Frankfurt am Main. First weekend of the national championships, and the first stage of the group phase. This year’s group phase followed a new format: all matches against similarly seeded teams were played right away on the opening weekend. That meant a jam-packed start with crucial games from the get-go!
We kicked off the day against the hosts, Sturm und Drang from Frankfurt, recently promoted from the 2nd league. Still working on our team chemistry and facing a strong Frankfurt side, we fell 8–15. Next up: Late Game Leipzig, also new to the 1st league. Their intense defense and athleticism proved overwhelming, leading to a clear 2–15 loss for us. Our final match of the day was against Lahntalknaben from Marburg, who had also lost their first two games. It looked like this might be our chance to grab a win. After trading early points, Lahntalknaben pulled ahead with several breaks, reaching 9–5. But we weren’t done yet: with massive layout catches and everyone stepping up on both sides of the disc, we rallied with four consecutive breaks to take the lead at 10–9. In a tightly contested finish, Lahntalknaben edged it out 13–11.
Our first match on Sunday was against Hardfisch from Hamburg, which turned out to be another one-sided game. Despite some nice deep connections, Hamburg controlled the match and won 15–4. In the final game of the weekend, we faced Ars Ludendi from Darmstadt. It was a much closer affair. Darmstadt opened with two early breaks, but we stayed within reach, getting breaks back multiple times. Ultimately, Darmstadt’s consistency proved too much, and they secured the win 15–10. So, five games and five losses — but if we learned anything from last year, it’s that this doesn’t define the outcome of the season!
Two of our games were streamed — check them out here:
Thanks to Sturm und Drang for hosting the weekend and to all the teams for the good games!
Roster:
Kiwi, David, Mike, Hahn, Fabi W, Till, Kevin, Shine, Niko, Gigi, Maxi, Fabi G, Schulle, Patrick, Stefan
