Morten Jaksland won both the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles on Friday at the IWT German Open to keep alive his chances of a Triple Crown in Nussloch.
Jaksland teamed up with Nathalie Vogel to produce a stunning comeback in the Mixed Doubles final against Stine Jacobsen and Cornelius Radermacher.
Jaksland partnered a second German in the Men’s Doubles in Cornelius Radermacher. They beat Florian Harca and René Lindberg in a competitive final.
While Jacobsen lost in the Mixed Doubles final, there was some silverware for the Dane. Jacobsen and Esther Dübendorfer cruised to the Women’s Doubles crown without playing tennis.
Men’s Doubles – Jaksland and Radermacher Live Up to Top Seed Billing
The Men’s Doubles draw was a beautiful blend of interesting partnerships but in the end it was Morten Jaksland and Cornelius Radermacher that came out on top.
The top seeds were ruthless throughout, winning all three of their matches against tough opposition. Their day began against Joerg Kanonenberg and Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy. The wildcards were more than holding their own to begin with, leading by two points after badminton. The top seeds changed the momentum on the squash court, winning 21-9 before eventually winning the match by 17 points.
Their semi-final against Koen Hageraats and Guidi Weijel was a more straightforward affair. Jaksland and Radermacher cruised through the first two sports. That meant that, despite losing the squash 21-16, they won before tennis.
The No.2 seeds, Florian Harca and René Lindberg, also reached the Men’s Doubles final. They took a tricky path to get their. In their first match, they trailed to Max Plettenberg and Christian Wiessner heading into the tennis. However, a 21-7 win for the tennis experts saw them into the semi-finals.
Noah Mamié and Sion Wiggin had reached the semi-finals in dramatic fashion. The Swiss-New Zealand pairing beat Nicolas Lenggenhager and Sami Tabbara by a single point for a remarkable win. Their run ended in the semi-finals at the hands of Harca and Lindberg. The No.2 seeds won by 15 points after a 19-7 tennis victory.
The final was decided on the badminton court. Harca and Lindberg edged both the table tennis and squash, 21-18 and 21-19. However, Jaksland and Radermacher were clinical on the badminton court, winning 21-4 to enjoy a 12 point lead before tennis. The top seeds won the tennis 10-7 to earn their first title together as a pair.
For Jaksland, it was a historic 19th Men’s Doubles title. This trophy sends him ahead of Kasper Jonsson and up to No.4 on the all-time list. It’s a 4th for Radermacher and second of the season, after his triumph with Duncan Stahl at the Swiss Open.
Dutch duo Hageraats and Weijel won by five points against Mamié and Wiggin for the bronze medal.
The full Men’s Doubles results are available here.
Mixed Doubles – Vogel and Jaksland Produce Phenomenal Comeback
The 2022 Racketlon World Tour has been blessed with a number of unforgettable finals. The IWT German Open Mixed Doubles final is the latest addition to that glowing list.
Both the final pairs had progressed without the use of their tennis rackets. Nathalie Vogel and Morten Jaksland had taken out Kirsten Kaptein and René Lindberg by 26 points. Similarly, Stine Jacobsen and Cornelius Radermacher dominated the first two sports to beat Adeline Kilchenmann and Sion Wiggin by 22 points.
At the halfway point in the final, it looked like the trophy was heading home with Jacobsen and Radermacher. The top seeds won 21-16 and 21-10 in the opening two sets to boast a 16-point lead. Between them, Vogel and Jaksland have 25 Mixed Doubles titles though, and they proved exactly why at Racket Center Nussloch.
The duo cut the lead to 10 points after winning the squash 21-15. Their tennis was near impeccable. The two World Champions controlled the tennis, winning 21-9 to secure a win by just two points. A remarkable comeback from a supremely talented pair.
For Vogel, that’s the first Mixed Doubles crown since the 2017 IWT La Santa Open. Despite being World No.1, that’s also Morten Jaksland’s first Mixed Doubles title of the season. Jaksland also now heads into the weekend with a Triple Crown still a possibility.
As things stand, neither is entered in the Mixed Doubles at the World Championships. Could they throw together a late entry after their success in Nussloch?
Kaptein and Lindberg completed the podium after also producing a tennis comeback in the bronze medal match.
The full Mixed Doubles results are available here.
Women’s Doubles – Flawless Dübendorfer and Jacobsen Collect Title
Esther Dübendorfer and Stine Jacobsen were the top seeds and strong favourites in the lead-up to the IWT German Open. On Friday, they proved exactly why.
They kicked off their quest for gold against youngsters Alina Reissenauer and Paulina Steiner. The teenagers got 10 points in the table tennis but the top seeds were ruthless on the badminton and squash courts, eventually winning by 40 points.
Kirsten Kaptein and Adeline Kilchenmann had actually taken on Reissenauer and Steiner in the first match of the competition. The No.2 seeds beat the youngsters to set up a final against top seeds Dübendorfer and Jacobsen.
The match began with a table tennis slugfest. The two pairs fought it out in a nerve-jangling set, with the top seeds eventually sneaking a 23-21 victory. That set the tone for the rest of the contest. Dübendorfer and Jacobsen began to wrestle control. The top seeds won the badminton 21-10 before guaranteeing gold with a 21-12 squash win.
Jacobsen is the defending Women’s Doubles World Champion and this win will have done her confidence a lot of good ahead of her title defence attempt in a few weeks’ time. For Dübendorfer, it’s a third career title.
The full Mixed Doubles results are available here.
A full report from the Men’s B Doubles & Mixed B Doubles will be published on Monday.
Check out all the results from Friday’s Doubles Day here. The action continues in Germany on Saturday as the singles categories begin. Keep up with all the results from Singles Saturday here.
Interested in getting on the Racketlon court yourself? Enter the FIR Racketlon World Championships 2022 before the deadline on Monday, August 8.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Leigh Sands
