(by Steve Hopkins)
The top two performing teams in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) with TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen hosting first place Borussia Dusseldorf. Both teams are incredibly strong, but the Dusseldorf squad is loaded (Timo Boll, Kallberg, Qiu, and Karlsson as their top four – Boll did not play today).
The first match was Dang Qiu and USA’s Kanak Jha. Jha saw an early lead (4 points) evaporate in the opening game – and that likely was the difference. Jha lost the last 7 points of the first game and never recovered – Falling 11-9 in the first game and then falling 0-3. The next match was Simon Gauzy for Ochsenhausen and Anton Kallberg for Dusseldorf. Kallberg won the first game, Gauzy won the next two, but it was Kallberg who dominated the final two games to give Dusseldorf the 2-0 match lead.
The third singles match was the surprise of the day with recent Doubles World Champion Kristian Karlsson falling to Ochsenhausen’s young Polish player Samuel Kulczycki. Both players are free swingers who pound the ball, so expecting great shot making was a given – expecting Kulczycki to win with tricky serves and some defensive rallies may have caught fans offguard. The players traded points in the first game to 7-7 before the young Pole pulled a head for the 11-8 win. The second game followed a similar script with players trading points to 7-7 before Karlsson grabbed a small lead, holding on for an 11-9 win. Kulcycki dominated the third game, and had an early lead in the fourth game – but four points in a row put Karlsson back on top 7-5 in the fourth game. He went on to win the game and even the score at 2-2. A mix of big attacks over the table and big slow spins when the ball is short from both players – and each has a mix of tricky sidespins (Kulczycki using inside out forehands and Karlsson with sidespin backhand chop blocks – but for the most part a match defined by crosscourt blasts from both sides with the biggest shot winning. The fifth game was again an early lead for Kulczycki, switching sides at 5-2. 6-3 then 8-3 and then Kulczycki secured the first point for Ochsenhausen 11-8.
The next match was the second for Kanak Jha and his new challenge was Anton Kallberg. Jha took the first game, but Kallberg dominated the next three games building early leads and finishing strong. Kallberg over Jha 3-1, and Dusseldorf over Ochsenhausen 3-1.
Borussia Dusseldorf maintains their undefeated season – and with the loss, Ochsenhausen falls 2 matches behind (and is now tied with Saarbrucken for second).
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