What’s new from the HYLO® Sports family
Some of our #hyloathletes have been very active and competing in their disciplines over the past week. We take a look back at the last seven days’ events and competitions featuring our athletes, teams and clubs.
Saarlouis Hornets secure a playoff place after an impressive sweep!
The Saarlouis Hornets have secured a place in the playoffs thanks to a double victory on Saturday (6 July 2024) and Darmstadt suffering a loss. With second place in the Bundesliga Süd-West firmly in their grasp, the Hornets now have their sights set on other potential victories in order to finish the season at the top of the pile.
In Saturday’s double-header away game against the Heidelberg Hedgehogs, the Saarland team once again demonstrated their strengths. The offensive side dominated right from the start of the first game, bringing in countless runs. Peter Mick, who was the starting pitcher for the game, put in a magnificent performance right through to the final inning, when Benjamin Klein took over to secure a 3:15 win for the Hornets.
The second game was evenly matched for a long time, until Yannick Petry set things in action with a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Pitcher Jay Bueche kept their opponents perfectly in check with a complete game, and the Hornets ultimately gained another three runs for a final score of 6:0.
With the season finale in sight, the Hornets are looking forward to exciting home games against Mainz and Darmstadt. First off, next weekend the Hornets will be heading to France for an away game that is sure to be exciting.
It will be a thrilling end to the season, and we cannot wait to see how far the Saarland team’s impressive journey will go.
Team Bike Aid at the Sibiu Cycling Tour 2024: progress report
The Sibiu Cycling Tour 2024 (UCI 2.1) in Romania, which began on 6 July, is currently in full swing, and Team BIKE AID – consisting of Dawit Yemane, Antoine Berlin, Vinzent Dorn, Pirmin Eisenbarth, Anton Lennemann and Anton Schiffer – have put in a solid performance thus far.
This is the Saarland team’s ninth time on this Tour. According to team manager Matthias Schnappka, the race has grown and become very big since its beginnings when the team first took part:
Holding our own against strong teams from the World Tour and Pro Continental Teams is a challenge.
Despite this strong competition, the team has done well so far in Transylvania, and is one of the few Continental Teams able to keep pace. After three days, the Saarland team is in ninth place in the team rankings, and is seeking to defend this top-ten position right through to the finish line on Tuesday (9 July).
In yesterday’s climbing stage at over 2,000 m at Balea Lake with temperatures far above the 30 degree mark, Dawit Yemane once again finished strongly in the top twenty. The fourth and final stage will be in in Hermannstadt (Sibiu) and cover a distance of 195 km.
We would like to wish Team BIKE AID a successful end to the Tour through the Carpathians.
Svenja Thoes puts in strong performance at Challenge Roth 2024
Saarland triathlete Svenja Thoes performed remarkably well at Challenge Roth 2024 on Sunday (7 July 2024). Despite strong competition from the best triathletes in the world and some challenging conditions, she managed a respectable twelfth place.
Challenge Roth is more than just a race – it is a test of endurance and resilience, willpower and stamina. Athletes tackled the challenge of a 3.8-kilometre swim in the Main-Danube Canal, a 180-kilometre cycle and a 42.2-kilometre run.
The swim went perfectly for Svenja, and she emerged from the water in the leading group. Svenja then used up a lot of reserves on the cycling section. She lost a lot of energy with frequent overtaking manoeuvres to avoid the risk of being disqualified by the race rangers for ‘slipstreaming’.
In the final run section, her energy levels were so low that she could no longer attack the leading group on this particular day. However, that was not Svenja‘s goal for this season highlight. Despite the challenges, Svenja’s strong willpower and huge ambition put her in the top 15, an excellent result for her current training level.
Challenge Roth is another step forward for Svenja towards the season’s climax in September, the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice. We cannot wait to see how things develop and are excited for the next stages. Svenja Thoes will be lining up at the Triathlon de l’Alpe d’Huez in France on 25 July.
Anita Raguwaran nominated for Paralympics 2024
There was huge excitement for Saarland’s boccia players last week. After St. Ingbert native Boris Nicolai had already gained a nomination for the upcoming Paralympics in Paris, at the beginning of the week, Saarland player Anita Raguwaran received confirmation from the World Boccia federation that she had also qualified for the individual boccia competition.
The assistant radiologist’s strong recent performances (in June she won the bronze medal in the BC4 class individual event at the Boccia World Cup in São Paulo, Brazil) earned the 24-year-old a wild card from the global federation, making her the second German to be lining up in Paris in 2024.
Anita becomes the first German woman to compete in boccia at the Paralympics. She will travel to Paris with Team Germany alongside Boris Nicolai, who was the first German boccia player to receive this honour by competing at the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
We are looking forward to upcoming appearances from our #hyloathletes and wish all of our HYLO® partners much luck and success.