1st World cup Championships 2006 in India

The 1st Ring Tennis World Championships 2006 took place from November 6th to 10th, 2006 in Chennai (India) and were organized by the World Tenniquoits Federation (WTF for short). The host was the Tennikoit Federation of India . The tournament consisted of a single World Championship for women and men, the team World Championship and an (unofficial) double World Championship for women and men, which were officially organized as exhibition matches . The event was broadcast live on Indian television for four days for a total of 32 hours.

The Nadia Comaneci Indoor Stadium.

The venue for the first ring tennis world championship was the Nadia Comăneci Indoor Stadium on the premises of the Velammal International School in Ponneri , a suburb of Chennai , which is about 40 km outside. The Velammal International School is an institution of the Velammal Educational Trust . The chairman of this organization is MV Muthuramalingam.

Six playing fields were prepared in the Nadia Comaneci Indoor Stadium, one of which was the Center Court. The live television broadcasts were made from this Center Court. Unfortunately, there are no official attendance figures, but the Indian side said there were up to 5000 viewers. Before the decisive team meeting between Germany and South Africa, three playing fields were even dismantled to make space for additional chairs.

Participating nations 

Six nations took part in the first world championship in ring tennis.

• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Germany
• India
• Pakistan
• South Africa

Two members of the WTF did not take part in the World Cup.

• Nepal
• New Zealand

Membership in the World Tenniquoits Federation is a prerequisite for participating in a world championship in ring tennis . Each member nation may register a team of 5 women and 5 men for the team world championships and 4 women and 4 men for the individual world championships. Three of the four players who start at the individual World Cup must also be a member of the team. I. E. a player who only starts in the individual World Cup is the sixth member of the team and thus a reserve player. The maximum size of the entire team is therefore limited to 12 players.

German team 

The German national ring tennis team at the opening ceremony for the 2006 World Cup.

The German World Cup team was nominated by national coach Mario Müller from Hamburg on April 30, 2006 as part of the crown tournament in Siegen and looked like this:

Tournament 

Single Men’s World Championship 

Individual World Cup in front of a large backdrop.

The men’s individual World Cup was won, very unexpectedly, by the German Dominic Schubardt , who defeated the top seeded South African Gerrie Craig in the semifinals and then prevailed against his teammate Timo Hufnagel in the final . There was a total of 20 players, the winner was determined in knockout mode.

Final ranking 

Individual World Championships Women  

Game scene from the women’s singles.

At the women’s individual World Cup, after a purely German semi-final, the German number 1, Sabrina Westphal , prevailed as expected in the final against the only 18-year-old Nicole Schellert . The top seeded Indian K. Narayanamma was eliminated in the round of 16 against the later fourth Vera Vollhase . There was a total of 18 players, the winner was determined in knockout mode.

Final ranking 

Doubles competitions  

Game scene from the men’s doubles.

The doubles competitions were officially held as exhibition matches in order to be able to present additional attractive games to the television viewers, but are also viewed as unofficial doubles world championships. As in the individual competitions, the German team dominated the event. Nicole Schellert and Silke von Aschwege won in the women’s category, ahead of Vera Vollhase and Melanie Böttcher , while the men’s Dominic Schubardt and Maximilian Speicher beat the favored South African doubles Gerrie Craig and Bertus le Roux in the final .

Team World Cup  

Game scene from the decisive encounter between Germany and South Africa. 

The victorious German national ring tennis team.

At the Team World Cup, the teams from Bangladesh, Brazil and Pakistan started out of competition because they were unable to provide a complete team of at least four women and four men, which is necessary for official participation. The Bangladesh team only had three women available because one player was canceled at short notice, while Brazil provided an all-women team and Pakistan an all-men team. Thus only India, South Africa and Germany remained in the official rating, which the German team was able to win in a convincing manner. The winner of the team world championship was determined in the mode everyone against everyone.

A national team meeting consists of 2 women and 2 men singles (DE, HE), 2 mixed doubles (Mix) and 2 women and men doubles (DD, HD).

India against Germany 

The encounter between Germany and India turned out to be clearer than expected. The Indian team had improved compared to the games of the individual World Cup, but only Sameera Begum was able to win in the second women’s singles against vice world champion Nicole Schellert and thus ensured the only Indian point win of the game. Still, it was no walk in the park for the German team, as some games were more fiercely contested than the result suggests.

India vs South Africa 

Even against the winner of the Triangular Championships 2004, South Africa, the Indians were powerless in the end, although they played well and scored four points more than against Germany. Particularly noteworthy here is the victory of K. Narayanamma against Michelle Kokott , who was second at the 2004 International Masters in Durban . Hein van der Lith was narrowly defeated by his Indian opponents both in mixed with Elsie Dreyer and in doubles with Hanno Pienaar . Otherwise, the South African team played out its routine and won the victory against India safely.

Germany against South Africa 

Due to the big win against India, the German team against South Africa was enough to win the title. In the first two rounds all four singles went to Germany, which meant an 8-0 lead. Both mixed were now won by South Africa, so the decision had to fall in the doubles. Here everything was already clear after the first lap; the German team had the title in their pocket thanks to the 12: 4 intermediate result. Despite the joy of winning, the last two doubles went to Germany with one point difference each.

Final ranking 

Medal table