A Real Madrid under the radar

They exist in every sport. Real Madrid in soccer, the Montreal Canadiens in ice hockey, FC Barcelona in handball—or SKV Rot Weiß Zerbst in bowling. The team from the 20.000-person town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, is by far the most successful in bowling.

They've won the World Cup twelve times – every third in 36 editions, mind you. They've won the last two in a row, too. And in Bolzano – they were considered favorites from the start. Even if they don't want to admit it: "I don't think we're the absolute favorites. Neumarkt, Zapresic, or Podbrezova are at least as good as us," Tim Brachtel says modestly.

Brachtel is the reigning individual world champion His team survived the qualification with the best performance – Zapresic and Podbrezova, on the other hand, did not even make it to the semifinals, but the Hungarians from Zalaegerszegi and the Austrians from Orth did.

The 23-year-old Brachtel is one of Zerbst's flagship players. He was crowned individual world champion this summer. "That was obviously an honor for me, even though the team world championship title means more to me personally," he says. Brachtel is from Stuttgart, just like his teammate Lukas Funk.

Lukas Funk, like Tim Brachtel, comes from Stuttgart.

Zerbst, he explains, is something like a German national team. "That comes with success. Of course, everyone enjoys playing for you. Besides the two foreign players, we have all German players, but they come from different German states," he explains.

Zerbst has a special feature The special thing about it: No one is a full-time professional. When asked about this, Brachtel has to smile. "We get our travel expenses reimbursed, yes. But we all work. With the sponsorship money we receive, it would never be possible for everyone to just pursue bowling."

By comparison, three bowlers at Neumarkt have professional status, and the teams from Eastern Europe also include some players who finance their lives through bowling.

“Bowling is still a fringe sport” And yet Zerbst is the most successful bowling club in the world. In a bowling country like Germany, that's something to be noticed. "Not really. Occasionally in the media, but not particularly in Zerbst itself. I was once asked about bowling in a supermarket, and that was my highlight," he laughs. "Bowling has a lot of active athletes in Germany, that's true. But we're still a fringe sport that unfortunately has a pub sport image. And that's also true when it comes to youth work, where there are a few clubs that are trying, but mostly in rural areas. In cities, that's impossible with the range of other sports like football on offer." Problems that the bowling country of South Tyrol knows only too well.

Today is the final So what's the secret to Zerbst's success? It's down to the team's composition, explains Brachtel. "Other teams usually have six players of a good, roughly equal level, and then two players who are a bit weaker. We have the advantage of having eight players of the same level. That creates competition within the team. If you're not in shape, you might just sit through several games. But that pushes us, and we always give it our all, in every game," says the young German, who himself says he wasn't even sure whether he would be allowed to compete in the qualifiers or not.

In the end, of course, he marched onto the lane too – and knocked down 652 pins. He also played yesterday in the semifinal against Orth, where he knocked down 307 pins – but only because he was substituted after the second set and rested for the final. His team once again advanced to the final in style and is chasing title number thirteen today. "A por la treceña!" they would say at Real Madrid, or in German: "For the thirteenth!"

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A Real Madrid under the radar

Although not a single player at SKV Rot Weiß Zerbst is a full-time professional, the team is by far the most successful in bowling. A diary entry by editor Stefan Frötscher, who is attending the World Cup at the Bozen rectory.

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