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Table tennis
After a case of coronavirus, the SPG Walter Wels men’s team must travel to Düsseldorf with the B team for the Champions League starting Friday. Twelve-year-old only talents Julian Rzihauschek and Petr Hodina are celebrating an unexpected premiere. You will be the youngest player in the history of the competition.
As Wels reported, Adam Szudi from the first team tested positive for coronavirus. This meant that his teammates Andreas Levenko and Frane Kojic, as well as coach David Huber, had to go into a ten-day quarantine. If Wels did not appear in Düsseldorf, he would be excluded from all European competitions in the course of the season.
Of course, the High Austrians are clearly outsiders. Rzihauschek is generally used in the 2nd Bundesliga, Hodina mainly in the national league. Only Gabor Böhm of the trio of players who traveled to Düsseldorf has Champions League experience. They are accompanied by sports director Helmut Giglmayer. The students broke free from their schools. “Directors had to play along because they needed vacations on very short notice,” reported President Gerhard Demelbauer.
Premier class in the “bubble”
In the Germany tournament, Wels will face German champion Saarbrücken, Danish club Roskilde and French leader Pontoise from Friday to Sunday. The premier category of table tennis will be played as a tournament in just eight days at one venue this season. For hygiene and safety reasons this takes place in a “bubble”.
Players cannot leave team hotels until their club is eliminated. You must submit a negative coronavirus test no more than 48 hours prior to arrival and you will be retested immediately upon arrival in Düsseldorf. The situation is unusual for Rzihausek and Hodina, Demelbauer said. But there are no worries. “They are already very mature for their age.”
Good for Wels: Due to an exemption related to the coronavirus, the fourth of the group can continue to play in the European Cup in spring. There, Upper Austria reached the preseason semi-finals before the competition was canceled in the spring. “We want to continue playing internationally. That is why we are now also participating in Düsseldorf ”, explained Demelbauer.
