9:55 p.m
Tuition fee paid
Now comes one of the young ninjas of this year’s season. The 16-year-old Elias Meraner is paying early lessons because the chaos cones are already over. At the fourth cone he steps too far, falls backwards and takes an early bath.
9:54 p.m
Wet worm – finale in dry towels
Now all eyes are on Alexander Wurm. The three-time Last Man Standing has returned to Ninja Warrior Germany this season. He hasn’t lost his ease on the course. The first pegboard snaps into place, but then it happens. He wanted to get to the handles too quickly and so an Alexander worm went for a swim. You don’t see that every day. Nevertheless, it is certainly enough for the next final.
9:51 p.m
Tatjana Holz cannot match her previous round performance
And the women’s ranking is wobbling again! Tatjana Holz is ready on the platform. She is one of the consistently strong women and was happy about the buzzer in her preliminary round. The 33-year-old has great respect for the transition at the wall jump and takes her time there. She takes several strong breaths, but overcomes her respect. In terms of time, she is slower than Viktoria Krämer and Alina Tornau, who currently hold the women’s places. That means she has to overcome more obstacles than the two women. It’s going to be very tight. She goes up the sky ladder, goes to the first pole from the pole jump and sails into the water before she can latch. This means she ends up behind the two and is certain to be eliminated in the semi-finals.
9:34 p.m
Best Sperlich of the season
Roy Sperlich proposed to his girlfriend in the preliminary round. Can he crown this moment of happiness with a place in the final? He is already the best Sperlich in 2023. In the course he delivers right up to the vertebral boards. He gets exactly the same distance as Frank Schmidpeter, but is 40 seconds slower. But that won’t bother him because he’ll definitely be in the final
9:31 p.m
Final entry for “Machine Gun Marvin”
Who also makes it far every year is Marvin Mitterhuber. He’s a great climber and almost made it to Mount Midoriyama in season seven. “Machine Gun Marvin” fights his way up to the vortex boards and at this point has already secured his place in the final. He still holds the handles, but the timing for the next board isn’t right and so he goes into the water.
9:27 p.m
Hanging it from the crook of your arm is prohibited
>>> If you want to find out more about Jescher Heidl, you can read about it in the exclusive sport.de interview!
9:23 p.m
Crashing early in the water
Next up is Tricky Vicky’s friend. Lukas Kilian is always good for hitting the buzzer and beating the fastest time. But what happens then? He slides down the chaos cones and falls into the water, laughing. But it doesn’t hurt him because he also has the safety pass for the final.
9:22 p.m
New leaders in the women’s ranking
One of the really strong women and one of the favorites for the title of Last Woman Standing is ready. It’s Viktoria Krämer! At the chaos cones it creates a truly terrifying moment. She makes the transition from the cone to the platform and almost slides down. She holds on to the last groove and pulls herself up without touching the water. By now all participants will be awake again! In season seven, the first obstacle in the finals was already over. But she saves herself again and so we continue to the wall jump. Here she has the right idea. She also benefits from the fact that she is one of the taller women in the ninja sport. It continues on the ladder to heaven, which takes you to the dreaded jumping pole 2.0. She can still hold the first final position, but then it’s over for her! In the women’s ranking, she takes the lead with her time and sends Katharina Blank home.
9:09 p.m
First finals possible?
The 30-year-old Philipp Allgeuer wants to know next. He has never been to the finals of Ninja Warrior Germany, although it is now his third participation. For him it’s all the way to the vaulting bar 2.0, which claims his next victim. This means that Frank Schmidpeter is definitely through, but Philipp Allgeuer still has to tremble a bit. He moved quickly until he reached the final position, which he ultimately couldn’t maintain. There are still chances of his first final.
9:03 p.m
Trembling game for Philipp Göthert
Philipp Göthert has always made it to Stage III in the past two years. At least that will be his goal for this year. At the Bienenstock it was over for him in the preliminary round, so he still has to deliver today. He first tries the jump bar 2.0 without a cross grip, then he switches and so it goes. At the last transition of the jump bar he gets wedged and cannot maintain the correction. He ends up in the water in 15th place. This will be a real thriller for one of the favorites.
9:01 p.m
Sladi certainly continues, but too much risk
Sladjan Djulabic, the veteran since season one, can, like Simon Brunner, go into the course in a relaxed manner. He booked the final ticket in the preliminary round. He makes a usual “Sladi mistake” on the wall jump. The first wall turned too slowly for him and so he wanted to go full throttle straight away, jumped too close to the wall and flew off. He takes it calmly.
20:56
The first finisher of the evening!
Now comes someone who is definitely one of the extended favorites. Sandro Scheibler already proved what he can do in season six and he also showed his ninja skills in Switzerland. Daniel Gerber’s time has already expired when he gets to the pegboards, but that doesn’t diminish his good performance at all. He leaves the boards behind him, puts on his diving goggles and is the first person this evening to have the water walls in front of his chest. But these are not a problem for him, he dives through them confidently and takes the net at the buzzer. He didn’t leave for a while and fell in line behind Dima and Jona Schöne. But he achieved what many before him failed to do. With the last of his strength he hits the buzzer!
20:51
Jolina Thormann fails early
Jolina Thormann already causes a brief moment of shock at the chaos cones. She goes with both feet on every bowling, which always went wrong in the first semi-final. She is the first to keep her balance and arrive on the platform. However, she lacks a bit of conviction on the wall jump and Jolina causes the next surprise. For them it’s over in the semi-finals.
8:49 p.m
Franky slides in front
Frank Schmidpeter is always available for good performance. The man from Nuremberg is fully motivated every time and puts his heart into every run. With a little wobble he flies over the chaos cones and he also does the wall jump well. He continues on to the ladder to heaven, where he masters the transition to the jump bar 2.0. He also defeated the actual crux of the matter, the vaulting bar 2.0, and thus his chances of making it to the final increased significantly. Can he make it any further? It’s over for Franky on the whirlpool boards because he fails to make the transition to the heights. Including a swimming cap, he dives before the underwater obstacle. It is currently ninth place and the end for Andi Wöhle, who was previously at the start, is sealed.
8:37 p.m
Wöhle also has problems
Andreas Wöhle is in good shape and hit the buzzer in his preliminary round show. Will he be able to do that tonight? His friend Benni Grams is already out. He also makes it to the ladder to heaven, but has trouble getting to the top safely. Nevertheless, he goes to the first pole of the pole jump 2.0, but immediately flies into the water without a cross grip. He’s not out yet, but his chances of making it through are very slim. There are still too many good athletes available on the platform.
8:34 p.m
Early dive from Hines
The veterans continue in quick succession. Next, Gary Hines ventures through the course, taking much longer than Simon Brunner before him. The wall jump ends early and Hines has to take an early swim. He shakes his head in disbelief. He probably imagined the outcome of the semi-finals to be different.
8:32 p.m
Brunner with an additional appearance
Simon Brunner set the record on the Endless Ladder to Heaven. He mastered 30 rungs in 14.55 seconds and is therefore definitely in the final. He can now take full risks and only has the money for the top three places in mind. The finalist is convincing up to the pegboards before pushing the last board away from him with his foot. This made it difficult for him to hold on and he also lost his breath. But of course we will see him again in the finale.
20:28
Sophia Schubert tasted blood
Sophia Schubert is an actress from Hamburg and has not been active in ninja sports for long. She is one of the surprises of the preliminary round. She takes a lot of time in front of the chaos cones, but then goes over with a lot of speed. She can no longer do the wall jump so well. The jump is simply too far, so she can no longer hold the transition. This catapults her out of the competition, but she is still happy with her performance. She has now tasted blood and wants to “train properly” for the coming season.
8:25 p.m
First victim of the jump bar 2.0
We continue with Milan Schirowski! He seems highly concentrated and takes every single hurdle with the necessary calm. Everything looks confident on the jump bar 2.0, but on the 3rd bracket it unexpectedly falls out of its anchoring. This puts him in 12th place and still has a good chance of competing in the final again.
8:19 p.m
The hunt is on!
The first fragrance brand wants to set “the fastest mouse in Mexico”. Benjamin Grams is known for not wasting any time on the course. How far does this all-or-nothing tactic get him? He flies over the chaos cones and when he jumps from the wall he immediately has an idea. The veteran knows the ladder to heaven well enough, as he even stood on the endless ladder to heaven in his preliminary round this year. So no problem, right? He made a careless mistake on the ladder to heaven and his exit as 34th was immediately sealed.
8:01 p.m
The course
To ensure equal opportunities, today’s course is exactly the same as last Friday. As a reminder: First you go over the chaos cones that lead to the wall jump. This is followed by the ladder to heaven, the jumping bar 2.0 and the whirling boards. The vaulting bar 2.0 in particular emerged as a sticking point in the first semi-final. Whoever is still inside after the vortex boards can face the underwater obstacle for the first time. The water walls present a special challenge as the ninjas have to dive into a pool of water to open three doors – whether by pulling, pushing or twisting them open. After opening each door, they have to swim underwater and climb out of the pool at the end to reach the buzzer via a net. In the first semi-final there were only two athletes, Daniel Gerber and Jona Schöne, who were able to finish the course. Are we seeing more today?
7:47 p.m
Semifinal II is just around the corner!
Last week things really got going in the first semi-final. Today the next athletes who want to qualify for the final are ready. A total of 36 ninjas still have a chance of making it further. Only the 30 best from both semi-final shows and the six final ticket winners from the preliminary rounds advance to the final. In addition to advancing to the final, there is another incentive for the two semi-final shows: first place in the overall result is worth 10,000 euros. Whoever gets through second fastest receives 5,000 euros and third place gets a whopping 2,500 euros. It starts at 8:15 p.m.!