fir – Page 6

Triple for Amke Fischer

Posted on July 11, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

The Latvian Open Champions 2017 are found after another successfull edition of the tournament was held in the beautiful city of Riga this weekend (7th to 9th July). This was the busiest edition of the tournament so far with 83 players and the total of 133 entries. All results are now online on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

The most successful player of the weekend was German top player Amke Fischer who won “the triple” with victories in Elite Singles, women’s doubles and mixed. In the women’s doubles Amke partnered Austrian Martina Meißl and they proved too strong in the Round Robin draw dropping only one set of tennis against Severinova and Schmitz. Silver went to Kaptein and Eisler while bronze went to Severinova and Schmitz.

In the Mixed doubles Amke partnered FIR president Kresten Hougaard and again they were too strong for the opposition and ended up winning the final against Severinova and Jaksland only needing 1 point in tennis. Bronze went to Griffiths and De Bleeckere.

On Sunday Amke finished of her hattrick by beating Liselot De Bleeckere before tennis with a rock solid performance. The last woman elite singles medal went to Nicole Eisler who won against Martina Meißl in the match for bronze.

First singles title of the season for Dickert

In the men’s elite singles it was a strong field competing for the prestigious wooden Latvian Open trophy. In the first semifinal Benjamin Hampl pulled out the win against Jaksland at 15-14 in the tennis after what Hampl himself called “the best racketlon match of my career”. In the other semifinal Austrian Michi Dickert took out Kresten Hougaard ending the match at 16-7 in tennis. The final was decided by a phenomenal squash performance by Dickert winning 21-3 leaving him to need only 7 in tennis which he claimed at 7-3. Kresten Hougaard took the bronze.

The men’s elite doubles went to Hampl/Griffiths who beat surprise finalists of Sülltrup/De Block who took out first seeded Dickert/Jaksland in the group stage.

Men’s and women’s B titles went to Germans Jörn Sülltrup and Jennifer Schmitz after relatively clear victories.

In the men’s c class another German Sebastian Poddey won after a gummiarm victory in the final against Finnish Ilari Pönkkö.

Home victory for Dzirkalis

In the seniors +40 local Uldis Dzirkalis made a rock solid performance winning the tournament dropping only one set of badminton along the way. The +50 draw was won by Russian Maxim Leviten.

In total a great tournament and a nice party in Riga. The tournament director Zigmars Puikevics stated after the prize giving ceramony: “let’s make racketlon more professional” by that referring to the improved livestreaming setup and the on court referee’s on all center court matches.

Morten Jaksland
FIR Delegate

+++ Euro-News +++ Live Stream on laola1.tv and TV

Posted on July 8, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

On a minium of three days all matches on the Centre Courts in tabletennis, badminton, squash and tennis of the 2. FIR European Championships will be livestreamed on the internationally well known streaming plattform www.laola1.tv. The biggest streaming plattform for sport events in Austria runs live streams of national Bundesliga in soccer or even El Classico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. “Our aim was to produce a real high quality stream”, says RFA-President Marcel Weigl. Each Centre Court will have one permanent camera plus two portable cameras and a live commentary for the complete Centre Court Arena. Broadcasting will take place on the final day of the Juniors and Seniors events Sunday 27th August as well as the final weekend of the Elite events Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd September. On all other days live scoring of all centre court matches will be available via internet.

EURO Finals LIVE on National TV

The highlight of EURO will be the live broadcast of the men and women singles final on national television ORF Sport+ on Sunday 3rd September starting at 2:00 p.m. with the men’s final, followed by the women’s final at around 4:00 p.m. “Ofcourse such a media production costs money, but this is the most important thing to promote our sport.” Especially the videos of our squash glass court (credit: RFA) will be sensational”, says Weigl.

+++ Euro-News +++ Drop your weakest sport

Posted on July 2, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

In Austria Racketlon-Split tournaments were introduced about two years ago. These are tournaments were only two or three of the four Racketlon disciplines are played. This way Racketlon can be played at more venues and it’s easier to activate new players! Newcomers do not need to play all the four disciplines from the beginning. “As soon as new players are motivated for Racketlon the missing sports can still be added later. We want to lower the inhibitions to try Racketlon”, says the inventor of the Racketlon-Split Marcel Weigl.

1. European Championships Racketlon-Split

We want to spread this idea. That’s why, for the first time in Racketlon history, we will host the European Amateur Championships in Racketlon-Split in all possible three-discipline combinations. Drop your weakest sport and can become an European Amateur Champion!
The one day event will take place on Tuesday August 29 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,-

Register now for the European Championships!

Enter one of the events now: 1. TT-BA-SQ, 2. TT-SQ-TE, 3. TT-BA-TE, 4. BA-SQ-TE. Only 16 men and 8 women can participate at each Racketlon-Split! The first 14 men in each event and the first 7 women are guaranteed a start place. 2 men and 1 woman will receive a wildcard. The Austrian National Champions in Racketlon-Split will be guaranteed to get Wildcards for the European Championships!

Austrian National Championships Racketlon-Split

On Tuesday 8 July in Vienna, Kitzbühel and Graz the 1. Austrian National Championships Racketlon-Split will be held. Again, one of the four Racketlon disciplines is left out. The National Champions will receive a Wildcard for the 1. European Championships Racketlon-Split, which will be held as a side-event at the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships, like described earlier.

Register now for the Austrian National Championships!

On 8 July the Austrian National Championships for all possible combinations with three disciplines will take place in different locations. Chose one of the combinations and become Austrian National Champion in Racketlon-Split:

Triple for Patrick Lorenz

Posted on June 30, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

The Racketlon Swiss Open is history. Last weekend (23rd to 25th June) the players fought in 263 matches for the medals. The great winners are Patrick Lorenz taking the title for the hosting country Switzerland and German Astrid Reimer-Kern. Congratulations. All results are now online on fir.ournamentsoftware.com

In the women’s final Astrid Reimer-Kern won 9 points ahead over top seeded Nicole Eisler from Switzerland and secured her first Swiss Open title. Also the men Elite got a first time Swiss Open Champ. The final was pretty close and Patrick Lorenz won with only one point over (also) top seeded Kresten Hougaard. Lorenz therewith won his first IWT title. The third place went to French Cédric Junillon with a victory over Emanuel Schöpf from Autria (credit: Swiss Open).

Men B´s winner is Luka Penttinen from Finland who also won the Juniors U21 category. In Men C, D and E as well as in Women B and C all gold medals went to the hosting country with Mirco Lareida, Marc Fust, Stefan Goll, Adeline Kilchenmann and Gina Bärlocher taking the titles.

With Esther Dübendorfer winning the Women +40 category also one of the senior titles went to Switzerland. The Seniors +40 was won by German Joachim Gersdorf and +45 by Peter Sákovics from Hungary.

In the double categories Patrick Lorenz stood on the top of the podium for another two times. He won the Men A double with Michael Strässle and the Mixed A with Nicole Eisler, both also from Switzerland. Also Nicole Eisler could take another title by winning the Women´s double with Dara Ladner.

We hope all of you enjoyed your time in Zurich!

Esther Dübendorfer
Tournament Director

Racketlon German Open 2017 are getting closer

Posted on June 23, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

The Racketlon German Open will be held in Nussloch for the 8th time from July 28th to 30th. This year it will be even more exiting than the years before, as we will be hosting the second and final round of the New Champions League (See actual table below). The winner of that Champions league will be celebrated on Saturday evening during our Players Party, which will include Barbecue and of course a traditional Beer Pong Tournament. For those players who are not playing for a Champions League team of course double and mixed catgories are open. Enter now on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Preparations are in full flow and our team is already excited and is looking forward to the event. Of course we hope to meet all of you during this event… so don’t hesitate to register!

Registration is open till Monday July 17 (12am)!

You can find more information on our website www.racketlon-nussloch.de

Verena Waigel
Organiser team

2 points for a win.
1 bonus point for winning a match by 40 points or more
1 losing bonus point for losing a match by 20 points or less
Position in the table is decided on Total Points first, followed by Points Difference

	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

11th Racketlon Swiss Open 2017

Posted on June 21, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

On Friday, the 11th edition of the Swiss Open starts with 108 players from 13 different nations, 156 entries and 263 matches. It promises to be a great edition. Seeded No 1 in Men A – Elite is world no. 6 Kresten Hougaard from Denmark fighting in a monrad draw of 16 players. Hopes for a medal for the hosting country are on 2^nd seeded Benjamin Hampl. In Women A Elite Nicole Eisler from Switzerland, also world no. 6, leads a group of four players.
All draws are online on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

The first matches will start on Friday 10am with Doubles and Seniors. The Man A Final is on Sunday 25th 1.40 pm.

The venue is as every years the Vitis Sportcenter, Schlieren Zürich – see you there!

Esther Dübendorfer
Tournament Director

Success for Canadian Racketlon as hosts in Winnipeg

Posted on June 20, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

The last Super World Tour of the year is in the books as the racketlon players visited Winnipeg in the middle of Canada. 56 players from 7 different countries participated in the Cardinal Capitol North American Championships at the great facilities of the Winter Club. All results are now onlie on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Drama in the Men Elite

After making his comeback a month ago at the English Open winning the Super World Tour there, Calum took his second successive SWT win by defeating Canadas Patrick Laplante, who put up a good fight against the former World Champion. Patrick took table tennis and badminton both by 21-19, however coming into the squash, which is Calums best sport, it wasn’t enough for the Canadian hope. After a 21-1 at the with the rubber ball, Calum closed out the match at 6-5 in tennis.

Calum had taken down Lukas Windischberger in a brutal battle in the semi-final. The squash lasted for almost 45 minutes, which in the end proved too much for Lukas that cramped up in his hands in the tennis losing 17-8. Cramp was also a big issue in the other semi-final, where local Winnipeg hope, Evan Mancer played countryman, Patrick Laplante. Evan as unseeded had taken out world number 4, Morten Jaksland in the first round and world number 11, Jesper Hougaard in the ¼-final, both in long gruelling matches. Patrick needed 16 points in tennis to reach the final, but Evan raced to an 8-1 start looking in control. Unfortunately, Evan were unable to finish the match due to cramps in his left leg and had to withdraw at 9-5 up. Lukas won 3rd place the next day beating Evan before tennis.

Chrisi Seehofer marches on

In the women’s event World Champions, Chrisi Seehofer was naturally the big favorite for the title and she did not disappoint. Make Fishcer of Germany was defeated in the final with Lilian Druve finishing 3rd after beating Winnigpeg local Alix Younger for the bronze in a close contested match.

European domination in the elite doubles classes

The European players won all the elite titles, however half of the pairing winning the Men Elite doubles was Canadian with Patrick pairing up with Austria’s Lukas. They beat Morten Jaksland and Kresten Hougaard of Denmark convincingly in the final with the Shannon brothers, Kelly and Corey taking 3rd place.

Mixed Elite was unsurprisingly won by Austrian superstars, Chrisi Seehofer and Lukas Windischberger, who are both looking very strong for the upcoming Euro Champs at home in Vienna.

The Women’s Elite double was won by Lilian Druve and Seehofer again after a win in the final over Canadian 1 and 2, Alix Younger and Erin Lee Roberts.

Plenty of medals for the hosts

The Canadian players did well at home turf taking no less than 16 medals. Besides the ones in the Olympic draws, there was success for Dany Lessard winning the Men B in a Canadian final against Riley Peake. Dany also took second in Seniors +55 only losing to Britains Steve Kneller. Kneller also won the +50-class with countryman and US-living Andy Stenson finishing second. Mohyna Deraj won the U13-juniors class in and all Canadian class with Evans son, Liam Mancer finishing second. A big final between close friends and poker pros, Emil Patel of USA and Tobias Hausen of Germany attracted a big crowd. Tobias came out on top by a margin of only a few points.

Racketlon Canada hope to be back in 2018 with another well-arranged tournament. Calgary have been mentioned as a possible new host city.

Kresten Hougaard
FIR president

+++Euro-News+++

Posted on June 14, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

Apply now for online accreditation

Our ambition is to make the 2. FIR European Racketlon Championships the largest and best organized event in the history of Racketlon! We have already told you about our courts, which will have an unprecedented quality. Another milestone will be personalized accreditations with photos that allow players to move freely within venues. The entrance to the courts will only be permitted to players and officials with tournament ID. The shuttle service, which is set up with the support of Renault Vienna between Vienna International Airport, venues and official tournament hotels, can also be used only with a valid accreditation.

How does it work?

All players must submit their data to the EURO organizing team on the accreditation-tab after entering the event on fir.tournamentsoftware.com. In addition to the contact data, a portrait photograph (maximum 2MB in JPG or PNG format) has to be uploaded. No additional costs arise for players if they apply online for accreditation! For organizational reasons, the online accreditation will be closing on August 07. at 11:59pm (Juniors / Seniors) and on August 14. at 11:59pm (Elite / Amateurs). For on-site accrediation, a service fee will be required. A service fee may also be required for incompletely filled out accreditation forms. Please double-check the information before clicking the apply-button!

One guest for free!

The tournament participants may also accredit a guest (coach, family member or friend). Accreditation of the guest must occur without exception via the online form. A guest can only apply for accreditation together with a player. Accreditation for one guests per player is also free of charge! After the player has sent the online-accreditation, no more guest can be registered! For all other guests of the tournament participants, the regular entry fees will apply.

For further information about accreditation, contact Peter Robič via E-Mail.

+++Euro-News+++

Posted on June 14, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

EC favourites are from Austria

The SWT King of Rackets in Belgium from 4 to 6 June, one of the most important tournaments on the FIR World Tour, was dominated by the athletes of the Racketlon Federation Austria. The Austrian players won all Elite classes (Men´s Singles, Women´s Singles, Men´s Doubles, Women´s Doubles, Mixed Doubles); and Emanual Schöpf won the U21 class. What is more, third places were contributed by Michi Dickert and Bettina Bugl in Singles, as well as by Emanuel Schöpf in Doubles.

Best ranked players from Austria

On 1 June 2017, the Austrian Lukas Windischberger replaced Kasper Jønsson (Denmark) as number two in the world ranking, making him the worldwide best active player. World number 1 Jesper Ratzer, who finished his carrier in February, is still leading the ranking, which is calculated based on the best results of the past 24 months. Together with longtime world champion Christine Seehofer and 2017 tour dominator Windischberger, the Racketlon Federation Austria is excellently positioned for the European Championship coming home to Austria from 25 August to 3 September 2017. Most of the Austrian top players have already entered the tournament: Christine and Elisabeth Seehofer, Lukas Windischberger, Bettina Bugl, Emanuel Schöpf, Hans Sherpa, Tom Wagner; furthermore, world number 2 Amke Fischer and world number 6 Kresten Hougaard have already signed up. Deadline for Entry is 21 August.

Welcome to Riga!

Posted on June 10, 2017 | by fir | Leave a Comment

In 4 weeks, July 7-9, Riga is waiting for Racketlon players to take part in IWT Latvian Open 2017 – the 3rd International Racketlon event in Latvia! The Latvian Racketlon federation promises a sporty atmosphere, a smooth and well organised tournament schedule, experienced referees and volunteers and a lot of competitive matches. The organisation team is planning to keep Latvian “good standard” for the arrival transfers, free lunch ad water, live stream TV and, of course, great Players Party at justbar!
Enter now on fir.tournamentsoftware.com

Short distances between the airport, downtown and the venue will help you to enjoy time in one of the famous Hansa cities – Riga. The Latvian Racketlon federation managed to offer some really good deals for accommodation (Radisson Blu – 34% from the list price) – for more information please look at the links on the info page.

To see some memories from last year’ Riga event watch our Welcome Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHtaQosT38

We are looking forward to welcome you in Riga!

Zigmars Puikevics
Tournament director