1. FC Saarbrücken TT gain confident Champions League and TTBL wins
1. FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis have won their last-sixteen match in the Champions League and subsequent day of play in the TTBL. They therefore have an even points tally in the league.
1. FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis e.V., the reigning table tennis Champions League winners, have come through with flying colours. In the first leg of the last-sixteen match, the Saarland players gained a confident 3:0 win over Czech team HB Ostrov z.s. This success is even more remarkable given that Saarbrücken had to manage without top player Darko Jorgic, who was out due to illness. Nevertheless, the team were still in strong shape: Patrick Franziska, Yuto Muramatsu and Eduard Ionescu gained the three points they needed to secure a clear away win.
‘We are very happy to have gained a clear 3:0 win. It was a hard match with a fantastic atmosphere – the hall was full of loud, supportive fans, which we love. But this is just the first step. Starting with a win is fantastic, but the final four is still the ultimate goal. First of all we need to win at home next week. It has been a difficult season for us so far’, was Patrick Franziska’s summary after the match.
It was a hard match with a fantastic atmosphere – the hall was full of loud, supportive fans, which we love.
Patrick Franziska
The ‘difficult season’ that Franziska mentions is also evident in the national Tischtennis-Bundesliga (TTBL) league, where 1. FC Saarbrücken TT have most recently gone two matches without a win: they lost 1:3 to TSV Bad Königshofen before being defeated by TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen with the same scoreline. They urgently needed to halt this losing streak, and on Tuesday (17 December) the team gained an badly needed success: Saarbrücken defeated Post SV Mühlhausen with a clear 3:0 in an away game to give themselves some breathing space in the league.
The Saarland team had their top lineup for this duel with Mühlhausen on the tenth day of play in the TTBL. Darko Jorgic, who was back fighting fit just in time, put in a strong performance in the opening singles match and left Daniel Habesohn very few opportunities, winning 3:1 (11:3, 11:7, 9:11, 11:8). For Habesohn, who is currently suffering a drop in form, this was his fifth singles defeat in a row this season. Patrick Franziska seamlessly continued his teammate’s performance by beating Irvin Bertrand 3:1 (12:10, 11:6, 6:11, 11:9). Yuto Muramatsu then secured the overall win in perfect form: he clearly dominated his match against Ovidiu Ionescu at 3:0 (11:4, 11:5, 11:3), only allowing his opponent to score twelve points.
Whilst Saarbrücken can now celebrate two vital points and have improved their position in the table to seventh with a tally of 10:10, the situation has worsened for Post SV Mühlhausen. After their eighth defeat in eleven games this season, the team are towards the bottom end of the table with 6:16 points and have dropped into eleventh place behind TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau. A victory against Grenzau (3:2) in the early match on the eleventh day of play was a small ray of hope for the Thuringians, but could not help them overcome what was generally a sobering first half of the season.
The Saarland team have a tight schedule for the rest of the calendar year. The TTBL brings a home game against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell on 22 December. Just two days before, on 20 December, they have their Champions League second-leg match against HB Ostrov.
Fans can therefore look forward to seeing how 1. FC Saarbrücken TT fare in their remaining matches this year – both in the league and on the European stage.