Dream final in the gymnastics Bundesliga. TV Wetzgau with Andreas Toba will compete against KTV Straubenhardt with world champion Lukas Dauser on December 2nd.
Paul Schneider is on the road again. But the coach of the TV Wetzgau Bundesliga gymnasts is happy to take the time for a short phone call.
TV Wetzgau beats Defending champion Vinhorst
Schneider was a successful gymnast himself and knows what it means to qualify for the Bundesliga final. “It was a tight box,” says Schneider. But: His gymnasts managed to win against defending champion TuS Vinhorst (32:24 score points / 8:4 equipment points).
Even before the last day of the competition, KTV Straubenhardt was the first finalist. On December 2nd there will be the final in Neu-Ulm between the seven-time German champion Straubenhardt and the 2013 German champion, TV Wetzgau.
Andreas Toba in action for the first time after injury
Around 1,000 spectators celebrated reaching the final in the large sports hall in Schwäbisch-Gmünd – and they celebrated Andreas Toba. The 33-year-old from Hanover had injured his knee shortly before the World Championships at the end of September. He was there as a “supporter” in Antwerp, cheered on his team until Olympic qualification was determined. On Saturday evening, Toba was on the equipment again for the first time, on the pommel horse. “Andreas really wanted to help,” says Paul Schneider, whose tactical plan really worked in the competition.
Tactics and motivation – Wetzgau in the final
The direct duels between one gymnast from each team are counted. In the first round on floor, coach Schneider pitted his strongest gymnast Milad Karimi against Milan Hosseini, the European Championship bronze medalist on floor. Karimi narrowly won the duel against Hosseini and secured an important score point. Nevertheless, the equipment rating went to Vinhorst. Inspired by the performance of the audience favorite Andreas Toba, who lost the direct duel on the pommel horse against Hosseini, Wetzgau caught up. Tie after two rounds. With the victory in the equipment classification on the rings, Wetzgau was ahead and never relinquished the lead. After the fifth round on the parallel bars, Wetzgau was in an unassailable lead. The horizontal bar gymnastics at the end was top-class, “but we ran out of steam,” says Paul Schneider, explaining why his team had to give up this last round to Vinhorst with 0:6 equipment points.
Team Toba against Team Dauser in the final
Now it’s time for the final between Wetzgau and Straubenhardt. Gymnastics for Straubenhardt Parallel bars world champion Lukas Dauser. After the World Cup, Dauser competed in two competitions and led his team to the final. Straubenhardt is the favorite there. In addition to Dauser, Nils Dunkel and Nick Klessing are on the team. Nick Klessing also took part in gymnastics at the World Cup in Antwerp and secured participation in the Olympics for Paris 2024 with the World Cup team. Dunkel won the bronze medal on the pommel horse at the 2022 European Championships and performed on this apparatus in the 2023 World Cup final. Wetzgau’s coach Paul Schneider will also be in charge in the final. Regarding Andreas Toba’s possible deployment, he says: “We won’t overwhelm him, he wants to do gymnastics in Paris.” Then again together with Dauser and Dunkel.
