Nicolas Georges produced a perfect weekend in Paris. The Frenchman won all seven of his IWT French Open matches to win both the Men’s B Singles and Men’s B Doubles titles.
World Champions Jakob Rosenberger and Thomas Ostenfeld Larsen were also among the amateur, junior and senior winners at the tournament.
Current Boys U13 Singles Champion Rosenberger rolled to an impressive Juniors u16 Singles victory in Paris, beating doubles partner Sebastian Janser in the final.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Thomas Ostenfeld Larsen fought off Radu Ionescu to win the Seniors +50 Singles crown, adding to his current +50 Doubles world title.
In total, there were 10 amateurs, junior and senior titles up for grabs in Paris. Here’s how each won was won.
Men’s B Singles – Perfect Weekend for Nicolas Georges
One player who shone throughout the IWT French Open was Nicolas Georges. Not only was the Frenchman a phenom on the doubles court (more on that later) but he lit up the singles court too.
Goerges strolled through his first match without needing his tennis racket. Heads began to turn in his direction as he took out No.3 seed Nihit Kumar Singh. Georges dominated the badminton and squash to stroll into the semi-finals. His semi-final against fellow Frenchman Lucas Steyer was relatively close through the first three sports. However, Georges edged all three and wrapped up his spot in the final with a 12-5 tennis victory.
In the final, Georges found himself taking on Dutchman Guidi Weijel. The No.1 seed had enjoyed a simple-enough opener against Manfred Grab, winning before tennis. Things took a turn for the dramatic in his semi-final against France’s Jules Riss. Weijel lost the badminton 21-4 and found himself trailing by five points before tennis. The Dutchman narrowly avoided the gummiarm, beating Riss by one point to reach the final.
In the end, the final was completely dominated by Georges. The Frenchman won the table tennis 21-13 and backed that up with a 21-11 badminton victory. There would be no miracle fightback from Weijel. Georges took the squash 21-15 to complete a +24 win before tennis and secure his first international singles title. A name to watch for the rest of the season?
Lucas Steyer grabbed the bronze medal with an impressive win over Jules Riss.
The full Men’s B Singles results are available here.
Women’s B Singles – Flawless Souin Wins in Style
One of the most dominant performances of the weekend came in the Women’s B Singles as top seed Amandine Souin strolled to the title without dropping a set. A hugely impressive way for Souin to win her first international racketlon title.
The four-player box league was reduced to three with Maroua Ben Haddada withdrawing before the tournament began.
Souin opened her campaign with a dominant win over Laure Weinsanto on Saturday morning. Souin won comfortably before tennis, but the 21-1 badminton set was a real highlight.
Her second, decisive win over Laureline Tschanz was equally impressive. Tschanz put up more of a challenge on the badminton court, with Souin winning 21-11. However, the pre-tennis victory was wrapped up courtesy of a crushing 21-4 squash victory.
Weinsanto finished with the silver medal after battling to a hard-fought 10 point victory against Tschanz.
The full Women’s B Singles results are available here.
Men’s B Doubles – Debrade & Georges End Ahlmer & Enmer Fairytale
There was an added interest in this Men’s B Doubles. With no Women’s Doubles at the IWT French Open, Anna-Klara Ahlmer and Myriam Enmer threw themselves into the Men’s B Doubles draw, making sure they had the chance to leave Paris with three trophies.
The two stars of racketlon lived up to their billing. They opened with an impressive victory over Gael Gautier and Thomas Vico. What followed in the semi-finals was a tennis masterclass. They took on No.1 seeds Bertrand Carlier and Nihit Kumar Singh but found themselves trailing by 19 points after the badminton. A 21-8 squash win followed by a 21-3 tennis masterclass secured the two women a spot in the final.
The other pair to make it to the last two was Francois Debrade and Nicolas Georges. The French pair had won both of their opening matches by 19 points against other French duos. The first to suffer at their hands were Nicolas Latimier and Bastian Vaubert. Then, Thomas Pauvert and Stephane Quiquempois – who beat No.2 seeds Radu Ionescu and Graham King – fell in the semi-finals.
Ahlmer and Enmer’s fairytale run came to an end in the final. Debrade and Georges were simply too good on the day, dominating from the outset and never relinquishing their lead. A 21-9 badminton victory was the real killed blow, and the French duo won by 28 points before tennis. Carlier and Singh rounded out the podium with an impressive bronze medal match victory.
The full Men’s B Doubles results are available here.
Mixed B Doubles – First Mixed Doubles Title for Carlier Alongside Weinsanto
One of the most dramatic sets from the weekend came in the Mixed B Doubles draw. Top seeds Bertrand Carlier and Laure Weinsanto were taking on Dorine Abrahamme and Patrick Ecuyer. It was dead-level before tennis, meaning it was a winner-takes-all set.
The two pairs were unable to be separated through a regular set, tying the score up at 21-21. In the end, Weinsanto and Carlier snatched an incredible 26-24 result to get their first win on the board.
With Anna Lindeberg and Eric Durand forced to withdraw from the competition before it began, that win proved crucial in the new three-pair box league. Laureline Tschanz and Stephane Quiquempois took out Abrahamme and Ecuyer to set up a final against the top seeds.
The final itself went fully the way of Weinsanto and Carlier. The top seeds won the match by winning all four sets. Both the table tennis and tennis sets were 21-11 victories while the badminton and squash were sealed with 21-17 scorelines.
That’s the first Mixed Doubles title for both players as they leave the tournament with some glistening silverware. Abrahamme and Ecuyer finish with the bronze medal with Tschanz and Quiquempois taking silver.
The full Mixed B Doubles results are available here.
Men’s C Singles – Szlazak Battles to Hard-Earned Title
Rafał Szlazak entered the weekend as one of the favourites for the Men’s C Singles title as the No.2 seed. The title certainly didn’t come easy to him, with three of his four matches ending in a win of six points or less.
Szlazak’s opening round victory over Armand Maxime was his largest winning margin, with 11 points. From there, every match was a battle. Valentin Henin was the next to try and halt Szlazak’s progress, with the Swiss player losing by just six points. France’s Thomas Vico came even closer, getting within three points of victory before Szlazak dealt the decisive blow.
A lot of the pre-tournament build-up was how this draw had no French players seeded What we got instead, was three seeds being shocked by French talents. Nicolas Latmier took out top seed Christian Börner in the first round. This was swiftly followed by Anthony Levasseur and Thomas Vico taking out Graham King and Thomas Neupert respectively.
After winning his opener by one point, Sebastian Janser was a surprise semi-finalist. The young Austrian was hugely impressed with a 21-3 tennis victory over Levasseur to sneak a +4 win on his way to the semi-finals. But it was Latimer who made it to the final to take on Szlazak.
Latimier is a ferocious badminton player. Through his first three rounds, the Frenchman had only dropped four points. In the final, he only dropped one. However, it wasn’t enough. Szlazak used his racketlon experience to win the other three sports and take the final by just two points. A sensational comeback from the Pole who breaks the streak of French winners.
Thomas Vico completely the podium with a comfortable win over Janser.
The full Men’s C Singles draw is available here.
Men’s C Doubles – Artigalas & Chau Beat Both Seeds to Win Title
If you’re in an eight-team doubles draw, the perfect way to win the title is to beat both the No.1 and No.2 seeds. That is exactly why Guillaume and Artigalas achieved at the Center Sportif Arthur Ashe.
After a comfortable first-round win, the French pair took on Austrian top seeds Sebastian Janser and Jakob Rosenberger. After a topsy-turvy match, Artigalas and Chau led by two points before tennis. It was a nervous battle but the French pair edged it 21-19 to reach the final.
Their opponents were No.2 seeds Antoine Bacha and Matthieu Beurel-Diamant. The two had first taken out Jean-Robert Fiori and Thomas Ostenfeld Larsen, before following that up with an 11 point win against Adam Borkowski and Patrick Ecuyer.
In the final, it was Artigalas and Chau’s badminton that won them the title. The unseeded pair lost the table tennis and squash but crushed their opponents with a 21-2 badminton victory. That left them needing 19 on the tennis court, something they achieved with a 19-13 victory.
Borkowski and Ecuyer completed the podium after Janser and Rosenberger once again suffered a narrow victory.
The full Men’s C Doubles results are available here.
Men’s D Singles – Gummiarm Helps Hamon Collect Title
Luca Hamon battled his way through a 25 player field to win his first international racketlon title with the help of a semi-final gummiarm victory.
Hamon had to play five matches in a long weekend of racketlon. His first three victories were all relatively straightforward against Arnaud De Panthou, Ray Ryan and Michael Gonnon. Things changed in the semi-final.
Julien Hottias was Hamon’s opponent. The Belgian had endured a one-point victory of his own in the quarter-finals and forced a gummiarm out of Hamon in their semi-final showdown. But it was the Frenchman who won the decisive point, advancing to the final to take on Samuel Worobel.
Debutant Worobel had fought hard to reach the final. He opened with an eight-point victory over Eric Paic. In his next two rounds, he took out seeds Benoit Truc and Thomas Cartalier before defeating Adam Borkowski in the semi-finals.
In the final, it was Hamon who bossed proceedings. The Frenchman won the first three sports to 14, 18 and 13 to leave him needing just four on the tennis court. He reached his four within six points to seal a memorable title. After narrowly missing out on the final, Hottias did secure a podium spot with a victory over BORKOWSKI.
The full Men’s D Singles results are available here.
Juniors U16 Singles – Rosenberger Extends Juniors Winning Streak to 14 Matches
Austria’s Jakob Rosenberger is fast emerging as one of racketlon brightest young talents. This weekend in Paris did nothing to slow down his momentum. The current U13 World Champion entered the tournament as the top seed and lived up to his billing in style.
Rosenberger produced a superb victory over Nils Neupert in his first match before coming up against No.4 seed Daniel Austin in the semi-finals. Austin produced a stunning tennis comeback in the quarter-finals to reach the final four but wasn’t able to do that again. Rosenberger made sure the match was wrapped up before tennis, winning by 26 points.
In the final, Rosenberger played his doubles partner and No.2 seed Sebastian Janser. The other Austrian’s path to the final was remarkably similar to Rosenberger’s. The Austrian beat Leonie Neupert in his opener before taking out seed Lucas Mateo Moreno by 19 points to reach the final.
These two played twice last year, with Rosenberger winning both contests. Once again it was Rosenberger who emerged with a victory. Their match was slightly different to their two previous meetings though. This time, Rosenberger won the table tennis for the first time, while Janser won the squash. In the end, though, the result was the same and Rosenberger was crowned champion of Paris. Moreno outgunned Austin for the bronze medal.
The full Juniors U16 results are available here.
Seniors +40 Singles – Rapeneau Shines on Dream Debut
Manfred Grab, Eric Durand and Thomas Neupert were all in the draw for the Seniors +40 Singles. But it was French debutant Igor Rapeneau that walked away with the title with a fantastic display.
Neupert was Rapeneau’s first-round victim. The Frenchman won all three sports to take the match by 23 points before tennis. Durand took out Grab in the first round to set up a semi-final against Rapeneau. This was the Frenchman’s toughest match of the day but he still battled through, needing 14 points in tennis and winning the match by eight points.
It was an all-French final with Thomas Vico qualifying from the bottom half of the draw. Vico cruised past both Jean-Robert Fiori and Adam Borkowski but found Rapeneau far too much to handle in the final. Vico won the table tennis 21-11 but Rapeneau’s 21-3 badminton and 21-4 squash sets completed the victory and secured him a title in his first international title. Durand finished third with a well-earned win over Borkowski.
The full Seniors +40 Singles results are available here.
Seniors +50 Singles – Larsen Takes Down Seeds on Title Run
Rafał Szlazak had quite the weekend. As well as winning the Men’s C Singles title, he was also part of one of the tournament’s best matches against Thomas Ostenfeld Larsen. The two met in the opening round of the Seniors +50 Singles, with Larsen winning by a single point in a dramatic tennis set.
That opening round battle opened the door for Larsen to race to the title impressively. In the semi-finals, he took out top seed Graham King with a ruthless performance. No.2 seed Radu Ionescu awaited him in the final.
Larsen’s final began in emphatic style, with a 21-1 table tennis victory. The Romanian produced huge badminton and squash sets to close Larsen’s lead to just two points before tennis. But the Dane dominated the final set, winning 21-6 to collect his first singles title of the season. King finished third with an emphatic win against France’s Christian Baus.
The full Men’s +50 Singles results are available here.
You can check out an elite report for Doubles Friday here, Singles Saturday here and Finals Day here.
Interested in playing racketlon? All of our tournaments have several age and ability categories so that everyone can take part! More information about the Racketlon World Tour is available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Joss Gade
