Fan Zhendong’s New Bundesliga Schedule Confirmed; Dusseldorf Home Debut on August 22
Germany’s Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) off-season is nearly over: on the afternoon of June 18 the schedule for the first half of the 2026-27 season was released, with the opening matchday set for August 16.
Because Borussia Dusseldorf announced back in March that Fan Zhendong would join for the new season, his first match for the new club — like his Bundesliga debut last year — draws special attention.
This season the Bundesliga has 12 clubs. Per the schedule, Dusseldorf’s opener is an away match at Homburg on August 18, and their first home match is on August 22 against Bad Konigshofen.
The league has confirmed that Fan Zhendong will play the August 22 home match, for which the club has even switched to a larger arena. Whether he will feature in the August 18 away match has not yet been announced.
Last September 1, Fan Zhendong’s Bundesliga debut drew a packed crowd of more than 2,500 to watch Saarbrucken face Bergneustadt.
According to data released in April, total attendance for the 2025-26 Bundesliga regular season set an all-time high of 73,993 — directly linked to the surge in interest after Fan Zhendong joined.
Carrying Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles, plus the league MVP award, Fan Zhendong is now set to play for Dusseldorf, and the attention he will generate is one of the new season’s biggest talking points.
Meanwhile, his former club Saarbrucken announced that they open away at Dortmund, and that their August 21 home match against Mulhouse will be Hugo Calderano’s home debut.
Saarbrucken also noted they will face Dusseldorf — a match that reunites them with former player Fan Zhendong.
After Fan joined last season, the club’s results improved markedly and his presence boosted everything from rapid growth in the club’s online following to a local Fan Zhendong themed tourist route. Given his outstanding play and influence over the past season, he is expected to bring more of that “star effect” to his new club.