Sat 23rd, Day TWO:
Day Two at
TSC Heuchelhof and by the end of it we'll know the
semi-finalists - two rounds of play in the men's draw,
one in the women's ...
Today's Matches:
Men's Last Sixteen -
top eight through to quarters
Women's Quarters - top two to
face unexpected opposition
[1] Franziska Hennes 3-0
[8] Miriam Bagehorn 11/7, 11/3,
11/4 (22m)
[5] Sina Wall 3-0 [4] Sharon Sinclair
14/12, 11/8, 11/8 (32m)
[6] Silvia Schnellrieder 3-1 [3] Nicole Fries 11/8, 13/11, 9/11,
11/5 (35m)
[2] Annika Wiese 3-0 [10] Nele Hatschek
11/6, 11/7, 11/5 (19m)
Men's Quarters -Rapp reaches
first semi-final
[1] Simon Rosner 3-0 [8]
Florian Silbernagl
11/3, 11/0, 11/4 (22m)
[5] Valentin Rapp 3-1 [4] Carsten Schoor 12/10,
5/11, 11/3, 11/9 (62m)
[3] Jens Schoor 3-1 [6] Rudy Rohrmuller 11/5,
12/14, 11/7, 11/4 (44m)
[2] Raphael Kandra 3-1 [7] Lennart Osthoff 11/7, 11/5,
8/11, 11/1 (33m)
Men's Quarters:
Rapp reaches first semi-final
 The
men's quarter-finals in the bottom half of the draw both went to
seeding, although Raphael Kandra and Jens Schoor
both needed four games to see off their opponents.
First up was second seed Kandra, runner-up in the last two
years, who beat Paderborn team-mate
Lennart Osthoff 11/7,
11/5, 8/11, 11/1.
 "We
play each other a lot, so he knows what to do against me and
where to play the ball," said Raphael.
"I know his fitness isn't quite there so I tried to extend the
rallies and make it as hard for him as I could. It worked out in
the end, and I didn't expend too much energy for the semis."
 Schoor
beat Rudy Rohrmuller 11/5, 12/14, 11/7, 11/4 and looked
in charge apart from a really tough second game which featured a
good amount of coming togethers and - from my viewpoint - a few
strange refereeing decisions too.
"The second could have gone either way, so I could have won
3-0, but he played some really good shots in that tiebreak,"
said Jens.
 "It
was a really good match though, and credit to him, he's been
injured and hasn't trained as much as he'd like but played well.
"I've already had matches on the glass court so that worked to
my advantage too.
"We've played some tough matches this season and it's two-all,
but the Nationals is the one you want to win and I really wanted
to keep my record of reaching at least the semi-finals [since
2006] going."
 In
the top half of the draw eight-time defending champion Simon
Rosner finished off the night with a straightforward
11/3, 11/4, 11/0 win over Florian Silbernagl, knowing
that he would face a surprise winner in tomorrow's semi-finals.
"It's so unusual, and such a nice feeling to be playing at
home and not having to travel and live out of Hotels," said
Rosner.
"I feel good, I'm playing well and with the finishing line in
sight I'm feeling comfortable. Hopefully two more days, two more
matches to go.
 Fifth
seed Valentin Rapp was appearing in his first-ever
quarter-final, having finished 10th in the last two years, took
the match to fourth seed Carsten Schoor from the outset.
Rapp, the 22-year-old from Stuttgart, delighted his supporters
on the front row by taking the first game 12/10, and although
Schoor struck back to level it was Rapp who edged ahead again,
retaking the lead 11/9.
In the fourth Rapp earned four match balls at 10-6, and needed
all four of them before he finally drove a ball too deep
for Carsten to retrieve and the celebrations could begin.
 "I
really didn't expect to win." said a delighted Valentin.
"I'm working on my Bachelor thesis for ten hours a day
five days a week and I haven't been able to train as much as I'd
like. Also, I beat Carsten once but he's beaten me 3-0 every
time since that.
"Since this was my first quarter-final it feels great to make it
though to the semis!
"I think the secret was that my friend and I went to a furniture
store this afternoon and tested out a€4,000 bed for a couple of
hours!"
Surprises in
Women's Quarters
While the top two seeds Franziska Hennes and Annika
Wiese made it through to the semis in straight games, both
will face unexpected oppotition in the last four.
 Hennes,
the two-time defending champion, beat Miriam Bagehorn
11/7, 11/3, 11/4 and was happier with today's performance,
having made hard work of yesterday's first round..
"I struggled a bit yesterday," she said, "I wasn't really there
but I played much better today."
 In
the semis she'll face familiar opposition in Sina Wall -
the pair have contested the last two Nationals finals.
Topping the German rankings up until Christmas, Sina missed the
last three ranking events and dropped to number five, so
although her 14/12, 11/8, 11/8 win over fourth seed Sharon
Sinclair was against the seedings, she was the favourite
going into the match.
 "She's
a very good player and she's on the National team," said Sina.
"So I knew it wasn't going to be easy but the pressure was on
her rather than me. Taking the first was crucial and I was happy
to get through in three games."
 Wiese,
who moved into her third consecutive semi-final with a 11/6,
11/7, 11/5 win over yesterday's giantkiller Nele Hatschek,
will bid to reach her first final against Silvia Schnellrieder
 The
sixth seeded Schnellrieder reached her first semi-final by
upsetting upset third-ranked Nicole Fries 11/8, 13/11, 9/11,
11/5 and was delighted with her unexpected win.
 "I've
played Nicole three times before and always lost," admitted
Silvia.
"So to win in my first ever match on a glass court, and in the
quarter-finals of the Nationals, I'm so delighted!"
Men's
Round Two - top eight through
 No
surprises in the first session of the day as the men's top eight
seeds all made their way through to this afternoon's
quarter-finals.
For the most part it was plain sailing, although second seed
Raphael Kandra had a tough match against Johannes Voit,
dropping the second game 12/14 before taking it in four.
 No
surprise that the match between 8th and 9th seeds Florian
Silbernagl and Ben Petzoldt was the closest and
longest match, with Siebernagl edging home 11/9 in the fourth on
a "Kein Let" followed by a "Doppelt", both disputed by his
disappointed opponent.
The draw system (story coming up later) means that Silbernagl's
reward is a match against top seed Simon Rosner in the
quarter-finals.
|
 |
