Double success for BC Bischmisheim – German championship win and European championship hosting
This weekend could hardly have gone any better for BC Bischmisheim. With an outstanding 4-0 win over last year’s winner BC Wipperfeld, on Sunday (30 April 2023) BCB won the final of the 2023 German Badminton Championships in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at the Joachim-Deckarm-Halle in Saarbrücken. The Saarlanders’ joy was then further boosted by the announcement that Saarbrücken had been selected as the venue for the next European individual badminton championships in 2024.
For the second time (after 2018), BC Bischmisheim hosted the final four tournament to round off the badminton federal league season and crown the new German champion. And just like in 2018, they took home the title. This marks the eleventh German championship title for the club.
This year, the perennial championship challenger did not start in their usual position of top favourite: the previous year’s winner and defending champion Wipperfeld had dominated the season, so came to the Saar as table leaders having won both their league games against the Saarbrücken team. After coming third in the league round, BC Bischmisheim had to secure their place in the final four tournament via the quarter final playoffs.
At the semi-final on Saturday (29 April 2023), the BCB team faced league runners-up SV Fun-Ball Dortelweil just like they did in the previous year, and ultimately achieved a 4-1 win after some very exciting, close fights in individual games. The home crowd was enthused and almost on fire, and had some more exciting delights to look forward to the following day. Following 1. BC Wipperfeld’s victory over TV Refrath in the second semi-final, the rerun of last year’s final was set.
In the sold-out Joachim-Deckarm-Halle with over 800 spectators, BC Bischmisheim put on a magnificent performance at their home final on Sunday. To a delighted crowd who vociferously urged the team on and served as a twelfth team member, the Saarland players blew the reigning champions from Bergische Land away with a score of 4-0. This unexpectedly resounding victory began with the first men’s doubles, when Ruben Jille and Johannes Pistorius were able to gain a surprise win over European champions Mark Lamsfuß and Marvin Seidel after coming back from two sets down to prevail in five sets. Once BCB also took the upper hand in the women’s doubles and the second men’s singles, Dutch player Mark Caljouw achieved the fourth point needed with an exciting five-set win in the first men’s singles. Revenge for their narrow defeat in the previous year was complete, and the 2023 German champions are BC Bischmisheim once again. Congratulations on this exceptional team performance.
The club officials’ delight at adding another trophy to their collection and the perfect performance throughout the entire final four tournament weekend was then rounded off by the wonderful news from Saarland’s Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger, who was at the final: BC BIschmisheim had been selected by Badminton Europe to host the European individual championships in 2024. This means that a major badminton event is returning to Germany after a wait of 42 years. The 2024 European individual championships are a very important, special tournament, as they are the last opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Europe does not have many clubs able to meet Badminton Europe’s high requirements for hosting its top events. With its repeated hosting of the final four tournament and the annual HYLO®Open, BC Bischmisheim has demonstrated time and again that it can successfully organise large-scale events of this kind.
We would like to congratulate BC Bischmisheim on this hugely successful championship weekend and look forward to sharing other exciting moments in the near and distant future.