FC Saarbrücken TT: setback against Bad Königshofen

1. FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis suffered a deserved loss against Bad Königshofen and are lagging behind expectations in the league.

After losing three official games in a row, TSV Bad Königshofen earned an urgently needed win: the away team defeated 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, one of the top teams in the Tischtennis-Bundesliga, with an astonishing score of 3:1. This unexpected success was all the more welcome given the team’s recent results. For FCS, however, the situation is rather more bitter: the Saarland team are already eight points down after eight matches and are dropping further and further away from the playoff spots.

The match began with two exciting duels. Jin Ueda faced Yuto Muramatsu in a solely Japanese lineup, which Ueda clinched in unexpectedly resounding form in just three sets. He narrowly took the first two sets before dominating the third 11:4. ‘For Yuto, the match against Jin today was not easy, but also not impossible. Unfortunately, things have not been going as well for Yuto this season as they have in previous years. Today was not our day’, FCS’s coach Whang Zhi commented on his player’s performance.

This was followed by a high-class duel between Saarbrücken player Patrick Franziska and Bastian Steger of TSV Bad Königshofen. Steger, who has been beaten by Franziska multiple times, put up a strong fight but still had to accept defeat 1:3. This put things at 1:1 for the break, leaving the Saarbrücken team’s hopes of a home victory intact.

However, these hopes were swept away after the break was over. FCS‘s young talent Eduard Ionescu suffered a bumpy start to his match against Filip Zeljko, decisively losing the first set 4:11. He fought his way back into the match, but was out of luck at the crucial moments. The third and four sets narrowly went to Zeljko 9:11 and 12:14, who converted his second match point.

The next face-off saw Yuto Muramatsu once again under pressure against Bastian Steger. Steger had a clear strategy: he was trying to break through Muramatsu’s dreaded defence with an early attack and skilfully placed drop shots. However, this became a true thriller. Steger fought back from two points behind in the fourth set to win 11:9. The deciding fifth set was brimming with tension. At 7:5, Steger took a time-out and turned the game around with three points in a row. However, Muramatsu also put up a fierce fight. Things went back and forth: Match point for Muramatsu – saved. Match point for Steger – converted. TSV Bad Königshofen celebrated a hard-fought 3:1 victory. ‘I have played Yuto twice before, and both times I had no opportunities. Today went better than I could have imagined. I was able to read his play relatively well. This was a fantastic and vital win for us. We did not expect to beat Saarbrücken. We still have some very, very difficult tasks ahead before the end of the year’, was a visibly pleased Bastian Steger’s analysis after the match.

This success temporarily puts TSV Bad Königshofen up to fourth place in the table, keeping them on track for the playoffs. For 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, on the hand, their difficult season continues. At seventh place in the table, the Saarland team are falling well behind their own expectations. Pressure to gain points in upcoming games is mounting.