Fan Zhendong needs no introduction. Olympic gold medalist. Former No. 1 player in the world. Grand Slam winner. One of the most dominant players to ever pick up a paddle.
Those accolades couldn’t overwhelm TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt (1-0, +2), who defeated Fan’s 1. FC Saarbrücken - TT (0-1, -2), in their 2025-26 season opener on Sunday, 3-1. Four months after signing with Saarbrücken, Fan did not receive the result he hoped for in his Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) debut.
Fan played first for his new club, forcing Schwalbe’s Romain Ruiz (2) to win with 13 points before overpowering him 11-4 in Game 2. Ruiz and Fan then pushed each other to a pivotal Game 5, which ended after Ruiz secured his 11th point and the first victory of the match for Schwalbe (11-13, 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 6-11).
Saarbrücken’s Eduard Ionescu (2) looked to tie the match, and it seemed like he would realize that hope after defeating Schwalbe superstar Benedikt Duda (1) in a narrow 11-9 victory in Game 1. That dream was dashed after Duda won three straight games to put Schwalbe up 2-0 (11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 12-14).
Darko Jorgic would be the one to win Saarbrücken its first set of the season, sweeping Adrien Rassenfosse in two blowouts and a close third game that went above 11 points (11-5, 11-4, 13-11). Fan returned to the table hoping to tie the match, and a close Game 1 loss against Duda that followed another 11-4 victory in Game 2 suggested early that Fan’s heroics could redeem Saarbrücken’s first two losses.
Duda had other ideas. He held Fan to a combined eight points over their next two games, pummeling Saarbrücken’s superstar rookie until he won Game 4 and clinched the match for Schwalbe.
This match puts Schwalbe at fifth place in TTBL's 2025-26 standings after the first week, giving them a +2 point differential for their 3-1 first victory. Saarbrücken’s loss and -2 point differential puts them in eighth place.
Fan’s two losses on Sunday came after a 13-game winning streak he achieved as a member of the Chinese Table Tennis Super League’s Shanghai Zhongxing. Ruiz and Duda managed to accomplish something that Lin Shidong (Men’s Singles No. 1), Sora Matsushima (No. 22), and Lin Gaoyuan (No. 30) could not in the last few months: compete against Fan and walk away with a victory.
Before signing Fan, Saarbrücken reached the 2024-25 TTBL Playoff and finished the German Table Tennis Cup as its runner-up, falling to TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen in both. With a new-look roster that has retained many of its core players from last season, Saarbrücken hopes that this loss will not prevent the club from winning its first championship since 2020.
Schwalbe will fight to extend their winning streak against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, the reigning TTBL champions, on Friday. Saarbrücken will look for its first win of the season against TSV Bad Königshofen on Saturday, which will be streamed on Table Tennis TV.
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