Month: October 2017

On 27th and 28th October Murau was the location of the last international tournament of Racketlon in Austria this year. Michael Wölfl, the president of the Racketlon Team Murau, was glad to welcome more than 30 participants. As last year Christine Seehofer and Lukas Windischberger took the first place in the Elite Events. All results are online on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Christine Seehofer, the world number one, won all her matches without playing Tennis. 2nd place reached Bettina Bugl and Elisabeth Seehofer completed the podium with taking the 3rd place. Newcomer Jacqueline Mariacher closed the Woman A event with the 4th place.

The big favorite in Men A was Lukas Windischberger because Michael Dickert had to cancel his participation due to an illness. The world number one played almost a perfect tournament. Luki was able to win all his 3 matches before tennis. Surprising Matija Mikac from Croatia took the Advantage of a good draw in the lower half for reaching the 2nd place. The small final was played between Bernd Jaschke and Frank Eichkitz. In the end Bernd Jaschke was happy to take the bronze medal. (credit: Tournament Director)

In Men B the 4th seeded Patrick Flandorfer surprised with his first victory in Murau. In the final Horst Schwarzenberger had no chance, but he was very satisfied with his 2nd place. Kim Niederhausen from Germany was the winner of the small final against the croatian Marijan Stepan.

8 Players participated in Men C Event which was dominated by Björn Sattler. He won the final against his Tennis colleague Alexander Bogensperger. A happy Daniel Lercher took the 3rd place.

At the price giving ceremony,which was held by the former World Champion Christoph Krenn, Michael Wölfl, said “Thank you” to all participants for coming. A big honor to all supporters, sponsors and helpers for executing this tournament. The Racketlon Team Murau is looking forward to seeing al lot of players at the next international tournament in Murau.

 

Michael Wölfl
Tournament Director

80 players from 17 different countries travelled to the 3rd IWT Malta Open from 6th to 8th October in search of a great Racketlon experience – as the Malta Open (alongside its cousin the Club La Santa Open) are unique events on the FIR World Tour. They offer the players far more than just a tournament. They offer a mix of serious Racketlon competition, beautiful surroundings, great facilities, perfect weather and the chance to enjoy a true holiday experience. All results are now online on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

On Court

On the court, the women’s elite draw saw two time defending champion Amke Fischer from Germany suffer an ankle injury during the badminton set of her first match against the quickly improving Zuzana Severinova from the Czech Republic. This immediately opened things up resulting in a final between Zuzana (who also defeated GB’s rising star Hannah Boden) and Astrid Reimer-Kern, who had come past Nicole Eisler and Katrin Maldre.

In the final Astrid nicked the TT 21-18, before Zuzana came back with a solid 21-14  win in the badminton. In order to give herself a chance Zuzana needed to try and somehow make things awkward on the squash court for Astrid to try and leave Astrid needing double figures at tennis (Zuzana’s best sport).

However Astrid’s prowess on the squash court was simply too much and the 21-3 win left her only needing 8 at tennis which she reached with the scores 8-8 to record a very well deserved Malta Open title.

In the Men’s Elite draw, the opening rounds all went with the seedings, as the top 4 seeds all reached the semi finals which saw Morten Jaksland play Dan Busby and Kresten Hougaard (credit:tournament organisation) play tournament director Duncan Stahl. In the first semi, Morten played a very solid opening two sports winning 21-12, 21-18 leaving Dan with a lot to do and even a 21-7 win at squash still left Dan needing 19 at tennis which proved 5 points too many as Morten won 21-14 to move into his first Malta final.

At various points over the years, Kresten and Duncan have both beaten each other at all 4 sports and generally their matches have always come down to just a few points – so their matches are famously very hard to predict! However, this time around Kresten was too sharp in their Sat evening match winning 21-14, 21-16, 21-17, 6-9 to set up an all Danish Sunday final against Morten.

Once again Kresten, who is now based in Malta, looked very sharp in the Sunday lunchtime Final taking the first 3 sports 21-18, 21-12, 21-18 leaving him just 7 points to win the title. Kresten made light work of what could have been a tricky 7 points to win and at 7-7, the Malta Open title was his.

Two all French finals in both the Women’s and Men’s B saw Loic Cencig overcome compatriot Jean-Brice Montagnon and Helene Lechemolle beat Dorothee Gazeau. The Men’s C saw Volker Sach (in what might have been his 33rd match of the weekend) triumph over the irrepressible French dynamo, Fabien Mauroy.

In the vets, the mighty Rickard Persson (who by the way has now played a Racketlon tournament in 17 different countries – can that be beaten?) was too strong winning the 40+ with ease, while Radu Ionescu won a very tight final against Manfred Grab in the 50+ final.

There were other notable wins for Dan Busby and Hannah Boden in the Mixed elite doubles (on a gummi arm) and for Phil Todd and Steffen Neumann in the Men’s B doubles.

Off Court

As is traditional at the Malta Open, all the extras around the tournament are a real highlight: with players able to relax under palm trees by the huge pool area in between their matches, enjoy a Fri BBQ, a player’s party until the sun came up on Sunday morning , a traditional Sunday lunch and an amazing all day boat trip to the beautiful island of Comino and the Blue Lagoon.

All reasons why the Malta Open remains the friendliest, most sociable and enjoyable tournament on the World Tour!

 

Duncan Stahl
Tournament Director

On 27th and 28th of October 2017 Murau in Austria will be the location of the second international Racketlon Challenger. The Racketlon Team Murau hosted several national tournaments in the last years and is once again Murau looking forward to welcome many international participants at the end of October. Register now on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Due to the support of the local town and some private supporters the organization team prepared an extensive welcome bag for every player. The tournament will take place in Tennishalle Murau West (http://www.tennishallemurau.at/) and a special price for accommodation for each player will be guaranteed for the players at Hotel Lercher (http://www.hotel-restaurant-lercher.at) and at JUFA Hotel Murau (murau@jufa.eu). If you need any other information about Murau and the surroundings, the staff of tourist information (http://www.murau-kreischberg.at) will help you. The players party will be held at one of the biggest events in Murau, the Bockbieranstich of Brewery Murau.

 

Michael Wölfl
Tournament Director

The Racketlon season may be drawing to a close, but the inevitable sadness that this bring is tempered by the knowledge that it involves a return to the glorious island of Malta. The Malta Open represents a holistic Racketlon experience with fantastic facilities and a wealth of opportunities to socialise off the court. However, you are not reading this for me to wax lyrical about the benefits of playing the Malta Open, but for the sport itself. Sport loves an undefeated player or team. Arsenal in 2003/04, the boxer Rocky Marciano, Jesper Ratzer’s final seasons and this coming winter the Australian cricket team*. However, it is one thing to be undefeated, it is another thing to put your undefeated record on the line, and at the 2017 Malta Open, Amke Fischer is doing just that. Make has never lost a Racketlon match, singles or doubles in Malta and she is back for a third year running, looking for further glory and also to further extend that run. She’ll be facing stiff competition in all three draws, with the Malta Open offering a full programme of sporting events for the Racketlon community, which can be viewed on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Amke’s Aims

If Amke is to maintain her Maltese record, she will face competition from 5 other challengers in the Ladies A, which has been split into two box leagues of 3 players. Amke is top seed and heads Group A, while second seed Nicole Eisler heads Group B. Amke faces the future, both her opponents young in years, but steeped in Racketlon experience, as she faces Hannah Boden and Zuzana Severinova. Riding in Amke’s favour however is recent victories over both these ladies, at the German Open (Zuzana) and European Championships (Hannah). In Group B, Nicole faces the challenge of wildcard Katrin Maldre, whom she may not know a huge amount about, but her second opponent she knows a lot more about, fellow Swiss Army Knives captain and friend, Astrid Reimer-Kern. The box league format means these ladies are guaranteed to enjoy the Marsa Sports Club’s fabulous tennis courts in glorious sunshine, it also brings in the element of uncertainty, a spurious result that can set the cat amongst the pigeons, something Amke will be seeking to avoid.

 

Morten Keen For More Fun In The Sun

Morten Jaksland is top seed in the Men’s A and having taken the Men’s A title earlier in the season at the other Racketlon island paradise of Lanzarote, he will be keen to once again earn victory in sun, sea and sand surroundings. Morten, and fellow seeds, Kresten Hougaard, Dan Busby and Duncan Stahl all get a round off in this 12 man monrad draw, but it is unlikely to be plain sailing for the seeds in this event once they do get going. Keen to make his mark on this draw will be the Men’s B European Champion, Jorn Sultrup who opens up against Adolphe Fernandez-Diez while the only active members of the 2015 Malta Open podium, Cedric Junillon (2 nd ) and Rickard Persson (3 rd ) face each other in the first round. Once the seeds enter in the quarter-finals, they’ll be thinking about making those semi-finals, a task that may be fractionally tougher in the bottom half of the draw.

 

Fewer Brits, More Maltese, More Everyone

The 2017 Malta Open sees its smallest contingent of Brits at the event, yet with its ever growing popularity around the rest of the tour nations and an increasing number of local entries, the entry is the same as in previous years. This reduced number of Brits is most evident away from the elite draws with only 2 in the Men’s B and 2 in the Ladies B, however it is probably the brace of French men (JB Montagon & Loic Cencig) and women (European Ladies B Champion Helene Lechemolle and Dorothee Gazeau) in each of these draws who will be favourite to take home the titles. In both draws top seeds Ersoy Korer (Men’s B) and Dianne Baker (Ladies B) will be hoping to stand in their way. The Men’s C features a geographically broad range of entries from Malta to South Africa, however a host of experience campaigners including top seeds Hans Van Daele and Fabian Mauroy who will be hoping to conquer the rest! After the appearance of Jurgen Melzer at the European Championships, hearts went aflutter at the Malta Open HQ when a Belgian named Vandamme entered, however Cristof not Jean-Claude will be hoping to make an impact in the Men’s D. He’ll be joined by 11 others, including 3 male Brits who will be hoping to avoid the wily fox, Dianne Baker, who is looking for a Ladies B-Men’s D Double, the seedings headed by Ray Ryan and Harry Courtney as 1 and 2 respectively. Away from the open singles there is the usual collection of doubles and Vets draws to ensure no one misses out on the maximum amount of Racketlon fun in the sun.

 

Beyond The Court

The Malta Open is much more than just three days of Racketlon. Aside from the glorious weather synonymous with the island of Malta, tournament director Duncan Stahl has made sure that the Malta Open offers plenty of opportunities for players to experience more than just a fantastic on court experience. Supported by now Maltese resident, FIR president Kresten Hougaard, the 2017 Malta Open features a presidential penthouse welcome party, in addition to the regular bonus events of the Friday night BBQ at the Marsa Golf Club, Sunday Roast and the Monday boat trip to the iconic Blue Lagoon. With the players party situated conveniently close to the Tournament Hotel, the Malta Open really is one of the most rounded Racketlon experiences. A great weekend awaits all the players, with sunshine very much on the cards, good luck to all the players!

*I owe this to Leigh Sands.

 

James Pope
UK Racketlon