Christiane Ernst at Senior DM: The fifth set decides twice

At the Senior DM in table tennis, Christiane Ernst competed in all three competitions (singles, mixed, doubles). Twice the decision was made in the fifth set.

Ahrensburg – You can't always win: At the German Senior Table Tennis Championship in Ahrensburg (Schleswig-Holstein), Christiane Ernst did not win a medal in the "age group 45".

For the Weilheimer, who has been playing for TSV Schwabhausen in its regional and Oberliga teams for years, this is not a tragedy: "On the whole, I'm satisfied with my performance." Of course, more and more is possible, "but just the fact that I was able to qualify for the championships again is a success". Last year, Ernst competed in a senior DM for the first time and had sensationally won bronze twice (in doubles and singles) in Völklingen.

Christiane Ernst starts at senior DM in table tennis

Ernst had bought his ticket for this year's national title fights at the Bavarian Championships in Dillingen - with silver in the individual and bronze in the mixed. In the run-up to the DM, she lowered expectations for another DM medals. In a web post by the Bavarian Table Tennis Association, the Weilheimer pointed out: "I changed classes due to age and last year I noticed that the 45 class is stronger than that of the 40s." Ernst was seeded ninth in the individual competition of the Ak 45 this year – compared to third place last year.

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In singles, Christiane Ernst made it to the quarterfinals; she had thus achieved her first goal. In the match against Barbara Wagner (Lower Saxony) she had to admit defeat with 1:3 sets (3:11, 11:4, 11:13, 10:12). In his own words, Ernst needed the first sentence to get used to the environment.

Christiane Ernst reaches quarterfinals in singles

While the preliminary round games had taken place in the adjoining hall, the games of the knockout phase took place in the main hall. There was a lot of activity at numerous tables – around 500 participants had qualified. In the following sets, the Weilheimer was better in the game, "but in the end mine was not consistent enough," she analyzed. In the fourth set, she managed to equalize 3:7 after a 10:10 deficit. However, she was denied a happy ending.

In the knockout round, Ernst was the first of her preliminary round group. A 3-2 win at the start was followed by a 3-2 defeat after a 2-0 set lead. In the last group game, against the strongest player in this group in terms of ranking, Ernst managed a confident performance. With the 3:1 (12:10, 10:12, 11:7, 11:5) over Denise Kleinert, the Weilheimer won the group.

Christiane Ernst/Marcus Taeffner lose in fifth set

Parallel to the individual preliminary round, the mixed competition of the "age group 45" took place. Together with Marcus Taeffner (DJK Altdorf), Ernst had already won bronze at the Bavarian Championships. In the first round at the DM, both also delivered a strong performance and won 3:0 (11:6, 11:9, 11:8). In the second round, Ernst/Taeffner narrowly lost out to the favored duo Jessica Boy (SV Werder Bremen)/Dirk Keller (TSG Kaiserslautern). In long rallies, the Bavarians gained a 2-0 set lead (11-8, 12-10). After losing the third set (9:11), Ernst/Taeffner already had match point in the fourth round, but could not use it. The round was ultimately lost with 12:14. In the fifth set, the Bavarians led several times, but then lost 11:13.

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In doubles, alongside Barbara Seiler (TTC Langweid), a 2:3 defeat (11:3, 7:11, 9:11, 11:4, 7:11) also led to the end. In the duel with the Hamburg-Baden-Württemberg connection Sandra Opitz (SC Poppenbüttel)/Le Ai Trinh Tran (SV Rohrau), Ernst and Seler could not cope with the "supposedly harmless pimple game system" of an opponent. After the first round, it was already over.

In any case, Christiane Ernst has taken a liking to senior title fights. Next year she would like to qualify again at the Bavarian championship for the DM, which will then take place in Hamm (Westphalia). Another goal would be to participate in the World Championships for senior table tennis in Rome.

With the team of TSV Schwabhausen III, Ernst finished fourth (16:16 points) in the Regionalliga Süd last season. The Weilheimer had the most appearances within the team (15) and had a record of 16:14 victories, playing in both the front and back pairs.