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TTC OE Bad Homburg will not be promoted to the Bundesliga

SSince the weekend before last, the TTC OE Bad Homburg has been the second division champion in table tennis. With three games left, the club can no longer be pushed out of first place after the 6-1 win over TV Leiselheim.

“Of course we are happy. At the same time, I had to sell the players that we wouldn’t be promoted,” says sporting director Sven Rehde. Bad Homburg, who have suffered just one defeat in 15 games so far, will remain in the league due to financial constraints.

He announced at the end of February that the club would not apply for a first division license; Internally, it had already become apparent at the turn of the year. Discussions with sponsors have shown that the financial requirements cannot be met.

Reluctant sponsors

According to Rehde, a budget of around 350,000 to 400,000 euros is required for the first division. In the current season, however, the budget is only around 120,000 euros – the club is also calculating with a similar amount in the future.

Potential sponsors were reluctant, mainly because of the increased energy costs, and firm financial commitments could only have been made in May. That’s why staying in league two is “the better solution in the long run” for the TTC OE, Rehde believes. At the same time, the club is pursuing a five-year plan, announced in the summer of 2021: the aim is to establish itself in the first Bundesliga and play in the Champions League. Does the waiver of promotion throw the club back in its ambitions?

Creative framework planning

Helmut Hampl, who has been the honorary sports director for almost two years and who announced the ambitious goals, is honest: “Of course I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t go up. The fact that we get promoted in sport but don’t make it financially shouldn’t happen again.

But the German coaching legend, who formed Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska into world-class players, also shows understanding: “It’s good that the club isn’t in debt.”

Sven Rehde had to get creative when planning the squad. The two important players Cedric Meissner and Rares Sipos, both 22 years old, dare the jump to the first division clubs Saarbrücken and Mainz. New for the coming season are 21-year-old Italian John Oyebode, who comes from league rival Fortuna Passau, and 22-year-old Spaniard Alberto Lillo from third-division club SV Union Velbert.


Bad Homburg will not play in the Bundesliga next season against clubs like 1. FC Saarbrücken led by Patrick Franziska.
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Bild: picture alliance / nordphoto GmbH

“We’re looking for players that we can improve on,” explains Rehde. “We can’t afford to buy ready-made players.” The offer is also rare on the German market. He had good conversations with two talents, but in both cases the parents insisted that their sons first concentrate on their Abitur.

With Yuma Tsuboi, Csaba Andras and Benno Oehme, the team will retain three pillars; with an average age of almost 21 years, the TTC OE is one of the youngest second division squads. The aim is to play in the top third. “If it’s first place and promotion, I won’t fight back,” says Rehde. However, the financial conditions would also have to be right for this.

New youth academy

Managing director Bernd Röschenthaler is currently working diligently to bind sponsors to the club in the long term. In any case, they want to be first class again in two years at the latest, says Rehde. The club competed in the top division between 2020 and 2022, but had no chance with a budget of 200,000 euros.

In the future, Bad Homburg wants to benefit from the youth academy that Hampl wants to establish. There is already a concept. In this way, talent should be promoted as early as kindergarten age. The club still lacks training opportunities. The Wingert sports hall in the district of Ober-Erlenbach is shared with other sports clubs. Another hall is currently being built in the city; once this is complete, the TTC OE in Ober-Erlenbach would have more capacity. Hampl hopes to get started on the project early in the new year.

He sees the prerequisites for successful work both in the professional and junior fields: Hampl was head trainer in the Hessian Table Tennis Association for many years and most recently in the same function at the German Table Tennis Center in Düsseldorf. However, he has never experienced such a high level of motivation as prevails in the environment of the TTC OE, supported by many volunteer employees. Hampl is certain: “Bad Homburg has the potential to become a figurehead in German table tennis.”

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