Occupying the no.6 seeded position, in the penultimate round he beat Benedikt Duda, the no.3 seed (4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 14-16, 9-11, 12-10), prior to securing the title at the final expense of Qiu Dang, the no.4 seed (7-11, 8-11, 17-15, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9).

Notably against Benedikt Duda he saved one match point in the seventh game, later when facing Qiu Dang, he erred on his own service when leading 9-8 in the decider, before securing the next two points to achieve success.

“It was a close game. In the end, it was only two points that tipped the scales, just like against Bene. Everyone played extremely well today. We train together every day. There are hardly any secrets left. At this Masters, the happier ending was on my side.” Bastian Steger

Same again for Qiu Dang

Runners up spot once again for Qiu Dang, the same finish as in the second edition when he had been beaten in the final by Dimitrij Ovtcharov (11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 11-6).

“We may both be tired and perhaps not as fresh as one might wish in such a situation. It was a good match, it was very exciting. I’m very disappointed that I couldn’t take the chance because I was obviously hoping to win the tournament today; of course congratulations to Basti.” Bastian Steger

Opportunities missed, it was the same for Benedikt Duda and Bastian Steger in their contest; the champion elect being within sight of a five games win.

“It was really close. I could have done it a bit earlier, when I had two match points at 3-1.” Bastian Steger

Highest finish

Defeat for Benedikt Duda but his best finish to date; in the opening tournament he had experienced a quarter-final defeat at the hands of Steffen Mengel (11-8, 12-10, 11-9).

“It was a bit unfortunate that I lost the fourth game after leading 7-2. It was a good match. Basti played really well. He deserved to win.” Benedikt Duda

Meanwhile for Steffen Mengel, he was not able to repeat the form of the first tournament when he had finished in runners up spot, losing to Timo Boll (12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6); it was to be a penultimate round exit when facing Qiu Dang (11-3, 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 7-11, 11-4).

“I can’t explain it to myself. I am actually in a good shape but I had a very bad start. Nevertheless, I tried to fight my way back into the match. Today I had too many fluctuations; so I deserved to lose.” Steffen Mengel.

Four tournaments concluded, on the Standings, Dimitrij Ovtcharov (110 points) leads. He is followed by Qiu Dang (100 points), Steffen Mengel (60 points); Timo Boll, Bastian Steger, Kanak Jha and Omar Assar share fourth positions (50 points).

Women centre stage

Now a one week break ensues but there is no shortage of action; based on the same principles, on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July, the Düsseldorf Women’s Masters will be staged.

It is anticipated players will include Han Ying, Nina Mittelham and Shan Xiaona alongside Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova and Luxembourg’s Sarh de Nutte.

Live Broadcast

Schedule

09.30 Kanak Jha (1) bt Felix Köhler 11-8, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6
10.15 Meng Fanbo bt Alberto Miño (5) 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9
11.00 Bastian Steger (6) bt Tobias Slanina 11-6, 11-4, 11-4, 11-8
11.45 Omar Assar (2) bt Nils Hohmeier 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7
12.30 Qiu Dang (4) bt Gerrit Engemann 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, 11-5
13.15 Tobias Hippler (8) bt Cédric Meissner 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9

09.00 Steffen Mengel (7) bt Kirill Fadeev 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9

10.15 Benedikt Duda (3) bt Tobias Hippler (8) 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8
11.10 Bastian Steger (6) bt Kanak Jha (1) 5-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-8, 11-4
12.05 Steffen Mengel (7) bt Omar Assar (2) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9
13.00 Qiu Dang (4) bt Meng Fanbo 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9

10.00 Semi-Final: Bastian Steger (6) v Benedikt Duda (3) 4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 14-16, 9-11, 12-10
11.00 Semi-Final: Qiu Dang (4) bt Steffen Mengel (7) 11-3, 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 7-11, 11-4

14.00 Final: Bastian Steger (6) bt Qiu Dang (4) 7-11, 8-11, 17-15, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9