DOSB, choice: Thomas Weikert is the new President of the crisis-ridden German Olympic Sports Confederation. With 361 to 56 votes, the 60-year-old lawyer clearly prevailed against the German fencing president Claudia Bokel at the DOSB general meeting on Saturday in Weimar. Former table tennis world president Weikert succeeds Alfons Hörmann at the head of the sports umbrella organization with around 27 million members and 90,000 clubs. “I’m a bit overwhelmed. Now we’ll tackle it together and then we’ll make progress. Thanks also to Claudia, I don’t want to forego your expertise,” said Weikert after his election.
“The dark suit is often wrongly used as an alienation of the sports officials from the grassroots. I want to change that,” said Weikert during his introductory speech. He wanted to be the captain of a strong team with transparency, openness and lots of right decisions: “Give me and us the chance to prove that we often wear suits, but always think of jerseys.” The family lawyer from Limburg an der Lahn in Hesse is considered to be a man of balance who seeks “amicable solutions” and is therefore possibly the ideal candidate for the top job. “That’s my style, it was like that in the German Table Tennis Association, that’s how it was in the ITTF, but also in other areas of life,” said Weikert. In 2018 he was already in discussion as DOSB boss when a number of leading associations rehearsed the uprising against Hörmann and complained about his tone and behavior.
Tennis, Davis Cup: The German tennis professionals clearly missed their first entry into the Davis Cup final in 28 years. In the semi-finals in Madrid on Saturday, the Russian team was way too strong, and after the two singles the defeat was already clear. Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) lost to US Open winner Daniil Medwedew 4: 6, 4: 6, before Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen) had no chance against Andrej Rublew at 4: 6, 0: 6. Germany, which competed without Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, has to wait for the fourth Davis Cup title even after the first semi-final in 14 years. The German Tennis Association (DTB) has won the most important team competition in men’s tennis so far in 1988, 1989 and 1993 and has not reached a final since then.
In the summer, Struff had already defeated Medvedev in Halle / Westphalia. And on Saturday he acted aggressively and courageously against the big favorites, keeping the pressure high with his serve and volley game. Since Medvedev was also sovereign in his service games, the game remained open for a long time. As soon as slight mistakes crept in at Struff, the world number two grabbed ice cold. With the break to 3-2 in the second set, Medvedev was finally on the road to victory. Koepfer, however, ran after a deficit early on against Rublew, who had recently been outplayed, because his opponent played off his tremendous power well and served excellently. The Black Forest man risked a lot and fought, but was constantly under pressure – the irresistible Rublew had a creamy day and decided the match after 49 minutes.