TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION ONLINE
FIR is proud to announce that the 1st version of the new events registration system around the Result Reporter by swedish company Procensr is now online and working. Players can now register for the 1st FIR World Tour Event 2008, Hungarian Open (22-24 Feb). What is new is that all players must sign up in the players corner once before they enter their first tournament. All further instructions can be found on www.resultreporter.com. Everyone please sign up now. As the Result Reporter will also be directly connected with the World Ranking System, Ranking Officer Phil Reid would like to remind all players of the upcoming changes and there slight changes in the FIR World Tour shedule.
Dutch, Swiss and Austrian Open changed dates
Due to the big success of this years Novomatic Austrian Open with over 300 players and the limitation of indoor tennis courts, the date for the Super World Tour event 2008 was changed to 29-31 August in order to be able to use outdoor tennis courts as well and have no prolem with the capacity. This was only possible thanks to Swiss Open, which moved the date forward one week to 13-14 September. Furthermore Dutch Open changed the dates to 18-20 July. „This shedule is now fixed and cannot be changed anymore“, says World Tour Officer Michael Dickert.
2-year best of 10 events
FIR would like to remind everyone of the changes to the ranking system that will take place on 1st January 2008. Currently the system is based on a ‘best of 5’ results + previous points accrued as at 1st January 2007 (when the new system commenced).
As of 1st January 2008 any points accrued prior to 1st January 2007 will be removed from the system and we will move to the intended rolling ‘2-year best of 10 events’ system (as planned when the new system was first introduced in 2007).
Rankings updated immediatly
Well, we might see some interesting movements within the rankings when they are first published in 2008. The players that have played more than 5 events during 2007 may feel the benefit of their commitment to the tour. However, some players have already played 10 events, so they will have to improve on their 2007 results if their ranking is to improve during 2008. Very interesting indeed! The biggest difference of the new system for all the players is, that the rankings can be updated the day after each tournament is over by pressing one single button. „But only, if the tournaments use the Result Reporter and report the results correctly“, reminds FIR-President Marcel Weigl.
32 Top 50 players played 5 or more tournaments
2008 will undoubtedly be another exciting year for the development of Racketlon and this will be reflected in the rankings as the new system beds in during the second year of its existence. The changes to the system, alongside the planned automation of the rankings generation, will ensure the development of Racketlon remains fast-paced.
„I will leave you with an interesting point. When I first analysed the ranking system during 2006, only 4 players in the Top 200 had played 5 events or more. Today’s Top 50 list can boast 32 players that have played 5 events or more during 2007“, analyses Phil Reid. This is a fantastic development for our sport.
Thanks to Buchanans
„Finally, I would like to thank ‘The Buchanans – Katy and her father John’ for all the rankings work they have carried out on ‘our’ behalf during 2007 – we would not have a ranking list without them. They will also be integrated in the new system, but the workload should decrease dramatically I would also like to thank all players for their patience and understanding during this period of change“, says Phil Reid.FIR-President Marcel Weigl and FIR-Ranking Officer Phil Reid
