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Countdown to the new season: Five highlights for the start of the TTBL

Bundesliga

Countdown to the new season: Five highlights for the start of the TTBL

The new season of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) is about to begin – and it has a lot to offer. From an exciting first match day to spectacular new additions and the most important top events: fans can look forward to table tennis of the highest caliber. Here are five highlights of what's to come.

The first match day

There will be plenty of action right from the first match day of the new season in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL). The duel between TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and Borussia Düsseldorf is particularly eagerly anticipated: on Friday, August 29, the two title contenders will face each other at 7 p.m. in the Esperantohalle in Fulda – this match was already played at this venue last year, when more than 2,500 spectators watched the match.

The season kicks off two days earlier: On Wednesday, August 27, Post SV Mühlhausen and ASC Grünwettersbach will open the new season at 7 p.m. The following day, the defending champions will face their first challenge: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen will host Borussia Dortmund (August 28, 7 p.m.). For BVB, it will be the second season in the club's history in the TTBL. The following weekend, SV Werder Bremen and TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg (Saturday, August 30, 3 p.m.), TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau and TSV Bad Königshofen (6 p.m.), and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (Sunday, August 31, 2 p.m.).

The teams

Compared to last season, the TTBL will start with an unchanged line-up: as no team from the 2nd Bundesliga has been promoted, TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg and TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau, who finished eleventh and twelfth last year, will once again compete in the TTBL. Twelve teams will be competing for the German championship, with the clubs battling it out for places on 22 match days. The four best teams will advance to the semi-finals, while the eleventh and twelfth-placed teams will be relegated.

The field is stronger than ever before: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT secured the services of Fan Zhendong and is aiming to win titles with the Olympic champion – not only in the TTBL, but also in the German Table Tennis Cup and the Champions League. Tough competition is expected from Borussia Düsseldorf and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell with Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Behind them, numerous ambitious teams such as TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, TSV Bad Königshofen, SV Werder Bremen, TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt, ASC Grünwettersbach, Borussia Dortmund, Post SV Mühlhausen, Bad Homburg, and Grenzau are waiting in the wings and could spring a few surprises again.

The top stars

1. FC Saarbrücken TT caused quite a stir with the transfer of Fan Zhendong: after announcing the move of the world's best table tennis player, FCS was inundated with requests for tickets, jerseys, and club membership. The 28-year-old Olympic champion is expected to play more than a dozen games for FCS: “For the first half of the season, we have discussed around five to seven appearances with him and have already received positive feedback. According to current estimates, he could even make more than seven appearances in the second half of the season,” team manager Nicolas Barrois recently revealed in our interview. Fan is definitely scheduled to play in the home game against Düsseldorf in December, which will be held in the Saarlandhalle.

In addition to Fan Zhendong, fans can look forward to seeing numerous other top stars as usual. Even after Timo Boll's retirement and the departures of Hugo Calderano and Simon Gauzy, there will still be plenty of table tennis power to be seen in the TTBL in 2025/2026. New additions include Jonathan Groth (TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell), Hiroto Shinozuka (ASC Grünwettersbach), and Liao Cheng Ting (Post SV Mühlhausen). A total of 14 of the 50 best players in the world rankings play in the TTBL, including Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic (both 1. FC Saarbrücken TT), Dang Qiu and Anton Källberg (both Borussia Düsseldorf), Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt), Shunsuke Togami (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen) and many more.

Dyn

All TTBL and German Table Tennis Cup matches will continue to be broadcast live and exclusively on Dyn in the new season. In addition to table tennis, the sports channel also broadcasts numerous other sports, including the national leagues for basketball, handball, hockey, and volleyball, as well as numerous top international events.

The Dyn annual subscription costs €14.50 per month, while the monthly subscription, which can be canceled at any time, costs €19.50. Incidentally, 10% of the net subscription revenues are distributed to the national partner leagues, including the TTBL, as part of the “Move your sport” program, where they are used specifically to promote young talent.

The top events

Who will be German champion? Who will win the cup? The focus of every season is, of course, on the title decisions – and thus the top events.

The cup final is expected to be held again in January as a Final Four event, promising fans an exciting day of table tennis with the semi-finals and the grand final. The season will culminate in the TTBL final in the summer, when the German championship will be decided.