After three years, the FIR World Tour finally returns to Paris for the first tournament of the season; the IWT French Open.
The tournament is once again taking place at Le Centre Sportif Arthur Ashe in Montreuil on the outskirts of Paris. It is being held on March 4-6.
After happening in both 2018 and 2019, the tournament was postponed in 2020 due to COVID. In 2021 it also kindly agreed to be delayed to accommodate the rescheduled World Championships. We’re delighted that, not only is it returning, but it’s also kicking off the 2022 FIR World Tour. We would encourage all players to support this tournament by getting their entry in as soon as possible if interested.
IWT French Open Player Entry
Player entry is already open for the IWT French Open. It opened in January and will remain open until the deadline on February 21. That deadline is fast approaching so if you’re interested in playing then you can enter here.
Get your FIR License here.
Online Entries here.
Draws & Match Schedule
While the draws will be published the week before the tournament, a planned schedule has already largely been organised.
Friday, March 4
- 9:30-15:00 – Mixed Doubles
- 15:00-22:00 – Women’s & Men’s Doubles
- 18:00-22:00 – +40 & +50 Singles begins
Saturday, March 5
- 9:30-19:00 – Elite, Amateur, Junior & Senior Singles
- 19:00-Late – Players Party – Buffet in the venue. The evening will carry on in Paris for the most motivated among you.
Sunday, March 6
- 9:30-15:30 – Singles Finals
- 15:30-16:00 – Prize Ceremony
It is possible to enter two singles categories if entering an open category and a juniors/seniors category. However, you can only enter one open singles category. It is possible to enter two doubles categories,
COVID 19
The IWT French Open will follow all FIR & local Covid-19 Health guidelines which will be sent to all players in advance of the tournament. It is essential that all players understand and respect these guidelines
It is the player’s responsibility to understand all Covid travel restrictions when travelling to and from France from their country.
Venue Information
Named after the iconic tennis player, Le Centre Sportif Arthur Ashe is developing a fast reputation as a superb racketlon venue.
The venue hosted the Paris Open in both 2018 and 2019 and proved extremely popular. Over 130 players took part in each of those tournaments, with the facilities easily catering for this number.
That is because it is a five court venue. There are five table tennis tables with an additional three warm-up tables. The venue hosts six badminton courts, with two on mats and four on a hard surface. There are an additional five squash courts in use at the tournament and five indoor acrylic resin tennis courts.
There is a restaurant on-site that is open on all three days of the competition. The restaurant serves food at breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as having plenty of snacks available throughout the day.
Additionally, the venue has a sports equipment shop. Racketlon players will have a discount at this shop which they can use to either purchase equipment or restring any rackets.
Lastly, there is a sauna at the venue open from 10:00-17:00 every day. This is available for all players to use throughout the tournament.
Centre Arthur Ashe
156 rue Nouvelle France
93100 Montreuil
Accommodation Details
There are two available tournament hotels for this tournament:
Option 1
- Ibis Style Mairie de Montreuil
- 15-19 rue Franklin, 93100 Montreuil
- 10/15 minutes with Bus 122
- 68€ single – 80€ double (1€22 tax/day, incl. breakfast)
- Contact: h9880-om@accor.com – +33148593536
Option 2
- Ibis Style Val de Fontenay
- 2-4 avenue du Val de Fontenay, 94120 Fontenay-sous-Bois
- 10/15 minutes with Bus 122 or 301
- 65€ single – 75€ double (1€88 tax/day, incl. breakfast)
- Contact : h6923@accor.com – +33148766771
Please use the code racketlon when booking either of these hotels.
There are plenty of other alternative hotels or AirBnB options available in the area.
Travel
The tournament is located 45 minutes away from central Paris. There are two main options to travel from central Paris out to the tournament venue:
Option 1
- Metro n°9 stop at the last station “Mairie de Montreuil”
- Bus 122 heading to “Val de Fontenay” stop at “Nouvelle France”
Option 2
- RER A heading to « Marne la Vallée » stop at « Val de Fontenay »
- Bus 122 heading to « Gallieni/Bagnolet » stop at « Nouvelle France »
- or BUS 301 heading to « Bobigny » stop at « Grands pêchers »
For players travelling from abroad, it is easy to travel from two of Paris’ major airports:
1h30 from Roissy-Charles De Gaulle Airport:
- RER B heading to « Massy Palaiseau » stop at « Les Halles » and then same as above b)
- Taxi: 50€ to get to Arthur Ashe sport centre or neighbouring hotels
1h30 from Orly Airport:
- OrlyVal to Antony or Orlybus to Denfert-Rochereau and then RER B heading to Charles De Gaulle stop at « Les Halles »,
and then same as above b) - Taxi: 50€ to get to Arthur Ashe sports centre or neighbouring hotels
More information about the IWT French Open is available here and by pressing Tournament Information.
We would encourage any players interested in entering the tournament to do so here as soon as possible to help out the Tournament Director.
If you have any questions about the IWT French Open then please email Tournament Director Josselin Gade at racketlonmontreuilclub@gmail.com or message on +336 71 14 23 23 / +336 98 45 24 13.
The rest of the 2022 FIR World Tour and Challengers are available to view here, with a handful of other tournaments open for entry.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Racketlon France
