KÖPF AND VAN DER WOERDT DID IT IN EINDHOVEN

Marielle van der Woerdt took her second title on the FIR World Tour to win her home tournament Dutch Open (24.-26.7) in Eindhoven. Together with Onno Quik they also won the Mixed Doubles. In Men Elite Alexander Köpf did it at last! His final victory over Jermaine Manners was the Germans first Singles title at an international Racketlon event. The Englishman took revenge in Mens Doubles, where Manners/Twisterling beat Köpf/Kudicke with a margin of two points. Seniors 45+ went to Volker Sach. All Results are now online on the Tournament Website

Köpf with first victory

With Alexander Köpf only one seeded player made it to the semifinals in the Men Elite and the topseeded took the title in the end. In the quarters Czech number one Petr Vesely was as chanceless as countryman Oliver Kudicke (who became Third) in the semis. On the bottom half of the draw unseeded Jermaine Manners outcasted Marcel Weigl in the quarters and got a walkover in the semis, because unlucky wildcard player Örjan Lundberg twisted his ankle during his quarterfinal victory over Peter Duyck. The Englishman took out number two seed Marcel Weigl in the quarters after a great Tabletennis victory. Köpf played a better Tabletennis game in the final making the score near to even after his Badminton defeat. After an unbelievable Squash set, Köpf went into Tennis with a clear lead and made his first victory on the FIR World Tour reality.

All Dutch final in Women Elite

In the first Dutch final on the FIR World Tour unseeded Marielle van der Woerdt had little problems to take her second title. Finalist Joyce Crouse lost the first three sets and the game was over before Tennis. Third place went to number one seeded Katerina Sodomkova, who beat raising star Jane Cook in the playoff. The English Squashplayer knocked out number two seeded Inge van den Herrewengen in the Quarterfinal. In Mixed Doubles Van der Woerdt took her second title and carried Onno Quik to his first victor in a FIR event. In a close final Sodomkova/Vesely won Tabletennis and Squash but lost Badminton and Tennis.

Canadian takes Racketlon to Quebec

The only participant from Overseas Danny Lessard took his first medal, becoming third in the Seniors (45+) with a victory over tournament director Marc Veldkamp. The Canadian has applied for a FIR World Tour Event during the carneval in Quebec in February 2010, which will most likely be chosen by FIR. Victory went to favourite Volker Sach who clearly beat Swede Janne Elmhag in the final. In the Seniors (55+) it was Hans van der Landen to take the home victory.

Germans rule other draws

Most other draws were safely in German hands. Paul Sach won the u21 Juniors competition. In the Men B final two Elite A players who missed the entry deadline for Dutch Open Elite draws met. Lars Bosselmann defeated Heinz Nowicki winning Badminton und Squash both under three. Bronze went to Marc Oliver Grau. Only Roald Hulshof destroyed the German picture in Men C, by winning the title for the Netherlands with Stefan Freienstein and Rolf Dorrenhaus on the podium. In Mens B Amateur Doubles Heinz Nowicki helps his friend Maike Immel to win his first international tournament together with his first start.

Super Club, nice Players Party

All in all it was a small nice tournament in the very nice David Lloyd Sportscentre club with swimming pool area included. The players dinner was very nice and included music and a happy hour for cheaper drinks and many players made it out to see the nightlife of Eindhoven later on. Some improvements to make the tournament even better for next year include a better time schedule, more helpers on the courts, some scoreboards for the elite matches and some more referees for the Saturday too. “Nothing impossible and I am sure Marc Veldkamp and his team will try to make these improvements”, says FIR President and Dutch Open Supervisor Marcel Weigl and thanks everyone on the organising team for the work done.

Medal Winners

Men A – Elite
1. Alexander Köpf, Ger
2. Jermaine Manners, Eng
3. Oliver Kudicke, Ger

Women A – Elite
1. Marielle van der Woerdt, Ned
2. Joyce Crouse, Ned
3. Katerina Sodomkova, Cze

Mens A – Elite Doubles
1. Jermaine Manners/Paul Twisterling, Eng/Ned
2. Alexander Köpf/Oliver Kudicke, Ger
3. Kristian Achenbach/Paul Sach, Ger

Mixed Doubles
1. Marielle van der Woerdt/Onno Quik, Ned
2. Katerina Sodomkova/Petr Vesely, Cze
3. Joyce Crouse/Marc Oliver Grau, Ned/Ger
3. Jolien Naessens/Gert Bloome, Bel

Seniors (45+)
1. Volker Sach, Ger
2. Janne Elmhag, Swe
3. Danny Lessard, Can

Seniors (55+)
1. Hans van der Landen, Ned
2. Steve Rayson, Ned
3. Richard Lawrence, Eng

Men B – Advanced
1. Lars Bosselman, Ger
2. Heinz Nowicki, Ger
3. Marc Oliver Grau, Ger

Men C – Amateur
1. Roald Hulshof, Ned
2. Stefan Freienstein, Ger
3. Ralf Dorrenhaus, Ger

Women B – Amateur
1. Marijke Ronhaar, Ned
2. Maureen Thomson, Eng
3. Carolien van Geleen, Ned

Men B – Amateur Doubles
1. Maike Immel/Heinz Nowicki, Ger
2. Lars Bosselmann/Norbert Geditzki, Ger
3. Ralf Dorrenhaus/Karsten Rauhaus, Ger
3. Pete Brandhorst/Marc Unger, Ger