It’s been just under three months since the FIR World Tour finished its 2021 season with a sunny swansong in Lanzarote. Now, the 2022 Tour is here and we’re ready to kick things off at the IWT French Open.
The tournament takes place from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 March at the Centre Sportif Arthur Ashe in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil.
Racketlon France, Racketlon Montreuil Club and the Federation of International Racketlon are delighted to welcome over 100 players to take part in the first tournament of the year as we look to begin the season in style.
We’ll have two tournament preview articles for you; the elite draws and the non-elite draws. Without further ado, let’s kick things off by diving into the elite action in France.
Men’s Singles – Penttinen and Lenggenhager Seeded in the Top Half
World No.4 Luka Penttinen leads the field in Paris as the Finn begins his year with a trip to Paris. The World No.4 is joined by 2021’s Player of the Year, Leon Griffiths, who returns after collecting a handful of titles last season. Those two seeds are joined by Swiss pair Nicolas Lenggenhager and Oliver Bühler, who are the No.3 and No.4 seeds respectively.
Penttinen’s campaign begins against the sole German in the Men’s Singles draw; Max Plettenberg. The charismatic squash star broke into the top-50 for the first time in February’s rankings and now looks to record a major scalp against the top seed in their first meeting.
The second contest is an all-British affair, as Matthew Davidson takes on Jack Bishop. Davidson had a stellar breakthrough year in 2021, picking up two elite Men’s Doubles silver medals to mark himself as one of the sport’s brightest prospects. Bishop made his post-covid return at the IWT Club La Santa Open, finishing 4th in a hotly-contested Men’s B.
The second quarter is where the French interest begins. Fresh from beating Dan Busby at last year’s World Singles Championship, Damien Andre begins his season against Finland’s Joel Pennanen. This is the first meeting between the two.
The winner of that contest will take on either No.3 seed Nicolas Lenggenhager, or France’s Anthony Duthuillé. Both enjoyed stellar 2021 seasons, with Lenggenhager cracking the Top 10 of the World Rankings for the first time while Duthuillé ended the season with a Men’s B title in Lanzarote.
Men’s Singles – Griffiths the Man to Beat in Bottom Half
Leon Griffiths was voted the 2021 Men’s Player of the Year and looks to start this year as he finished the last; with a title. The young star opens his campaign against a familiar face in fellow Brit Alex Du Noyer. The left-hander returned to the FIR World Tour in London last year and has jumped straight into this new season with a trip to Paris.
Awaiting the winner of that contest is either René Lindberg or Eric Durand. Durand, a France-based Australian player won the Men’s +40 title at the last edition of this tournament in 2019. He also won a silver medal at last year’s World Championship Men’s +50 Single competition. Could he cause a shock and takedown big-serving Lindberg in round one?
No.4 seed Oliver Bühler began his 2021 season with a run to the IWT Swiss Open final. If he’s to replicate that in Paris then he first has to take out James Langworthy. Langworthy is the last of the five Brits in the Men’s A Singles draw and looks to build on an impressive 4th place at the IWT Club La Santa Open.
IWT Dunlop Rotterdam Open champion Koen Hageraats also lurks in quarter three of this draw. The Dutchman caught the attention of many with his performances in 2021 and starts this event against Tournament Director Josselin Gadé.
The full Men’s Singles draw is available here.
Women’s Singles – Ahlmer Leads Charge with Eisler and Enmer Also Competing
Anna-Klara Ahlmer is the top seed in a four-player Women’s Singles box league in Paris. The Swede was one of the most active players in 2021, rising to No.2 in the singles rankings in the process. With the World No.1 spot now within reach, she looks to make a fast start to the season on her travels to France.
Joining Ahlmer in the four-player box league is Myriam Enmer, Nicole Eisler and Aurélie Haurant. Enmer has been one of the brightest new talents in racketlon over the last few seasons, rocketing up the rankings to now sit at No.7. Like Ahlmer, Enmer has been extremely active, with the pair meeting three times last year. Ahlmer won all three meetings. Is 2022 the year that Enmer begins to close the gap on Ahlmer?
Former World No.1 Nicole Eisler is also venturing to Paris for a weekend of racketlon. The Swiss star fell out of the Top 10 in the World Rankings for the first time in many years earlier this year. She’s wasting no time in looking to return though, as she enters the first tournament of the year. Eisler has a losing record against Ahlmer, but it will be fascinating to see how she gets on against Enmer.
The fourth and final player is Aurélie Haurant. The second French player originally entered the Women’s B but has been moved up to take on three of the best in the world. With nothing to lose, Haurant can go out swinging as she looks to record a big scalp in Paris.
The full Women’s Singles draw is available here.
Men’s Doubles – World Champions Griffiths Returns With New Partner
In Prague last year, Leon Griffiths was crowned World Champion alongside fellow Brit Calum Reid. In Paris this year, Griffiths returns to the doubles court, this time competing with James Langworthy. The British pair open against René Lindberg and Max Plettenberg. The Swedish-German pair will look to cause an upset against the Brits, who are playing together on the FIR World Tour for the first time.
The top half of this draw is actually fully loaded with British players. Matthew Davidson and Nicolas Lenggenhager are actually the top seeds in the draw, as they look to form a fierce badminton partnership on their debut together. They open against veteran British pair Jack Bishop and Alex Du Noyer. At least one Brit is guaranteed to make the semi-finals.
The bottom half features no British players but does feature the Men’s B Doubles World Champions. Laurent Cocriamont and Anthony Duthuillé head to the elite level to test their skills after their triumph in 2021. Across the net from them in round one is Eric Durand and Simon Puthoste.
The final match in this draw sees a pair of Finns face off against a Dutch duo. Joel Pennanen and Luka Penttinen are the No.2 seeds in this draw, with Penttinen the highest-ranked player competing at No.4. The Dutchmen that they’re facing are Koen Hageraats and Stan Soels. The two played together at the Rotterdam Open last year, cruising to the Men’s B Doubles title in style. How will they fare as they step up to the top level of competition?
The full Men’s Doubles draw is available here.
Mixed Doubles – Switzerland vs. Sweden vs. France
With just three regular elite players entered in the competition, unfortunately, there weren’t enough players for a Women’s Doubles. However, there is a very interesting Mixed Doubles competition, with three pairs of players from the same country competing together.
Top seeds are Anna-Klara Ahlmer and René Lindberg from Sweden. The pair have played a number of times together, with a mixed 5-7 record. Could they improve that record in Paris and take home the title together?
One pair looking to stop them is Nicole Eisler and Nicolas Lenggenhager from Switzerland. Unlike Ahlmer and Lindberg, these two have not played together before on the FIR World Tour. Badminton will certainly be a big strength for the pair, as they look to take a Mixed Doubles title back to Switzerland.
The final pair sees home favourites Myriam Enmer and Damien Andre team-up. While Enmer played plenty of Mixed Doubles last year, Andre has not played mixed since his very first tournament, five years ago. It will be fascinating to see how the Frenchman fares alongside Enmer, as they look to triumph on home turf.
The full Mixed Doubles draw is available here.
The full IWT French Open draws are available here.
A full report on all the Amateur, Junior and Senior categories will be coming soon.
For IWT French Open updates across the weekend, follow the FIR on Facebook, Instagram and Racketlon.net. You can get further updates on the Facebook and Instagram of Racketlon France.
The full 2022 Racketlon World Tour is available here. All tournaments are open to players of all ages and abilities.
Make 2022 the year that YOU try racketlon.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Rene Zwald
