It was a successful Friday for Zuzana Severinova and Morten Jaksland as they lifted the SWT Austrian Open presented by GRAWE sidebyside Mixed A Doubles title.
The top seeds defeated Christine Seehofer and Lukas Windischberger in the final, the first time they’ve beaten the Austrian duo in three attempts.
Severinova also won the Women’s A Doubles title alongside Anna-Klara Ahlmer. Christine Seehofer was once again beaten in the final, this time alongside sister Elisabeth.
There was a wide range of winners elsewhere, with players from five different nationalities winning the other doubles categories.
Severinova and Jaksland Win Competitive Mixed Doubles Final
In 2019 Zuzana Severinova and Morten Jaksland have been a tough pair to beat. It’s little surprise that they have both landed inside the top-5 of the World Mixed Doubles Rankings.
The top seeds overcame stiff competition in their opening match against Anna-Klara Ahlmer and Benjamin Graenicher. Their opponents raced to a 12 point lead after table tennis. However, Jaksland and Severinova battled back, winning the next three sports to advance to the final.
The second semi-final saw Christine Seehofer and Lukas Windischberger team up to take on Roland Pichler and Stine Krogsoe. After announcing his retirement from singles earlier this year, this was Windischberger’s first time teaming up with Seehofer in 2019. The duo demonstrated their experience, easing past Pichler and Krogsoe to reach the final.
The two previous meetings between these pairs have been one-sided. In both of them, Seehofer and Windischberger have crushed their opponents before tennis. It was clear from the start that today would be different.
Seehofer and Windischberger took the table tennis 21-17, but that was the best score Jaksland and Severinova had ever achieved against them. The top seeds then went one better, winning the badminton 24-22 to half their deficit to just two points.
Previously, Severinova and Jaksland had lost the squash sets to eight and two. This time they achieved 18 to trail by only five heading into tennis.
Severinova and Jaksland are two of the finest tennis players on Tour, demonstrating this in Austria. The top seeds dispatched Seehofer and Windischberger 21-9 to take their fourth Mixed Doubles title of the year.
Ahlmer and Graenicher took the bronze medal after beating Pichler and Krogsoe by +18.
Severinova and Ahlmer Win Women’s Doubles
The Women’s Doubles was a more straightforward affair with just two matches being completed. Bettina Bugl and Irina Olsacher were forced to retire, advancing top seeds Zuzana Severinova and Anna-Klara Ahlmer straight into the final.
In the bottom half, it was a comfortable win for second seeds Christine and Elisabeth Seehofer. They defeated Stine Krogsoe and Katarzyna Myslek +36 before tennis.
As with the Mixed Doubles final, the opening two sports were extremely close in the final. Ahlmer and Severinova snuck the table tennis 21-17 before the Seehofer’s retaliated with a 21-19 badminton win.
The squash result was pivotal. Severinova and Ahlmer produced a crushing 21-5 squash win to propel them within touching distance of the title. The two tennis players needed just five and managed it that with ease, securing themselves the SWT Austrian Open Women’s A Doubles title.
Men’s A Doubles Final to Happen on Saturday
Both Men’s A Doubles semi-finals were completed on Friday with the two-seeded pairs advancing to the final. Morten Jaksland and Georg Stoisser beat Austrian duo Stephan Schmutzer and Emanuel Schopf. Top seeds Jaksland and Stoisser will play another Austrian pair in the final after Marcel Weigl and Lukas Windischberger defeated Benjamin Graenicher and Richard Middleton.
The final will take place at 19:00CET on Saturday.
All Other Doubles Finals Completed
The five other doubles categories were all completed on a busy Friday in Austria. Anthony Duthuille and Cyril Hohl took the Men’s B Doubles after a dominant display. The duo dropped just three sets across their four matches, defeating Florian Harca and Filip Kos +30 in the final before tennis.
Duthuille couldn’t quite make it two doubles titles. In the Mixed B Doubles final, he and partner Katarzyna Myslek were edged out by Czech duo Zuzana Vancurikova and Richard Hobzik.
As expected in the Juniors U16 doubles, it was the experienced duo of Florian Harca and David Ersil who walked away with the title. They won both of their matches by at least +30 before tennis to ensure a dominant victory.
The U21 Doubles was an all-Austrian affair, with four pairs battling it out in a box league. In the end, it was Oskar Schuur and Kristian Seiner who lifted the trophy on their racketlon debut.
There was a familiar duo at the top of the podium in the Seniors +45 Doubles. Hungarian pair Zoltan Matecsa and Peter Sakovics lifted their fourth seniors doubles title of the year to continue their sensational form as a pair.
Men’s A Singles Gets Underway
Due to the SWT Austrian Open presented by GRAWE sidebyside finishing on Saturday night due to national television coverage, many of the singles categories got underway on Friday.
In the Men’s A, it was a successful first round for the Austrians, with three advancing to the quarter-finals. Stephan Schmutzer beat Michal Horacek, Emanuel Schopf beat Ray Jordan while Bernhard Pilsz defeated Marcel Weigl.
Oliver Buhler defeated Nikola Mikac in the other first-round match to set up a meeting with Morten Jaksland. Elsewhere, Schmutzer will face Rav Rykowski, Schopf will play Benjamin Graenicher and Pilsz takes on Arnaud Genin.
The full results from the SWT Austrian Open area available here.
The full Mixed A Doubles final between Zuzana Severinova/Morten Jaksland and Christine Seehofer/Lukas Windischberger is available to watch on the Racketlon Federation Austria Facebook page.
There will be Live Blog coverage all day Saturday on Racketlon.net.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Racketlon Federation Austria
