DUTCH NATIONALS – Bosch takes two…again

Ruud Bosch took two titles at the Dutch Nationals on the weekend.  Bosch partnered Selena Piek for the mixed doubles title and that was the major change from 2011, the last time he won two national titles, as that time his men’s doubles partner was the same but he had won mixed with Lotte Jonathans.

Photos: Arthur van der Velde (live)

In men’s doubles, Bosch again partnered Koen Ridder for the title.  The runners-up were Lester Oey and Justin Teeuwen, surprise winners over Russell Muns and Robin Tabeling in the semi-finals.

Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskens made sure that Selena Piek would not go home with too much gold, however, as Piek and Iris Tabeling went down to the #2 seeds in three games.

The only #1 seeds to win were in the singles events.  Eric Pang picked up his fifth men’s singles title.  Runner-up Dicky Palyama repeated that that this was his last national championship outing, so his total of nine national titles will stay and he will not be able to surpass former player Rob Ridder.  Eric Pang, however, intends to keep playing until the Rio Olympics.
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For Yao Jie, too, it was her ninth time winning the Dutch national title. This is also her last year to play the nationals. The young Patty Stolzenbach could not break down Yao Jie this time like she did at the Dutch Open 2012.

The noteworthy name missing from these national championships was that of Judith Meulendijks.  Last Saturday, Judith received a warm goodbye from the Dutch home audience. From the chairman Clemens Wortel, she received an the award for “match achievements”, and her speech was greeted with a long round of applause.  Wortels is shown below reading the long list of Meulendijks’s achievements.

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