TTBL Names 2025-26 Player of the Season Nominees; Treble-Winner Fan Zhendong the Favorite
TTBL Names 2025-26 Player of the Season Nominees; Treble-Winner Fan Zhendong the Favorite
With the 2025-26 season of the German Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) now complete, the league has announced its Player of the Season nominees: five athletes from five different clubs.
1. Benedikt Duda (TTC Bergneustadt)
Club results: 4th in the TTBL regular season, reaching the playoffs. Out in the German Cup quarterfinals. Out in the Champions League group stage.
As captain, Duda led his club back to the playoffs after a seven-year absence, putting together a five-match winning streak in the second half of the regular season. In key ties against Ochsenhausen and Düsseldorf he won at No. 1, directly deciding the playoff berth.
2. Kirill Gerassimenko (Werder Bremen)
Club results: 3rd in the TTBL regular season, reaching the final four. German Cup runner-up (lost the final 1-3 to Saarbrücken). Champions League quarterfinals.
Gerassimenko is Bremen’s top scorer, highly consistent and especially strong on the big points. He came back to beat Ovtcharov 3-2 in the German Cup semifinal and took a game off Fan Zhendong in the final.
3. Fan Zhendong (Saarbrücken)
Club results: TTBL final 3-1 over Düsseldorf, champion. German Cup final 3-1 over Fulda, champion. Champions League final 3-2 over Montpellier, champion.
Individual season stats: 17 wins from 19 TTBL matches, an 89.5% win rate; 4-0 in the playoffs, finishing on an 18-match winning streak. 5-0 in the German Cup, and MVP.
After two losses to open the season he went 17 matches unbeaten in the league, and was twice named TTBL Player of the Month (December 2025 and February 2026), becoming the first player to win the award in consecutive months. On German Cup finals day he went 4-0, beating Shunsuke Togami and Ovtcharov in succession and taking a unanimous MVP.
4. Dang Qiu (Düsseldorf)
Club results: TTBL final 1-3 to Saarbrücken, runner-up. German Cup final four.
Dang Qiu is the core of Düsseldorf, leading the club to the TTBL final three years running and key to the team’s 16-1 home record. In the Champions League knockouts he beat Boll and Jorgic to take his team to the final.
5. Anders Lind (Dortmund)
Club results: 5th in the TTBL, missing the playoffs. German Cup quarterfinals. Out in the Champions League group stage.
Individual season stats: 15 appearances at No. 1, taking two points nine times.
Lind is Dortmund’s key import; the club’s results this season were ordinary, but his own play stood out, winning at No. 1 in several crucial relegation battles and taking important points for the team.
A backhand short-pips player, he varies his rhythm, punches with a sinking ball and has a sharp forehand quick-counter, making him the kind of awkward, unconventional player rarely seen in Europe. He has wins over both Duda and Gerassimenko.
With the honor of three titles this season behind him, Fan Zhendong is very likely to come out on top in this Player of the Season vote.
Original report by Li Long, Ping Pang Wang