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Our #hyloathletes have been putting in exceptional performances once again this week. We take a look back at the last seven days’ events and competitions featuring our athletes, teams and clubs.
Successful week for the ‘German giant’ in Milton Keynes
Last week, the ‘German giant’ Gabriel Clemens competed in the prestigious Players Championship tournaments 18 and 19 in Milton Keynes in England. Two qualification tournaments were then held in the same venue to round off the Pro Tour week.
In Players Championship no. 18 (21 August 2024), Clemens reached the third round. The Saarland player started strong, defeating Joshua Richardson 6:4. In the second round, he managed a magnificent 6:2 victory over Danny van Trijp. Despite a three-digit average, Clemens then lost to Danny Noppert 6:4 in the third round.
In Players Championship no. 19, a day later on 22 August 2024, Clemens once again demonstrated his skill to reach the last sixteen. This was the second time Gaga has reached the last sixteen this year, but he then lost to Thibault Tricole despite a 5:3 lead. Before this, he put in a strong performance, defeating Graham Usher and Danny van Trijp 6:2 in the first and second rounds. The German pro also showed strong nerve against Alan Soutar, fending off three match darts and still clinching the match 6:5. The Saarland player had some match darts of his own in his closing defeat by French player Tricole.
On Friday (23 August 2024), after the two Pro Tour tournaments in Milton Keynes, Clemens competed in the qualification tournaments for the Czech Darts Open and the World Series of Darts Finals. For the Czech Darts Open, there were ten starting places up for grabs, and Gabriel Clemens managed to qualify. He defeated Andy Baetens, Adam Hunt and Mario Vandenbogaerde to secure a spot in Prague.
Next, eight starting places were available for the World Series of Darts Finals. This invitation tournament will take place next month in Amsterdam. Gabriel Clemens had an exceptional day and put in another magnificent performance in this tournament. After winning a German duel against Daniel Klose, he only conceded a single leg. He defeated Graham Hall 6:1 and won the final against Ritchie Edhouse without dropping any legs at all.
Clemens thus rounded off a successful week with two key qualifications.
Carrie Schreiner scores twice in Zandvoort
At the weekend (23-25 August 2024), Saarland racing driver Carrie Schreiner competed in the fourth round of the F1 Academy in Zandvoort (Netherlands) with the Campos Racing team, supported by Kick Sauber.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the first race on Saturday was delayed to Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. and shortened to 13 laps. Carrie Schreiner secured tenth place and a point in the overall rankings. Carrie Schreiner put in a strong performance in the second race on Sunday and finished in sixth place, gaining another eight points.
Carrie Schreiner was able to gain valuable points this weekend in Zandvoort and further improve her position in the F1 Academy championship. She is currently in tenth place with 18 points.
The next F1 Academy race is on 20 to 22 September in Singapore.
Bike Aid sets the standard at the Deutschland Tour
21 to 25 August 2024 saw the Lidl Deutschland Tour 2024, with its final stage ending in Saarbrücken. The BIKE AID professional team from Saarland was one of just two Continental teams lining up alongside the various World and Pro teams at Germany’s biggest cycling stage race, and attracted a lot of attention.
For this five-day UCI ProSeries stage race, the Saarland team once again sent out a strong squad of young bucks paired with experienced professional cyclists. Dawit Yemane, Anton Schiffer, Antoine Berlin, Oliver Mattheis, Anton Lennemann and Vinzent Dorn were in the saddle for the prologue in Frankfurt, followed by four stages across four states to Saarbrücken.
Anton Lennemann, a young athlete from the internal development team, put in a top performance and won a climbing and sprint classification. The second stage, from Heilbronn to Schwäbisch Gmünd, was then hugely successful for the Saarland team. On a challenging, undulating route, Eritrean Dawit Yemane managed to join the crucial breakaway group, gain climbing points, and take the lead in the climbing rankings. This marked another milestone for the concept behind this special Saarland team.
‘First of all, we are over the moon. A top performance by Anton Lennemann yesterday… And then today our first Deutschland Tour cycling jersey with Dawit Yemane – absolutely awesome’, Matthias Schnapka said.
In the final stage through Saarland on Sunday (25 August 2024), ending in Saarbrücken, the team once again showed off their best side at their home event and spent many kilometres in the lead with Oliver Mattheis in a breakaway group, until shortly before the end, when they were caught up during the last of two laps through the state capital shortly before the finish line.
Although they ultimately just missed out on winning the stage, this Deutschland Tour was still a huge sporting and emotional success for BIKE AID.
SV Elversberg put up a fight but return home from KSC devoid of points
On Friday evening (23 August 2024), SV Elversberg faced Karlsruher SC in a 2. Liga away game. Despite putting up a strong fight and two comebacks, coach Horst Steffen’s team ultimately had to accept a 2:3 defeat. .
The match began in promising style for Elversberg, who put KSC under pressure early on by pressing hard. However, KSC took the lead after quarter of an hour thanks to a goal by Günther. SVE quickly recovered, and Luca Schnellbacher equalised in the 30th minute.
In the second half, Elversberg fell behind a second time when Schleusener scored for KSC in the 48th minute. However, the team showed their nerve and equalised once again with an Asllani goal. Unfortunately, KSC were able to clinch the win with a goal by Wanitzek during the final stages of the game.
Despite the defeat, SV Elversberg put in an impressive performance that has emboldened them for their upcoming matches. Afterwards, coach Horst Steffen emphasised that the team was on a good path and could hold their own in the second division.
Further details can be found in our post-match report.
Saarlouis Hornets out after fighting hard in Stuttgart
On Saturday (24 August 2024), the Saarlouis Hornets faced the Stuttgart Reds 2 for a double-header in the 2. Baseball-Bundesliga Süd playoff quarter-finals in Stuttgart. The first game had to be suspended at 12:12 in the sixth inning last week due to rain on the pitch, and was now due to be continued in Stuttgart.
Game 1: The continuation of the first game was disappointing for the Hornets. Yannik Petry’s defence, which was so strong in Saarlouis, showed weaknesses. After the first Stuttgart run in the sixth inning, others followed in the next inning, meaning that the game came to an early 13:26 end thanks to the mercy rule. Another setback was an injury suffered by David Reichertz, who played on despite the pain.
Game 2: The second game was an equally matched duel with a real battle of the defences. The defenders around pitcher Peter Mick put in an impressive performance. Both teams were fighting for base runs, but a crucial home run by Stuttgart made all the difference. In the last inning, Hornets was just a metre short of hitting the ball over the fence to equalise. Despite one of their best performances of the season, the Saarlouis Hornets had to accept a 0:1 defeat, knocking them out of the playoffs.
Although this defeat was initially painful, the Saarlouis Hornets have had an impressive season and are still one of the top eight southern teams.
1. FCS Tischtennis begin the new season with an away win
On Sunday (25 August 2024), 1. FC Saarbrücken Tischtennis managed a tight 3:2 win against promoted team TTC OE Bad Homburg in their first away game of the 2024/25 Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) season. The Saarbrücken team had to manage without their top stars Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic, who were in the final of the WTT Contender tournament in Lima (Peru).
Kristian Karlsson won the first match against Saarbrücken player Cedric Meissner 3:1 in an exciting duel. Yuto Muramatsu then beat Csaba Andras in an intense five-set match to equalise the score. Saarbrücken player Eduard Ionescu also beat Yuma Tsuboi in five sets. In the fourth singles match of the day, Bad Homburg player Karlsson once again won against Muramatsu, bringing things to 2:2.
The deciding doubles match saw Meissner/Ionescu beat Andras/Tsuboi 3:0 to secure a final 3:2 win for Saarland.
This victory over promoted team Bad Homburg shows the strength of the Champions League winners’ squad, even without their top stars Patrick Franziska and Darko Jorgic. Incidentally, the game between the two club teammates Franziska and Jorgic in Lima went to Slovenian player Jorgic 4:0.
On Saturday (31 August), 1. FCS Tischtennis are starting the new Bundesliga season with their first home game against the team from Bergneustadt.
Tim Hellwig defies heat and a crash at supertri in Chicago
The second stage of the prestigious supertri League took place on Sunday (25 August 2024) in Chicago. The world triathlon elite competed in hot temperatures in this intensive racing format with three back-to-back super-sprints, each consisting of a 300-metre swim, 4-kilometre cycle and 1.6-kilometre run, held in the city on the Chicago River.
Tim Hellwig, the Paris gold medal winner, continued his USA tour with an appearance for the Stars and Stripes Racing team. After a strong forth place at the opening race in Boston, Tim put in another impressive performance in Chicago. Despite a crash during the second lap of the cycling section when he clipped the gravel, he fought his way back into the race and ultimately finished in fifth place.
‘Fortunately, I was able to get back on my bike and close the gap to the leaders, even if it cost me a lot of effort. It was not a perfect race, but I am very happy with the result and my comeback.’
With two USA races behind him, Tim Hellwig is now returning to Germany to prepare for his upcoming challenges. We look forward to seeing Tim in action again in September in a familiar atmosphere. We will report on how that goes as soon as it happens.
Third place for Füchse Berlin at final test before the season begins
Last weekend (24 and 25 August 2024), Füchse Berlin had their final preparatory tournament for the upcoming season in the shape of the SO-TECH CUP. This international tournament with a strong lineup saw them competing at the OWL Arena in Halle (Westphalia) as the second German team alongside THW Kiel, plus current French cup winners HBC Nantes and Hungarian record champions Veszprém HC.
Day 1 – semi-finals: On the first day of this preparatory tournament in the OWL Arena, Füchse Berlin were defeated 32:41 by Hungarian record champions Veszprém HC.
Around 5000 handball fans watched the top-level SO-TECH CUP semi-final. After THW Kiel narrowly beat HBC Nantes 32:31, the Berlin handball players faced Veszprém HC. This lineup will also be repeated in the upcoming Machineseeker EHF Champions League. At half time, Füchse were already 14:20 down. Coach Jaron Siewert summarised the game: ‘The number of attacking errors we made throughout the game was too high. We never really got a proper hold on our defence. Veszprém scored a lot of goals through fast play when we were not properly organised – which is not unusual at this stage of preparations.’
One pleasing element was the return of Max Beneke after his knee operation in June.
Day 2 – mini final: After two intensive tournament days, the capital’s players ended their preparatory tournament with a win and a loss. In the match for third place, the Berlin team emerged victorious in an exciting and dramatic game against HBC Nantes that ended with a penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev managed two saves and Jerry Tollbring converted the deciding penalty.
Tollbring was also the top scorer during the main game, with eleven goals. After 60 minutes, the scoreline stood at 33:33, after Füchse were 16:17 behind at half time. Their defeat by Veszprém the day before still seemed to be having an impact, especially at the start of the game. Nevertheless, strong saves by Milosavljev (15 in total) allowed Füchse to stay one step ahead for a long time.
The game remained evenly matched during the second half. Mathias Gidsel, who was Füchse‘s second best scorer with nine goals, put his team back in the lead shortly before the end, but Nantes equalised eight seconds before the final whistle. Füchse kept their nerve in the penalty shootout to win 5:4.
Things continue for Füchse on 31 August in Düsseldorf against SC Magdeburg as they compete for their first title of the season – the Supercup.
Saarland Hurricanes miss out on playoffs after defeat by Ravensburg
On Saturday (24 August 2024), the Saarland Hurricanes faced the ifm Razorbacks Ravensburg in Weingarten in an erima German Football League (GFL) match. This game was crucial for the Hurricanes’s playoff hopes, but sadly they were unable to make the most of their final theoretical opportunity and lost 12:28.
The Canes were unable to repeat their strong performance in their last home game against the Munich Cowboys. After Ravensburg’s first touchdown, the Hurricanes failed to cross the halfway line, which resulted in another touchdown for Ravensburg. Although Marian Menden managed a touchdown for Saarland in the second quarter, the second half did not go well overall for head coach Jakob Lawrence’s team.
The third quarter began in promising form with a long pass to Spencer Corona, resulting in a touchdown. Nevertheless, the Hurricanes were unable to properly turn things in their favour. In the fourth quarter, it briefly seemed as if the Saarland team would be able to turn the game around, but they ran out of steam. One highlight of the game was a long pass by Connor Kaegi, which immediately resulted in a touchdown for the Canes.
This win secured ifm Razorbacks Ravensburg second place in the table and thus a place in the playoffs. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, were left in sixth place following this defeat, with no hopes of reaching the playoffs. Next up, the Saarland team need to put in a good performance in their final game of the season against the Straubing Spiders.
We are looking forward to upcoming appearances from our #hyloathletes and wish all of our HYLO® partners much luck and success.