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09/10/2024 | Latest news | Reports

Roundnet World Championships 2024 in London: A milestone for roundnet sport

@University Sport

The Roundnet World Championship 2024 in London represented a significant step for the growing Roundnet scene worldwide. With 36 participating countries and around 750 players, this was the biggest event in the history of the young sport. And right in the middle of it all: Theresa Knauf and Fabian Claus from the Roundnet Raccoons in Kassel. Theresa Knauf was nominated for the women's team, while Fabian Claus was nominated for the men's team and also as captain. For both of them, the dream of playing for Germany and competing in a global competition came true once again. Etienne Prison, who also plays for the Roundnet Raccoons, was also asked to accompany the German team as a physiotherapist.

The competitions

The World Championships were divided into five different competitions: singles for men, women and mixed as well as team competitions for men's and women's teams, each consisting of five duels.

Successes in the singles

Thursday was dominated by the singles competitions. Lukas Eisenträger and Paul Siemer caused a huge surprise when they secured the world championship title in the men's doubles. The Stadler sisters also delivered a strong performance in the women's doubles and secured second place. This overall performance sent the 150 German fans who had traveled with them into ecstasy. The atmosphere was exuberant and the successes were celebrated late into the evening.

Team competitions

The group phase of the team competitions then began on Friday. Both the German men's and women's teams went into the knockout rounds unbeaten, which was a promising starting position for the weekend.

In the women's quarter-finals on Saturday, Germany came out on top against Canada in a thrilling encounter and went on to win against Austria. This secured the women a place in the final on Sunday. There, they awaited the previously dominant US team. Although Knauf and her partner won their match, it was not enough for the German team to win overall, as the other four games were narrowly lost. Nevertheless, second place in the team competition is an outstanding success and the German women can proudly call themselves runners-up.

Things also went well for the men at first. The men's team, including Fabian Claus, won all five games against Austria in the quarter-finals. However, a tough opponent awaited them in the semi-finals, the USA, who ultimately prevailed 4:1 and qualified for the final against Canada. Despite the disappointment, the German team showed fighting spirit and won the bronze medal in the match for third place against Switzerland with a clear 5:0 victory. This means that the German men's team is still the undisputed best team in Europe and was able to repeat its performance from the last World Championships.

A review by Fabian Claus

"If you imagine that in 2018 we were still standing here at the University of Kassel's University Sports Center with 3 nets and could barely play a ball onto the net, it's remarkable where we are today. That the sport has now been able to host its second World Championships and bring together so many people from Europe and all over the world.

I would never have thought that possible back then. But to be honest, I'm also incredibly grateful for the people who supported us from home and the German audience in London, as well as the German association (Roundnet Germany), which does really outstanding work in Germany and was also able to support us financially.

So I can only recommend everyone to take a closer look at this sport at the University of Kassel or to go to one of the many German tournaments. You certainly won't regret it!"

 

Link to the courses: EINRICHTUNG - Course program (uni-kassel.de)

Link to the tournaments of Roundnet Germany: RG Playerzone (roundnetgermany.de)