Top seeds Patrick Laplante and Katrin Maldre both triumphed at the 2019 CHA Massachusetts Racket Masters.
Laplante defeated surprise finalist Allen Fitzsimmons to claim his second Men’s A Massachusetts Racket Masters title.
Meanwhile, current +55 World Champion Katrin Maldre won the Women’s A event in America.
Patrick Laplante Seals Men’s A Crown
Patrick Laplante went into the tournament as the favourite and comfortably lived up to expectations.
The Canadian No.1 put on a clinic in the final, defeating Allen Fitzsimmons 21-4, 21-6, 21-18 in a one-sided affair.
Nevertheless, it was a superb FIR World Tour debut for Fitzsimmons. The American had previously upset a struggling Jeremy Easterbrook in the group stage to reach the final in his maiden event.
Laplante though cements his reputation as the best male racketlon player in North America. The Canadian reached the Massachusetts Racket Masters final for the third year, winning his second title after losing to World No.4 Dan Busby last year.
He also won 10 of his 11 singles sets this weekend, only dropping the badminton 21-4 against Hong Kong’s Kevin Ho Ching Ng.
Ho Ching Ng missed out on a bronze medal in the Men’s A as he was defeated by America’s Bryan Song in the third-placed play-off.
Katrin Maldre Delivers Again on Home Soil
An excellent pair of performances on Saturday had left Katrin Maldre in prime position to retain the title.
She faced fellow-American Dominique Canale and put on a crushing display, winning 21-11, 21-4, 21-13 to seal the Women’s A title once again.
Maldre has now won this title in back-to-back years to cement her status as the best American female.
Second place was won by Canadian Line Bellerose who improved on last year’s third-placed performance. She defeated Shona Kerr on the final day who took third place.
Laplante Completes the Double
It was a double celebration for Patrick Laplante as he took the Men’s A Doubles title alongside Patrick Moran.
The duo played Jeremy Easterbrook and Andy Stenson in the final and were made to work hard for the tile.
Easterbrook and Stenson led by 11 before squash but the eventual champions battled back to seal the title with a +7 victory.
There was a superb story in the Mixed A Doubles as debutants Dominique Canale and Justin D’Antonio won by a single point.
The two raced to a 28 point lead before squash but this lead evaporated quickly. Their opponents, Shona Kerr and Allen Fitzsimmons, produced a sublime 21-1 squash victory to get back in the match.
However, Canale and D’Antonio got the 14 points they needed to seal a debut title in Massachusetts.
Other Champions
In the Men’s +45 Martyn Langston took yet another title to extend his winning streak to 13 matches. He was dominant in America, dropping just two sets all weekend.
Andy Stenson finished as the runner-up after pushing Langston closest in a high-quality final. Third place was won by Canada’s Rod Bedard who defeated Steve de Luca.
The all-Canadian Men’s B final was won by top seed Marc Fortin. He held off the challenge of 2nd seed Joey Genest to finally reach the podium after two previous Men’s B fourth-placed finishes in Massachusetts.
Tournament Director Andy Stenson said, “Despite three last-minute withdrawals due to flight cancellations and the need to redo the draws and schedules in the +45s, the tournament was well organised and well-received by many players who were new to the sport.
“More than 20 participants enjoyed the player’s dinner on Saturday in downtown Northampton.
“The event led to continued interest in racketlon in the US with interest in hosting more tournament and a return of Team USA to this year’s World Championships.”
The full results from the Massachusetts Racket Masters are available here.
The full 2019 FIR World Tour is available here, with a number of tournaments open for entry.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Andy Stenson
