Just one month after contesting the IWT Czech Open final, Rav Rykowski and Morten Jaksland will meet again in the semi-finals of the IWT Berlin Open.
Second seed Kresten Hougaard plays surprise semi-finalist Cornelius Radermacher in the second Men’s A semi-final.
Zuzana Severinova and Astrid Reimer-Kern will contest the Women’s A final after both navigated their way through the draw.
All players are also competing for Victor Racketlon Series points for the first time.
The Mixed A Doubles final was won by Astrid Reimer-Kern and Kresten Hougaard after beating Zuzana Severinova and Morten Jaksland.
Top Seeds Survive Scares in Top Half of Men’s A
While No.3 seed Duncan Stahl was forced to pull out through illness, the No.1 Morten Jaksland, No.2 Kresten Hougaard and No.4 Rav Rykowski all reached the semi-finals. This was not without a few tough matches along the way though.
Top seed Jaksland had a particularly rough day as he was twice forced to play a long tennis set. First, Max Plettenberg forced him to get 17 in a hugely entertaining tennis match. The quarter-final was an even tighter affair.
He faced reigning World Doubles champion Christian Wiessner and the German forced a complete tennis set from the World No.2. The match itself was intense, with neither player ever able to ever pull far ahead. Eventually, Jaksland won 22-20 to win by four and continue the start of his unbeaten singles run in 2019.
He’ll play Rav Rykowski in a rematch of last month’s Czech Open final. Rykowski himself had a battle to get through his quarter-final. After cruising through his opening match against Kamil Stanek, Rykowski faced a stern test in Thorsten Lentfer.
Rykowski needed eight in tennis but was pushed hard as Lentfer ended up winning the tennis 14-8 but losing the match overall. Jaksland and Rykowski will now have a second showdown in just over a month.
Easy Progress for Hougaard and Radermacher
It was a different story in the bottom half of the draw where Cornelius Radermacher and Kresten Hougaard both sailed through to the semi-finals.
Hougaard opened against fellow Dane Malte Thyregod, winning by +19. He followed that with a similarly dominant win over Loic Cencig, getting the four points he needed in tennis to win by +14.
The other semi-final spot was snatched up by Cornelius Radermacher, who made the most of the opportunity that opened after Stahl’s withdrawal.
Fresh from the Men’s A Doubles title win, Radermacher took on Oliver Buhler in the quarter-finals, defeating him comfortably before tennis. This gifted him arguably the smoothest run through to the semi-finals. Hougaard and Radermacher have never played in singles before so this will be an interesting match to see if the German can cause a big upset.
Reimer-Kern and Severinova to contest Women’s A Final
Last year’s World Singles Championship runner-up, Astrid Reimer-Kern proved her class in singles as she cruised through to the final playing just four tennis points. The German first defeated Melodie Parrot, needing just three in tennis. She then backed that up with a destructive win over second seed Anna-Klara Ahlmer, which included a dominant 21-0 victory in squash.
In the final she’ll play Zuzana Severinova, with the Czech player competing in her second final in row following last month’s Czech Open. Severinova cruised through her opening match against fellow countrywoman Hana Rabova.
Her semi-final against Margaux Randjbar was a much tighter affair. The pair went into tennis requiring a full set after Randjbar pushed the top seed over the first three. In the end, Severinova had enough to win 21-8 in a superb tennis set.
This sets up a captivating final. Despite the rankings disadvantage, Reimer-Kern goes into the final as the favourite. This comes from the fact that the German has won both of their previous head-to-head meetings. Can Severinova upset the odds to win her first Women’s A singles title on the FIR World Tour?
Reimer-Kern and Hougaard Win Mixed for Perfect World Doubles Championships Warm-Up
With pairs Reimer-Kern and Hougaard and also Jaksland and Severinova competing at the upcoming World Doubles Championships there was an increased level of intrigue around this final. Could either side demonstrate that they were one of the favourites?
Reimer-Kern and Hougaard did just that. The pair were superb throughout, winning the first three sports 21-19, 21-14 and 21-10 to leave themselves needing just two in tennis. Not only did they lift the title but they also sent out a huge statement about their World Doubles Championships intentions.
Elsewhere on Day Two
The remainder of the doubles categories, as well as some singles categories, were completed on day two.
Korbinian Heim and Adarsch Vikram Narayanaswamy took home gold in the Men’s B Doubles while Swiss duo Graham king and Julien Meister won the Men’s C Doubles.
Polish duo Katarzyna Myslek and Michal Kurek won the Mixed B title, winning all four sports over Vikrotija Ratacova and Maxim Levitin.
Germany’s Maxi Karg won the Women’s B while Denmark’s Jean-Robert Fiori triumphed in the Seniors +60.
Review all the action by checking out the day two live blog.
The full results from day two are available here.
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Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
