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In this transition year where Almere has chosen not to use foreigners, but to give its own youth the opportunity, reaching the final was already a great reward for the season.
Trainer Dave Khodabux indicated afterwards that the coaching staff has been busy this year on the tactical, technical and mental level, in which he believes the players have taken a mature step forward, both on and off the court. The highlight for him was the play-off matches in which everything fell into place and the players were rewarded by being able to play this final, resulting in a second place in the national championship that left them wanting more.
The line-up had no surprises on the Almere side. It was the same as in the last play-off match. DKC’s position was unclear in advance because they have many options with this strong team. Marlies Baan was lined up in the women’s doubles and the mix included combinations that had never been lined up in this way before.
In the men’s doubles, Alex Vlaar and Dyon van Wijlick competed against Mark Caljouw and Michiel Kruijt. Alex and Dyon were clearly looking forward to it and started the match strongly. Unfortunately, with the score 18-18, Alex and Dyon made three mistakes which cost them the game. The second game was tied until 6-7, but then DKC went to 8-15 and it was difficult to keep DKC from attacking. Even though Alex and Dyon fought back to 14-16, they lost 16-21.
The women’s doubles of Cheryl Seinen and Kirsten de Wit had opponents Alyssa Tirtosentono and Marlies Baan, who had lost in the first half of the competition. Although Cheryl and Kirsten apparently seemed ‘in control’ of the match, it was a close finish twice. In the first game the lead was mainly with Almere and an 18-14 and 20-17 lead was almost lost. The second game also went well, but in the middle part of the second game, too many mistakes resulted in a 13-17 deficit on the board. The ladies straightened out and with four points in a row with good play, the deficit was erased. Afterwards, Cheryl and Kirsten apparently had better control over their nerves because Almere’s last three points were mistakes by DKC and meant the 1-1 in the match.
Second man Noah Haase was then allowed to compete against Dutch champion Joran Kweekel and managed to get the audience on the benches, especially in the first game. Noah, playing on the side of the DKC supporters, played freely and took a lead of 13-7, but still had to watch that Joran came alongside at 20-20. Despite the fact that the fanatical supporters of DKC did everything they could to take Noah out of his game and team manager Ingrid Schrijer even stood in front of those supporters to keep them at a distance from the track, Noah continued to work well. This was rewarded with a 25-23 victory. In the second game Joran quickly ran to 13-5, after which Noah seemed to play a bit more freely and came back a little, but still had to leave the game to Joran at 14-21. Noah couldn’t make it in the last game and had to leave the game to DKC with a score of 4-21.
On the other court, Diede Odijk played against Jaymie Laurens. Diede started well and played the lead all the time until the score was 15-15 and showed good play. A few good points from Jaymie and a few mistakes from Diede meant five points in a row for Jaymie at the end of the first game, which won 16-21. Diede’s resistance initially seemed broken as Jaymie quickly ran to 3-10 and 6-13 in the second game. Still, Diede fought back well to 10-13, but had to watch as Jaymie took control of the match after 12-16 with 5 points in a row.
Trailing 1-3, Dennis Koppen had the honor of competing against the Dutch highest ranked singles player in the world rankings, Mark Caljouw. A difficult one in advance. Dennis played a good game and managed to score nice scores, but the patient Mark managed to build up a decent lead of 10-18. Still, Dennis continued his good play and managed to come back to 16-19, but still had to give up the game 16-21. The second game also fell behind quickly (5-11) and Dennis fought back to 11-13. Yet it was the experienced Mark who patiently managed to hold off the occasionally forcing Dennis with 13-21.
On the other court, Alida Chen played against Flora Wang. The well-varied Alida initially managed to reach the 11th (11-9) after being 1-5 behind. After the 11 the game tilts towards Flora, especially because Alida has some problems controlling the shuttle towards the lines and loses the first game 15-21. The second game is initially even, with Alida always one or two points ahead. Above 11, Alida takes a nice lead of 17-11 and the crowd is already preparing for a third game at 20-17. But with fifth points in a row, it is Flora who secures victory in the match and in the final of the national championship.
With this 1-5 score, the match is decided and the remaining two mix matches will no longer be played.
From here we would also like to congratulate DKC, who is the rightful winner of this season, because they also finished in the lead in the regular competition.
Posted by the editor
Obtained via BV Almere
Article photo by badminton and all . just
2024-03-24 14:23:09
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