MAGDEBURG – The BC Magdeburg team is the proud leader in the German Bundesliga right before the final weekend, with a one-point lead over BC Weywiesen. The title race will be decided in a double header weekend on Sunday afternoon. BC Magdeburg (with Ömer Karakurt as leading player) plays at home against BCC Witten on Saturday and at home against BC Buer on Sunday. The challenger BC Weywiesen (with Blomdahl as nr. 1 player) concludes the season on Saturday against BC Nied away and on Sunday against BC Elversberg away. Magdeburg's narrow lead promises an exciting final weekend. Team manager Markus Schönberg predicts a good chance for his team. "We are hoping for a double victory; then the championship is ours."
BC Magdeburg, which became champion in 2019 with Dick Jaspers, played in the second Bundesliga last year and won all its matches there. A mid-table position was expected this year, but Ömer Karakurt was a formidable leader with 13 victories, and Dion Nelin, Markus Schönhoff, and Hakan Celik also showed an excellent form.
The top spot was at stake on Saturday, April 18, when BC Weywiesen and BC Magdeburg faced each other. The Magdeburg side held a three-match-point lead, but Weywiesen surprised everyone that day with an 8-0 victory. That brought the suspense back. In that top match, Blomdahl defeated Karakurt 50-32 in 18 innings (2.777 average), Roland Forthomme beat Dion Nelin 50-46 in 34, Amir Ibraimov beat Markus Schönhoff 40-27 in 24, and Christian Rudolph beat Hakan Celik 40-27 in 20.
BC International (first player Martin Horn) had already more or less dropped out by that stage and is six points behind the leader now with the final two rounds ahead. The battle is therefore between Magdeburg and Weywiesen.
The team line-ups in the German Bundesliga are somewhat less than in previous years. Many top international players have said goodbye to the Bundesliga. That applies particularly to the second round. Bergisch Gladbach, not far above the relegation zone, played in the final matches with Joey de Kok and Steven van Acker as nr. 1 players, for example, and previously with Glenn Hofman. Tom Löwe was first man at Velberg, Pierre Soumagne at Elversberg, Rui Costa at BC Nied, Simon Blondeel with GT Buer, and Dave Christiani at BCC Witten.
BC Magdeburg defended its top position in the final match against Elfenbein and won away 2-6. Ömer Karakurt secured the decisive victory in a thrilling match with Ronny Lindemann (50-49 in 29 innings). Dion Nelin won against Martin Spoormans and Hakan Celik against Markus Galla. Only Stefan Galla won against Markus Schönhoff.
BC Weywiesen won against BC International 5-3 in that round. In the match on Center Court, Martin Horn was the better of Torbjörn Blomdahl 50-40 in 27 innings, Roland Forthomme defeated Cengiz Karaka 50-28 in 28 innings, and Amir Ibraimov won against Norbert Roestel 40-34 in 34 innings. The draw occurred between Christian Rudolph and Alexander Weiss.
The final matches this weekend:
Saturday May 9:
Elversberg-Elfenbein
Nied-Weywiesen
International-Buer
Magdeburg-Witten
Sunday May 10:
Elversberg-Weywiesen
Nied-Elfenbein
International Whites
Magdeburg-Buer
Bergisch Gladbach-Velbert
Standings after 16 rounds:
1 BC Magdeburg 26-1,236
2 BC Weywiesen 25-1,231
3 BC International 20-1,225
4 BC Elversberg 19-1.149
5 BC Nied 18-1,000
6 BC Elfenbein 14-1.121
7 BC Buer 13-0.990
8 Bergisch Gladbacher 11-0.994
9 BCC Witten 10-1.015
10 Velbert 6-0.938