At 43 again in a DM final
Michael Fuchs can’t help it. The 43-year-old former Olympian from Lengfurt (Main-Spessart district) took part in the German badminton championships in Cloppenburg for the first time after a seven-year break and only failed in the final in the doubles alongside Marvin Seidel, currently Germany’s strongest doubles player.
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Badminton: Michael Fuchs can’t help it – Grün and Hippold are competitive in Cloppenburg
Late career: Ex-Olympian Michael Fuchs was once again in the final of a German championship at the age of 43. Photo: Julien Christ
Photo: Julien Christ, sportfotografie.de
Michael Fuchs can’t help it. The 43-year-old former Olympian from Lengfurt (Main-Spessart district) took part in the German badminton championships in Cloppenburg for the first time after a seven-year break and only failed in the final in the doubles alongside Marvin Seidel, currently Germany’s strongest doubles player.
Seidel’s partner Daniel Hess was out, “Fuchsi” stepped in at short notice. It was only there that the duo from 1. BC Saarbrücken-Bischmisheim had to admit defeat to the surprise doubles of the tournament, the young Simon Krax (Dortelweil) and Jonathan Dresp (Wittorf), with 13:21/16:21.
Head of the Olympic base
It was still a remarkable success for the oldie and ex-Marktheidenfelder in his unexpected comeback on the national stage. The six-time German team champion is currently head of the Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland Olympic base in Saarbrücken.
Players from the second Bundesliga team TV Marktheidenfeld were also ambitious at the German championships in Lower Saxony. Steffen Grün and Fabian Hippold in particular presented themselves competitively in a top-class field.
Among the 16 best
In the men’s singles, Steffen Grün, who was ranked 9-16, had a solid start to the tournament. In the round of 64 he confidently beat Jonah Colin Schröder and confirmed his good form with another two-set win over Florian Otto. In the round of 16, however, Green met the internationally experienced Nikolaj Persson and had to clearly admit defeat. He thus finished the tournament among the best 16 players in Germany.
Green and Fabian Hippold were significantly closer to a top ranking in the men’s doubles. After a bye at the start, the Marktheidenfeld duo won an intense three-set match against Bald/Sufryd in the round of 32. In the round of 16 against the doubles Holtschke/Klauer, who were seeded 5-8, a game at eye level developed. Grün and Hippold won the first set and were in the lead several times throughout the rest of the game.
In the end, however, they had to admit defeat after three hard-fought sets. They narrowly missed out on making it to the quarter-finals and were in the race for a place in the top eight pairings for a long time. For Moritz Unz, the men’s singles tournament ended in the first round. He found it difficult to get into the game against the seeded Alexander Roovers and was eliminated in two sets. my/over
