League Teams Open Season with Mixed Results

The past weekend marked the start of all league competitions, and each of our teams stepped into action. The first-league "C" team and second-league "D" team fought for their first points at home, while our third-league squad made a trip to Brušperk. So, how did they do?

This season brought one of the biggest changes in recent years—shortened match formats. Games are no longer played to 10 wins, but only to 8. This means each player can play a maximum of three singles matches and one doubles match. Naturally, this change will influence team strategies and lineups. Hopefully, this adjustment—intended to speed up the matches—will prove effective and players will adapt quickly.

In the second-highest league, our team faced a tough challenge right from the start, going up against Havířov, one of the title contenders. The match lived up to expectations and ended in a narrow 6:8 loss on our home tables. It was a real battle, with seven matches going all the way to a fifth set. A highlight of the match was the appearance of Miroslav Bindač and Radek Košťál, alongside Jonáš Rak, Jindřich Morávek, and new signing Václav Frydrych. However, Havířov's squad—Adam Štalzer, Michal Blinka, Jan Škalda, and Daniel Košťál—proved to be stronger and deservedly took the win.

In contrast, our second-league "D" team had no trouble at all. In a rescheduled match of Round 1, the team of Jonáš Rak, Ondřej Morávek, Michael Sedláček, and Milosz Piecowski (pictured) faced SK Svinov, a newcomer to the league. Although the guests showed they are still adjusting to the higher level, they fought hard and made us earn every point. Still, the only set they managed to take came from Michal Henžel against Ondřej Morávek. All other matches ended in straight 3–0 wins for us, resulting in a dominant 8:0 victory.

A very different story unfolded for our third-league team in Brušperk. The quartet of František Chaloupka, Ondřej Morávek, Adam Pokorný, and Dmytro Opanasiuk battled to a hard-fought 8:6 win. The match was neck-and-neck from start to finish, with the lead shifting back and forth. In the end, it was our boys who held their nerve, winning two of the final three matches to seal the victory.