The board of the German Badminton League Association (DBLV) has decided to shorten the 2020/21 season. Due to the corona, the TV Refrath will continue at the end of February at the earliest, if not in March or April.
The season in the 1st Bundesliga was interrupted at the end of October after only two match days. In the 2nd Bundesliga 6 out of 11 match days in the first half of the season were played.
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On the basis of the ongoing lockdown, the lack of prospects for the month of January and the abundance of games still open with only a few possible dates, the DBLV board of directors, of which Heinz Kelzenberg (TV Refrath) is a member, unanimously decided that To shorten the 2020/21 season.
Heinz Kelzenberg says: “We will only play one simple round at a time, ie once everyone against everyone. The games played so far remain in the rating, the remaining games are rescheduled ”.
In doing so, the “Bundesliga game plan makers” took into account the dates already in the game schedule and a balance of home and away games for each team.
The associated regulatory changes have now been submitted to the clubs for voting by circulation procedure. A large majority for the prepared proposal of the league presidium is expected.
The first scheduled game day would be the 28.2., The then double game day on 20./21.3. or in the middle and end of April. As a result, the end of the general points round was only pushed back by two weeks. According to Kelzenberg, the “optimistic” day of the individual game at the end of February could even be postponed to March or April if necessary.
The Refrather chairman says: “If we are on 20.3. are not allowed to play yet, it probably makes no sense to continue the season ”.
After 9 instead of the original 18 match days, the top two in the table qualify directly for the “Final Four” planned for May. The other two teams will be determined in two quarter-finals (third against sixth and fourth against fifth).
Each player who is to be used in the playoff games must have participated in four of the nine matches. For TV Refrath, this mainly affects the two Irish stars Nhat Nguyen and Sam Magee, who have not yet appeared.
Even the only long-term injured person in Refrath, Jan Colin Völker, is hoping for work in the field after having survived the operation and rehab that went very well. His return to the team is planned for the two double game days in April.
According to the new Bundesliga 1 schedule for TV Refrath, the top game in Saarbrücken-Bischmisheim would be at the end of February. Whether on 20.3. Finally, spectators will be allowed in the Steinbreche hall when the 1st BC Beuel is a guest, is still in the stars. Away games in Schorndorf and Lüdinghausen as well as three other home matches against Trittau, Wipperfeld and Neuhausen-Nymphenburg are also on the agenda.
In the table, after only two match days with Bischmisheim, Wipperfeld and Refrath, the three teams who want to play for the German championship title are already unbeaten at the top.
Also in the 2nd Bundesliga North and South, from 28.2. continue to be played. The five remaining game days were quickly distributed, especially since the game dates could be taken over, but not the fixings.
Here the second in the table, TV Refrath 2, will start away in Mülheim at the end of February, before Hamburg and Trittau will be guests in the Steinbreche in March. In mid-April, the season will end with an away game in Peine, Lower Saxony.
One team each should be relegated directly from the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga, promotion to the 1st division is not possible for Refrath 2 on the basis of the game rules.
