Jesper Ratzer has exclusively revealed that he will not be returning to the FIR Racketlon World Championships to defend his Men’s Singles title.
The six-time World Champion made his comeback to the racketlon court last year, beating Leon Griffiths in the final in Switzerland.
But Ratzer has announced that he will not be heading to Austria this year for the tournament.
“I am not playing the Racketlon World Championships this year”
“My training focus these days is on obstacle course racing (OCR) and Ninja”, Jesper Ratzer said.
“My comeback last year was fun but came with an expensive price. All the running progress I had obtained took a serious punch. Not just because I had to stop running and climbing etc, but also because you suddenly start building muscle in your legs again.
“Also, it took me several months to fully recover from the strain my shoulder had to take during the intensive ‘racketlon rehabilitation I did.
“I could just go without training, but I don’t think it would be fun. I would lose for sure, which I don’t like doing”.
When asked if we would see him return to the racketlon court in the future, he said “You never know what the future brings. But I think I’ll focus on what I’m doing now for the next couple of years at least.”
This revelation about Jesper Ratzer means that we are guaranteed a new Men’s Singles Racketlon World Champion for the first time since 2013 when Ratzer won his first title. That can only change if we have a very late entry from the likes of Stefan Adamsson, Christoph Krenn, Magnus Eliasson or Mikko Karkkainen. Calum Reid has already announced that he will not be taking part.
Former finalists Morten Jaklsand and Leon Griffiths will be the top seeds at the tournament. The likes of Koen Hageraats, Luke Griffiths, Michi Dickert, Kresten Hougaard and more are also among the contenders.
Entry to the FIR Racketlon World Championships 2022 is open on On Your Marks until midnight tonight (11:59 pm on Monday, August 8). You can enter the tournament here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / Rene Zwald/Jonas Von Sachs
