2021 World Tour Information & Announcement
After a hugely difficult 2020, the FIR has already begun working hard on making plans for the 2021 World Tour. The ongoing uncertainty caused by coronavirus means that we will have to change the way we announce the Tour.
It is not realistic to be able to release all the details of the 2021 Tour in one announcement (as we have always done in previous years) – this is simply because there are many member countries and tournament directors who although are keen to stage tournaments next year, are still unable to confirm any of the details (dates, venues etc) until they can be more certain about the coronavirus’ longer term effect into next year.
As a result, we intend to make several different announcements about the 2021 World Tour, releasing regular updates and additions to the Tour as and when tournaments are able to be confirmed. These 2021 updates are likely to happen throughout the remainder of this year and probably through next year as well.
18th FIR World Championships 2021
The big news we can announce today is that the FIR World Championships: Doubles, Teams & Singles will take place in Vienna & Graz, Austria from 20th to 29th August 2021.
The RFA have secured funding of over EUR100,000 which will make this by far the biggest budget of any Racketlon tournament in history which is hugely exciting and a fantastic opportunity for the sport to make a real statement.
Collaborative plans have already been made with the FIR about an ambitious 8 month social media campaign in the build up to the tournament and also a separate, stand-alone marketing campaign aimed purely at attracting brand-new players to the sport.
With the inevitable financial uncertainties caused by coronavirus this year, these world championships provide vital stability but more importantly they now give us the opportunity to promote Racketlon and create an inclusive showpiece tournament for Racketlon in a way that has never been possible in the past.
News, articles and information about the world championships will be hosted on the tournament webpage on racketlon.net and regular updates about the world championships will start across all FIR social media channels from January onwards.
FIR World Tour 2021
Below is a list of just some of the other tournaments which we are already working on for next year – there will be additional tournaments as well. The dates and details for these tournaments as well as for any tournaments not listed below will all be released at different stages by the FIR.
IWT Czech Open, Prague
CHA Nick Matthew Steel City Open, Sheffield, UK
CHA Massachusetts Racket Masters, USA
IWT Berlin Open
SWT King of Rackets, Belgium
NEW Rotterdam Open
IWT Swiss Open, Zurich
IWT London Open, Roehampton
NEW Spanish Open, Alicante
IWT Indian Open
IWT Luxembourg Open
IWT French Open, Paris
IWT Club La Santa Open
The brand new tournaments we are currently planning for 2021 are the Rotterdam Open, Spanish Open in Alicante and the eagerly anticipated Nick Matthew Steel City Open which had to be cancelled this year (and which sold out in under 10 minutes!).
We look forward to a very exciting 2021!
Duncan Stahl / FIR Presdient
