This weekend in Mülheim an der Ruhr, the German champions in badminton will be determined. The three reigning European champions of the DBV are not at the start.
You know that from tennis. When the national champions are played in Germany, the top-ranked German players from the world rankings of ATP and WTA are usually not at the start. Stress and tournament planning make them set other priorities. In badminton things are usually different. If the top players can present themselves nationally, they do it.
DBV celebrates two European champions in Madrid
However, this is not the case in this historic year for the German Badminton Association (DBV). Isabell Lohau (1st BC Saarbrücken-Bischmisheim), Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel (both 1st BC Wipperfeld), who won two titles for DBV at the European Championships in Madrid (Spain) in April, are absent for reasons of load control.
The trio triumphed in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, with Lamsfuss involved in both victories. For Germany it was only the second participation with two triumphs and the first was already 50 years ago. The DBV even had the chance to win three titles, but in the women’s doubles, Lohau had no chance in the final alongside her club colleague Linda Efler.
Top players are rested for the World Cup
Since the association’s top players toured Asia for several weeks in June and July and are already preparing for the Individual World Championships in Tokyo (Japan, August 22nd to 28th), they should be rested.
However, that does not mean that there is no top-class sport to be seen at the DM in Mülheim. In the men’s singles, last year’s winner Kai Schäfer (SV Fun-Ball Dortelweil, 81st place) and top seed Max Weißkirchen (1.BC Beuel, 60th place) are two of the top 100 players in the world rankings. However, the latter has already been eliminated. He lost in the quarterfinals on Saturday to Matthias Kicklitz (Blau-Weiss Wittorf) 13:21, 18:21.
Schäfer and Li without losing a set in the semifinals
Schäfer, on the other hand, marched into the semi-finals without losing a set, as did Yvonne Li in the women’s. There the player of the SV Fun-Ball is in Dortelweil as a world number 28. clear favourite. For the trio, however, the European Championship in Madrid ended in the round of the last 16 at the latest.
In the men’s doubles competition, Jones Jansen/Jan Colin Völker (1. BC Wipperfeld/TV Refrath) have a good chance of defending their title, while there will certainly be new title holders in the women’s and in mixed due to the absence of the European champions.
