Bundesliga

The first decisions in the race for a spot in the Liebherr TTBL Final4 could be made on Matchday 18: Borussia Düsseldorf and SV Werder Bremen hold the best chances in the race for the semifinals. TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, on the other hand, needs a win against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell to keep their hopes alive. Things are also heating up at the bottom of the table. All matches of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) will be broadcast live on Dyn.

1.FC Saarbrücken TT – ASC Grünwettersbach

A clash of extremes in the Saarland: While 1. FC Saarbrücken TT is dreaming of a treble and, following its cup victory, is on track in both the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and the Champions League, the specter of relegation looms over ASC Grünwettersbach. The team from Baden has now gone nine matches without a win and has slipped from sixth place to last in the standings during that time. Things are getting dicey there: Since TSV Windsbach, a team from the 2nd Bundesliga, has also applied for a TTBL license for the upcoming season, Grünwettersbach faces the threat of relegation to the second division. The ASC’s two most recent performances should give them hope: against both Düsseldorf and Fulda (both 2-3), the team put up a strong fight and came close to a victory in each match after taking a 2-0 lead.

TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell

Can the reigning champions still make it to the Liebherr TTBL Final4? Currently in fifth place, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen is the closest challenger to the top four, but already trails fourth-place Bergneustadt by four points. The decisive factor here is a slump at the start of the year: The Swabians lost four matches in a row between mid-January and mid-February, thereby squandering a better starting position for the final stretch of the main round. Most recently, this losing streak was ended with a 3-1 victory in Bad Königshofen. “The win in Bad Königshofen has given us confidence—we want to build on that now in front of our home crowd,” says TTF coach Bogdan Pugna ahead of the match against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell. The East Hessians, for their part, are looking back on a tough few weeks; with only two wins in the second half of the season so far, the team has slipped to seventh place. “Fulda has a very experienced team with players who have been competing at the highest level for many years. It will be important for us to stay focused from the start and find our rhythm,” Pugna sets the tone. Incidentally, both teams will be without their top players on Sunday: Shunsuke Togami is out for TTF, as is Dimitrij Ovtcharov for Fulda.

TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

An impressive season could be heading into extra time for TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt: With five matchdays remaining in the regular season, Benedikt Duda’s team sits in fourth place and has already built up a small lead. With 22:12 points, Bergneustadt is four points ahead of fifth-place Ochsenhausen and thus has a good chance of advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2019. Nevertheless, the situation is “still tense,” Duda said recently in our interview: “Because a four-point lead—that can still go either way.” Incidentally, with five wins in six second-half matches, Bergneustadt is the second-best team in the second half of the season behind Düsseldorf (6-0). TSV Bad Königshofen is also on the rise: After the Lower Franconians finished the first half of the season in last place with only two wins, they have since racked up three more victories and left the relegation zone. With 10:24 points, however, the situation remains tense—the lead over bottom-ranked Grünwettersbach (8:26) is razor-thin.

SV Werder Bremen – Post SV Mühlhausen

With five games remaining in the regular season, SV Werder Bremen doesn’t want to get bogged down in mathematical calculations. Instead, team officials describe the situation as follows: “If we win two of our last five games, we won’t even have to worry about what the other two teams do,” says head coach Cristian Tamas. After all, Werder currently holds the best cards: The Green-Whites already have 26 points to 8, giving them a solid eight-point lead over fifth place—a spot in the semifinals could thus be secured as early as Monday night. “The sooner we secure the points we still need, the better,” says Tamas. “That’s why we’re obviously playing to win against Mühlhausen.” Bremen won the first leg in Mühlhausen 3-0 just before Christmas. For Post SV, that match marked the end of a mixed first half of the season—but the team has shown improvement since the turn of the year. With 14-20 points, Mühlhausen currently sits in eighth place in the middle of the table.

Borussia Dortmund – Borussia Düsseldorf

Borussia Düsseldorf has its sights firmly set on the next milestone: with a win on Tuesday at Borussia Dortmund, the record champions would have already secured a spot in the semifinals. Düsseldorf currently leads the table with 28:6 points and sits a commanding ten points ahead of fifth-place Ochsenhausen. Dang Qiu is also riding high on momentum from his recent international performances: At the WTT Champions Chongqing, he was only eliminated in the quarterfinals by Wen Ruibo (2:4) after previously knocking out Liang Jingkun (3:2). Dortmund is aiming to reach where Düsseldorf already stands: With 18:16 points, BVB currently sits in sixth place and still has a chance to qualify for the Liebherr TTBL Final4 for the first time—they trail fourth place by four points, and with their recent 3:1 win in Bad Homburg, the team is back on the path to success.

TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau vs. TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg

A pivotal match in the relegation battle awaits all fans on Wednesday evening: Both TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau and TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg are currently in the thick of the fight to avoid relegation. Grenzau currently sits in eleventh place with 10:24 points, two points ahead of bottom-ranked Grünwettersbach (8:26); Bad Homburg (12-22), in ninth place, has a two-point cushion over the last spot. Since only one team from the 2nd Bundesliga, TSV Windsbach, has applied for a TTBL license, there will be only one team relegated this season—so one of these two teams will take a big step toward avoiding relegation on Wednesday. The first leg went to the Taunus team: Jo Yokotani (2) and Csaba Andras secured a 3-1 victory with their singles wins.

Match day #18 at a glance

Sunday, March 15
2 pm: 1. FC Saarbrücken TT – ASC Grünwettersbach
3:30 pm: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
5 pm: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt

Monday, March 16
7 pm: SV Werder Bremen – Post SV Mühlhausen

Tuesday, March 17
7 pm: Borussia Dortmund – Borussia Düsseldorf

Wednesday, March 18
7 pm: TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau – TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg

All matches will be broadcast live on Dyn.

Header photo: TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen’s Andreas Levenko (by Nicolai Schaal)