Our first day in Hamburg flew by…and not without drama!

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Lorenz Schümann celebrates his and teammate Julius Thole’s victory over Tim Holler and David Poniewaz that drew a big crowd on day one of the tournament. Photocredit: Mike Ranz

Wow! When we rocked up at the Rothenbaum this morning we never envisaged such an amazing first day of action at the smart Major Hamburg!

It might have only been the qualification stage but, seriously, what a superb day’s play – and we’re already licking our lips at the prospect of the Pool Play which gets under way on Wednesday.

So what were the highlights of day one? Well 16 teams – eight men’s and eight women’s – have dug, dived and high-fived their way into the main draw.

The big hitters in the women’s qualification made it through with little or no problem with the top eight seeded sides all sailing through to tomorrow’s action. Those included two German teams, Teresa Mersmann/Isabel Schneider and Victoria Bieneck/Julia Großner who made the most of home advantage to seal popular victories.

All the talk in the men’s half of qualification was of two local heroes – Lorenz Schümann and Julius Thole – the Hamburg boys who had all of the crowd on their side in their two matches. They might have been 30th seeds in qualification but they’re in the main draw! Congratulations guys!

The only shock on a sweltering day in front of a packed and excitable crowd, was perhaps Canadians Sam Pedlow/Grant O’Gorman’s exit against Norwegian duo Iver Horrem/Geir Eithun.

Of course we’re telling you all of this now but you could have known earlier if you’d fixed your eyes on our website and social media channels for all the live coverage! There’s a little tip for you for tomorrow! See you then!

Big crowds gathered all day during the dramatic qualification process. Photocredit: Mike Ranz