It is remarkable when a team develops well in the course of a season.

It is more sensational when this team surpasses itself to such an extent that the competitors and spectators are more astonished from month to month and the respect for the achievement constantly increases.

The whole thing becomes downright spectacular when this team surprises itself and plays so incredibly successfully that they can suddenly dream of a title.

Which brings us to a club from Wetterau that has a rather funny name and now enjoys a certain level of prominence in the badminton scene.

Thomas Klemm

sports editor.

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This club is called SV Fun-Ball Dortelweil, and its first team usually plays in the sports hall of the European School in Bad Vilbel.

This Friday, however, the men and women will compete in Stuttgart, in the traditional Schleyer Hall, which has seen a lot of sporting Rambazamba and is now the venue for the Final Four of the Badminton Bundesliga.

That the Dortelweiler belong to it can safely be described as a sensation.

In the semifinals they meet the current champions 1. BC Saarbrücken-Bischmisheim, who finished third in the points round and qualified for the round of the last four via the playoffs.

For years, the Wetterauers were something of an elevator team: too strong for league two, too weak for league one.

It was only fortunate circumstances that occasionally meant that Dortelweil was able to stay in the top class.

But now, in the fifth premier league season since the first time in 2013/2014, the SV Fun-Ball has come up trumps.

"Not Daring to Dream"

The team finished the league round as second in the table and thus qualified directly for the final of the best four teams alongside table leader and top favorite 1. BC Wipperfeld, who will meet SC Union Lüdinghausen in the second semi-final on Friday.

"We would not have dared to dream that things would go so well," says Klaus Rotter, who heads the badminton department in Dortelweil with around 500 members and is also responsible for the Bundesliga selection: "What comes now is an encore."

The fact that the goals before the season were rather modest - to ensure that they stayed in the league early on and then, if possible, to stay in the first division for a longer period of time - was not least due to the circumstances of the promotion.

The previous badminton season was canceled due to the corona virus, and it was therefore discussed for a while whether there should be a promotion to the first division at all.

The league committee ultimately decided to allow eleven teams instead of ten.

The lucky ones were the Dortelweilers, who were by far the best in class two at the time.

The crux: The decision to expand the first division was made so late that the established teams already had their squad together and not many top players from Germany and other nations were still available.

With luck, skill and personal connections, especially on the part of team leader Kai Schäfer, the SC Fun-Ball got a surprisingly quick-witted group together.

Young German players who want to prove themselves make a good mix with experienced players from abroad.

The commitment of the American Iris Wang turned out to be a coup.

The 27-year-old Californian, a Rio 2016 Olympian and placed in the top 30 in the world, won all 15 of her matches in the judging round.

"A super likeable person with zero airs and graces," says Rotter.

And a woman with ambition: Contrary to the official line, she gave the playoff participation as her goal for the season.

It is unlikely that the strong season of the promoted team will be crowned with the championship title.

The Dortmund team won 5:2 and lost 3:4 against their opponents in the semifinals, Bischmisheim.

"Now the chances are fifty-fifty," says department head Rotter.

He probably wouldn't have believed in such a balanced prognosis at the beginning of the season.