Anja and Frank Eilers expect a “great adventure”, Udo Spähn expects an “exciting experience”-there is talk of the Badminton World Championships of the seniors who are on the program from September 7th to 14th in Thai Pattaya. The hosts expect record -breaking 1631 active people from 26 nations. The Germany team consists of 93 players alone. They include three veterans of the Delmenhorster Assball Club, which have already gained experience in the course of many national and international tournaments: Spähn and the Eilers couple.
The Badminton World Association organizes these title competitions, which take place every two years, in the age groups O35 to O80. Pattaya is located in the eastern part of Centralhailand and is one of the internationally known seaside resorts. Around 120,000 registered residents live in the tenth largest Thai city.
Via Istanbul to Bangkok
Eilers and Eilers start the race at the World Senior Championships 2025 in age group 45. They compete in mixed and also form doubles with Simone Weisbarth (BC Wachtberg) or Andreas Schlüter (Blau-Weiß Wittorf). “We looked at earlier results of the opponents,” reports Frank Eilers, who meets the Poland Dawid Krawiec/Michal Suski with his partner at the beginning. But you don’t know much about the competitors. The DFC chairman: “There are always opportunities. It would be nice if something works.” Anja Eilers/Weisbarth are faced with Claire Carli/Yasmina Sayaret (France) and Eilers/Eilers want to assert themselves against Adam Kosc/Anna Kocimska (Poland).
Anja and Frank Eilers made their way to Pattaya on Wednesday. From Bremen we went via Istanbul to the Thai capital Bangkok. “We stay there for a day and a half,” reports Frank Eilers. The former club colleague Katja Kirn (formerly Stolle) meets there. It now belongs to the SG Vechelde/Lengede and starts at the World Cup in the O35 age group. Bangkok went to Pattaya by shuttle.
Spähn comes as a German champion
Spähn, German champion at Agekass 70, started his trip on Friday. It can be found on positions 5 to 8 within the seed list, has a free time for the first round and competes against Somsak Chatand (Thailand) against the winner of the Metcalfe (Canada) pairing. For the first time, Spähn is involved in an international competition in the double competition. Together with Walter Beißner from TSV Bad Eilsen, with whom he secured the DM title in May, the Delmenhorster plays in round one against the Indian duo P. Malagoppa Somashekarappa/Ashok Kumar Sharma.
“We have completed an extensive preparatory program and are good courage to be able to survive in an unusual environment with getting used to,” says Spähn. “Every victory in this strong competition would be a great success. Pure participation is an exciting experience.” Frank Eilers emphasizes: “We want to enjoy the flair, want to enjoy it. Every game is an encore. There is anticipation and tension. The anticipation predominates.”
