The December World Rankings have been released following the World Singles Championships. Emanuel Schopf is the big winner, moving up to No.5, a career-high ranking. Meanwhile, in the Women’s World Rankings, Stine Jacobsen enters the top-10 for the first time after finishing 5th at the World Championships.
You can check the full World Rankings here.
Men’s Singles: Schopf Soars to Career High
After a run through to the quarter-finals of the World Championships, Emanuel Schopf is rewarded with a new career-high. The Austrian moves up three spots and is the new World No.5. Benjamin Graenicher also rises one spot, landing at No.6 as Luka Penttinen and Lukas Windischberger fall to No.7 and No.8.
With Windischberger due to fall out of the top-10 in the coming months, there’s a chance for a new face to take his place. Oliver Buhler is up one to No.11 while Rene Lindberg rises three to No.12 after a 10th place finish. Christian Wiessner’s run to the quarter-finals sees him move up to No.14, a new career-high, while Leon Griffiths lands at No.16. World Champion Jesper Ratzer is up to No.24, with his two World titles the only ranking points he currently has.
There’s a top-30 debut for Michal Kurek as he rises four spots to No.27 while Paul Sach makes a massive leap from No.100 to No.64. Rising Dutch start Koen Hageraats is also at a new career-high of No.38. In the Men’s B, runner-up Joerg Kanonenberg takes a well-earned move up to No.57 while runner-up Malte Thyregod lands at No.36. Finally, Men’s C World Champion Jonas Engstrom makes his top-100 debut, moving up 25 spots to No.82.
Women’s Singles: Jacobsen into Top-10
Stine Jacobsen is the big mover from the World Singles Championships. The Dane, who came 5th in the Women’s A, rises five places to break into the top-10 for the first time. Impressively, she is the only player in the top-10 to be there having played less than seven tournaments. Jacobsen replaces Elisabeth Seehofer who falls four to No.14.
The other movement in the top-10 was all minimal. Bettina Bugl replaces Kirsten Kaptein at No.4 while Izzy Bramhall’s run through to the final sees her move up to No.6, a big point rise over Nicole Eisler who falls to No.7. Carola Von Heimburg is the only other player in the top-20 to move up more than one place, rising four to No.18.
Basia Walsky’s remarkable run to the semi-finals on her debut sees the Pole land at No.50. The retuning Martina Meissl also makes a healthy rise, up 42 spots to No.41. The third place for Anita Voelkel in the Women’s B sees her an enormous 53 spot leap to No.62.
There were a number of players inside the top-40 who did make impressive moves after their World Championships. Women’s B World Champion Beatrice Dommasch is up seven spots to a career-high No.27. There were also career highs for Matilda Parslow (24), Irina Olsacher (28), Anna Wall (29), Maxi Karg (30) and Hana Rabova (35).
Other Rankings: Bramhall New Women’s Seniors No.1
The biggest story in the other rankings came in the Women’s Seniors rankings. Izzy Bramhall, after a run through to the Women’s A final, moves ahead of Esther Dubendorfer to top the World Rankings.
Duncan Stahl remains atop the Men’s Seniors list but is being hunted down by Nikola Mikac and Marcel Weigl, with Weigl’s +45 World title seeing him land at No.3. Like Weigl, Tommi Laine rises six places to No.9 in the rankings.
The rankings to see the most movement inside the top-10 were the girl’s rankings. While the top-five stayed the same, Claudia Vincent rose two places to No.6 with Nienke Veldkamp one place behind her at No.7 follow a four-place move. The biggest story though is Shaghyegh Tabatabaie up five places to No.9. Tabatabaie becomes the first player from Afghanistan in racketlon history to reach the top-10 of a rankings list, a massive achievement.
The full Racketlon World Rankings rankings are available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / rubinfoto.com
