BVB winning run ends against Ovtcharov's Fulda-Maberzell team | OneFootball

Line-up

Fadeev once again placed his trust in his serial winners Joao Geraldo, Kristian Karlsson (both with two consecutive wins) and Wim Verdonschot (three). Borussia’s Anders Lind, meanwhile, was given a planned rest with the demands of the coming weeks in mind. The same applied to Cedric Nuytinck, who had recently competed in the Star Contender tournament in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Tactically, the Black and Yellows were hoping for matchups involving Geraldo as number one against Fulda’s ace Dimitrij Ovtcharov as well as defensive veteran Ruwen Filus, against whom Karlsson’s chances were also rated highly. At number three, Fadeev lined up Verdonschot against former team vice world champion Fanbo Meng, especially as the returning BVB player had not yet lost a match-up against Fulda coach’s son.

Match recap

The 250 spectators in the Brügmann Hall witnessed an exciting and varied match. In the opening singles and de facto top match against the in-form former European champion Ovtcharov, Geraldo had every chance of securing a crucial opening win after leading twice in sets and with the score at 7:7 in the deciding game, but Fulda’s top-20 returnee showed his class decisively in the closing stages.

Karlsson leveled the match after turning things around. The Swede fell behind twice in sets in his attractive duel with defensive specialist Filus, but he dug in against his opponent and showed the patience needed to beat defensive players. With two commanding set wins in a row, the former doubles world champion ultimately made it 1:1.

Wim Verdonschot built on Kristian Karlsson’s lead against Fanbo Meng and, with his fourth straight TTBL singles win, fueled hopes of a second home win of the season. The 21-year-old was mostly the driving force in the duel with the left-hander thanks to his dynamic play, overcame a very critical phase in the third set at 1:1 and 7:10, and ultimately secured BVB’s lead with confidence.

Geraldo, however, was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and, for the first time since his move to Dortmund, lost both of his singles matches. At times, Filus sent most of the Portuguese player’s shots back onto the table like a rubber wall, while also enjoying luck on his side with several net rollers. Geraldo, who according to Fadeev’s records had won the most recent matches against the former fifth-ranked European Championship finisher, did grow in confidence as the match went on and came close to taking a set in the third game, but he could no longer spare his team from the deciding doubles.

In the doubles, too, the in-form Ovtcharov ultimately proved decisive in the visitors’ success. In addition, the fine-tuning between Karlsson and Adam Szudi was lacking. Almost inevitably, the match — and with it both overall points — went clearly to the team from eastern Hesse.

Reactions

Ursula Reitemeyer (Head of Table Tennis Department): “It was the tough match we had expected, as Fulda’s position in the table so far had not reflected the quality of the team. Joao was unlucky to lose against ‘Dima’. Kristian and Wim handled their matches against Filus and Meng well. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough in the doubles today. Congratulations to Fulda!”

Evgeny Fadeev (Coach): “Every defeat hurts, but even though more was possible for us, we have to accept it and move on. The season is still long. I hadn’t expected the last two matches to go like that, especially not so clearly. We chose the line-up the way we wanted it. In the doubles, we lacked rhythm in the end; Joao had chances against Ovtcharov and came up against a Ruwen Filus who played much stronger than last season. The positive thing is that Kristian still turned his match around after being 2:1 down in sets, and that Wim, although he had to battle with himself during his match, ultimately also won against himself.”

Outlook

Fadeev’s team now faces the biggest crowd in its Bundesliga history: Dortmund will take on German record champions Borussia Düsseldorf on Sunday (27 September, 2 p.m., Dyn) in the top clash of matchday six in front of an expected crowd of more than 3,000 fans. Due to the huge demand for tickets, the hosts are moving from their home Burgwächter Castello hall to the attractive event arena: Düsseldorf is planning to field Olympic champion Fan Zhendong, signed at the start of the season, against Dortmund — and is therefore expecting a mass influx of Chinese supporters of the table tennis superstar.

The West derby on the Rhine is the last league match for the BVB team before a season break of more than six weeks. Fadeev’s players will not return to TTBL action until after the break, during which the individual European Championships in Ljubljana (11 to 18 October) are also on the schedule, when they play Final4 rivals Werder Bremen on 11 November (7 p.m., live on Dyn). BVB’s next home match is scheduled for two days later (13 November, 6 p.m., tickets here, live on Dyn) against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen.

Table tennis, Bundesliga, Matchday 5:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.