Pfarrkirchen. The board’s decision to hold the friendly tournament in the “home” gymnasium of the primary school proved, in hindsight, to be absolutely right. The guests from Arnstorf, Eggenfelden and Taufkirchen are familiar with the conditions from many championship matches – and with a field of 8 teams, then playing on four tables, there was an atmospheric mood.
After a welcome to the teams by section head Wilhelm Kolb and the deputy TuS chairman Josef Emmer, the competition could begin. As usual, Gerhard Erl had taken on the tournament management, and friendly helpers, here especially Wigbert Bichlmeer, catered to the numerous guests. A doubles tournament was played, but several players were permitted in one team. After the draw the following two groups emerged:
Group 1: TSV Taufkirchen, TTC Eggenfelden II, Pfarrkirchen I and Pfarrkirchen IV
Group 2: Eggenfelden I, LAC Arnstorf, Pfarrkirchen II and Pfarrkirchen III
(Team numbers purely tournament-related)
Summary of the matches of Group 1:
Here it was very difficult from the outset to identify a favourite for the group win; the teams were at least nominally on a par. In the end the team from Taufkirchen, in the line-up with Manfred Trager and Andreas Bauer, prevailed with 3:0 wins and a set ratio of 11:4, followed by Eggenfelden II, who fielded Thomas Puchinger and Kilian Reiter. Taufkirchen won the match between these two teams 3:2, and with the same result they beat the Pfarrkirchen IV team, where the “Jarzombski family” with father Marius and son Gregor were competing. Taufkirchen’s match against Pfarrkirchen I, which fielded a “mixed team” – Manfred Schille, Walter Fischer, Hannah Mayerhofer, the only woman competing – and the “oldie and old warrior” Otto Mladek as a “surprise guest”, was a clear affair at 5:0.
Second in this group was Eggenfelden II with 2:1 wins and 9:6 sets, winning their matches against Pfarrkirchen I and IV 4:1 and 3:2 respectively. The Pfarrkirchen IV team won the “brother duel” against Pfarrkirchen I unexpectedly clearly at 5:0!
That established the following order: 1st place Taufkirchen, 2nd place Eggenfelden II, 3rd place Pfarrkirchen IV and 4th place Pfarrkirchen I.
Summary of the matches of Group 2
Here it was eagerly awaited how the “young wild ones” of Pfarrkirchen II, in the line-up Elias Hölzl and Marvin Fischer, would fare. But they were also drawn against a young side, that of Eggenfelden I, fielding Moritz Schibalsky and Luca Fechtner. These had already gained great experience in the 2nd district league, and they all know each other from the most varied tournaments.
Also in this group were the teams of Pfarrkirchen III, fielding Peter Wolfrum, Dr. Uwe Neubauer and Armin Siebengartner, and of LAC Arnstorf, fielding Willibald “Willi” Bauer and Andreas Schluttenhofer.
In the “brother duel” between Pfarrkirchen II and Pfarrkirchen III, the young team of Hölzl/Fischer prevailed 3:2 – perhaps somewhat surprisingly; 3 matches were only narrowly decided in the 5th set. Just as close was the match between Pfarrkirchen II and Arnstorf; here too the young players from TuS won 3:2. In the match against Eggenfelden I, however, they had to accept a narrow 1:3 defeat; Moritz Schibalsky could not be beaten here.
Since Eggenfelden I also won its matches against Pfarrkirchen III (narrowly 3:2) and against Arnstorf (convincingly 5:0), the young team took 1st place undefeated with 3:0 wins. Through Arnstorf’s win against Pfarrkirchen III, the following overall standings emerged in this group:
Eggenfelden I 3:0 wins, Pfarrkirchen II 2:1 wins, thus second, followed by Arnstorf with 1:2 wins, then Pfarrkirchen III with 0:3.
Final / placement matches
While the ties were still being played out in the first round, the tournament management, in agreement with the teams, decided that once 3 wins were reached the match was decided.
The match for 7th place was won by Pfarrkirchen III against Pfarrkirchen I 3:1; in the match Arnstorf against Pfarrkirchen IV, Arnstorf prevailed 3:2.
In the match for 3rd place, Pfarrkirchen II and Eggenfelden II faced each other; Marvin Fischer lost here 0:3 against Thomas Puchinger, who is a regular player of Eggenfelden’s 1st team in the 2nd district league. Elias Hölzl won relatively safely 3:0 against Kilian Reiter; then Pfarrkirchen won the doubles, surely decisive for the victory; Marvin Fischer then also won against Reiter, so the two reached 3rd place with 3:1 wins.
The final between the “young team” from Eggenfelden I and the “seasoned team” from Taufkirchen was then eagerly awaited. In the first match Moritz Schibalsky and Manfred Trager faced each other, and – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – Manfred Trager won 3:1 in sets. Moritz had certain difficulties with his opponent’s long pimples, who also used every possible chance to bring his forehand into play decisively.
Andi Bauer then won convincingly against Luca Fechtner 3:0, so that Taufkirchen set course for the tournament victory. This was then finally settled with a 3:1 win in the following doubles, making Taufkirchen the winner of the friendly tournament.
Moritz Schibalski played splendidly as expected but on this day found “his master” in Manfred Trager, who, however, did not remain undefeated either. Elias Hölzl showed his class, as did Thomas Puchinger. Uwe Neubauer, with his experience, won against the young
players Marvin Fischer and Luca Fechtner – Willi Bauer (Arnstorf) too was hard to beat, as were Andreas Bauer from Taufkirchen and Peter Wolfrum from Pfarrkirchen.
The appeal of this tournament was surely the meeting of young, up-and-coming players and very, very seasoned performers. It was noticeable in a positive way that the TTR rule did not apply. A big compliment to all players that, despite great commitment and occasional annoyance over points given away, the matches took place in a fair setting. The TT section’s thanks go especially to the guests from Eggenfelden, Taufkirchen and Arnstorf, but also to the numerous spectators, many of whom have followed the matches of the TT section for years and years, indeed decades!
Afterwards section head Wilhelm Kolb presented the well-earned trophies, certificates and prizes to the teams as well as “various TT anniversary sweets”, among other things in the shape of table tennis bats, to the participants, but also to the many helpers in the hall.
Reinhard Kroll
Deputy BTTV district chairman Willi Bauer (right) also congratulated the winners and those placed: the tournament winner is the team of TSV Taufkirchen, Andreas Bauer and Manfred Trager (3rd and 4th from left) – in 2nd place TTC Eggenfelden II, Luca Fechtner and Moritz Schibalsky (1st and 2nd from left) – in 3rd place TuS 1860 Pfarrkirchen II, Elias Hölzl and Marvin Fischer (3rd and 2nd from right). Photo: Kolb
Photos
