KIT table tennis team asserts itself in Europe

With the runner-up title at the DHM last year, the KIT team secured a starting place in the title fights for the most important table tennis student tournament in Europe. The five players who competed for our team were Fabian Rieger, Jan Müller, Julian Beisecker, Julian Bühler and Patrick Urbanek, all of whom had already gained experience in numerous qualifying and final round matches at the German University Championships.
After a one-day stay in the cultural stronghold of Istanbul, the group traveled by bus to the coastal city of Zonguldak together with the head of discipline of the German University Sports Association (adh) and former chairman in Karlsruhe, Oliver Jetter, as well as 20 other German athletes from Darmstadt, Landau/Koblenz, Mainz, Münster and Ulm. All of the tournament participants enjoyed a stay in a 5-star hotel right by the sea in order to optimally prepare for the competitions.
At the opening ceremony on the campus of the university adjacent to the hotel, the participants were welcomed by the officials of the EUSA, the organizing university and the mayor of Zonguldak. This ceremony gave the athletes the opportunity to present the German outfits provided by the adh.

The tournament began in the team competition with a group phase, whereby the individual matches were played in Champions League mode, i.e. in a maximum of 5 singles matches. Our team's opponents were the top-seeded Russians, led by world number 40 Kirill Skachkov, and the strong Turkish team, which was also made up of national players. After this somewhat unfortunate draw, expectations were correspondingly low, which was reflected in two 3:0 defeats. Nevertheless, our team sold itself dearly, for example Fabian Rieger was able to win two sets against the number 3 of the Turkish senior national team. As a result, the team ended up in the round of the 3rd and 4th placed players, who played off for places 9 - 16 on the following day.
The second day of the tournament was much more successful for the team from Karlsruhe, although the draw with the 2nd Polish team was again a big challenge. Our team was initially on the losing end of a 0:1 and 0:2 set deficit, but Jan Müller was able to turn the game around and Fabian Rieger and Julian Beisecker then contributed the last two points. With this hard-fought 3:2 success, our players had finally found their way into the tournament and now faced the Swiss team from Geneva. However, they did not have much to offer the Karlsruhe team and so the KIT athletes moved into the match for 9th place with a 3:0 win and 9:0 sets. There they faced the team from TU Darmstadt, who surprisingly had not taken one of the first two places in the group despite their nominal strength. In this German-German duel, Darmstadt initially took a 2:0 lead before Jan Müller turned things around again and kept the team in the match with a secure 3:1 win. This was followed by Julian Beisecker's finest hour, who outclassed his opponent, who was successful in the 2nd Bundesliga last season, 3:0. In the decisive 5th game, Julian Bühler was beaten 1:3 by the number 1 from Darmstadt after a good match, resulting in 10th place at the end of the team competition. After a somewhat unfortunate first day of the tournament and a significant improvement on the second day, the team led by captain Jan Müller could definitely be satisfied with this result.

The doubles competition was on the program the next morning, in which one of the Karlsruhe doubles caused quite a stir. While Urbanek/Beisecker had to bow out in the first round against the top French doubles pairing, Rieger/Müller had a bye and were able to relax and watch the matches in the first round. In the round of 16, they then faced the favored doubles team from Darmstadt, which featured two top-class players in Oehlmann and Mostowys. However, Müller and Rieger delivered a great performance and gave their German opponents no chance with their concentrated and tactically clever play. After this surprisingly dominant 3:0 victory, the Karlsruhe duo sensationally advanced to the quarter-finals and were the last German team to be ranked among the top 8 doubles teams in Europe. In the subsequent quarter-final, the pair then faced two players from the University of Orenburg, who play in the first Russian league. This made the task much more difficult than in the previous round and the Russian professionals initially lived up to their role as favorites with a 2:0 set lead. However, Rieger/Müller then hit top form and were able to hold their own against the Russians in a high-class match. They won the next two sets and were celebrated frenetically by the entire German delegation. The 5th set ultimately had to decide the match and here, too, the Karlsruhe team was on a par with the Russians. With the crowd behind them, our players were able to keep up until the score was 10:10 before the two professionals secured the medal with two points in a row. Although Rieger and Müller were narrowly defeated and their dream of a medal at the European Championships was dashed, the top doubles team from Karlsruhe received a lot of recognition for an outstanding match that the two players will not forget in a hurry.

The singles competition concluded the sporting part of the event and Fabian Rieger once again excelled here. While Patrick Urbanek and Julian Bühler were defeated 0:3 by their Russian and Slovenian opponents respectively, Julian Beisecker (1:3) and Jan Müller (2:3) were able to deliver great matches to their Turkish opponents with good performances. Only Fabian Rieger was able to make it through to the round of 16 with a walk-through in the first round and a strong performance (3:1) in the second round. There he faced a Polish player from the team that won the team competition. The brilliant Karlsruhe player was at least on a par in a thrilling duel, but in the end, as in the doubles, the favorite won, so that the Karlsruhe player had to congratulate his opponent after the 1:3.
However, an afternoon on the beach in glorious sunshine, recovery from the stress of the tournament in the hotel's wellness area, the final players' party and the brilliant mood of all the athletes meant that there was never any gloom over missed opportunities. On the contrary, the team spirit among the German teams as well as the entertaining evenings with players from all nations made the week an unforgettable experience for all participants.