998 days. That’s the amount of time between the end of the last World Team Championships and the start of this year’s tournament. Nearly 1,000 full days.
It’s been a long time since we last saw racketlon’s premier team competition. Excitingly, the countdown is now on for its return.
The FIR World Team Championships 2022 is being held in two parts in the second half of August. The FIR World Championships Juniors & Seniors Teams 2022 is being held in Vienna on August 19-20. Then, the FIR World Championships Elite & Amateurs Teams 2022 will take place a week later in Graz, Austria, on August 25-26.
The tournament was meant to take place in both 2020 and 2021 but was cancelled down to COVID. Now, it’s time for every racketlon nation to start thinking about putting their teams together as we stare at the return of the biggest tournament in our sport.
What is the FIR World Team Championships?
What exactly is the World Team Championship as a tournament? If you’ve started playing racketlon in the last three years then you will have never seen a World Team Championship. In short, it is the biggest tournament on the calendar and sees players representing their nations in a number of team competitions.
How do we know that it’s one of the biggest tournaments in racketlon? Well in both 2018 and 2019 there were well over 300 players competing in each tournament. With a three-year gap since the last tournament and more non-European players expected to compete than ever before, we’re anticipating this number to be one of the biggest ever in 2022.
One of the pillars of racketlon is its inclusivity and this is extended to the FIR World Team Championships 2022. As well as the World Cup, there is also the Nations Cup and the Challenge Cup. This allows all nations to take part and also submit multiple teams. As with regular tournaments, this allows both elite and amateur players to take part in the biggest team tournament of the year if selected.
On a similar theme about inclusivity, there are also categories for both the Juniors and Seniors. In fact, not only are there categories for Juniors and Seniors but there is a whole separate tournament just for them; the FIR World Championships Juniors & Seniors Teams 2022.
The exact number of players on each team differs depending on age category but the principle is the same. Team up with other players from your nation and fight together for glory. Most common is the style adopted in the World Cup, Nations Cup and Challenge Cup. In these matches, each contest consists of two Men’s Singles matches, a Women’s Singles match and a Men’s Doubles match. As in racketlon singles matches, the result is decided by the total number of points across all four sets.
Playing in the FIR World Team Championships 2022
In 2019, Great Britain became the World Cup champion for the first time after beating Germany in an epic final. Will they be able to defend their title in 2022 or will we see a new name on the trophy? Relive all the results from the last World Team Championships here.
Interested in being part of a team for the World Team Championships? Team selection differs by each nation but we would recommend letting your National Federation President know that you are interested so that they can help you out.
Not selected for a team this year? That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come to the World Championships! You can still come out to Austria to compete in both the World Singles Championship and World Doubles Championship, as well as cheering your nation on in the various World Team Championship categories. I can tell you how much fun that is personal because I did it in both 2018 and 2019.
More information about the FIR World Team Championships 2022, being held in Austria, is available here. We also have news coming soon about player entry opening within the next few weeks for the tournament.
Got a question about the FIR World Championships Juniors & Seniors Teams 2022 or the FIR World Championships Elite & Amateurs Teams 2022? Contact Tournament Director Michael Steiner at steiner@racketlon.at.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
