1. BC Bischmisheim with a two-day home season kick-off for the Bundesliga
This weekend, the reigning German badminton champions will be playing their first home games of the new 2023/24 Bundesliga season
1. BCB successfully launched its 2023/24 Badminton Bundesliga season with two away wins. On 23 September 2023, the Saarlanders managed 6:1 against Blau-Weiss Wittorf. Three days later, on 26 September 2023, the second game against 1. BC Beuel also resulted in a 5:2 win.
With two matches this weekend, the defending champions will be playing their first games in front of a home crowd. On Saturday (7 October 2023) from 4:30 p.m., the BCB team will face SG Schorndorf in Saarbrücken’s Joachim-Deckarm-Halle. Then on Sunday (8 October 2023) from 2 p.m., the eleven-time German champions will be welcoming TSV Neuhausen-Nymphenburg.
The first home game will also see Marvin Seidel’s return to Saarbrücken after a two year break: the Saarland local and 2022 European doubles champion (with Mark Lamsfuß) is returning to his old stomping ground after a brief stint with league competitors Wipperfeld, and will be serving once again for the Saarland team.
After rounding off the last badminton Bundesliga season with triumph at the final four tournament on their home court, the Saarland team’s goals are clear. They will be aiming to defend their title and in doing so gain title number twelve, although this task will be all the more difficult during the upcoming season. In the Wipperfeld team, who have been their final opponents in the past two years, and the Dortelweil team with their strong new arrivals, there will be at least two more title chasers looking for opportunities with strong, broad-based squads.
Team composition will be especially important during this season: the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris are casting their shadow on the Badminton Bundesliga. For elite and national players, alongside club games in the Bundesliga, until the end of April next year their focus will also primarily be on qualifying for the Olympics. This requires them to gain world ranking points at international tournaments in order to secure the sought-after ticket to Paris. An opportunity for this will come at the end of October (31/10/2023 – 05/11/2023) in the form of a home tournament, the HYLO® Open in the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken. The end of April 2024 will then represent the climax for national squad athletes, when the European individual championships are being held in Saarland’s state capital for the first time.
The Bischmisheim team are likely to have a top lineup for the upcoming pair of matches, and in addition to returning player Seidel will also have national players Isabel Lohau and Linda Efler available. We wish BCB a successful home start to the new Badminton Bundesliga season and all the best for the rest of the year.