There was still a lot at stake for both teams, Almere still had to secure third place, entitling to play-offs between numbers 2 and 3, and leader DKC wanted to secure the final of the national championship.
Afterwards, a nice 6-2 victory for Almere shone on the board, which also seemed well deserved today. The number 3 position seems to be secured and DKC and Duinwijck have to fight out who will be 1 or 2 next week. Coach Dave Khodabux indicated afterwards that it is now with a good feeling to dot the i’s and cross the t’s towards the play-offs.
Match report
In the men’s doubles, Alex Vlaar and Dyon van Wijlick competed against Michiel Kruijt and Andy Buijk. After a solid first game (21-17), DKC turned out better in the second game (15-21). Fortunately, Alex and Dyon managed to build up a lead from 6-6 that was not given away and took the game 21-14 and could look back on a good game.
In the women’s doubles, Eleanor O’Donnell and Kirsten de Wit got off to a bad start against Alyssa Tirtosentono and Marlies Baan. The slow shuttle, own mistakes and a non-working tactic quickly resulted in a 9-19 deficit, after which Eleanor and Kirsten still found the connection with 9 points in a row to 18-19, but eventually had to give up the game 19-21 . However, the flow was found because in the second game the Almere ladies raged 21-8 over DKC and in the third game a big lead was also built up and not given away (21-14).
A nice 2-0 starting position for the singles. We started with the second men’s single and the first women’s single. Because DKC had played the men’s singles, Noah Haase was allowed to compete against the number 2 in the Netherlands, Joran Kweekel. Noah showed his talent well and managed to make it difficult for Joran for two and a half games and occasionally made very nice points and was able to follow the pace for a long time. After 18-21 in the first game, the second game was converted into a win in 21-18 despite a deficit during the game. Also in the third game Noah was able to follow well until 10-10, but it was Joran who then ran out to 10-17 and won 14-21.
Lauren Middleton was the first ladies single to compete against the Flora Wang. In the first game it was Flora who took the initiative and took a big lead. Just before the end of the first game, Lauren was trailing 15-19, but managed to come back to 20-20 and take the first game 22-20. Flora’s resistance was then broken, Lauren hit 21-7 in the second game with big numbers and thus the 3-1.
Dennis Koppen was allowed to compete against Andy Buijk in the first men’s single. After an easy and solid first game (21-12), Dennis also played a few points ahead in the second game. Yet it was equal again at 15-15 and it went alternately to 20-20. At that point, Dennis kept his cool and decided the game 22-20.
On the other track, Diede Odijk again delivered an exciting fight with Manon Sibbald, just like a few weeks ago. Where Manon was the strongest in the previous game, it was now Diede who came out on top in two games. The first game went by 2 points at the end of the first game. After 16-16, Diede always took 2 points first and then Manon again, eventually leading to 22-20 for Diede. The second game was tied again until 10-10, then Diede took a lead and won 21-16 and put the surprising 5-1 score on the scoreboard.
In the first mix, Alex Vlaar and Elanor O’Donnell competed against Michiel Kruijt and Alyssa Tirtosentono. After a moderate start (0-5), Alex and Eleanor found the connection at 14-14 and won the first game 21-16 with very good play. The second game started well with an 8-3 lead, but at that moment the game turned to DKC who went on and on and took the second game 15-21. The third game DKC kept a lead from the start, where Alex and Eleanor could no longer connect (15-21).
The last match of the afternoon was between Dyon van Wijlick and Kirsten de Wit against Joran Kweekel and Marlies Baan. Dyon and Kirsten immediately took a small lead that was always maintained. At 19-14 it became even more exciting because DKC came back to 19-18, but the first game was still won by Almere 21-19. The second game the same picture until the break, but then Dyon and Kirsten ran smoothly to 19-9 and won 21-11.
Next week the last game at home against VELO, where FIT Almere needs 1 game point to formally qualify for the play-offs.
The link to photos from the competition as always on badmintonenzo.net and all results and standings toernooi.nl
