International players continue to succeed at the 2020 season of the German Tour and in the fourth week of the competition it was time for Dutch Olympic medalist Alexander Brouwer to top the podium in Düsseldorf.
Brouwer, a bronze medalist at the Rio 2016 Games, was called by 2019 World Championship silver medalist Julius Thole to replace his injured partner Clemens Wickler and their temporary partnership couldn’t have done better as they dominated the fourth event of the German season.
Their title was confirmed after a two-set victory (21-14, 21-17) over another team formed by a German player, defender Sven Winter, and an international athlete, Slovenian Nejc Zemljak.
“This tournament showed how competitive the German Tour is,” Thole reacted. “It was great to play and to win with Alex and this result will raise our responsibility with Clemens is able to return.”
With their victory, at least one international player has stepped at the top of the podium in each of the four tournaments of the German Tour in Düsseldorf so far. Swiss stars Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré won the first event and their triumph was followed by the victory of Dutch Steven van de Velde and German Lukas Pfretzschner among the men. Last week it was another Swiss, World Championships semifinalist Tanja Hüberli, who joined forces with a local player, Isabel Schneider, to secure the win.
The event in Düsseldorf also qualified three other teams to the German Championship via the “Road to Timmendorf” tournament. Neben Sagstetter/Benedikt Sagstetter, Harry Schlegel/Lennart Kroha and Alexander Krippes/Manuel Lohmann finished in the top-three and will contend for the national title later in the summer.
Next week the German Tour moves to Hamburg for the final event for the women before the German Championship.
Waller/Hörl and Plesiutschnig/Klinger victorious in Austria
At the same time, 600km south of Düsseldorf, neighbors Austria hosted an event of their national tour which also a pair of temporary teams, Philipp Waller/Julian Hörl and Lena Plesiutschnig/Dorina Klinger emerge victorious.
Waller and Hörl, who replaced the defender’s regular partner Robin Seidl, prevailed in the men’s tournament after they downed Moritz Pristauz and his new partner Laurenz Leitner at the three-set (16-21, 21-19, 15-12). Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson finished third while veterans Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst were fifth.
Among the women, Plesiutschnig couldn’t play with Katharina Schutzenhöfer, who’s recovering from shoulder surgery, and tuned to Dorina Klinger. The team finished on top after a 24-22, 22-20 victory over Eva Pfeffer and Franziska Friedl. Czechs Sara Olivova and Martina Williams (formerly Bonnerová) finished third.
The next national event in the calendar of the Austrian players will be the Austrian Championships, in Baden, from August 28-30.
