There has never been a team like this in table tennis. The TTC Neu-Ulm has committed four world stars for the coming season. What sounds spectacular would never have been possible without the war in Ukraine.
Dusseldorf versus Saarbrücken in the German Cup final. Dusseldorf versus Saarbrücken in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
And this Saturday it’s again in Frankfurt am Main: Borussia Düsseldorf against 1. FC Saarbrücken in the final of the German table tennis championship (2 p.m. / Sport1 and Sportdeutschland.TV). But this dominance could soon be over. Bundesliga rivals TTC Neu-Ulm have put together a squad for next season, about which German international and former world number one Dimitrij Ovtcharov says: “In terms of attractiveness and world ranking positions, this is probably the best team ever was called up in Europe.”
Because in addition to Ovtcharov himself, the following will also play for Neu-Ulm: The Japanese “child prodigy” Tomokazu Harimoto. The Swedish Vice World Champion Truls Möregardh. And Olympic fourth-placed Lin Yun-Ju from Taiwan. Even Düsseldorf’s European champion Timo Boll is happy about this well-known competition. Since the four stars were primarily committed for the Champions League, the TTC wants to use a large part of the Russian national team in the Bundesliga, which only lost the European Championship final against Germany last September.
Ovtcharov expects a clear stance
The fact that Ovtcharov, who was born in Kyiv, and the three best players in Russia will belong to one team in the future also shows that the history of TTC Neu-Ulm does not just tell something about great sporting ambitions. But much more about the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine for sport.
“I don’t expect the young athletes to position themselves on TV or in the newspaper. But when I see the boys, I have to see a clear attitude that they are against the war,” said Ovtcharov ZDF sports studio clear. The fact that the Neu-Ulm doer Florian Ebner “doesn’t worry about everyday life in this team” has something to do with the special development of his club. And also with the career of the three very young Russian players.
Russian teenagers have been in Ulm for years
The TTC Neu-Ulm was only founded three years ago by the media entrepreneur Ebner. Thanks to a wildcard, the professional team entered the Bundesliga in 2019 and in the Champions League for the first time in 2021. In the intervening year, Ebner signed Russian coach Dimitri Mazunow, who has lived in Germany since 1992.
Regardless of his work as a Bundesliga coach, Mazunow has for years led a training group led by the young Russians Maksim Grebnev (20), Lev Katsman (21) and Vladimir Sidorenko (20), who moved to Germany when they were teenagers. Katsman and Sidorenko are already playing for Neu-Ulm. Grebnew was hired by TSV Bad Königshofen for the coming season before the start of the war.
With the war, there is no perspective
However, the invasion of Ukraine meant that Russian players are no longer allowed to play in international tournaments or in the Champions League. The ambitious TTC suddenly had no team for the most important competition – and three of Europe’s greatest talents had no sporting prospects.
“This exclusion now follows two years of Corona,” said Ebner of the German Press Agency. “So the three have to worry that they haven’t played in international tournaments for several years from the age of 18. Normally, it’s difficult for them to catch up with the top international players again after that.”
After the Russian attack, Neu-Ulm briefly considered terminating the contracts with Grebnew, Katsman and Sidorenko. “But it only took a second to make a decision,” said Ebner. “They have been away from home for a long time, they have dedicated their lives to table tennis. I would have found that prospect unacceptable.”
Ovtcharov essentially sees it the same way. And that despite the fact that he left his Russian club Fakel Orenburg in protest against the war after almost twelve years. But one consequence of this was that in April two people were suddenly looking for a team for the Champions League: Ovtcharov as a player, Ebner for his club. Both have known each other for years and quickly came to an agreement. Exactly at this moment the big transfer offensive of the TTC Neu-Ulm began.
Ebner and Ovtcharov build a super team
“Dima asked me: Who would you like? And I said: My son’s favorite player is Harimoto. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously,” said Ebner. “But he just said to me: Florian, give me two days. And it worked. I wouldn’t even have gotten Harimoto’s manager on the phone. But Dimitrij Ovtcharov has such charisma and so many connections: he just called him.”
Ovtcharov already played together with Lin in Orenburg. Ebner arranged the transfer of Möregardh. Since the new “World Table Tennis” series of tournaments has been launched, top players have less and less time to play for a club. Being able to do without everyday league life and almost only play in the Champions League is very attractive for stars in this category. However, the TTC organizer also obtained a Bundesliga license for Ovtcharov, Möregardh and Lin, because his club really wants to reach the final tournament of the German Table Tennis Cup, which is held every year in Neu-Ulm.