The Men’s Singles at the IWT German Open has thrown up a fascinating draw, with World No.1 Morten Jaksland landing in the same quarter as 2022 tournament champions Koen Hageraats and Martin Sopko.
The bottom half of the Men’s Singles draw is also fascinating, with 2022 finalists Oliver Bühler, Max Plettenberg and Nicolas Lenggenhager all competing.
Elsewhere, World Champions Stine Jacobsen and Nathalie Vogel are both in action in the Women’s Singles. They are joined by Kirsten Kaptein and Adeline Kilchenmann in a four-player box league.
Men’s Singles – Three 2022 Champions Land in Top Quarter
The 2022 IWT German Open draw is tasty. World No.1 Morten Jaksland returns to the Racketlon World Tour for the first time since the Nick Matthew Steel City Open Challenger. With 20 players in the draw, 12 have received a bye-through to round two, including all the seeded players.
Jaksland is the top seed and could open his campaign against IWT Swiss Open champion Martin Sopko. The Czech player goes in search of a second title in Germany and opens against British wildcard Matthew Haynes.
The other seed in the top quarter is IWT London Open champion Koen Hageraats. The fast-improving Dutchman begins in round two with a contest against home-favourite squash specialist Simon Vaclahovsky.
Two more Germans are in action in the second quarter. No.4 seed Cornelius Radermacher receives a bye and will take on either New Zealand wildcard Sion Wiggin or Czechia’s Michal Horácek. After tough draws in Latvia and London, Wiggin will be hoping he can return to the quarter-finals in Germany.
The other match in quarter two sees No.8 seed Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy take on Joerg Kanonenberg. The two have met once before, at the World Championships three years ago. Kanonenberg won on that occasion. Narayanaswamy will be hoping for revenge as Kanonenberg plays his first tournament in three years.
Men’s Singles – Opportunity Beckons in Open Bottom Half
The bottom half of the Men’s Singles draw features a number of players who have been extremely present on the Racketlon World Tour in 2022. Nicolas Lenggenhager, Oliver Bühler, René Lindberg and Max Plettenberg have all played in at least three tournaments already, having faced each other a few times in the process.
Plettenberg and Lindberg haven’t played against one another yet this year, despite their activity. However, the duo produced an unforgettable match at last year’s World Championships, with Lindberg winning on a gummiarm. They meet in round two, with Lindberg the No.6 seed.
Bühler is the No.3 seed and is in the same quarter as Lindberg and Plettenberg. The Swiss star is guaranteed to play a German in the first round. That’s because Patrick Oettl and Christian Wiessner are set to face off in the first round, with the winner taking on Bühler.
Fresh from a runner-up finish in London, Nicolas Lenggenhager props up the draw at the bottom of the bracket. The No.2 seed will open against either compatriot Noah Mamié or Czech wildcard Jan Port.
Similar to Joerg Kanonenberg, Korbinian Heim is also making his first return to the Racketlon World Tour since the 2019 World Championships. It’s not an easy comeback, as he opens against No.7 seed Florian Harca. The teenage Austrian is looking to reach his second semi-final of the year after his run in London.
The full Men’s Singles draw is available here.
Women’s Singles – Vogel Returns in Four-Player Box League
It was a welcome sight to see Nathalie Vogel return to the Racketlon World Tour at the 2021 World Championships. After a bronze medal finish, we haven’t seen her since. Now, the German returns once again as she looks to get prepared for another run at the world title.
Joining Vogel in the draw is current World Champion Stine Jacobsen, Kirsten Kaptein and Adeline Kilchenmann.
It’s pretty rare nowadays that we get a showdown between two former World Champions. That is exactly the prospect that we’ve got in store when Vogel takes on Jacobsen. It’ll be a fascinating contest and a window into where both players are at before the World Championships. Vogel has never faced Jacobsen or Kilchenmann before but has taken on Kirsten Kaptein before, currently boasting a winning record.
In fact, both Jacobsen and Kilchenmann hold a winning record over Kaptein. Both beat her at last year’s World Championships, while Jacobsen also took down Kaptein at the Dunlop Rotterdam Open. It’ll be a tournament of firsts for Jacobsen. A first match against Nathalie Vogel and a first match against Adeline Kilchenmann.
Nathalie Vogel first won this title a decade ago in 2012, adding a second title one year later. Will she win it for the third time, or will Jacobsen, Kaptein or Kilchenmann win the first title?
The full Women’s Singles draw is available here.
Men’s Doubles – Jaksland and Radermacher Team Up in Men’s Doubles
Eight pairs are taking part in the Men’s Doubles draw, with Morten Jaksland and Cornelius Radermacher headlining.
The top seeds open their campaign against wildcard pair Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy and Joerg Kanonenberg. Narayanaswamy lost to Jaksland in a doubles match last year on a gummiarm, paired up with another German, Max Plettenberg. Could he go one better this year in his opening match?
The other match in the top half of the draw is a Germany versus Netherlands showdown. Koen Hageraats and Guidi Weijel are the only pair playing together in both this draw and the World Doubles Championships. Their German Open campaign begins against home players Patrick Oettl and Simon Vaclahovsky.
The bottom half of the draw is propped up by Florian Harca and René Lindberg. The No.2 seeds take on German duo Max Plettenberg and Christian Wiessner. Lindberg won the Men’s Doubles title last month with Nicolas Lenggenhager. Wiessner has an even better doubles history, having won the Men’s Doubles world title back in 2018.
The last match sees two Swiss players on opposite sides of the net. Nicolas Lenggenhager is teaming up with Frenchman Sami Tabbara to take on Noah Mamié and Sion Wiggin. This is a fascinating showdown between two wildcard pairs.
The full Men’s Doubles results are available here.
Mixed Doubles – World Champions Vogel and Jaksland Join Forces
The Mixed Doubles is a small affair at the IWT German Open, with four pairs battling for silverware. The top seeds in the draw are Stine Jacobsen and Cornelius Radermacher. The Danish-German duo have already won one title this year, winning the IWT Swiss Open title back in June.
In Germany, they’ll take on Adeline Kilchenmann and Sion Wiggin for a spot in the final. Kilchenmann and Wiggin are teaming up for the first time as they look to shock the top seeds in Nussloch.
The bottom half features a fascinating pair of Nathalie Vogel and Morten Jaksland. Jaksland is the current World No.1 and Mixed Doubles World Champion, while Vogel is a former two-time Singles World Champion.
However, they are not seeded due to Vogel’s ranking of No.101. Instead, it’s Kirsten Kaptein and René Lindberg who are in the draw as the No.2 seeds. Lindberg won his first Mixed Doubles title earlier this year alongside Anna-Klara Ahlmer.
The full Mixed Doubles draw is available here.
Women’s Doubles – Three Pairs Battling for Trophy
The Women’s Doubles features three pairs of Juniors and Seniors players all looking to get their hands on the title.
The top seeds in the tournament are Esther Dübendorfer and Stine Jacobsen. The latter is the current Women’s Doubles World Champion, after triumphing in Prague last year. She’s chasing her first Women’s Doubles title of the 2022 season.
Kirsten Kaptein and Adeline Kilchenmann are the second seeds in the tournament. Kaptein has won a number of titles over the years, including alongside Anna-Klara Ahlmer earlier this year. For Kilchenmann, a title in Germany would be a first career Women’s Doubles title.
The third and final duo is a concoction of talented juniors. Paulina Steiner was the Girls Doubles World No.1 for seven months recently and she’s teaming up with relative newcomer Alina Reissenauer. The latter is competing in just her second Racketlon World Tour tournament, after the IWT Swiss Open earlier this year.
The full Women’s Doubles draw is available here.
Unfortunately, due to an issue, there will be no preview of the Juniors, Seniors and Amateurs categories. There will be a full report from these categories published on Monday or Tuesday after the tournament.
Keep up to date with the IWT German Open on Racketlon.net, Facebook and Instagram. For further coverage, follow Nussloch Racket Center on Facebook.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Rene Zwald/Jonas Von Sachs
