Friday, 6th of March
With a 2-0 defeat of Portugal the Netherlands started successfully into round robin stage 2. So the Dutch kept their chances of a late quarter-final place alive. Basis for their success was the win of Jean van Erp against Manuel Oliveira by 15-10, 15-8. His team mate Jean-Paul de Bruijn had also won his first set against Rui Manuel Costa by 15-8, but then the Portuguese made it all square with a 15-9. In the decider de Bruijn managed to clinch victory with a hard fought 15-13 and thus secured two important points for his team.
In he other group Greece and Turkey started off with a 1-1. Both teams also could not be separated by their 3-3 set balance. While Tayfun Tasdemir won for Turkey and also made a new highest run of the event with 12 points Kostas Antonatos celebrated his first ever victory at Viersen.
Two more galeries are available now: galery 2 and galery 3.
In flight E Spain just managed to move ahead of Japan in the group standings thanks to a 2-0 aainst Switzerland. After that the Spanish team was equal on points and sets with Japan, but just had the better average. Daniel Sanchez laid ground for the Spanish success with a 15-3 and 15-10 (5 and 12 innings) versus René Hendriksen. His team mate Ruben Legazpi had to fear in the first set, which he only won 15-13 against Torsten Danielson, but in the second set he was never in danger, winning it 15-8.
At the same time Turkey beat Montenegro also 2-0 and secured the runner-up spot in flight F behind Denmark. Tayfun Tasdemir and Lüfti Cenet defeated Milan Nedovic and Danilo Brajovic in straight sets, leaving their opponents on an aggregate score of only 22 cannons. Besides Spain defending champion Sweden, Denmark, Korea, France and host team Germany qualified directly for the quarter-final stage. In round robin stage two Japan, Portugal and the Netherlands battle on spot out in flight G while for Belgium, Turkey and Greece one more quarter-final spot is at stake in flight H.
5 pm: Germany reaches Quarter-final directly
Host team Germany has qualified directly for the quarter-final of the 20th World Team Championship in Viersen. After their 2-0 win against Greece the Germans are qualified for the last eight as winners of their flight. Christian Rudolph quickly secured German success in 12 and 7 innings against Kostas Antonatos; The Greek only had an aggregate score of six points. Martin Horn had to fight more against Kostas Papakostantinou after losing the close second set by 13-15. But in the decider the German Champion kept the unbeaten record for his team by 15-8 in six innings.
In the meantime Belgium rescued itself into round robin stage two behind winner France with a 1-1 against Vietnam. Roland Forthomme secured the vital points for Belgium with a 15-1, 15-5 against Ngo Dinh Nai. Duong Anh Vu caused a major upset by beating former World Champion Eddy Merckx by 15-13, 15-8; but despite this shock win the World Championship now is finished for Vietnam.
3 pm: Netherlands jitter into Round Robin Stage 2
The Dutch team had to beat Egypt to keep its hopes alive. It would have been a great disappointment for the Netherlands to finish bottom of their flight behind Korea and Egypt. Jean van Erp kept his team on the road by beating Ihab El-Messery clearly 15-3, 15-9 in 7 and 12 innings. On the other table Jean-Paul de Bruijn won a tough first set after nailbiting 17 innings. But in the second set Sameh Sidhom managed to ge a run of 10 at a score of 4-5. He needed three setballs but he made it all square. But in the decider young Sidhom had to pay tribute to the pressure; de Bruijn won by 15-8 and secured a second chance for the Netherlands in round robin stage 2, where the runner-up teams of the six flights fight for two more quarter-finale places.
In the other match Sweden sent home Austria with a 2-0, showing again a good performance. In the first set Andreas Efler gave Torbjörn Blomdahl a real fight; the Swede only snatched it by 15-12 in 10 innings. In the second set Blomdahl proved to be a real champion, winning it 15-3. Andreas Kronlachner hat clinched the first set on the other table by 15-13, but then Michael Nilsson again showed his nerves like steel. With 15-8 and 15-11 he secured the Swedish win and kept his team on track for a fifth title in a row.
1 pm: Quick Start into Day Two
After only 80 minutes the first two matches of day two of the World Team Championship were finished. On all four table matches were finished after two straight sets. Denmark started yesterday without conceding a set, and today they offered a whitewash also to Turkey. Nelin only needed 4 and 14 innings to beat Tasdemir. Carlsen had won his first set versus Lüfti only after 19 visits to the table, but in set two he found his form back and won in six innings.
Spain and Japan drew 1-1-. In a clash of two former world champions
Daniel Sanchez lost to Ryuju Umeda by 12-15 and 8-15. Ruben Legazpi
equalled for Spain by winning both sets against Tsuyoshi Suzuki
with a 15-5 score line. Spain must not lose now a single set in
their last round robin match against Switzerland to stay ahead
of Japan. If they concede one set they have to look for their
second chance in round robin stage two, where the six runner-up
teams of stage one fight for two more quarter-final spots.