Morten Jaksland Becomes Singles World No.1 for First Time

Morten Jaksland has become World No.1 in the World Singles Rankings for the first time in his career.

The Dane overtakes Lukas Windischberger, who had previously been on top of the rankings for 22 consecutive months.

This is the second rankings that Morten Jaksland has topped this year, after becoming World Doubles No.1 a few months ago.

Morten Jaksland Becomes King of the World; Genin Reaches Another Career High

Back in April, Morten Jaksland declared that one of his big aims for this season was to become World No.1. Barely three months later, and that dream has been realised.

The SWT King of Rackets title was the decisive result for Jaksland, who has now reached the final in 12 of the last 14 tournaments he has competed in.

That outstanding run, coupled with Lukas Windischberger’s recent retirement, have elevated Jaksland to the top of the world rankings.

Fellow Dane Kresten Hougaard also tightened his grip on his World No. 3 spot after finishing as runner-up at the SWT King of Rackets and winning the IWT Swiss Open.

Meanwhile, Arnaud Genin rises to a career-high No.6 after finishing as runner-up at the IWT Swiss Open. Young Luka Penttinen also moves one place to No.7, also a career high. Their moves mean that both Rav Rykowski and Emanuel Schopf fall in the rankings.

World Rankings
With two titles this year, Arnaud Genin is up to World No.6 (Image: Inge Omey)

Tonnes of Career-Highs After Action-Packed June

Bernhard Pilsz run to the Swiss Open semi-finals sees him move up to No.14, a high for the young Austrian. He was not the only player to reach a new career high in the top-20. Nikola Mikac (No.11), Mohammed Tarik Koubaa (No.12), Arturs Zaicevs (No.13), Michal Horacek (No. 17), Oliver Buhler (No.19) and Mandrin Mouchet (No.20), all reached new career bests.

There were big moves for Rene Lindberg and Cornelius Radermacher, who both rose over 20 spots to move to No. 23 and No. 27 respectively.

These big rises were also facilitated by a number of players losing ranking points from the 2017 King of Rackets. Jesper Hougaard and Michi Dickert both fell outside the top-20 for the first time in a number of years. There were also major drops for Greg Lorkiewicz, Alex Du Noyer and Peter Duyck.

Michal Kurek makes a big rise after winning consecutive Men’s B titles.

The three biggest movers in the top-100 were Damien Andre, Luke Griffiths and Michal Kurek. Andre’s 102-place rise to No.64 came after he finished runner-up in the Men’s B at the SWT King of Rackets, and then backed that up with a 7th place finish at the IWT Swiss Open – including a win over Dimitri Steinmann.

Luke Griffiths cemented his status as one of Racketlon’s brightest young talents. The 15-year-old finished a remarkable 6th at the SWT King of Rackets.

One spot behind Griffiths, Michal Kurek also boasts a huge rise after winning back-to-back Men’s B titles at the Berlin Open and King of Rackets.

Severinova Rises for 4th Month in a Row

For the fourth month in a row, Zuzana Severinova rose one spot to a new career-high of World No.3 in the Women’s Singles rankings. The Czech star moved up after finishing as runner-up for the third tournament in a row at the SWT King of Rackets.

She is also now just eight points behind World No.2 Bettina Bugl, although both are over 500 points behind World No.1 Christine Seehofer. Severinova moves ahead of Nicole Eisler who moves down to No.4.

Swiss Open
Astrid Reimer-Kern is up to World No.8 after winning the IWT Swiss Open title (Image: Rene Zwald)

After winning the IWT Swiss Open, Astrid Reimer-Kern moves to No.8, a career-high. Fellow German Silke Altmann is also on the rise, moving up to World No.10 as Lieselot De Bleeckere falls out of the top-10.

After a brief return to the top-10, Amke Fischer has fallen six places to No.14. Meanwhile, reigning Women’s B World Champion Natalia Prado is up to No.20, her first-time inside the top-20.

The three biggest risers in the top-50 were Stine Jacobsen, Melodie Parrot and Maureen Thompson, who all rose eight places to No.24, No.33 and No. 47 respectively.

Seehofer Dethroned in Doubles Rankings

Christine Seehofer may remain secure at the top of the Women’s Singles rankings, but she lost her grip in doubles. In the Women’s Doubles, Nicole Eisler has overtaken the Austrian to move up to World No.1.

In the Mixed Doubles, Dan Busby has secured his first ever World No.1 position after winning the IWT Swiss Open title with Silke Altmann. Busby has now won five of the last six mixed doubles tournament that he has entered.

The full FIR World Rankings are available here.

Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer

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