The 27-year-old French ex-international – also active in Spain, France and Poland – must protect Bruijn’s young team from relegation. Sunday, despite the narrow defeat (4-3) against debutant Belcrum, it was still a feast for Bruijn: “Pauline plays great,” he praised his new acquisition. “She is stoic, has a nice attack and she is also very nice.”
The encounter in Breda started for Chasselin against fellow leader Marlotte Staps. The star from Hilversum, who lives in Rennes, France, only had to give up the third game (12-10) and thus brought her new team to the lead.
The connecting goal followed quickly, because the strongly playing Lynn Schijven quickly dealt with the young Marlieke de Gier on behalf of the home team. In game three, Hilversum’s second reinforcement, Daria Dubenko, was cool-headed enough to shake off Amy Schoen, although that was not without difficulty.
The 1-2 quickly disappeared again, however, because for De Gier too it was like mopping with the tap open against Staps. “Marlieke did well, but was no match for Staps”, said Bruijn, who also saw Dubenko slip 3-0 against Schijven. In between, Bruijn noted a beautiful 0-3 from Chasselin, who sent Schoen into the woods. “I am also satisfied with Daria. Her third and fourth games against Schoen were especially good. She fought back from a deficit twice. She can slow down the game well and can hit a ball spin deep onto the table.”
Still, in the crucial double – the score was 3-3 – Bruijn preferred De Gier, who had to provide the fourth and winning point with Chasselin. That seemed to work with a 1-2 lead, but due to a number of sloppy mistakes by the definitely not played-in couple, the match was unfortunately lost in game five with 11-8.
“That was a shame,” said the Hilversum coach. “But otherwise I’m satisfied. It was a fun game in front of a large audience.” With Chasselin in the ranks, Hilversum can prepare for the home game against the reigning national champion VTV.
