Nordhorn Brettchen Open 2014 at 26./27.04.2014

The tournament victories at the Nordhorn Brettchen Open went to France and Holland Nordhorn (HH). Just for the second time in the history of Nordhorn Brettchen Open, the tournament for classic table tennis, the victory did not fall to Germany. As in 2008 his compatriot Jean-Michel Carquin on Saturday with Yohan Lecomte from STT Amiens a Frenchman won the Hardbat I category. In the inaugural clickball category on Sunday with Arnoud Meijer of TTV Hilversum expectedly won a player of the strong Dutch WUTTO-team. Surprisingly the four-time winner Franz-Josef Hürmann (TTF Bönen) on Saturday in the semifinals of the open class Hardbat I with pimpled rubber rackets like 60 years ago had no chance versus Lars Brinkhaus (TuS Lutten), while at the same time in the duel of the two northern Frenchmen Yohan Lecomte prevailed against his doubles partner Franck Bousignière. In the final, the former Nordhorn player Brinkhaus and Lecomte performed Hardbat table tennis at its best. Brinkhaus had balanced in games to 2:2 and was in front at 8:5 in the final game and was very near to his first tournament victory in the main class, but the physically strong Lecomte turned the game and still won with 11:8. In the doubles final the series winner Franz-Josef Hürmann and Ulrich Watermann (TuS Bexterhagen) won versus Lecomte/Bousignière with 3-1 games and thus realized their fourth doubles title in Nordhorn. In the Hardbat II competition (to Q-TTR 1600) the Hanoverian Matthias Paggel (SG Limmer) dethroned the defending champion Tore Schwefer (DJK Gravenhorst), while in the local county internal doubles final Dimitri Lammert/Nico Rudnik (FC Schüttorf 09) won against Detlef Barchanowitz/Marco Knospe (SV Bad Bentheim/TuS Neuenhaus). The players from the Münster region dominated in the Hardbat III class (up to 1400). Christian Upmann (DJK Gravenhorst) was in front of Dietmar and Gerrit Erke (both TTV Emsdetten). Dietmar Erke, however, in the doubles came to a tournament victory, when he dethroned along with Marion Veentjer from the East Frisian VfL Jheringsfehn last year's winners Gerrit Erke/Henrik Lechtenberg. In the Hardbat IV class (up to 1200) predominantly occupied with young players Eugen Schmidt prevailed in front of Sebastian Wanscheer and Vladimir Nagel, who together nevertheless were able to win the doubles against Lennart Büter/Markus Burghard (all from the host SV Vorwärts Nordhorn). In the clickball premiere on Sunday with uniform sandpaper rackets like 100 years ago the best of the ten Dutch players from the WUTTO hardbat ranking list dominated. The final between the two ranking leaders Reginald Kraaijenbrink (TTV Hercules Terborg) and Arnoud Meijer, both participants in the Ping Pong World Championships in London, was a clear matter for Meijer, who in the semifinals had thrown out his compatriot Ronald Vijverberg (FVT Rotterdam) while Kraaijenbrink had prevailed after a hard fight against the Saturday Hardbat I winner Yohan Lecomte, who thus with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place became the most successful player of the Nordhorn tournament. The clickball premiere brought very strong players from the Netherlands and France to Nordhorn, who would have gladly played against equally strong Germans. But these did not take part. Some of them indeed had made their entry but did not appear without excuse, others perhaps were put off by the high entry fee. At least for the players from the local county that could have been one reason for their very low level of participation on Sunday, especially since they have not to pay any entry fee for all other tournaments here due to the rules of the local association. Here the organizers will have to begin with the tournament wrapping up, and must also review the restriction to only one clickball class without doubles. This year's basic condition to organize the clickball class exactly like the official clickball qualifier tournaments has not led to the fact that the goal of the organizer could be realized to achieve a good participation of German players. But then this basic condition must also be called into question, if it is not consistent with the interests of the participants in an open tournament that the NBO are in any case.