The Badminton Club Mayen hosted its 13th Gruftiturnier on Sept. 26, 2026, welcoming approximately 80 badminton players to the Albert-Schweitzer-Realschule gymnasium in Mayen, Germany. Following more than six months of planning by club organizers, the tournament brought together competitors from across the Sportbund Rheinland region and beyond for a full day of competitive doubles play.
Age-Combined Categories Define the Format
Uniquely structured around combined ages, the tournament features two main categories: Over-70 (Ü70) and Over-100 (Ü100). To qualify, the combined ages of both partners must meet the respective division threshold. The oldest pairing at the 2026 event was Bettina Groth and Jann Christians of VfR Koblenz, who brought a combined age of 128 years and 224 days to the court. TG Polch sent the largest contingent of players to the tournament, earning the distinction of participant-strongest club.
Swiss System Ensures Balanced Competition
Organizers utilized the Swiss tournament system across five distinct rounds of play. Under this format, pairings are continuously rematched based on their cumulative results from preceding rounds. This dynamic pairing method creates increasingly balanced matches as the day progresses, ultimately establishing a performance-based ranking.
Division Winners Across Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Brackets
Competition concluded with victories distributed among several regional clubs. In the Ü70 men’s doubles, Christian Schütz and Benedikt Burkhardt of TuS Horhausen claimed the title. Christina Schweighöfer and Carola Geisen secured the Ü70 women’s doubles victory for the host Badminton Club Mayen, while clubmates Lioba Thielen and Stefan Gasterich triumphed in the Ü70 mixed division. Within the Ü100 categories, Torsten Schmalbruch and Villi Sigridarson of SG Neuhäusel won the men’s doubles. Dagmar Hohl and Jacky Helgert of SV Rüsselsheim/Flörsheim took the women’s doubles crown, and Ute Müller alongside Guido Setzlach of TuWi Adenau earned the mixed doubles title.
High Demand and Leadership Transition
Club chairman Ralf Haben noted the popularity of the event, stating that the tournament had reached full capacity as early as May, leaving numerous late inquiries unable to be accommodated due to strict participant caps. The tournament also marked a successful organizational debut for Jarne Franzini and David Holzhäuser, who managed the tournament direction for the first time and received widespread applause during the evening’s closing award ceremony.
Future Outlook
Play concluded at approximately 9:45 p.m. local time, wrapping up an extensive schedule with satisfied participants. Badminton Club Mayen confirmed that the Gruftiturnier will return for its 14th edition in 2027.
