WUTTO Nordhorn Brettchen Open 2016 at 30.04./01.05.2016

Reginald Kraaijenbrink dominates at WUTTO Nordhorn Brettchen Open Nordhorn (HH). At the first weekend of May Reginald Kraaijenbrink of TTV Hercules Terborg from the Netherlands was the big winner of WUTTO Nordhorn Brettchen Open, the most important tournament for classic table tennis in Germany. He qualified for all four final games of the two main classes and won the Clickball singles on Sunday as well as the two double competitions at the side of Michael-Stefan Keller (DJK/SC Conc. Pfungstadt). Only in the Hardbat singles on Saturday the player from the Achterhoek in the Belgian Gilles Hébert (CTT Perwez) had found his champion. In Nordhorn at both tournament days has been played with uniform bats. No player was allowed to use his own bat, but had to play with the hardbat lying on the table. Up to Saturday's semi-final Frenchman Yohan Lecomte from STT Amiens, winner of the last two years, who has specialized in the game with the short pimpled rubber rackets like 60 years ago, could become the first player in the tournaments history to win three times in a row. But then Reginald Kraaijenbrink, the number 1 of the world's ranking list of classic table tennis, put an end to this dream at his first hardbat start in Nordhorn. In the final against the Belgian newcomer of this year, Gilles Hébert, Kraaijenbrink found his champion for the only time this weekend. Hébert had previously with Michael-Stefan Keller switched off the best German player in the semi-final. The latter later took his revanche in the doubles final at the side of Kraaijenbrink, that the two players won in the fifth game after 6:10 against Hébert/Lecomte. In the lower hardbat competitions, the two double winners Matthias Paggel (SG Limmer) and Tobias Genz (TuRa Bremen) were the finalists in the class up to 1600 rating points, which won the previous year's third place, Paggel, very close in the fifth game. In the class up to 1200 rating points the two tournament victories fell to DJK Gravenhorst from the Munster area, the club with the most starters. In the doubles, Steffen Mergenschroer/Moritz Ungruh won, and in the singles Dennis Greiwe did the same. On Sunday, when uniform sandpaper rackets were played as 100 years ago, Reginald Kraaijenbrink came to the Clickball final for the third time in a row. In the semifinal, he won the revenge against Gilles Hébert, while in the other semi-final Yohan Lecomte won against the winner of 2014, Arnoud Meijer from the Dutch first league team Klimaatgroep Stars Middelstum. This resulted in the new edition of the last year's Clickball final, which offered top-class sports to the spectators in the Nordhorn Vorwärts gymnasium. Lecomte took a 1-0 lead, but Kraaijenbrink defended his title with three successive games in a row and finally put the stamp on this year's tournament. Just before that, he had won the doubles final with Michael-Stefan Keller against Yohan Lecomte/Matthieu Wegh (Taverzo Zoetermeer), thus defending also in this class his previous year's title. In the new Clickball class up to 1600 rating points, Matthias Paggel did not repeat the previous day's victory. He had to congratulate Sonja Schenk from Concordia Pfungstadt, who specialized in playing with the classic bats. In the doubles final, however, the two individual finalists were defeated by Thomas Beel/Tore Schwefer (SC Spelle-Venhaus/DJK Gravenhorst). SV Vorwärts Nordhorn could not organize the 16th edition of its tournament for classic table tennis in the traditional venue at the Krefeld road because this was occupied with refugees, but had to move to the Vorwärts gymnasium at Immenweg. But also here the hardbat and clickball players from far away felt quite well. The first four of the WUTTO world ranking list not only ensured a very strong playing level of the Nordhorn tournament, but also offered high-class table tennis sports with classic bats.