The Forstern rain professionals

Created: 08/30/2022, 16:20

Only stopped in the final: Herbert Köhler from Dorfen.

© Robert Tappeiner

Tennis organizer FC Forstern can't be thrown off track by late-night freak weather.

Forstern - "A tournament without rain interruptions would have been boring," joked tournament director Hans Mielach after the unexpected downpour on the final Sunday at around 12.30 p.m.

On Saturday the weather for the 42nd Forstern Seniors Tournament was actually better than expected, but on Sunday the tournament management was once again put to a hard test.

"After we managed the tournament well last year with daily rain showers, the rain won't spoil our mood today either," said chief referee Alex Dittrich soberly during the rain break.

Despite two breaks, ten of the twelve planned finals were completed.

The men's 30 and men's 40 were played last night.

The hard-working helpers spared no effort to make the underwater courts playable again with sponges and rollers.

"As is so often the case, we would like to thank the supporters' associations who, like every year, made the places available to us," stated Mielach.

So "Charly" Eder from SV Hörlkofen was summarily ordered from the kitchen table to the Hörlkofen tennis courts and was allowed to officiate three finals of the main round.

All participants were full of praise for the excellent organization and the fact that even in the event of unplanned rain interruptions, the reaction was always quick and uncomplicated.

The two Dorfen regional league players Rudolf Kiermaier and Herbert Köhler delivered a semi-final thriller.

While Kiermaier was still able to demonstrate his running strength in the first set, he was quickly 1:4 behind in the second round.

After the head referee had to intervene for a short time, the second set went into a tie-break.

Köhler secured this as well as the decisive match tie-break with 10:2 points.

So there was a repeat of last year's final against Paul Stumpf (TC Viechtach), who was number 1 on the seeding list.

With 1:6 and 3:6 points, Köhler once again had to congratulate Stumpf on winning the title.

The Hörlkofen players also shone with considerable success.

Mathilde Gross had to admit defeat in the women's 65 only in the semi-finals of number nine in the German ranking list, Silvia Huber-Obermaier (TB/ASV Regenstauf).

Margit Köckhuber (with tournament director Hans Mielach) made it to the final.

© Tappeiner

Two other women were successful in the secondary round, which, like every year, was offered to the losers of the first competition.

Josefa Remde took first place in the secondary round for women 70 with two clear victories. Margret Köckhuber lost the final of the secondary round for women 65 after a hard fight against Helga Clüsserath-Stock (TSV Unterhaching).

The numerous spectators saw a true Forstern classic in the men's 45 final.

Michael Hauser, who serves for TC Pliening in the regional league, had to deal with Björn Hippenstiel (TC Herzogenaurach).

The two have been taking part in the Forstern tournament since 2017 and have met three times since then.

Before the match, the balance was still in favor of Hippenstiel.

Hauser, currently number 44 in the German rankings, left no doubt in the fourth meeting who was in charge.

Hippenstiel shone with the faster shots, but ultimately had the higher error rate.

When the score was 6:2 and 4:2 for Hauser, Hippenstiel then gave up due to injury.

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The other winners

Women 30: Romina Keck (FC Gundelfingen), Women 50: Liselot Prechtel (SC Riessersee Garmisch-Partenkirchen), Women 55: Karola Thumm (STK Garching), Women 60: Ursula Geiger (TSV Siegsdorf), Women 65: Margot Schnaitter (TSV 1880 Wasserburg), women 70: Marlies Danner (TSV Siegsdorf), men 50: Uli Bengeser (TC Augsburg Siebentisch), men 55: Markus Bart (TC Offenbach), men 60: Norbert Henn (Tennis 65 Eschborn), men 65: Michael Groppl (HTC Schwarz-Weiss Bonn), men 75: Peter Adrigan (Rot-Weiss 69 Karlsdorf eV), men 80: Berthold Landthaler (SG Aulendorf Tennis 1974)