Denmark took home two gold medals on day one of the Racketlon World Championships, with Germany also collecting a title as two Seniors Teams and one Juniors Teams events reached their climax.
Germany was the first to get a gold medal on the board, as Bastian Böhm, Cornelius Ried and Alina Reissenauer beat British and Austrian opposition to claim the Juniors U18 Teams title.
Much later in the evening, Denmark continued its unbeaten streak in the Seniors +65 Teams category. Spearheaded by Steen Hesselbjerg, the four-strong team won the event for the third time in a row.
Denmark added a second gold to their haul as the Seniors +40 Team romped home to victory having earlier beaten defending champions Germany.
Juniors U18 Teams
The Juniors U18 Teams division saw three teams – Austria, Germany and Great Britain – battle for the title in a box league. With both Great Britain and Germany beating Austria by over 40 points, the result of the gold medal hinged on the showdown between the two.
Great Britain actually won two of the three individual matches, with Holly Ranson beating Alina Reissenauer and Anant Gupta edging Cornelius Ried. However, Bastian Böhm is one of racketlon’s most outstanding young talents and proved his class. He beat Cameron Leighton by enough to seal a slender seven-point victory.
Germany will now go down in history as the first Nation to win the Juniors U18 Teams title, with the event making its debut in Vienna this year.
The full Juniors U18 Teams results are available here.
Seniors +65 Teams
Since this category’s first introduction in 2018, Denmark has gone unbeaten. Steen Hesselbjerg and Graham Cain have been at the centre of that success, and this year they were joined by Jesper Schou Nielsen and Jean-Robert Fiori.
Denmark and Austria both opened with wins against the Czech Republic and Great Britain. That set up a box-league-style final against Austria. In the end, the Danes were too strong once again. Hesselbjerg and Nielsen played the final together, also taking part in the doubles to great effect. Their +32 point victory after one set of tennis was enough to secure the win and seal Denmark the first gold of these Championships.
Great Britain then produced a superb performance against the Czech Republic. That win saw them join Denmark and Austria on the podium with a bronze medal.
The full Seniors +65 Teams results are available here.
Seniors +40 Teams
The final gold medal of the day came shortly after midnight as Denmark wrapped up a win over Great Britain to secure a flawless day of racketlon in the Seniors +40 Teams.
The Danes sent a blockbuster team to Vienna, with four of the five players currently holding world titles. As an entire collective, the team were nearly flawless. World Champion Stine Jacobsen, Jacob Steinmetz, Kristian Kuch and Soeren Smit won all of their matches and Jacobsen and Steinmetz dropping just one set each.
Denmark signalled a mark of intent when they crushed defending champions Germany by 41 points to open the day. They followed that up with another big win over Austria. With results going their way elsewhere, they had already wrapped up the title before stepping onto the court against Great Britain. They still produced a show, winning before tennis to become the third different nation to win this title.
Germany beat Austria in the final match of the day to secure the silver medal, with Austria taking bronze and Great Britain missing out.
The full Seniors +40 Teams results are available here.
Best of the Juniors
The first gummiarm of the tournament came in the Juniors U16 Teams in a dramatic semi-final between Austria II and Great Britain. Having lost to Leonhard Prager in the match overall, Great Britain’s Chase Burgess showed nerves of steel to win the gummiarm. That moment ensured Great Britain’s return to the Juniors U16 Teams final once again. They’ll face the Czech Republic, with Matěj Volf the only player in the draw to have won his five day one matches.
There’s another chance for British gold in both the Juniors U13 and U21 categories as well. Great Britain and Austria both beat Great Britain II and III in the Juniors U21 box league to set up a fantastic final that will potentially feature a showdown between Luke Griffiths and Florian Harca.
Great Britain looks like a strong favourite to win gold in the Juniors U13 Teams event. Britsh duo Daniel Austin and Charlie Hill had a fantastic day. Each won five of their six individual sets and beating all three of their opponents to top the group. A victory over winless Austria II on Saturday will seal the crown for the Brits.
The Juniors U12 Teams gold medal has already been won, with Austria winning despite two box league matches still needing to be played. The three-strong duo of Christoph Wagner, Mattia Reich and Robin Sam were quite literally perfect on the day. Between them, they won 48 sets and lost 0, a sensational feat of composure for players so young. The rest of the medals will be decided on Sunday.
Best of the Seniors
Great Britain’s chances of silverware continue in the Seniors Teams where it will take part in two finals on Saturday. In the Seniors +55s, Great Britain fought off a resilient Switzerland team in round one. Simon Lau’s late heroics on his debut secured a +5 win. A win against Finland in the semi-finals sets up a Saturday final with Germany. Led by the unbeaten Frank Böhm and Thomas Knaack, Germany won two tight matches against Sweden and defending champions Hungary.
Looking to defend their Seniors +45 Teams title, Great Britain had to fight through three matches to qualify from Group B. India put up the sternest test to Great Britain, getting within 20 points of the upset. The defending champions also beat Czech Republic II and Sweden to set up a final with Austria. The hosts eliminated the Czech Republic’s chances after a narrow +5 win. They then beat Germany to set up a mouthwatering final that could feature a Presidential clash between Duncan Stahl and Marcel Weigl.
The full results from all the Teams matches on Friday are available here.
Saturday’s Teams schedule is available here.
Full information about how to follow all the action from Vienna is available here.
The Juniors Singles Preview is available here. The Seniors Singles Preview is available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer