Saarbrücken send a clear message against Dortmund
1. FC Saarbrücken-TT have begun the third day of play in the TTBL with a confident 3:0 home win against Borussia Dortmund. Fan Zhendong and the team have established an impressive position ahead of their cup duel in a few days’ time.
1. FC Saarbrücken-TT have sent a clear message to begin the third day of TTBL play with a focused, mature performance. In the Joachim-Deckarm-Halle, which was once again decked out with additional stands, the Saarland team clearly defeated Borussia Dortmund 3:0 – a win that definitively rectifies their false start in the Bundesliga and provides a boost of confidence for the upcoming last-sixteen cup match against the same opponent.
The focal point of the match was new addition Fan Zhendong. After two defeats in his Bundesliga debut in front of a home crowd, the Chinese superstar appeared highly motivated this time around. He initially fell 3:7 behind in the first set against Cedrick Nuytinck, but ultimately turned this around to take it 11:8. The Olympic champion then absolutely dominated proceedings. He clinched the first match point in spectacular form: a chop block followed by a parallel topspin forehand from deep in the backhand court raised the roof – not least thanks to the Chinese fans who travelled specifically for the event.
Darko Jorgic was similarly unstoppable in the second singles match against Alberto Mino. The Slovenian played confidently and won 3:0 to put the scoreline at 2:0 to Saarbrücken. The final touch came from Eduard Ionescu, who was forced to go the whole distance against Adam Szudi. After falling 1:2 sets behind, a timeout during the fourth set put him back in the game. The 19-year-old was relaxed in the deciding set and scored a resounding 11:2 win.
It is a wonderful experience to play in front of so many people when everyone is celebrating you. I needed the win, and now I can hopefully keep going like this
the Romanian said into DYN’s microphone.
Dortmund were playing without their two top players Kristian Karlsson and Anders Lind, which was not without consequences. Karlsson was out with an injury, whilst Lind had lost the semi-final of the WTT Champions tournament in Macau a few hours previously – after a surprise defeat of world number one Lin Shidong. After the match, Cedrick Nuytinck described this as a ‘logical result’.
This sees Saarbrücken celebrating their second official match win in a row. After their narrow victory in Mainz, they have now also won their first home fixture. The relief was palpable. For Dortmund, on the other hand, this was their second defeat in a row – with Saarbrücken providing another setback after 2:3 against Fulda
The two teams will be facing each other once again on Friday in the last sixteen of the cup. Whether or not things will be as definitive remains to be seen. Ionescu said:
We are hoping for an exact repeat. You never know in table tennis.