It was the expected difficult game against a strong promoted team. But in the end, just like in the home opener ten days ago, Borussia Düsseldorf won 3-0 against TTC OE Bad Homburg.
Danny Heister and his team were warned, as Bad Homburg had already secured their first victory at the weekend. The Hessians arrived in Düsseldorf with a high level of confidence.
In the first match, the young Csaba Andras challenged Dang Qiu. At the beginning, the Hungarian seemed a little unsure and Qiu scored clearly. But Andras lost his respect, became stronger and Borussia’s penholder ace made more mistakes. Strong rallies alternated with minor errors and in the end the duel went into the deciding set with the better end for Borussia. Dang Qiu brought his team into the lead with 1:0.
Heister gave Kay Stumper another chance to show what he can do. He faced the talented Yuma Tsuboi, who has had an excellent season so far. But this evening Stumper was in top form and played a really good match. The 21-year-old won 3-1 and the Düsseldorf team was already 2-0 up at halftime.
The subsequent Swedish duel between Anton Källberg and the ex-Borussia player Kristian Karlsson treated the spectators to lightning-fast, powerful table tennis with fantastic rallies. The two national team colleagues, who won silver with the team in Paris at the Olympic Games, gave each other nothing – as expected. Källberg was a bit more powerful in the end, played even better and won the match.
With the second win in three games, the Bundesliga is now taking a short break. Borussia’s next match is away on October 9th. Before that, however, there will be a quick reunion with Fulda on September 21st: The team will play the cup round of 16 away at the Hessians.
Voices about the game:
Anton Källberg, Borussia Dusseldorf:
“We knew it would be a tough, close game. Of course it feels good to win again. Today we all played well. Kristian and I both went into the game fully focused and full of excitement. It just happens that we fight in the same team for a week and then face each other as opponents. We both wanted to win the game no matter what.”
Kristian Karlsson, TTC OE Bad Homburg:
“It’s something special for me to play here at the ARAG CenterCourt. This court has a lot of meaning for me and my career. I’m happy. We lost, but against a strong team.”
The results at a glance:
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC OE Bad Homburg 3:0
Dang Qiu – Csaba Andras 3:2 (11:8, 13:15, 11:5, 8:11, 11:8)
Kay Stumper – Yuma Tsuboi 3:1 (11:8, 8:11, 11:7, 11:7)
Anton Källberg – Kristian Karlsson 3:1 (11:5, 12:14, 11:5, 11:3)
