German teams compete for title all-around

BOCHUM - Four German teams are competing for the title all-around in the classic games this weekend. DBC Bochm 1926 is the organizer and with its strong team the reigning champion and favorite for a new title. The hosting team is the twenty fold title holder in Germany and was second at the recent European championship.

In the playoffs in Bochum the winners of the semifinal battle for the title on Sunday. The home team consists of Ludger Havlik, Thomas Nockeman, Xavier Gretillat and Fabian Blondeel.

Second in the table is the champion of 2011 and main competitor Bfr Weitmar, with two world class players in the line-up: Wolfgang Zenkner and Patrick Niessen. The team is completed by Mark Melerski and Jörg Morawski.

The BC Hilden is a team with a great tradition and successes. The team finished third this year and qualified for the playoffs. Thomas Wildförster is the old master in team. He plays with the Belgian Maarten Janssen, Arnd Riedl and Torsten Rütten.

The fourth team is ABC Merklinde, which has qualified for the first time. The strongest man is the Dutchman Gerd-Jan Veldhuizen, multiple European junior champion. He plays with Uwe Klein, Alex Reuter and Klaus Klein.

The tournament has started yesterday, Saturday. The game types are balk-line 71/2 (150 points), 47/2 (200) and free game (300).