Nordhorn Brettchen Open 2017 at 06./07.05.2017

Gilles Hébert and Michel Hinricher are the winners at Nordhorn Brettchen Open Nordhorn (HH). A title defense by the Belgian Gilles Hébert and a first-time victory of Michel Hinricher from the Münster area were the result of the two main classes of Nordhorn Brettchen Open, the most important tournament for classical table tennis in Germany. Hébert won on Saturday with the hardbat and Hinricher on Sunday with the sandpaper bat. On both days the Frenchman Yohan Lecomte and Michael Stefan Keller from Darmstadt won the doubles competitions. On the two tournament days, SV Vorwärts Nordhorn played for the third time with uniform bats. No player was allowed to use his own bat, but had to play with the racket laying on the table. For the fourth time in a row among the first four in the Hardbat I class came Yohan Lecomte from the French club STT Amiens, who has specialized in the game with the rackets the whole world used 60 years ago, on Saturday. But the third final of the Frenchman was prevented by Michael Stefan Keller, a German who competes in the Belgian league with his hardbat for CTT Ecurie Mons. Although he finished all three sets in the final very narrowly, he could not prevent the 3-0 victory and thus the title defense of Gilles Hébert from the Belgian club Palette Castellinoise. These three were also seen as favorites on Sunday, with uniform sandpaper rackets being played as 100 years ago. But they had made their bill without Michel Hinricher from TV Borken, one of the best German Clickball players. He not only conquered these three, but also defeated the other six players in the field of ten of the main class and ensured that the tournament victory for the first time after three Dutch successes remained in Germany. With only one loss to Hinricher, Yohan Lecomte came in second place. The revenge was won by the Frenchman in the doubles, which he won at the side of Michael Stefan Keller, this time against Michel Hinricher and Kelvin Heemstra (Taverzo Zoetermeer/NED). On Saturday, the two strongest Dutch starters Matthieu Wegh (Taverzo Zoetermeer/NED) and Ronald Vijverberg (Avanti Hazerswoude/NED) just lost in the final. Keller thereby repeated his two double successes from the previous year, albeit with a different partner. In the lower hardbat competitions, the top favorite Damian Musial (Wuppertaler SV) in the class up to Q-TTR 1600 was the winner in singles and doubles as was Kamil Gryga from DJK Gravenhorst, the club with most starters, in the class up to Q-TTR 1200. There was also a double victory in the clickball category up to Q-TTR 1600 for the second of previous season Matthias Paggel (SG Limmer). The player from Hanover won in doubles together with and in the singles against Sonja Schenk of DJK/SC Conc. Pfungstadt, who won the doubles competitions in Nordhorn on both days as her partner Michael Stefan Keller did. SV Vorwärts Nordhorn had to organize the 17th edition of its tournament for classic table tennis again in the Vorwärts gymnasium at Immenweg being much too small for such events. The club now hopes to have a suitable sports facility in the new season, in which not only a decent practice and team competition matches are possible, but also larger tournaments can be carried out. This is simply not possible in a hall with a maximum of eight tables, and perhaps this has also led to the fact that the number of participants has fallen far short of expectations this year. The quality of the starting hardbat and clickball players was once again outstanding, but the quantity was much too small - especially from the neighborhood, where the disadvantages of the small gymnasium are well known.