After the away defeat in Marktheidenfeld, TSV Freystadt wants to quickly get back on the road to success.
As fifth in the table in the 2nd Badminton Bundesliga South, the Upper Palatinate team has to score points against 1. BCB Saarbrücken II (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) and TV Hofheim (Sunday, 2:30 p.m.) in order to stay close to the top of the table. The venue is the sports hall of the Willibald-Gluck-Gymnasium in Neumarkt.
While TSV had to compete in Marktheidenfeld with a severely weakened squad, the Upper Palatinate team is planning to compete with their best line-up at the weekend. Freystadt’s team manager Stephan Pistorius is relying on the team that recently surprised in Munich with a victory over league leaders and championship favorites TSV Neuhausen-Nymphenburg.
Wulandoko is at it again
We are particularly pleased that Aurelia Wulandoko, the youngest in the team at 16, is back. Freystadt’s youth national player recently played in Ibiza at the European Youth Championships and then she went straight to Gera to the German Youth Championships, where she won the championship title in doubles and mixed doubles in her flagship disciplines.
Michael Tomic, Austrian national player, will also be there again. At the season opener against Jena and Leipzig, he thrilled the fans in the WGG sports hall with two individual victories. After Tomic suffered a bitter defeat in the top singles in Marktheidenfeld, TSV is hoping that he will find his usual strength at the weekend.
On Saturday, 1. BCB Saarbrücken II will be the reserve of the current German runner-up. Looking back, the games against the Saarlanders were always very even with varying results. According to Stephan Pistorius, a lot will depend on which squad the third-place team will arrive with, as the first team from the 1st BCB is also playing in the first league at the same time. If the Saarbrücken team has the best line-up, it will be difficult for the Freystadt men around team leader Andreas Pistorius to score points.
With Jonas Scheller and the Luxembourg national player Jerome Paquet, the Saarlanders have two strong individual players, both of whom have already made several appearances in the first division. Scheller currently leads the league’s player statistics. The form of the day will decide whether Viktor Petrovic and Michael Tomic can keep up or win.
The Freystädters are also under strong challenge in the two men’s doubles as well as in the matches with women’s participation. In the women’s singles, Ella Neve could face the strong Swiss Anja Strausak, the French Lilou Schaffner or the first division experienced Luxembourger Kim Schmidt. According to Pistorius, it is difficult to estimate how great the chance is for Freystadt to score points in women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
On Sunday TV Hofheim is a guest in Neumarkt. The Hessians, champions of the 2nd Bundesliga in 2022, had enormous injury concerns in 2023 and were unable to stay in the league.
After a short trip to the regional league, the team is back in the 2nd Bundesliga and is currently in a good midfield position. The figurehead is Mareike Bittner, who is the most successful player in the 2nd league with 15 wins in 18 matches after nine match days.
Difficult tasks await
Difficult tasks await Ella Neve, Katharina Rudert and Aurelia Wulandoko in singles and doubles with former national player Annika Dörr. In the men’s category, the Hessians have a first-class team with the brothers Sebastian Grieser and Johannes Grieser in men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
According to the team management, Freystädter’s chances of success for the weekend are mixed. Stephan Pistorius sees his team as underdogs in Saturday’s game against Saarbrücken, but not without a chance of victory. According to Pistorius, there should be a narrow win against Hofheim.
Despite the parallel games of the badminton teams at district and state level, TSV Freystadt hopes that many spectators will find their way to the sports hall of the Willibald-Gluck-Gymnasium.
The entry price is four euros, and entry is free for students up to 14 years old. Saturday’s game against Saarbrücken will also be broadcast live on SportDeutschlandTV.
