Bundesliga

Borussia Düsseldorf defended the lead in the table on Tuesday with a combative performance: With a 3:2 victory over ASC Grünwettersbach on the 16th match day of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), the record champion took the next step toward the Liebherr TTBL Final4.

In the first leg in September, ASC Grünwettersbach celebrated a surprising 3-1 victory against Borussia Düsseldorf, making a big statement. In the return match on Tuesday evening, the Baden team once again made life difficult for the record champions, but this time they narrowly missed out. After falling behind 0-2, Düsseldorf came back on match day 16 and finally celebrated a 3-2 victory over ASC after more than three and a half hours of table tennis battle.

Borussia thus remains on course for the Liebherr TTBL Final4: with 26:6 points, the 34-time German champions remain at the top of the table and are already ten points ahead of fifth place. Grünwettersbach, on the other hand, is in deep crisis: for ASC, it was the eighth game in a row without a win; they last scored points on November 16 against Bremen (3:0). With 8:24 points, Grünwettersbach remains eleventh at the bottom of the table, level on points with TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau, who lost 1-3 to 1. FC Saarbrücken TT at the same time.

Open visor in doubles: Källberg/Li defeat Walther/Apolonia

The visitors initially had the upper hand on Tuesday: Hiroto Shinozuka secured the break with a 3-1 victory over Kanak Jha, then Tiago Apolonia made it 2-0 with a 3-2 win over Li Yongyin – giving Grünwettersbach hope of another coup. After the break, however, the record champions came back strong.

First, Anton Källberg reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a 3-0 win over Tom Jarvis, then Jha secured the doubles with a 3-0 win over Apolonia. The players remained focused, with only minor details ultimately tipping the scales in Borussia's favor: Källberg and Li fended off a set point from Ricardo Walther and Shinozuka in the fourth set and took advantage of their first match point to win 3-1 and secure a 3-2 victory for their team.

Match day #16 at a glance

Borussia Düsseldorf – ASC Grünwettersbach 3:2
Kanak Jha – Hiroto Shinozuka 1:3 (6:11, 11:9, 6:11, 6:11)
Li Yongyin – Tiago Apolonia 2:3 (4:11, 9:11, 11:5, 11:4, 8:11)
Anton Källberg – Tom Jarvis 3:0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:9)
Kanak Jha – Tiago Apolonia 3:0 (11:8, 11:9, 11:7)
Anton Källberg/Li Yongyin – Ricardo Walther/Hiroto Shinozuka 3:1 (11:7, 8:11, 11:9, 12:10)

1. FC Saarbrücken TT – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau 3:1
Fan Zhendong – Maciej Kubik 3:1 (11:7, 7:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Patrick Franziska – Samuel Walker 3:1 (11:7, 7:11, 11:8, 11:9)
Cedric Meissner – Martin Allegro 1:3 (8:11, 8:11, 11:4, 5:11)
Fan Zhendong – Patrick Baum 3:1 (11:6, 5:11, 11:5, 11:6)

TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – Post SV Mühlhausen 2:3
Jo Yokotani – Ovidiu Ionescu 2:3 (14:12, 14:12, 10:12, 6:11, 2:11)
Ivor Ban – Kay Stumper 3:11 (11:5, 2:11, 11:4, 11:1)
Csaba Andras – Marcos Freitas 3:1 (10 :12, 11:9, 11:6, 11:8)
Juan Perez – Kay Stumper 0:3 (2:11, 8:11, 8:11)
Ivor Ban/Csaba Andras – Ovidiu Ionescu/Marcos Freitas 0:3 (11:13, 7:11, 8:11)

Borussia Dortmund – TSV Bad Königshofen 1:3
Anders Lind – Bastian Steger 3:1 (7:11, 11:8, 11:7, 11:9)
Adam Szudi – Xue Fei 1:3 (11:6, 5:11, 5:11, 5:11)
Kristian Karlsson – Andre Bertelsmeier 1:3 (7:11, 11:8, 8:11, 10:12)
Anders Lind – Xue Fei 0:3 (7:11, 7:11, 7:11)

Wednesday, February 11
6.30pm: SV Werder Bremen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
7pm: TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

Header photo: Borussia Düsseldorf's Anton Källberg (by Jörg Fuhrmann)