International news: Ups and downs for Tomáš Koldas in the best league in Luxembourg this weekend.
(in english):
After two very successful seasons for Næstved Bordtennis, where the 22 years old Czech Republic player was crucial in winning the danish team championship in 2020/21, and was runner-up last season, Tomáš decided to move to Luxembourg to play for DT Houwald in the Audi League.
DT Houwald is a team with a lot of history, and every season there are huge expectations for success in the league or in the cup tournament.
However, in the game saturday against Hueschtert it was evident that Hueschtert is a different beast with top players in every position, but Koldas gave his all, and I had a talk with him and asked about his take on the matches:
Tomas, (rated 7) – Gleb Shamruk, Ukraine 2-3 (rated 12)
“I had some training camps together in the past with Gleb, so I was prepared for a tough match. I started good but at 2:1 in sets and a 4:0 lead in the 4th I made a few mistakes and he started to play very fast and put everything on the table. Also their supporters helped him a lot, and there were around 80 of their club so this pushed him to come back.
He showed his level, but I regret that I wasn’t able to react better and faster in the situation.
Tomas (rated 7) – Mats Sandell 3-1 (rated 2)
“Yes, exactly how you saw it Henrik. I Changed my serve game almost one and half set against him. Actually it was one of the fastest halls I have ever played so there was not that much space for a technical game. For this match I tried to avoid previous mistakes and tried to return the ball as soon as possible back to win the time, and it paid off.”
It was Mats Sandell’s first defeat this season, and 2-11 in the 4th set clearly showed Koldas’ tactic worked a treat. But the number 2 ranked player in Luxembourg wasn’t the only top player that Koldas has defeated the last couple of weeks, as the number 3 ranked Musko was defeated a week ago.
In todays match against Berbuerg it didn’t pan out as DT Houwald had expected. 1-3 after the first 4 singles, and the only player with a win was Koldas against the 28 rated player Erik Thillen.
After the break Koldas didn’t play up to his level and was defeated by the 21 rated player Henkens with 2-3, in a match where Tomáš made a lot of easy mistakes, but also should have upped the pace before the 4th set where he was superior, but it was too little too late.
However, according to the Czech Republic website there is a talented group just below the top 4 international players, and as Tomáš is included, and also represented The Czech Republic at the World Championships in China a few months ago, his career is on-track.
