The big news of the German Bundesliga final this past weekend was the KTV Straubenhardt's men's team victory, pulled off without star Fabian Hambuechen.
But now it looks like Hambuechen will not be competing for Straubenhardt next year either. Incensed that Hambuechen opted to skip the Bundesliga final yet competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial, the Swiss Cup and on a celebrity diving show all within the past few weeks, Straubenhardt coach Alexei Grigoriev and KTV support club president Horst Rapp announced that Hambuechen would not be part of their team in 2012.
Hambuechen cited exhaustion as the reason he withdrew from the Bundesliga final. "In the last 10 months of rehabilitation I had exactly three free days," he said last week. He also indicated he was worried about his Achilles tendon, which he ruptured in January of this year, and wanted to consult a doctor before competing again.
Hambuechen's contract with Straubenhardt was very flexible, allowing him to compete only when he wanted to. He competed in two (of eight total) Bundesliga meets in 2011, and only one in 2010.
"I've never had a problem with Fabian," Grigoriev told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, which accompanied its article with a picture of a pouting Hambuechen. "My only problem is that I simply have no influence on him and cannot plan with him."
Hambuechen would drop out of a competition three or four days in advance, leaving the team in the lurch, others said. "The cancellations were often short notice and that was not good. We need reliability," said Helmut Riegsinger, President of the KTV club. "In my opinion there are only two facts that count: he didn't come [this weekend], and we were disappointed."
Of Hambuechen's seven-year relationship with the team, Riegsinger told the paper: "We drifted apart like an old married couple."
Straubenhardt is already stacked with talent, including 2011 European p-bars champion Marcel Nguyen and World team member Thomas Taranu, and coaches said the 2012 team will be built around them. Nguyen reportedly turned down an invitation to the Tokyo World Cup in order to compete in the Bundesliga.
Hambuechen himself learned that he would not be part of the team by reading the media reports with Grigoriev and Rapp's comments. On Monday, he issued a statement saying he had resigned from the team and would not compete for Straubenhardt next year.
Other Bundesliga notes:
- Even lacking Hambuechen, KTV Straubenhardt had no difficulties taking its third Bundesliga title in six years (the team also won in 2005 and 2009), besting challenger TG Saar. Straubenhardt's Marcel Nguyen was the top scorer for the men, while 1997-born Sophie Scheder lifted her team, Chemnitz Altendorf, to the women's title ahead of MTV Stuttgart.
- Other Chemnitz team members included 2011 World team member Lisa Katharina Hill, as well as former American Cup competitor Joeline Möbius. The Stuttgart team included Pia Tolle and 2007 World bars bronze finalist Marie-Sophie Hindermann.
- Six-time Bundesliga champion SC Cottbus, competing without star Philipp Boy, won third place in the mini-final against MTV Stuttgart. Boy and Kim Bui were off competing at the Tokyo World Cup, which was unfortunately on the same weekend.
- German FIG member Wolfgang Willam announced that he hopes to organize next year's competition so the World Cup and Bundesliga Final are not the same weekend again. "Of course we have the priciple that higher beats lower, so the World Cup will be always above Bundesliga final," William said. "But if we know all dates early enough, I can of course help leading this a bit. I can say, in my position I am not without any influence on that."
- TG Karlsruhe-Söllingen bested Mannheim for third place in the women's mini-final. Mannheim was without the services of Elisabeth Seitz, who is resting due to some inflammation in her foot. Seitz plans to see a doctor about her foot this week.
Results! Results from the 2011 Women's Bundesliga final are here.
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