Nathalie Vogel and Koen Hageraats are the IWT German Open 2022 singles champions.
Vogel defeated Stine Jacobsen in the Women’s Singles final to win her third German Open title – a decade after her first triumph in 2012.
Koen Hageraats prevented it from being two German winners after beating Christian Wiessner in the Men’s Singles final for his second title of the season.
Women’s Singles – Squash Bagel Helps Vogel Win Battle of the World Champions
The first battle between two women’s World Champions in six years was always going to be a thrilling affair. Stine Jacobsen is the current World Champion and was chasing her first title of the season. Meanwhile, Nathalie Vogel last won a Women’s Singles event at the 2017 IWT La Santa Open.
The two were almost inseparable on the table tennis court. Neck-and-neck throughout, it was Vogel who eventually snuck a 23-21 victory to take a slender lead. That lead would not last long, as Jacobsen wrestled control of the match with a 21-10 badminton victory.
Things took a turn on the squash court. Vogel produced one of the best performances of her career to win 21-0, leaving the German needing just 10 points on the tennis court.
Jacobsen won five tournaments in a row last season and a lot of that success was built on a tricky, rock-solid tennis game. The Danish star looked as though she was going to pull off a mesmerizing comeback but fell a few points short. The tennis finished 10-17, with Vogel securing the 10 points she needed to win the title.
That’s a 17th Women’s Singles title for Nathalie Vogel. The German also becomes just the fifth player to win 10 IWT Singles titles, joining Christine Seehofer, Zuzana Kubanova, Lilian Druve and Amke Fischer. She’ll now head to Austria as one of the favourites, searching for a third World Championship title.
Kirsten Kaptein secured her third-straight podium finish after beating Adeline Kilchenmann in the bronze medal match.
The full Women’s Singles results are available here.
Men’s Singles – Hageraats and Wiessner Win Thrillers to Reach Final
Koen Hageraats and Christian Wiessner contested the IWT German Open final but to get there, both had early starts in the semi-finals.
Hageraats was first up as the Dutchman took on Cornelius Radermacher. Unsurprisingly, Hageraats raced into an early lead, winning the table tennis 21-2 in emphatic fashion. But Radermacher hit back, winning the badminton 21-4 with a near-flawless display to almost level the match.
The squash and tennis were both fierce battles. Hageraats recorded a 21-18 victory on the squash court, leaving him needing 17 in tennis. That would not come easy. The two slugged it out on the clay courts at Racket Center Nussloch, fighting away in the sunshine. In the end, Hageraats reached the 17 points he needed with the score tied at 17-17.
Wiessner’s match against Florian Harca was even closer. Every sport was a tight affair, starting with table tennis, which the German won 21-19. Badminton went the way of the teenage Austrian. Harca won 21-16 before Wiessner again took control with a 21-12 squash win. Then came the tennis set.
The tennis was an exceptional quality in the blistering Nussloch heat. The two produced a superb set, with Harca making it all the way to 19 points. In the end, a delicate drop shot from Wiessner was good enough for him to reach 16 and seal a +3 win and a spot in his second career Men’s Singles final.
Men’s Singles – Hageraats Wins Second Title in Two Months
The final began as all Koen Hageraats matches do – with a one-sided table tennis match. Hageraats blew apart Wiessner to win 21-4 and open up a hefty 17-point lead. Wiessner needed a heavy badminton win to get back in this match but could only manage a 21-19 victory.
Hageraats almost sealed the victory on the squash court. The Dutchman won 21-16 to leave him needing just two points in tennis. Wiessner is a skilful tennis player, but he couldn’t prevent Hageraats from reaching two points, with the score finishing 2-4.
The second title in two months for Koen Hageraats, who is now on an eight-match unbeaten streak. Despite looking unlikely to get a top-eight seeding, Hageraats is going to enter the World Championships as one of the favourites and will be a dangerous floater when the draw comes out in a few weeks.
Harca did finish on the podium with Hageraats and Wiessner after Radermacher was forced to withdraw from their bronze medal match.
The full Men’s Singles results are available here.
Recap all the action from earlier in the week with Saturday’s report here and Friday’s report here.
A full IWT German Open report from the Juniors, Seniors and Amateurs categories will be published on Monday.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Leigh Sands
