart