After a successful match in the German League versus Refrath (2-4) and a week of hard training it was time for the Bitburger Open, one of the best organised tournaments of the circuit. This annual event in Saarbrücken is one of the few where everything always goes well. The hotels are good, transport to and from the venue is good, the venue itself is decorated beautifully, but the most important fact is that their time schedules are perfect. At this tournament they hardly are ever behind schedule and nowadays that is quite an achievement. Apart from all this there is one disadvantage: there are no “warming up courts” which is difficult especially at the beginning of the tournament. But to make a long story short, I always like to play at the Bitburger.
Wednesday afternoon we started with the first round of the men’s doubles. Two Germans, who we had never met before, were our opponents. These guys were well motivated and they played freely and openly. But we played lousy and I really believe that this was our worst match ever. Sometimes there are days that you wonder why you got up in the morning and this was such a day. Finally we won and after that I rushed back to the hotel and my bed.
Next morning I felt much better. Fit and relaxed for the first round of the mixed doubles. We had met our Danish opponents before in Belgium when we lost in a rather poor match. The first game was not very promising. We lost it with 10-21. In the second game we again started badly but then we finally found the right rhythm and focus and from that moment on we controlled the match and made it a win.
The second round of the men’s doubles was between Robert Blair and Koen Ridder and us. We made a very good start and took a 12-5 lead but after the interval we lost quite a number of points in a row and they came alongside. Till the end of the game we were levelled with each other but finally our opponents were just a bit sharper and they won. The second game showed a similar scenario and again Robert and Koen played better in the final stage of this game. So again it was not too good and we fell short in this match. We’ll have to work hard the coming period to enable us to make a next step.
After a few hours rest it was time for the second round in the mixed doubles. Schwenger and Nelte were our opponents and I knew them well. Last Sunday I had played them in the German League and then my partner and I got spanked. Now I had the strong intention not to lose again from this pair and with this thought I entered the court. Obviously it had been of some help because this time I played one of the best matches ever. Of course this wouldn’t have been possible without Samantha with whom I made a wonderful team. Everything we did worked out fine, even a number of trick shots and when these go well you know that you are in control. We won the match in two games with 12 and 11 and qualified ourselves for the quarter finals.
In the quarter final we met the European Champions and first seeded Poles Mateusiak and Zieba. Mateusiak is 36 of age but is still playing like a young God. Zieba is much younger but has also been at the top for quite a number of years. They play a special kind of mixed and are able to win from every other pair.
In the first game things went rather well but tactically we made a few wrong decisions putting us on arrears all the time. We lost with 16-21. In the second game we did the right things and we were well-matched with our opponents. The longer rallies often were a prey for us but since you are forced to play very sharply you also make a few “unforced errors”. Anyway after 40 minutes we lost the second game with 18-21. We were very satisfied with this match but even more important from game 1 in the first round until the quarter final we managed to keep a consistent level and compared to the Dutch Open this is a major advancement.
Friday night I was back home again which was okay because on Saturday the Dutch Olympic Committee was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary with a grand Sports Parade at the National Olympic Training Centre Papendal. The whole area had been transformed into a huge fairground where thousands of visitors could get acquainted with numerous sports, see very many presentations and listen to interviews with celebrities like H.R.H. Prince Willem Alexander, Dutch astronaut André Kuipers, gymnastics gold medallist Epke Zonderland and many other Dutch Gold medallists from London as well as from the past. We also took care of a number of badminton clinics which were well attended. Especially the Knight Trainer, our shuttle gun, was a crowd puller. Altogether this sports parade was a great show which got a lot of media attention.
Next week we will be training like normal at Papendal and on Saturday we will play the last match of the first half of the league versus Düren. It’s a home match in Mülheim so if you want to come along and have a look, please do.
Tags: badminton, Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold, jorrit de ruiter, Papendal, Papendal Sport Parade, Saarbrucken