Worms & Paderborn To Contest Third Successive Bundesliga Final by Howard Harding May 9, 2014
- Defending champions Black & White RC Worms and former champions
Paderborner SC will contest the third successive fotobuch.de Squash
Bundesliga final after comfortable semi-final wins at Pink Power in
Böblingen, near Stuttgart, today in Germany.
Paderborn, winners of
the title a record nine times since 1999, defeated finals newcomers
Königsbrunner SC 4/0, while in the second semi-final title-holders
Worms despatched home favourites Sport-Insel Stuttgart, champions in
2006, by the same margin.
Appropriately, it was
German number one Simon Rösner who clinched Paderborn a record 16th
appearance in the final when he beat French rival Mathieu Castagnet.
The 26-year-old has
been a central figure in the club's Bundesliga campaign for the past
nine seasons - during which time the team has only once failed to reach
the final.
But the Paderborn
star, ranked 12 in the world, was given a tough time by Castagnet,
ranked 11 places lower. The French underdog took the opening game and
forced the fourth into a tie-break.
But Rosner held his nerve to close out the match 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 in 80 minutes.
"He's one of the biggest fighters in the game - he gets so much back," said Rosner (pictured above) of his opponent later.
"I've been living in
Paderborn for the last ten years now - it's like a family. It's not
just a team I play for, it's much more special."
Memories of last
year's final still hurt: Rosner played the decider in which he had to
win 3/0 in order for Paderborn to retain the trophy. But, leading 2/0,
he dropped the third to lower-ranked compatriot Jens Schoor - causing
the match to be abandoned as arch rivals Worms celebrated victory.
"I'm looking forward
to tomorrow now and really want to get the trophy back. We were very
disappointed last year," continued the eight-time German champion
"For the last three
years I've had to win 3/0 and could not afford to lose a game. What's a
game! It seems so irrelevant when the match is the important thing.
"I just hope my team will be able to win a few more games tomorrow to take that pressure off!"
Earlier Paderborn
fourth string Lennart Osthoff, the German No8, put the former champions
into the lead with an 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 win over Florian Muhlberger -
before second-ranked compatriot Raphael Kandra extended the lead by
beating Simon Vaclahovsky 11-4, 11-4, 11-6.
England's Chris
Simpson followed team-mate Rosner's win by beating 33-year-old Patrick
Scherer 11-6, 11-6 in an 11-minute best-of-three dead rubber to give
Paderborn a 4/0 victory.
The match the packed
Pink Power crowd most wanted to witness was the top string clash in the
second semi-final. Nick Matthew, the world No2 from England, faced
world No1 Gregory Gaultier, the host club's top string from France.
The Englishman was in sparkling form, defeating Gaultier for the second time in three days, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 in 38 minutes.
Matthew is competing
in his third event this week (the second in Germany) in advance of the
British Open - one of the most prestigious championships on the
international circuit - back on home soil next week.
"People have said 'how
can you do this - it's not your usual preparation'," said the
three-time world champion (pictured above). "But for me, it's just a
state of mind.
"You just try and get
the most out of it for next week - you forget what your opponent's
strengths are and just get on and play your game.
"I've played Greg so many times, so it's been nice tonight to get the tactics out of the way and just play to your strengths.
"The difference today
was probably that I was giving it 100% - which was helped by the fact
that we were already 2/0 up - while Greg was probably thinking about
the long drive he has tonight back to Prague.
"I got a lot out of the match - and I hope he got something too.
"In a situation like this, you either commit or not - and I certainly feel I have committed to everything I've done this week.
"As I said, it's not my usual preparation - but who's to say my 'usual preparation' is the right preparation!"
Matthew's victory
followed Worms' wins by Andre Haschker and Tim Weber - German No6
Haschker overcoming 12th-ranked Ben Petzoldt 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6,
and Weber, the country's No5, avenging a shock defeat by Valentin Rapp
earlier in the season to beat the German No10 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 6-11,
11-5 in 72 minutes.
"It was very important for me to win this time as last time I lost 3/2," said left-hander Weber (pictured above).
"I felt good at the
beginning of the match when I led 5-0, but then I let him get back. He
plays on this court every day - it's his home club - so he had that
advantage."
After Matthew's
success, team-mate Jens Schoor, the German No2, defeated Stuttgart's
Moritz Dahmen 11-4, 11-7 in a best-of-three encounter to give Worms
maximum points.
