An action-packed September saw plenty of movement on the Racketlon World Rankings with Sweden’s Anna-Klara Ahlmer reaching World No.3.
There were also upwards moves for Kirsten Kaptein, Izzy Bramhall and Astrid Reimer-Kern in the Women’s top-10. After a quiet year, Natalie Paul fell out of the top-10 for the first time in over five years.
It was a quieter month in the top-10 of the Men’s rankings with much of the big movement coming lower down including big leaps for Kevin Ho Ching Ng, Nicolas Lenggenhager and Michal Kurek after an impressive September for all three.
Women’s Rankings
This month saw points coming onto the rankings from the SWT Austrian Open presented by GRAWE sidebyside, IWT Finnish Open and IWT Malta Open. However, points also dropped off from the 2017 European Championships, causing some big names to fall.
Anna-Klara Ahlmer was the star of this month’s rankings, as she lept ahead of Bettina Bugl to move into No.3 This came after retaining the IWT Finnish Open and finishing third at the SWT Austrian Open presented by GRAWE sidebyside. SWT Austrian Open winner Christine Seehofer and runner-up Zuzana Severinova remain at World No.1 and No.2.
After finishing as runner-up at the IWT Finnish Open, Kirsten Kaptein edged ahead of Nicole Eisler into World No.5. Meanwhile, Izzy Bramhall’s second place in Malta sees her rise five places to No.7.
Despite not playing in September, Astrid Reimer-Kern rises two places to No.8 after Hannah Boden and Natalie Paul lose points from the 2017 European Championships. Amke Fischer also slipped in the rankings, moving down three spots to No.16. Lieselot de Bleeckere, who began the year in the top-10, falls out of the top-20 after a quiet season.
Winning the Women’s B in Malta saw Esther Dubendorfer move a spot above Fischer to No.15. Stine Krogsoe, who lost to Dubendorfer in the final, also moves up to No.17, moving ahead of Stine Jacobsen to become the highest-ranked Danish female.
A busy month for Zuzana Vancurikova has seen the Czech player move up 11 spots to No.24. Russia Svetlana Kasilova is also up 10 places to NO.27 with Irina Olsacher rising to No.33.
After winning the Women’s B in Austria, Katarzyna Myslek reaches a new career-high at No.40 with Kaisu Anttila also rising 34 spots to No.48 after finishing third in Helsinki.
The biggest mover of the month in the top-100 was Tine Bargholz. Impressive performances in Austria and Malta saw the Dane rise 68 places to No.64.
Men’s Rankings
Despite a busy month of tournaments, there was little movement in the top-10 of the World Rankings. Arnaud Genin overtook the recently-retired Lukas Windischberger to move up to a career-high World No.4. The only other movement saw Emanuel Schopf overtake Rav Rykowski after the Pole lost his points from winning the 2017 European Championships.
However, there was plenty of movement outside the top-10. Leon Griffiths’ fall to No.19 caused a number of players to reach new career-highs. Oliver Buhler, Bernhard Pilsz, Michal Horacek and Nicolas Lenggenhager all reach new career-highs inside the top-20. Lenggenhager’s eight-spot rise to No.20 came after he reached the final of the IWT Finnish Open.
Michal Kurek claimed one of the biggest moves after rising 21 spots to No.31. That came after the Pole won the Men’s B in both Austria and Malta. Tommi Laine, who just missed out on the podium in Finland, moved up to No.35 with Otto Tennila, who beat him for bronze, reaching the top-50 for the first time.
The biggest riser of the month inside the top-100 though is Kevin Ho Ching Ng. The Hong Kong star finished as runner-up in the Men’s B at the IWT Finnish Open to reach World No.67. The player who beat him in the final, Joel Pennanen, also moved up to No.58.
The loss of points from the European Championships saw a number of notable names suffer big rankings drops. Kasper Jonsson, Bengt Sonnert, Thorsten Lentfer, Peter Duyck and Joerg Kanonenberg all fell allowing other players a small rise.
Other Rankings
A few other categories saw some changes near the top. Christine Seehofer returned to the top of the Women’s Doubles rankings, replacing Zuzana Severinova who fell to No.4. Anna-Klara Ahlmer moved up to No.2 with Izzy Bramhall also entering the top-10.
Bramhall is also the new Women’s Seniors Doubles No.1 after her success in Malta. The Brit overtakes previous No.1 Esther Dubendorfer.
In the Men’s Seniors Doubles Duncan Stahl remains at No.1 but Tommi Laine moves up to No.2 with Graham King and Richard Middleton also entering the top-10.
FIR World Tour Race
Anna-Klara Ahlmer’s impressive month has also moved her to the top of the 2019 World Tour Race. The Swedish star moves narrowly ahead of Zuzana Severinova with Christine Seehofer in third. The trio are all leaps-and-bounds ahead of the rest of the field.
Astrid Reimer-Kern and Margaux Randjbar were both overtaken by Kaptein, Bugl and Fischer, who move up to No.4, 5 and 6 respectively.
There’s no change at the top of the Men’s Singles race with Morten Jaksland, Kresten Hougaard and Arnaud Genin making up the top three. Rav Rykowski is up to No.4 though with Michal Kurek’s superb debut season seeing him reach No.4.
Jaksland and Ahlmer also now lead the Men’s and Women’s Doubles Race with Jaksland leading the Mixed Doubles race also.
Richard Hobzik rises four places to lead the Men’s Seniors while Esther Dubendorfer is still the leaders of the Women’s Seniors Standings.
The full FIR World Rankings are available here.
The full FIR World Tour Race rankings are available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / rubinfoto.com
