Home favourite Koen Hageraats will face top seed Luka Penttinen in the final of the Men’s A Singles at the IWT Dunlop Rotterdam Open after making a surprise run to the final.
The Dutchman shone on Singles Saturday with landmark wins over No.2 Sylvain Ternon and No.4 Cornelius Radermacher. Now, he faces Penttinen, who strolled into the final with victories against René Lindberg and Damien Andre.
Elsewhere, Stine Jacobsen and Myriam Enmer have set up a mouthwatering showdown for the Women’s A Singles title.
Men’s A Singles – Hageraats Shines at Home Event
Koen Hageraats is a man who has improved massively since joining the FIR World Tour three years ago. This week in Rotterdam, he has finally mad ehis big breakthrough.
With a game built around incredible table tennis, Hageraats’ first match was against Frenchman Anthony Duthuillé. 21-4 victories in both table tennis and squash saw him roll into the quarter-finals without much trouble. There, he would face No.2 seed and World No.10 Sylvain Ternon.
Once again, it was Hageraats’ table tennis and squash that did the damage. 21-5 and 21-6 wins in these disciplines made up for the 21-0 badminton defeat he was handed. A hast 12-6 tennis win secured the biggest upset of his career so far and aspot in the semi-finals.
No.4 seed Cornelius Radermacher awaited him there. The German had survived a brutal quarter-final against the much-improved Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy, winning by just three points thanks to a fantastic 21-9 tennis comeback.
Radermacher’s luck ran out in the semi-finals. Hageraats was brilliant from start to finish, once again winning the table tennis and squash 21-10 and 21-9. Getting 16 points in badminton helped massively and the Dutchman booked his first spot in a Men’s Elite Singles final with a 4-4 tennis result.
In the final, Hageraats will face Finland’s Luka Penttinen. In amongst the drama of the Men’s A Singles draw, Penttinen was superb. The Finn first took out René Lindberg before tennis.
His quarter-final against Damien Andre was tougher. The Frenchman had shocked No.3 seed Duncan Stahl, a brilliant 21-7 tennis win sealing his spot in the final. The semi-finals against Penttinen proved a step too far. Penttinen opened up a 21-12 lead after table tennis and was never caught, eventually winning thanks to an 11-7 tennis win.
That leaves us with Luka Penttinen against Koen Hageraats for the IWT Dunlop Rotterdam Open Men’s A Singles title. The two have never met on the FIR World Tour, and boast only one previous title between them, with Penttinen winning the 2019 IWT Finnish Open. One week ago we saw Emanuel Schöpf win a tournament at his home tournament. Could Hageraats do the same?
The full Men’s A Singles results are available here.
Women’s A Singles – Jacobsen and Enmer Set Up Blockbuster Final
Stine Jacobsen and Myriam Enmer both had perfect Saturday’s as they set up a Sunday showdown for the Women’s A Singles title. The two talents both won all three of their Saturday matches as they both look to win one final title before the World Singles Championship later this month.
Facing Kirsten Kaptein, Nienke Veldkamp and Julia Schirutschke, both players won all thre matches before tennis, apart from one exception. Kaptein did force a tennis set out of Enmer, with the rising French star forced to get 16 points on the tennis court, something she managed through a comfortable 16-7 victory.
All this means that Jacobsen and Enmer will collide on Sunday for the IWT Dunlop Rotterdam Open crown. Jacobsen already has one title this year after the IWT Swiss Open. Enmer has come close on a number of occasions but is still without that first title. Could this tournament be her moment?
The full Women’s A Singles draw is available here.
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The Doubles Day report for the IWT Dunlop Rotterdam Open is available here.
A full report from all the Amateur & Senior categories will be available on Monday.
Discover more about Dunlop Benelux here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image / rubinfoto.com
