Emanuel Schoepf and Georg Stoisser defeated Thomas Wagner and Marcel Weigl to win the Men’s Doubles at the GRAWE sidebyside 14. Austrian Open.
Stoisser was defending the title he won last year with Morten Jaksland and looked impressive ahead of his singles first-round later on Friday.
This was also an impressive day for Schoepf, who picked up his second elite doubles title of the year after winning the IWT Vienna Classics with Bernhard Pilsz back in January.
The pair won all three sports in the final, eventually winning the match before tennis against Wagner and Weigl 26-24, 21-7, 21-8 (+29).
Wagner and Weigl produce superb semi-final comeback
It is perhaps little surprise that the final was so convincing for Schoepf and Stoisser given the recovery time they had.
Weigl and Wagner finished their bruising semi-final against Mohammed Tarik Koubaa and Martin Abrami less than half an hour before the final. That match was certainly a mental and physical test.
After narrowly losing both the badminton and squash to Koubaa and Abrami, the No.2 seeds found themselves 6 down heading into the tennis. Weigl and Koubaa in particularly had endured a brutal battle in the second half of the squash.
In the end, it was Thomas Wagner’s second-half tennis performance that saw the Austrians complete the comeback. They only led 11-6 at the turn but a Koubaa foot fault coupled with Wagner winners sealed a 21-10 victory and a spot in the final.
The route to the final was more routine for Schoepf and Stoisser. The duo dominated the badminton 21-10 and then Stoisser’s second-half performance in the squash guaranteed a 21-14. That left the top seeds needing just 6 in the tennis, something they were able to achieve with no fuss against Jonas Grafeneder and Florian Harca.
Stoisser and Schopf dominate in the final
In the final, it was the experienced Wagner and Weigl that snatched an early lead. Leading 11-9 at the turn, the duo looked to build on this strong start. Instead, Schoepf and Stoisser fought back, edging the table tennis 26-24 to take a 2 point lead into badminton.
The two pairs were level at 4-4 before six straight points from Schoepf and Stoisser turned the momentum of the match. Taking the turn 11-6 the young pair never looked back. In the end the No.1 seeds dropped just one more point, sealing the badminton 21-7 to give them a commanding +16 lead into the squash.
Once on the squash court, Schoepf and Stoisser could taste victory. From 5-5, Schoepf won 6 of the next 7 points to take the turn 11-6. From there, Stoisser did the rest, winning the squash 21-8 to seal the tile.
For both Stoisser and Schoepf that is a third FIR World Tour Men’s Elite Doubles title and 500 euros in prize money each. Both now turn their attention to the singles competition which begins on Friday night.
You can rewatch the full Men’s Doubles final here.
The full results from the Men’s Doubles are available here.
Follow the rest of the weekend from the GRAWE sidebyside 14. Austrian Open on the FIR’s Facebook and Instagram.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Alex Rieck
