Sun 24th, Day THREE:
Day Three at
TSC Heuchelhof and it's semi-finals day ...
[3] Jens Schoor 3-2 [2] Raphael
Kandra
11/8, 3/11, 11/8, 9/11, 12/10 (87m)
[1] Simon Rosner 3-0 [5] Valentin Rapp
11/1, 11/4, 11/3 (31m)
[5] Sina Wall 3-0 [1] Franziska Hennes
11/4, 11/9, 11/9 (30m)
[2] Annika Wiese 3-0 [6] Silvia Schnellrieder
11/9, 11/0, 11/4 (21m)
Jens wins thriller to reach final
 The
first men's semis was a real thriller, as second and third seeds
Raphael Kandra and Jens Schoor battled it out for almost an hour
and a half.
In the first three games one or the other was in charge, with
Schoor taking the first and third, Kandra the second - although
Jens made him sweat, almost pegging back a 6-0 and 7-2 lead.
 At
7-4 in the fourth - on a very harsh stroke, I have to say - Jens
looked to be closing in on the final, but as the tough rallies
continued a fired up Raphael fought back to lead 9-8 before
taking it 11-9 with a loud "C'mon!" as he levelled again.
 There
was nothing to separate them in the decider, the rallies more
patient now as they both waited for openings. At 9-all Raphael
though he had a match ball as Jens' dropshot was called down,
but a let was played.
 Jens
got a match ball at 10-9 as Raphael scuffed a drive, but Jens
then volleyed into the tin for 10-all. A drop into the tin gave
Jens a second chance, and in the next rally he drove the ball
deep into the corner giving Raphael no chance of returning -
Jens was in the final.
"That's one of my bigger wins in the last few months," said
Jens, "but this one was special because it's the Nationals.
 "We
both had spells where we were in control, he played well in the
second but I got it back in the third, but it was a tough match
with many hard rallies and lots of difficult decisions for the
referees, who I think did well overall, to make.
"It's normally very close between us, maybe a couple of years
ago I won most but he's been winning more recently so I really
wanted to win to to get to the final, to show I was still there,
and that I'm at least as good a number two for the national
team."
Rosner returns to final
 Top
seed and eight-time defending champion Simon Rosner returned to
the final with a straight-game win over Valentin Rapp.
The result was never in doubt, although the youngster gave his
all and forced the world number seven to work hard in each game
- even in the 11-1 first there were a number of tough,
entertaining rallies, mostly won by Rosner of course.
 "It
was a good match, he's had some great results and is knocking on
the door of the national team," said Rosner. "Patrick [Gassler]
is doing a great job in Stuttgart producing a lot of new talent,
we need more like that in Germany.
"The score doesn't really reflect the standard of the match, we
had some really hard rallies, so it's good to get a match like
that before tomorrow's final."
Sina dethrones Franziska
 The
first semi-final of the day pitted defending champion Franziska
Hennes against her predecessor Sina Wall in a repeat of last
year's final and what many thought would be the final had Sina's
ranking not dropped through injury.
Both started nervously with errors dominating the first game.
Sina took a 4-1 lead but was pegged back to 4-5 before taking
six points in a row to take the lead 11-4.
 The
second was close all the way as both started to find their game
and the rallies lengthened. Sina was always a point or two
ahead, but was caught again at 9-all.
A return of serve boast brought up game ball and a final long
rally ended with a Hennes tin for 2-0 to Sina.
 Sina
controlled the start of the third, pinning Franziska deep into
the backhand corner to force errors or weak returns, and at 7-0
it looked all over.
To her credit Franziska fought back well, got as close as 4-7
and 7-9, but another winning boast and a deep drive from Sina
ended her reign as champion.
"That feels very good," said a delighted Sina. "There was a
lot of pressure on my side, we've had a lot of battles in the
past couple of years, I won most of them except the important
one, last year's final.
"I stuck to my game plan and it was working, but she pushed hard
at the end of the third, I was very relieved to win that one.
"This was my main target for the year, one step closer ..."
Annika takes charge
 No
upsets in the second women's semi as second seed Annika Weisa
from 5-8 down in the first to take charge of her match against
Silvia Schnellreider, yesterday's surprise winner.
 Silvia
was playing well, but Annika started to find the range with her
shots and from 7-9 down she took the next 15 points to take
complete charge of the match, with Silvia unable to make an
impression.
"I was surprised to be down in the first," said Annika, "but
I knew that winning that one was important for the rest of the
match.
 "So
I just tried to do what my coach told me and keep the pace fast,
but she's a very good retriever, it was difficult!
"I was relieved to win the first and that made me relax and play
more confidently in the next two games, and she started making a
few mistakes.
"I lost in the semis last year so it's great to get to my first
final!" |
 
 |
