Athletes everywhere in the surrounding area have a Christmas break. Everywhere? No. The badminton aces of TSV Freystadt have a double match day in the 2nd Bundesliga South at the weekend. On Saturday (4.30 p.m.) the TSV will welcome last year’s champions TSV Neuhausen Nymphenburg in the Neumarkt WGG hall. On Sunday (2 p.m.) comes TuS Geretsried, the runner-up from the previous season.
The initial situation is only clear at first glance
When you look at the table, the starting position seems clear: Freystadt leads the table and has won eight of nine games. The lead over Geretsried is seven points and nine over Neuhausen. But TSV team manager Stephan Pistorius warns: “Both opponents had a number of failures and therefore had to suffer some unexpected defeats.” And that’s why the pressure is on before the duels on the weekend. “If they want to play for the championship, they have to win against us, otherwise the point difference will be between us and our table neighbors Dortelweil (Second place, one point behind Freystadt, editor’s note) “Probably too big,” says Pistorius. He expects that both teams will compete with the best players.
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Mihaljo Tomic is missing from the Freystädter side. The number 66 in the world rankings will be competing in an international tournament in Kazakhstan at the same time. Otherwise, fans can look forward to many top performers. On Saturday against Neuhausen, Ella Neve could meet two old friends: Barbora Bursova or Alexia Nedelcu, whom she knows from the state base in Nuremberg. In the women’s doubles, a difficult task awaits the newly crowned German youth champion Aurelia Wulandoko and Katharina Rudert if the Munich team competes with the Estonian Helina Rüütel or Anna Mejikovskiy, the German runner-up in 2024.
For the men, a lot will depend on whether Tobias Wadenka, who was born in Middle Franconia, can play for Neuhausen. The multiple German ranking winner has not lost a league game so far, but was injured in the last league game three weeks ago. Another top performer in the Munich ranks is Justin Seibel, who also trains at the Federal Training Center. Auditya Hidayat could become a key player in Freystadt. After a long absence, the professional coach of the South Tyrolean first division club ASV Mals is back in the lineup. He is an all-rounder and so it is unclear whether he will attack in doubles with Moritz Miller or in mixed doubles with Wulandoko.
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Geretsried is difficult to assess
Sunday’s opponent TuS Geretsried around the ex-vice European champion and former Freystadt resident Oliver Roth is difficult to assess. Most recently, the sixth-place team clearly defeated TSV Neuhausen 5-2. Along with Roth, Kevin Feibicke is an absolute top performer. With ten wins in 14 matches, he is one of the best players in the league. Lukas Oesele will serve for Geretsried for the first time. The newcomer from South Tyrol is well known at TSV Freystadt. Like Hidayat, he plays for ASV Mals. During the summer holidays he prepares for the season at a joint training camp with TSV Freystadt in Mals. Former national player Ann-Kathrin Spöri stands out for the Geretsried women. Even though she recently suffered her first defeat, she is favored against Neve.
Admission for adults is five euros, children up to 14 years of age have free entry. The venue is the sports hall of the Willibald-Gluck-Gymnasium in Neumarkt, access via the festival car park. The games can be followed in the live ticker (badmintonticker.de) and in the live stream (Sporteurope.TV).
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