Bundesliga

SV Werder Bremen has continued its strong first half of the season in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL). On Thursday evening, the Hanseatic team won 3:1 at TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell, thereby maintaining its place among the leaders. In front of a well-filled crowd, Bremen put in a focused performance to take two important points from eastern Hesse.

Fulda did not get off to a good start. In the opening singles match, defender Ruwen Filus was defeated in four sets by France's Irvin Bertrand. After losing the first set, the Bremen native found his rhythm and put his team in the lead (11:6, 7:11, 7:11, 3:11). Dimitrij Ovtcharov equalized shortly afterwards. With a confident 3:0 victory over Kirill Gerassimenko, the two-time Olympic singles medalist brought the score to 1:1.

Falck sets the course

In the third singles match, the tide turned in favor of the visitors. Mattias Falck prevailed against Fanbo Meng in four hard-fought sets, putting Werder back in the lead. This put the pressure back on Fulda, who needed to win a point in the fourth match. But Filus was unable to score in his second match either: the defensive specialist found no way past Gerassimenko, who won the match in three straight sets to seal the away victory.

“We knew it would be a tough match in Fulda. The team is very strong, even though Kao is currently injured,” said Falck after the match. “When we found out that Groth wasn't playing either, we saw ourselves at an advantage.”

Werder consolidates its place in the top group

After their 3-1 victory, Bremen are level on points with league leaders Borussia Düsseldorf and have confirmed their role as the surprise team of the season so far. The next challenge for the team from the far north is already on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Post SV Mühlhausen. Fulda, on the other hand, missed out on gaining ground in the close race for the playoff spots. The TTC continues on Monday at 7 p.m. with an away game at TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau.

Match day #10 at a glance

TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – SV Werder Bremen 1:3
Ruwen Filus – Irvin Bertrand 1:3 (11:6, 7:11, 7:11, 3:11)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Kirill Gerassimenko 3:0 (14:12, 11:8, 11:5)
Fanbo Meng – Mattias Falck 1:3 (11:13, 11:7, 9:11, 8:11)
Ruwen Filus – Kirill Gerassimenko 0:3 (8:11, 4:11, 9:11)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – TSV Bad Königshofen 0:3
Benedikt Duda – Daniel Habesohn 1:3 (8:11, 11:6, 5:11, 10:12)
Adrien Rassenfosse – Bastian Steger 1:3 (5:11, 11:8, 8:11, 4:11)
Romain Ruiz – Filip Zeljko 2:3 (9:11, 6:11, 12:10, 11:3, 8:11)

Borussia Dortmund – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg 3:1
Anders Lind – Juan Perez 3:1 (11:7, 8:11, 11:3, 11:9)
Cedric Nuytinck – Jo Yokotani 0:3 (9:11, 7:11, 6:11)
Kristian Karlsson – Ivor Ban 3:1 (11:6, 9:11, 11:8, 11:7)
Anders Lind – Jo Yokotani 3:1 (11:6, 11:8, 7:11, 11:3)

1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3:0
Darko Jorgic – Shunsuke Togami 3:2 (10:12, 1:11, 11:7, 11:9, 11:6)
Fan Zhendong – Iulian Chirita 3:0 (11:9, 12:10, 11:2)
Patrick Franziska – Andreas Levenko 3:0 (12:10, 11:5, 11:9)

ASC Grünwettersbach – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 1:3
Hiroto Shinozuka – Luka Mladenovic 2:3 (9:11, 11:7, 13:11, 8:11, 4:11)
Tiago Apolonia – Feng Yi-Hsin 3:0 (11:9, 16:14, 12:10)
Tobias Hippler – Maciej Kubik 0:3 (7:11, 3:11, 7:11)
Hiroto Shinozuka – Feng Yi-Hsin 2:3 (11:9, 8:11, 7:11, 11:8, 8:11)

Borussia Düsseldorf – Post SV Mühlhausen 3:1
Dang Qiu – Ovidiu Ionescu 3:1 (11:6, 8:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Borgar Haug – Steffen Mengel 0:3 (9:11, 9:11, 4:11)
Anton Källberg – Marcos Freitas 3:0 (11:7, 11:9, 11:8)
Dang Qiu – Steffen Mengel 3:2 (11:7, 11:3, 8:11, 4:11, 11:6)

Featured image: Irvin Bertrand from SV Werder Bremen (Photo: Werder Bremen)