EXPERIENCE TRIUMPH IN VICTORIA
On October 2-4, the city of Victoria in beautiful British Columbia was hosting the forth Pacific Rim Open international Racketlon Challenger tournament. Over 80 participants competed in singles and doubles. Victoria is home to a very strong tennis community and many participants were among the best players on the Vancouver Island. Danny Shannon beat ATP-Tennisplayer in the final. All draws can be found on the tournament website.
Shannons experience beat ATP-Player
Nic Coutts, who has a ATP ranking, was able to reach the final of the men’s singles with decent table tennis and badminton, as soon as you need five points against him in tennis you’re toasted. In the final he had to face probably the most experienced player on the draw, 50 years old Danny Shannon from Calgary. Shannon’s squash was necessary to oust Jeremy Easterbrook in the semis; after losing table tennis and badminton by a good margin his 21-3 win in squash gave him the margin he needed to be comfortable in tennis. The final was one-sided with Shannon winning before tennis (a good thing considering Coutts’ incredible tennis).
Thriller went to Damaris Brix
On the women’s side, Damaris Brix repeated last year’s performance by winning a thriller against squash expert Allison Marr, final score +1! Brix, who is closer to fifty than forty (sorry for unveiling the truth) and well balanced between the four sports, proves once against that experience does matter in Racketlon. In women’s doubles Brix pairing with Marr were to strong for the field, they beat Line Bellerose and Marie-Helene Bedard by 10 points (they only lost table tennis).
New Mixed Champions
In the mixed doubles new champions were crowned, Jeremy Easterbrook (Laval) and Marie-Helene Bedard (Montreal) teamed up to defeat Allison Marr and badminton champion Chris Trenholme. The key to their win was a strong performance in table tennis by Bedard and an incredible performance by Easterbrook in squash to overcome a 2-11 deficit and transforming it in a 21-13 win for his team (his squash score was 19-2…).
Pintea/Shannon too balanced
Men’s doubles champs Easterbrook and Rod Bedard (not related to Marie-Helene) were unable to defend their title. Horatio Pintea and Danny Shannon were to well balanced to be threatened by the Montrealers. Their only scare came when they lost table tennis 21-19, Bedard (who resumed training in table tennis lately) and Easterbook , who is training almost full time , demonstrated good strategy and skills to overcome the ex-olympian and his partner. Badminton and squash having been dominated by Shannon and Pintea, they only needed 3 points in tennis.
Pacific Rim waiting for Europeans
Tournament directors Dean Gillis and John Miller ran a successful tournament that was appreciated by all the participants amongst who many new faces. A pretty city, very nice people and a well ran tournament, this is what the Pacific Rim Open has to offer. Hopefully some European will dare flying to Canada next year to join the group of dedicated North American players.
Rod Bedard
President Racketlon Canada
www.pacificrimopen.com
www.racketlon.ca
