It’s fair to say that Astrid Reimer-Kern was one of the stars of the IWT Berlin Open.
The German was unbeaten across the weekend, winning the Women’s A Singles title and Mixed A Doubles title alongside Kresten Hougaard.
After defeating top seed Zuzana Severinova before tennis in the singles final, it’s fair to say she was pleased with her performance.
“The key to victory is if I don’t lose too high at table tennis”
“I think I played very, very good this weekend”, Reimer-Kern said following the final. “I am very happy with my play. Table-tennis and badminton were really good so I cannot say anything bad about my game at the moment so I’m really happy.”
“For me, always the key victory is if I don’t lose too high at table tennis. So then I feel comfortable in whatever happens so I know exactly when I only have a couple of points minus and then in badminton I only have to be even. That’s enough for me. So when I play good table tennis I feel good and I’m very comfortable going to the badminton.”
There was an extra layer of joy for Reimer-Kern as, not only did she win two trophies, but she did so in her home country.
“Berlin is a really really nice city so I was really looking forward to it”, she said of the new tournament. “It’s kind of small for a racketlon venue, so it’s really nice because people aren’t here and there. Everyone is in the centre of the venue and that’s pretty cool.”
“Last year we went to the final so we’ll try to get there again”
Her attention will now turn towards the World Doubles Championships which begins in less than a week. Her focus lies just on the Mixed Doubles, where she will partner Kresten Hougaard once again.
The two not only won the IWT Berlin Open Mixed A Doubles title but also reached the World Doubles Championship final last year as well, finishing runner-up.
“We played really good”, Reimer-Kern responded when asked how she felt they performed in Berlin.
“We thought we had to play for training before the World Doubles Championships to see how it works out. But it was really good – we played good table tennis, good badminton and the squash is every time okay with us two matching together so we are really looking forward to the tournament.”
Could Berlin be the key between finishing runner-up and winning the World Championships for Reimer-Kern?
She said, “I think it’s a confidence boost because you never train together so you just have the tournaments and now we have some games and so it’s really good”
Despite their positive form, Reimer-Kern is reluctant to put herself and Hougaard as favourites for the title.
“You can say you are favourites maybe but in racketlon anything can happen. If you have a worse day or something and the others play good then anything can happen. Last year we went to the final so we’ll try to get there again this time also.”
Astrid Reimer-Kern Leads the Victor Racketlon Series
Victory in Berlin also puts Astrid Reimer-Kern at the top of the Victor Racketlon Series standings. The German confirmed that she will also be playing the IWT Malta Open later in the year as she looks to win the Series.
She is also interested in possibly taking part in the IWT Latvia Open but is not confirmed yet. However, she did confirm that she will take part in the World Singles Championships at the end of the year.
You can read all about how Astrid Reimer-Kern won the title by checking out the tournament report and live blog.
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Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer