Tomorrow, 22nd August, at 10:00 am the press conference “live from the glass court in Vienna” will be live on the Facebook page of RFA (Racketlon Federation Austria) and on LAOLA1.tv!
Star guest Jürgen Melzer (Austrian tennis legend) will click on the button for the Elite drawings.
Join us!
In less than two weeks the European Racketlon Championships will kick-off in the Franz Fürst Freizeitzentrum in Wr. Neudorf. On Friday the 25thAugust at the 2. FIR European Championships Juniors & Seniors presented by GRAWE sidebyside will start at 9 a.m. On Wednesday the 30th August the elite and amateurs will continue with the 2. FIR European Championships Elite & Amateurs presented by BABOLAT at the City & Country Club Wienerberg in Vienna. From today tickets are available for both events in the Racketlonshop directly at the Vienna venue!
At both venues Centre Court Arenas will be put up. The highlight will be the Centre Court Arena in Vienna with an ATP-Tennis-Hardcourt and a PSA-Squash-Glas-Court! Entry to both arenas will only be permitted by accredited persons or spectators with entry tickets. Entry to all side-courts will be free on all tournament days.
tournament days: €4,-
final days (August 27th,September 2nd & 3rd): €8,-
included:
tournament days: €44,-
final days (August 27th,September 2nd & 3rd): €88,-
included:
VIP seat in the first rows on all centre courts
food and beverages, on final days: VIP-area
official tournament magazine
“It is important for the Racketlon Federation Austria to bring juniors to the sport of Racketlon. The youngsters shall see top athletes at this major event live”, says Wr. Neudorf Tournament Director and RFA-President Marcel Weigl. “For that reason it was clear for us that entry is free for all juniors to the age of 16.”
Win tickets for the final weekend of the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships presented by BABOLAT on 2 and 3 September 2017!
How to: find a poster – take a photo – post it with #racketloneuro – mark people
Starting from 11 August posters of the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships presented by BABOLAT will be hung in Vienna. Find one of them in the public space, take a selfie alone or together with friends in front of the poster, post it on your Facebook wall or on your Instagram account until 20 August with the hashtag #racketloneuro
Every post, publicly visible on 20 August, wins one ticket per person, who is on that picture and is marked for the final weekend of the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships presented by BABOLAT. If your post is not visible to us due to your security settings, please send us the photo and we will publish it on Facebook and our website.The winners will be notified via a direct message on Facebook or Instagram. Legal action may not be taken. Conversion into cash is not possible. The raffle continues to run until 20 August or until it is cancelled.
The overall entries at the Racketlon European Championships exceeded all expectations. Sensational 350 players from 18 nations are responsible for 500 entries! We bow and say thank you!
In the last few days before the entry deadline, the number of entries has increased again. 188 players will compete in the elite and amateur competitions in Vienna, with a total of 260 entries for singles and doubles. 173 players have now entered for Wr. Neudorf, with 240 entries for singles and doubles. If you still want to enter you can be added to the alternate list in case of cancelations, just e-mail to krenn@racketlon.at
The figures for the team competitions are also pleasing: A total of 54 teams, including 14 junior teams, will compete for medals.
If you haven’t joined the EC yet, maybe a Racketlon-Split is an option for you: These are tournaments were only two or three of the four Racketlon disciplines are played. The SPLIT-EC will be held as a one day event and it will take place on Tuesday 29 August in Vienna. It is not an official FIR event, but only an Amateur Championship hosted by the Racketlon Federation Austria! That’s why you have to register at the RFA-tournamentsoftware website to participate. There will be no license fee for the tournamentsoftware registration, only the regular entry fee of €30,-. Enter one of the events now: 1. TT-BA-SQ, 2. TT-SQ-TE, 3. TT-BA-TE, 4. BA-SQ-TE.
We would like to point out one more time that all players must accredit themselves for the event. The majority have already done this! For all others, we extend the deadline again: We ask all those who are not yet accredited to fill out the online-form and to upload a photo by 23 August, 12 noon. Please note: For on-site accrediation, a service fee will be required.
Christoph Krenn
The German Open 2017 were celebrated after another successfull edition of this traditional tournament was held in Nussloch this weekend (28th – 30th July). With 146 players present and a total of 210 entries this was one of the busiest editions of the tournament so far. All results are now online on fir.tournamentsoftware.com
Favorites Ipro London win the first edition of the Champions League with a new format.
For more on CL see posted article by Duncan Stahl.
Both Amke Fischer from Germany and Lukas Windischberger from Austria took home the gold medals in the elite classes. Amke beat surprise finalist Zuzana Severinova from Czeh Republic while Lukas managed to beat Danish Morten Jaksland. The podium was completed by German Natalie Paul and Jesper Hougaard from Denmark.
The Men’s elite doubles titles went to the Swiss pairing of Christian Schaefer and Michael Strässle. The Ladies elite doubles was won by Germans Jennifer Schmitz and Heike Voigt.
With Korbinian Heim and local favorite Ann-Kathrin Pfeifer both Men’s and Women’s B titles went to the hosting country.
In the Men’s C class France took home the title with Mandrin Mouchet while Men D was won by German Moritz Krede.
With four CL matches to be played during the weekend, together with all other classes it was a huge task for the organising team led by Verena and Sandra. At the prize giving ceremony tournament Director Matthias Zimmerman was the first to congratulate and thank his team for this well done job during the whole weekend.
Each year a group of students gets the task on doing everything to get this tournament running but this year the extra task regarding CL was added. It was difficult to get the timeschedule right but everything went smoothly. We hope to meet everybody next year in the new and improved Racket Center.
Hans Van Daele
FIR Delegate
Her is a link to a short TV coverage (unfortunately without subtitles): http://www.rnf.de/mediathek/vi
The hotel booking deadline (12 July) is over and many of you have booked their room at one of our official tournament hotels. We are happy that we could fulfill all your booking wishes and are looking forward to welcome you to Wr. Neudorf and Vienna soon.
If you have not booked your hotel yet, feel free to contact Bettina Reischer in this matter. We cannot guarantee the promo-fees from now on but we will try our best!
Some of you have already sent us their time of arrival at the airport or main train station in Vienna. If you need transportation, please contact Bettina Reischer to check all the details.
Please notice that all the payments have to be done before your first match at the tournament desk in cash only (max. banknote €100,-). Bookings are to be made in the name of one person. This person is responsible for the payment of the total amount at the tournament desk.
The 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships are a unique event where the organization team has to go new ways to reach the budget, which is needed. “We have not reached the goal but aside our important presenting sponsors GRAWE sidebyside and BABOLAT we already managed to find 24 class sponsors”, says RFA president Marcel Weigl, who is the main promotor of the sponsoring packages. All the class sponsors are already mentioned in the tournament system and can be found here: Juniors & Seniors, Elite & Amateurs.
More class sponsors are needed to safe the budget of the tournament so RFA president himself asks the community to take a class sponsorship by themselves or the help to find one with their friends.
More information to the class sponsorship program can be found at here.
444,- Euro for
… name of the chosen class f.e. „Eco Secure“ Men A – Elite
… handover of prizes of your Class by yourself at the price winning ceremony
… free entry to the centrecourt arenas on all days for two persons (worth of 2 x € 64,- = € 128,)
… two VIP tickets for the final day of your sponsored class (worth of 2 x € 88,- = € 176,-)
… printed program (it will be great)
… participation at the prize game (main prize is a car)
… participation at the World Champ Raffle, winning a doubles start with Christoph Krenn (worth: priceless ;-)) )
The new Champions League format for 2017 came to its conclusion at the German Open with iPro London crowned as champions after a dominant display in Nussloch winning all 4 of their remaining matches.
The iPro London team in Germany consisted of Duncan Stahl (c), Natalie Paul, Christian Wiessner and Peter De Bleeckere and many had predicted that their first game on Friday morning against the King of Rackets’ team of Jesper Hougaard, Lieselot de Bleeckere (c), Paul Sach and Jorg Kanonenberg would be a key match.
Duncan Stahl and Jesper Hougaard played out a very tight match at Men’s no.1 singles ending completely equal at 35-35, but two very close London victories in the men’s doubles (P. De Bleeckere/Stahl vs Kanonenberg/P.Sach) and mixed (Paul/Wiessner vs L.De Bleeckere/J.Hougaard) as well dominant victories by Natalie Paul over Lieselot and by Wiessner over Kanonberg meant that iPro London recorded a crucial +28 victory, denying KOR a vital bonus point. This put the London team in a very strong position which they never let slip throughout the weekend as they went on to win their remaining matches against the Berlin Boasters, Klosteneuburg Austria and the Swiss Eagles.
A big win in their final match on Sat evening against Copenhagen ensured that KOR finished in 2nd place and a consistently strong performance over the weekend by the Austrian team enabled them to move from 7th position to edge into 3rd place (by just 4 points on points difference).
Once again a feature of all the matches in Germany was just how evenly matched all the Teams were with 8 of the 16 matches played being decided by less than 20 points (when there are 264 points being played for in every team match).
Most Valuable Player for the 2017 Champions League was decided by which player scored the most overall points for their team (in both doubles and singles). Again, this was very close but congratulations go to Natalie Paul for taking the MVP! See the top 5 players below:
| Player | Team | Total Singles | Total Doubles | Total Points |
| Natalie Paul | London | 256 | 273 | 529 |
| Morten Jaksland | Copenhagen | 255 | 269 | 524 |
| Lukas Windischberger | Austria | 259 | 262 | 521 |
| Duncan Stahl | London | 262 | 253 | 515 |
| Kresten Hougaard | Malta | 264 | 251 | 515 |
It was clear that all the players hugely enjoyed the experience of representing their different team franchises, playing with players from different countries and showing a great sense of spirit and pride for their teams – this was largely down to the huge effort of all the captains who provided sponsors, team logos and team shirts ensuring each Team Franchise create their own style and identity.
Captains will each be allowed to keep two of their players for next year’s 2018 Champions League before another Draft is done which new players will be able to sign up for. There are also plans for a 2nd Division which will give the opportunity for B & C players to experience the special thrill of this new Champions League competition.
Here is the final Champions League table for 2017…
Duncan Stahl
Nearly 5 months has passed since the first round of the Champion’s League took place at the Swedish Open in Malmo, but in fairer, warmer weather, round 2 is fast approaching at the German Open on Friday 28th July, with the final matches in the afternoon of Saturday 29th July. To whet your appetite and refresh your mind here is a review of the first round and a preview of what is to come in Nussloch.
With four singles rubbers and a brace of doubles rubbers in each tie, there are a staggering 264 points up for grabs in a Champion’s League fixture. Teams were awarded 2 points for the victory, with a winning bonus point if a team won by more than 40 points and a losing bonus point if defeat was by less than 20 points. Our 8 sides were split into two groups, with iPro London, Helsinki Hawks, Three Percent Malta Magic and Technifibre Copenhagen in one grouping and KoR Oudenaarde, Swiss Army Knives, Berghain Berlin Boasters and Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria in the second, (groupings that had been determined in a draw performed by Daryl Selby!). Each team played their fellow group members as their opening three fixtures in the Champions League.
Amongst both an “expert” panel and their fellow captains, iPro London and KoR Oudenaarde were installed as the pre-event favourites, but both sides stumbled on the opening day as no side went unbeaten in Sweden. iPro London started out with a thumping bonus point wins over the Helsinki Hawks and Technifibre Copenhagen, however they came unstuck against Three Percent Malta Magic going down to a 4 point defeat. With Copenhagen defeating Malta, the first grouping saw three sides finished with two wins and a defeat. Only Helsinki went without a victory. In the second group, joint favourites, KoR Oudenaarde were also similarly unable to remain undefeated, having edged out both the Swiss Army Knives and Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria in their opening ties, they looked ready to pounce on the inability of London, Copenhagen or Malta to dominate in the other group, however they came undone against the Bergain Berlin Boasters suffering a 17 point defeat. With the Swiss Army Knives defeating Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria, who had opened their account with victory over Berlin, the final table for the weekend simply highlighted how close the whole event is. In addition to defeating each other, the manner of the victories was telling, off the 12 matches played, there were just 4 winning bonus points earned, however 6 losing bonus points were earned.
Therefore as we head to Nussloch, iPro London top the table, however with three points (a bonus point victory) covering first to sixth and four matches to be played, it feels impossible to write off any side at the halfway stage.
| Team | Matches Played | Wins | Points Difference | TOTAL POINTS | |
| 1. | iPro London | 3 | 2 | +107 | 7 |
| 2. | Technifibre Copenhagen | 3 | 2 | +41 | 6 |
| 3. | King of Rackets | 3 | 2 | -2 | 5 |
| 4. | Swiss Army Knives | 3 | 1 | +12 | 4 |
| 5. | Berlin Berghain Boasters | 3 | 2 | +4 | 4 |
| 6. | Three Percent Malta Magic | 3 | 2 | -34 | 4 |
| 7. | Klosterneuburg Austria | 3 | 1 | -14 | 3 |
| 8. | Helsinki Hawks | 3 | 0 | -114 | 1 |
Captain’s Review
Squad Changes – Out: Emil Gunnarsson, Luke Penttinen. In: Christian Wiessner, Pieter De Bleeckere
Squad in Germany: Duncan Stahl (c), Natalie Paul, Christian Wiessner, Pieter De Bleeckere.
Fixtures (Friday 28th July unless stated, all times CEST): KoR Oudenaarde (10:45), Berghain Berlin Boasters (14:30), Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria (19:00), Swiss Army Knives (Saturday 17:30)
While somewhat perturbed by the defeat to Malta (who had beaten Copenhagen, a team London had dispatched with ease), captain Duncan Stahl was left pretty pleased with results in Sweden. Heading to Germany, Duncan feels that London remain at a similar strength with their replacement players complementing those departing the squad. However, he acknowledges that being first and staying first are two very different situations, particularly with respect to the bonus points which have made it “very interesting”. Duncan remains confident and while acknowledging that the London results show how difficult Racketlon results can be to predict, that London can claim the title, with KoR second and Berlin in third.
Squad Changes – Out: Loic Cencig, Julie Irby Norregaard. In: Mark Harris
Squad in Germany: Morten Jaksland (c), Zuzana Severinova, Patrick Lorenz, Mark Harris.
Fixtures: Berghain Berlin Boasters (10:00), Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria (14:30), Swiss Army Knives (19:45), KoR Oudenaarde (Saturday 17:30).
Captain Morten Jaksland was delighted with the potential his squad showed with their bonus point victories over Helsinki and Malta, before being left somewhat baffled by the final match against London. Morten left only to query whether the schedule worked against them, with three team matches in a day asking a lot of his squad. Looking ahead to Germany, Morten waves goodbye to their “bombastic Frenchman” Loic Cencig, but he is pleased with the incoming Mark Harris, the Brit bringing strength to their badminton and in particular, to their potential doubles pairings, which Morten identifies as crucial in this team format. Morten expects things to change in the standings in Germany, although he still expects London to win overall, he is quietly confident that Copenhagen can stay near the top, despite all the strong competition.
Squad Changes – Out: Michael Strassle/Roland Pichler. In: Paul Sach, Joerg Kanonenberg.
Squad in Germany: Lieselot de Bleeckere (c), Jesper Hougaard, Paul Sach, Joerg Kanonenberg, Michael Moitzi.
Fixtures: iPro Sports London (10:45), Helsinki Hawks (15:15), Three Percent Malta Magic (19:45), Technifibre Copenhagen (Saturday 17:30).
Tagged early as a team to watch, it was an unfortunate start for KoR as Michael Strassle was lost early to injury, with Roland Pichler stepping in as an injury replacement. However, captain Lieselot de Bleeckere was overall pretty pleased with her teams performance in Sweden. Lieselot feels that they will be a stronger unit as they head to Germany, however there is the pressure of facing the currently top ranked teams (London and Copenhagen), in what could be seen as title deciding matches for all three sides. Of course, the London match comes with the additional needle, as Lieselot comes up against brother Pieter in the London squad, when she declares that “I really have to beat my brother and the London team”. Away from the sibling rivalry, Lieselot has faith in her team and she predicts nothing but a victory for the KoR in the Champions League 2017.
Squad Changes – Out: Nicole Eisler, Emanuel Schopf (injury), Mikael Rehn, Niclas Larsson (injury). In: Astrid Reimer-Kern, Korbinian Heim (sub), Ray Jordan (sub).
Squad in Germany: Astrid Reimer-Kern (c), Alex Du Noyer, Steffan Neumann, Korbinian Heim, Ray Jordan.
Fixtures: Helsinki Hawks (10:45), Three Percent Malta Magic (15:15), Technifibre Copenhagen (19:45), iPro Sports London (Saturday 17:30).
The Swiss Army Knives head the chasing pack, the first of three teams currently on four points, for the Knives thanks to two losing bonus points. With Sweden skipper, Nicole Eisler unavailable for the Germany leg, she hands the leadership of the team over to friend, Astrid Reimer-Kern. Nicole was left very happy with the way it all turned out in Sweden, in particular the team spirit that was on display, which contributed to the team exceeding her predictions. Looking ahead to Germany it is a blow for the Knives to lose both Niclas Larsson and Emanuel Schopf to injury, but they have had two substitutes approved by the Champions League panel in the form of Korbinian Heim and Ray Jordan. Overall, Nicole remains positive especially because “we have Astrid Reimer-Kern”, showing her faith in her personal replacement. The aim for these ladies is to challenge for a final podium place, and they have confidence after their unexpected results in Sweden.
Squad Changes – Out: Anders Rikan, Mikkel Brenoe-Jensen. In: Luke Barnes, Thorsten Lentfer.
Squad in Germany: Amke Fischer (c), Luke Barnes, Thorsten Lentfer, Jack Bishop.
Fixtures: Technifibre Copenhagen (10:00), iPro Sports London (14:30), Helsinki Hawks (19:00), Three Percent Malta Magic (Saturday – 16:45).
Triple B’s captain Amke Fischer is keeping her cards close to her chest, although she was willing to reveal that she was quite happy with her Berlin team’s achievements in Sweden. She is predicting a close finish to the Champion’s League and while she ‘claims’ she would be happy with a top half finish she has left a veiled threat to her fellow teams that “Berlin are going to be even stronger in Nussloch, so their opponents had better look out”. Can the German side seal the first new format Champion’s League title on home soil?
Squad Changes – Out: Sebastian Hedlund. In: Anastasiya Bruzgina
Squad in Germany: Kresten Hougaard (c), Alistair Prades, Piers Boden, Svenja Kleb, Anastasiya Bruzgina.
Fixtures: Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria (10:00), Swiss Army Knives (15:15), KoR Oudenaarde (19:45), Berghain Berlin Boasters (Saturday 16:45).
Captain Kresten Hougaard enjoyed the first experience of the new format Champions League in Sweden, but (surprisingly) feels that Malta struggled a little, despite their solid win over Helsinki and their quite astonishing victory over London. Kresten quickly concedes that the loss of Sebastian Hedlund from the team makes their task harder in Nussloch, however he is pleased to strengthen his women’s options with the arrival of Ana Bruzgina. No matter what side they face Kresten promises that Malta will be “fighting for every single point on offer”. He fully expects iPro London to go undefeated in the second round and be crowned the 2017 Champions.
Squad Changes – Out: Lillian Druve. In: Benjamin Hampl, Martina Meissl.
Squad in Germany: Lukas Windischberger (c), Hans Sherpa, Benjamin Hampl, Martina Meissl, Hans Van Daele.
Fixtures: Three Percent Malta Magic (10:00), Technifibre Copenhagen (14:35), iPro Sports London (19:00), Helsinki Hawks (Saturday 16:45).
For Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria captain, Lukas Windischberger it was a chastening opening round in Sweden. After a solid opening round victory, his team tired and suffered two further defeats, something which Lukas pins on the make-up of his squad in Sweden. “Having just three male players isn’t good for three hard fought team matches”. Heading to Nussloch, Lukas is able to resolve this problem as he is able to call on top Swiss player, Benny Hampl, giving Lukas more options for his team make up and as a result, he is targeting a third place finish for his team, while expecting London to go all the way.
Squad Changes – Out: None. In: Cedric Junillon, Silke Altmann
Squad in Germany: Marko Valimakl (c), Dan Busby, Margaux Randjbar, Cedric Junillon, Silke Altmann, James Watkins.
Fixtures: Swiss Army Knives (10:45), KoR Oudenaarde (15:15), Berghain Berlin Boasters (19:00), Klosterneuburg Racketlonshop Austria (Saturday 16:45).
It was a chastening experience in Sweden for the Helsinki Hawks and their captain Marko Valimakl, especially with the early injury suffered by Margaux Randjbar, who battled on bravely despite it. Marko however was keen to address the positives that came from the experience, with a focus on the experiences gained in these matches for Helsinki as a team. With no wins registered in Sweden, Helsinki will be desperate to get that first win under their belt and with the addition of Cedric Junillon and Silke Altmann to the squad in Nussloch, Marko is confident that their strengthen squad will win a few in Germany. With regards to an overall winner, Marko sticks with the pack and predicts victory for iPro London.
The second round of the 2017 Champion’s League will feature four matches, with each side facing the teams they are yet to play. With 12 points on offer for each side to claim, no side can be considered out of the running, but as it always is, points on the board matter most. Perhaps crucially, KoR Oudenaarde have to play both the current top and second placed teams in Germany, so it is likely that their results will be crucial to final make up. KoR play Copenhagen in the final match at 17:30 on Saturday afternoon while London faced the Swiss Army Knives at the same time, with bonus points also in play, those last 2 hours could provide some of the most intriguing Racketlon ever seen in the Champions League!
As in Sweden there will be a host of ways for you to follow the action as it unfolds through the FIR Facebook page with live videos and updates direct from the team captains. Additionally, the FIR are aiming to run a Live Blog to help everyone follow the days events. Further information on this will be available through the FIR Facebook page. Finally, on Wednesday 26th July at 21:00 (CEST, 20:00 BST), there will be a Facebook Live event with the FIR Facebook page hosting a panel of experts who will discuss what we can expect in the second round and also interviews with some of the players and captains.
James Pope
UK Racketlon
In around 2 months the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships take place in Austria. As all of you know, the categories Juniors/Seniors will be held in Wiener Neudorf from the 25th to the 28th of August. From August 30th until September 3rd the Elite and Amateur classes will take place at the City & Country Club Wienerberg. The centre court arenas will be something special, also the record price money of € 10.000,- and for sure the important thing to become European Champion in Racketlon. “At such an important event we will also show the sports world that Racketlon is fair and clean. Official doping tests will be made by NADA, the National Anti-Doping Agency,” says Christoph Krenn, tournament director and former number 1 in the world. Who will be tested and with which criterias Nada will choose players is of course not communicated.
Christoph Krenn
Tournament Director