Jens Schoor
Clinches Dramatic Bundesliga Title For Worms
In one of the
most dramatic finishes in the event's 34-year-history, Black & White RC Worms
beat title-holders Paderborner SC in today's fotobuch.de Squash
Bundesliga final in Germany - German number three Jens Schoor
snatching a vital game in the decider against Paderborner's top-ranked national
Simon Rosner to give Worms an 8-7 victory on games countback at the
Pink Power Squash Centre in Boeblingen.
It took 74
long and hard-fought minutes for Worms to take the early lead when the team's
revitalised No4 Tim Weber beat Paderborn opponent Norman Junge
11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9.
German No2
Raphael Kandra was expected to level the tie against national team-mate
Andre Haschker - but the Worms No3 thrilled his team by taking the opening
game after a tie-break.
With the
opening skirmish out of the way, Kandra then took control of the match to win
10-12, 11-8 11-1, 11-5 for Paderborner and leave the score poised at one-all in
matches and four-all in games.
Then the
teams' top strings took to the court - and the packed crowd was treated to
squash excellence of the highest quality between Englishmen Nick Matthew
and James Willstrop, ranked two and four, respectively, in the world.
Matthew, in
his second season for Worms, was in devastating form. Despite boasting an
unbeaten PSA Tour record against his rival stretching back to 2007, Matthew lost
to Willstrop at the same stage of this event 12 months ago.
Firmly putting
memories of this behind him, Matthew took the first two games 11-6, 11-4 and
built up a 7-0 lead in the third.
Willstrop was
not ready to lie down, however, and pulled back the deficit to nine-all. But
Matthew maintained the pressure to close out the match 11-9.
The straight
games win, however, left Paderborn needing to win the decider 3/0 - not only to
retain the trophy, but to claim the title for a record tenth time.
Rosner, the
seven-time German national champion who has represented Paderborn in every
Bundesliga final since 2006, survived two close first games against Schoor as
the packed crowd became increasingly animated as the climax approached.
Spurred on by
the Worms section of the crowd, underdog Schoor raced to a 4/0 lead in the
third. Rosner pulled back to draw level - but again Schoor dug deep and reeled
off five points in a row before Rosner was able to reply.
Rosner reduced
the deficit by a further point, but a winner from Schoor gave him the
all-important game-ball - and a no let decision against Rosner that followed
clinched the winner for Worms.
"This is our
third title and our second German one," said Worms team manager Michael Zehe
after the joyous festivities died down. "But what makes it really special is
that we won it by beating our great German rivals Paderborn - something which we
haven't done before.
"There were
very close matches - and there was a lot of pressure on Nick to win 3/0.
"And Jens
played really well too. In the past he has been very defensive but today he was
much more confident in his game. But it was tough for Simon too.
"And the Worms
supporters made a lot of noise!"
The outcome
was clearly a blow for Rosner who has enjoyed such a distinguished career, not
only for his home club Paderborn but also for the German national team.
"But Paderborn
can't win everything," said the despondent German number one later.
"I had to be
really focussed in that match - and it's tough to cope with the pressure.
"But he
deserved to win - he played really well and that's the most important point in
the end."
Event promoter
Peter Schmidl was delighted with the two-day event: "We had good drama, a
good final, a good crowd and a good atmosphere.
"And we had
PSA SquashTV streaming all the action to squash enthusiast all over the world.
"The people
who came were happy, and I was happy!"
Final: Black & White RC Worms bt Paderborner SC 2/2
(Worms win 8-7 on games countback) Nick Matthew bt James Willstrop 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 (49m) Jens Schoor lost to Simon Rosner 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, ret. (52m) Andre Haschker lost to Raphael Kandra 12-10, 8-11, 1-11, 5-11
(55m) Tim Weber bt Norman Junge 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 (74m)
Champions Paderborner To Face Black & White Worms In Bundesliga Final
Defending champions
Paderborner SC will be aiming for a record tenth title when they face German
rivals Black & White Worms in Sunday's fotobuch.de Squash Bundesliga
final at the Pink Power Squash Centre in Boeblingen for the second
year in a row.
Paderborner defeated
home team Sport-Insel Stuttgart 3/1 in the first semi-final to celebrate
their 13th appearance in the final - and later Worms beat Squash Inn Hamborn,
also by a 3/1 margin, to earn their third successive appearance in the climax.
Powerful performances
by fourth and third strings Norman Junge and Raphael Kandra gave
Paderborner the perfect start to their campaign. Junge, the 23-year-old German
No7, beat Ben Petzoldt 12-10, 12-10, 11-3 before the national No2 Kandra
despatched Valentin Rapp 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.
A battle between the
third and fourth best players in the world then produced a fightback for
Stuttgart when Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the world No3, beat James
Willstrop 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6. But the Englishman's second-game win in
the 61-minute match was enough to guarantee Paderborner's place in the final.
However, Paderborn star
Simon Rosner, the German number one who has been a central figure in the
club's Bundesliga campaign since 2006, crushed Stuttgart's No2 Moritz Dahmen
11-2, 11-1 in the best-of-three 'dead rubber' to finish the tie on a high.
"Being very
superstitious, I'm very happy to be in the final for the 13th time," said the
Paderborn club team manager Norman Farthing. "Especially considering the
state of our team about a week ago after Simon was forced to withdraw from a PSA
event in Switzerland and we had injury problems with two other members of our
squad.
"I was glad that Simon
did so well in the Grand Slam Cup in Frankfurt earlier in the week as it did his
confidence a power of good.
"But if we play Worms
in the final - which is what I expect - we will have a tough job. They are a
strong team and I think it will go down to the wire."
Peter Schmidl,
manager of the Stuttgart team, said: "I was confident that Greg would win but I
was disappointed by the performance of the other members of my team. I had hoped
for more from them."
Worms went one up in
the second semi when talented left-hander Tim Weber defeated David
Kandra 11-6, 11-5, 11-1.
But a marathon battle
followed, in which veteran Stefan Leifels, a 40-year-old former German
champion, rolled back the years to beat current German international Andre
Haschker 11-8, 13-15, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9 in 96 minutes to bring Squash Inn
Hamborn back into contention.
The underdogs' dream
was short-lived, however, as Nick Matthew - the world No2 from England
making his season debut for Worms - beat national team-mate Daryl Selby
11-9, 11-8, 11-4 to ensure his team's third successive place in the final.
A long-drawn-out
best-of-three dead rubber rounded off the long day when Jens Schoor beat
Rudi Rohrmuller 13-11, 4-11, 11-9.
Leifels, the recent
World O35 Masters runner-up, was understandably delighted with his earlier
performance: "I was really pleased with this result as, with my work and family
commitments, I don't have the chance to train like I used to - so I'm not as fit
as guys who are playing full-time. So under the circumstances, it's probably one
of my best ever wins."
"But this is probably
my last appearance in the premier division of the Bundesliga as the demands are
becoming too difficult to manage alongside my other commitments. I hope I will
be able to find a team in the second division to play with, which will cut down
the travelling."
Worms team manager
Michael Zehe was pleased to be back in the final again: "Stefan played a
clever game to win today, but I am not worried as the pressure will be off Andre
tomorrow when he plays Kandra.
"It's a very important
meeting with our big rivals Paderborn tomorrow though - especially as it will
give Nick an important second match for us this season, which will enable him to
play for us in the next European Club Championships.
"We will need to win at
four - and we will need to win at one!"
Semi-finals:
Paderborner
bt Sport-Insel Stuttgart 3/1 James Willstrop lost to Gregory Gaultier 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 6-11
(61m) Simon Rosner bt Moritz Dahmen 11-2, 11-1 (21m) Raphael Kandra bt Valentin Rapp 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (31m) Norman Junge bt Ben Petzoldt 12-10, 12-10, 11-3 (48m)
Black &
White Worms bt Squash Inn Hamborn 3/1 Nick Matthew bt Daryl Selby 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (53m) Jens Schoor bt Rudi Rohrmuller 13-11, 4-11, 11-9 (41m) Andre Haschker lost to Stefan Leifels 8-11, 15-13, 12-10, 10-12,
9-11 (96m) Tim Weber bt David Kandra 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 (23m)
