TSV Gnarrenburg remains undefeated in badminton district league after 5:3 win

TSV Gnarrenburg won their sixth match of the season by the same narrow margin as their previous five: 5-3, this time over previously undefeated TuS Reppenstedt in the Badminton-Bezirksliga Lüneburg, Weser Kurier reported. The result leaves Gnarrenburg at the top of the table with six wins from six matches, and makes them the league’s “5-3 experts” — five of those six victories have come by exactly that scoreline.

The two teams had both been without a point loss before the meeting, so the match decided which side would keep a perfect record. Gnarrenburg did, but only after Stefan Meyer came from a set down to win the decisive singles match 15-21, 21-15, 21-14.

Five 5-3 Wins in Six Matches

The pattern is the story of Gnarrenburg’s season. Weser Kurier noted that the club has now left the hall as a 5-3 winner in every match so far, and that this was the fifth such result. Axel Renken, speaking after the sixth win in six games, said the table situation was “uncanny” and had not been foreseeable before the season.

The match itself went down to the final singles rubber. Christian Tiedgen and Jendrik Renken took the opening men’s doubles 21-11, 21-15, and Axel Renken and Tanja Niedzielski won 21-10, 21-12 to put Gnarrenburg 2-0 up. Axel Renken and Stefan Meyer then lost the second men’s doubles in straight sets, 14-21, 20-22.

Meyer’s Three-Set Comeback Decides the Tie

Manuela Renken and Tanja Niedzielski kept Gnarrenburg ahead in the women’s doubles, and Manuela Renken extended the lead with a women’s singles win. Axel Renken cautioned against reading too much into the women’s results, saying one might sometimes think the opposing women were not so good, “but that is not the case.”

Christian Tiedgen then lost his singles match in two sets, 11-21, 14-21, but Jendrik Renken immediately restored a two-point cushion with a win over Viere, 21-13, 21-10, setting the score at 4-2. The mixed doubles of Tanja Niedzielski and Axel Renken went the distance — twice into extra points, 24-26 and 22-24 — and was lost, meaning the tie came down to Meyer’s singles match. After dropping the first set, Meyer found his form and won the decider comfortably to seal the 5-3.

Reppenstedt Beat BSG Wallhöfen/Ihlpohl II by the Same Score

Reppenstedt, despite losing to Gnarrenburg, also won 5-3 in their other fixture of the matchday, against the second team of BSG Wallhöfen/Ihlpohl. Three of the four three-set matches went to Reppenstedt, including a 9-21, 25-23, 18-21 loss for Wallhöfen in the mixed doubles.

Matthias Bergolte and Janne Ahlers each won their singles matches in straight sets for BSG II, and Ahlers also took the women’s doubles alongside Marie Bullwinkel. But both men’s doubles pairs lost in three sets despite winning the first. Coach Niko Lütjen said no one on his team had underperformed, “but it just wasn’t enough for more points,” and that the absence of Arndt Petersen — who was helping the first team — and Tanja Assmus was felt keenly. “That shows that without the absences, more would certainly have been possible,” Lütjen said.

Two Points Without Playing Against SSV Hagen

Both Gnarrenburg and BSG II also collected two points without playing on the third matchday, after SSV Hagen was unable to field a full team at short notice and did not travel. That walkover, combined with the 5-3 wins, is why Gnarrenburg’s position at the top looks the way it does — a situation Renken himself called unforeseeable before the season.

Match Scores: Gnarrenburg 5-3 Reppenstedt

What Remains Open in the Table

Reppenstedt’s first defeat of the season still leaves them within striking distance, but the question now is whether any side can take points off a Gnarrenburg team that has made 5-3 its signature. No team has yet managed it, and Renken’s remark that the standings were not predictable before the season suggests the run is not being taken for granted inside the club.

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