2008-01-06
Gothenburg's Regional Championships 2008
Niclas Larsson wins his first Regional Championship
Nils Börjesson wins the B-Class
Jonas Landhage wins the C-Class
–
class
B report
Introduction
and round one
16
players were signed up for class B in the 2008 regional championships, among
which we could find most of the players who have been frequently competing in
the Top 20 competitions lately. However, due to an injury of a class A player,
first seeded Per Hedlund had to move up to class A; and since Martin Davidsson
did not show up, there were only 14 players in the class ready for play. Instead
of letting Torbjörn Larsson – who was supposed to meet first seeded Hedlund
– and 7th seeded Johan Hagelqvist – who was supposed to meet Davidsson –
start with walk-over games, they were decided to meet (leaving an empty spot at
the bottom of the match scheme). As it turned out, this was not at all a good
thing for Hagelqvist, since Larsson, despite his ranking, is a very skilful
player, especially in badminton and squash. Although winning the table-tennis
game, Hagelqvist suffered badly in the following two events in which Larsson in
principle finished the game. By that, one of the favourites beforehand was out.
With
Hedlund moved up to class A, the four top seeded players were Martin Ahlstedt,
Nils Börjesson, Daniel Svensson and Mikael Svensson. Börjesson was required to
win 12 tennis points against Lars Winnberg, Daniel needed 6 points in tennis to
defeat Tony Persson and Mikael needed to go all the way in tennis against Magnus
Carlberg. Those targets were fulfilled for all three players, which meant that
players 2-4 on the seeding list was among the top 8. For top seeded Ahlstedt, it
started with a tough game against table tennis expert Thomas Svensson (9-21),
which was followed by an initially tough badminton game. However, at 10-11
Ahlstedt got injured and had to throw in the towel. By that, Thomas who had
gotten the toughest possible opponent in round one, was among the top 8.
Besides
Hagelqvist, the other seeded player who could not defeat his seeding position
was Olof Marzelius, who a bit surprisingly lost against Tomas Karlsson after a
tough tennis game. Finally, 8th seeded Jan Ståhlgren took the
seventh position among the top 8 players after having beaten Conny Johnsson.
Round
two (the top 8 players)
Also
the second round started with some confusion. Since one match in the first round
was empty, there were only seven players among the top 8. There was no one to
meet Torbjörn Larsson. Then, instead of letting Thomas Svensson play against
Jan Ståhlgren, Thomas was moved up to face Torbjörn, while Björn Hagelqvist
entered the competition on a shrimp sandwich (amazingly among the top 8 players)
and was set to play against Ståhlgren.
The
first top 8 match was hence Torbjörn Larsson vs. Thomas Svensson. Thomas
started well off with a solid 21-6 win in table tennis, but then Torbjörn had
his best two sports in which he totally devastated Thomas’s chances of winning,
by scoring 21-5, 21-1.
In
the second top 8 it was once again time for a brothers’ battle between 4th
seeded Mikael and 3rd seeded Daniel Svensson. Before this game, the
brothers had faced one another in the match for third place and in the finals of
the November and December top 20 competitions, respectively – both with Mikael
as winner. Since the brothers are dead even in squash and tennis, while Daniel
is slighty better in table tennis and Mikael is slightly better in badminton,
Daniel needed a very good start to pull the probability of winning closer to 1
(from the prior 0.49). At table tennis practise the very same week Daniel had
won with 21-11, so with such a start he would have been well off. But, as many
times before, Mikael brings out his best table tennis when playing against
Daniel, and took 17 precious points from him (to be compared with 8-21 against
table tennis specialist Carlberg in round one). Daniel was not at all pleased
with this outcome and after the game he said “this is the final time he gets
17 points from me”. Mikael then had a good chance of taking the lead after
badminton, even though an even game was to expect. But as often happens between
the brothers, Mikael took a rather big lead in the middle of the game at a point
where Daniel complained about bad shots. The game ended 21-13 in favour of
Mikael, which meant +4 points after the first two events. Still a bit pissed off
at the badminton result, Daniel suffered badly in the beginning of the squash
game, giving Mikael an 8-2 lead. But after winning the next point and growling
out a primal scream, Daniel was back on track and ready to catch up. From a lead
of 14-7 Mikael lost the following 5 points, and his frustration started to
increase. A few points later Mikael yelled out loud, which was a bit pleasing
for younger brother Daniel to hear. Therefore he played even better and put
himself into a 20-17-lead. With a 21-17 win, it would have been totally even
before tennis, but Daniel gave away three easy points, and then Mikael also took
the final two, giving him a 22-20 win. Instead of even Steven, Mikael was 6
points up, and was therefore very close to victory since the brothers are very
equal in tennis. Thus, without being threatened, Mikael could win the 16 points
needed, ending the tennis match at 16-12 and winning the overall game with 10
points.
The
third quarter final was between Tomas Karlsson and Nils Börjesson, where second
seeded Börjesson could win after 11-1 in tennis. In the final quarter final Jan
Ståhlgren was defeated by Björn Hagelqvist in a tough game.
Round
three
In
the first semi final Torbjörn Larsson and Mikael Svensson met in a game most of
us believed would end with a victory for Torbjörn due to his strong badminton
and squash. Mikael, with higher level of table tennis, was hence forced to get a
good start. 21-4 to Mikael, but would that be enough? He doubted, but surprised
himself by playing at his peak in the following two sports, taking 13 and 11
points.
Before
the tennis game Torbjörn was only one point up! After a true battle Mikael won
by 21-18, and the total game with two points!
In
the second semi final Nils Börjesson defeated Björn Hagelqvist, who won the
table tennis but did not have the energy to put up against Börjesson in the
long run. The tennis game was worth seeing: Very high standard indeed!
In
the third match among the top 8 there was yet another brothers’
competition, where Daniel and Thomas Svensson met. Thomas started off
with a very nice offensive table tennis, where Daniel had to fight to follow,
but in the end Daniel had the strongest will and won the game with 21-15, making
him still undefeated in racketlon table tennis. In badminton it was once again
the same thing – Thomas started off with an excellent play, but eventually
Daniel won with 21-18, which made Thomas a bit furious. In squash it was an even
game up till 10-9 for Daniel, after which he did a sudden jump in points and won
the match with 21-11, whereby he only needed 3 points in tennis to win.
The
final top 8 match was between Tomas Karlsson and Jan Ståhlgren, where 7th
seeded Ståhlgren was the favourite, but where Tomas did a great match which he
ended after 17-17 in tennis. It was mostly his excellent squash game that made
him the winner. Tomas can be proud of his day, beating both Marzelius and Ståhlgren!
Round
four – the final and the fight for the following positions
No
time to rest. Time for the Final: Nils Börjesson and Mikael Svenson started off
with the table tennis result 12-21. In the badminton game Nils gave away some
points (missed serves) and Mikael fought like never before. 21-19 to Nils. Now
the energy level in Mikael´s legs were low (after two true battles in the
quarter- and semi finals), but Nils kept going: 21-11 in the squash game. Börjesson
was three up before the tennis game. 19-9. Not much to say: The best player won
the B-tournament!
In
the bronze fight Björn Hagelqvist was up against Torbjörn Larsson – the king
of Nintendo Wii boxing (which caused him some pain this day). Since the two
players are good in two sports each it was a very uneven match game by game, but
overall it was very even – in the end Torbjörn won by only one point.
Daniel
met Tomas. After a solid 21-5 win in table tennis and 21-15 in badminton, Daniel
was certain of victory. But Tomas played really well in squash and won 21-8. The
tennis game was however in Daniel’s control all the way: 13-2 ended the match.
Thomas
met Ståhlgren, who he has never defeated. But this time it sure looked as if he
would do it after having scored 21-6, 17-21, 11-21 in the first three events.
Playing at his top level, Thomas is a really good tennis player, but this time
it was not at all good, so safe-playing Ståhlgren could win the tennis game
with 21-12, and thus the total match.
Final results
Class B
Rackelon writer:
Daniel Svensson
