The German women’s and men’s triple ended in the quarterfinals against Hong Kong. After a strong performance by the women and a clear defeat by the men, the focus now turns to the team competition, which begins on Saturday.
The second day of competition at the AirBadminton World Championships in Sharjah brought Germany two quarter-final appearances – but no progression to the semi-finals. Both the women’s and men’s triples lost to their opponents from Hong Kong and thus missed the semi-finals.
Women’s triple fails after a good fight
The German women’s triple delivered an intense and closely fought match to the favored team from Hong Kong. The match remained open over four sets, but in the end the Asian champions narrowly prevailed 9:4, 6:9, 11:9, 9:5.
Team manager Thomas Fuchs was appreciative despite the elimination:
“It was a very close match for the girls and a strong performance. In the end, nuances made the difference.”
Men’s triple is subject to the eventual vice world champion
The German men’s triple also had to admit defeat in the quarter-finals. Against Hong Kong, who later reached the final, it wasn’t enough to win a set despite fighting phases. The team lost 2:9, 8:10, 4:9. Fuchs analyzed that in some phases the German men “lacked the looseness to play courageously and freely against their favored opponents”.
Looking ahead: Team competition starting Saturday
There won’t be much time to breathe, because the team competition begins tomorrow – the highlight of this World Cup. Germany, which won the European Championship title in team format in Baku in September, will first face Australia in the group phase at 1 p.m. German time, before the Asian vice-champions from Indonesia wait at 6 p.m.
A team game consists of women’s and men’s triples, as well as women’s and men’s doubles. The team event is played continuously up to 60 points, with the discipline changing at scores of 15, 30 and 45. The experience of the European Championships shows that big comebacks are possible thanks to this counting method and clever positioning of the supposedly strongest disciplines at the end. The position of the individual disciplines is chosen alternately by the team managers before the start of the game.
Thomas Fuchs is optimistic about the tasks ahead:
“We were most looking forward to the team event in advance. It’s a difficult group, but we worked excellently as a team at the European Championships in Baku and will throw everything into it tomorrow too.”
Livestreaming
All matches will be broadcast live by the BWF on YouTube; Court 1 as a TV production and Court 2 as an uncommented live stream. Both German matches will take place on Court 2.
