Great Britain was the big winner on day two with three gold medals as the World Teams Championships came to a close.
Great Britain defended the Seniors +45 Teams crown they won three years in Leipzig in the evening, having earlier won the Juniors U13 and U21 Teams titles.
Germany and the Czech Republic denied a British clean sweep on Saturday though. A superb German team won the Seniors +55 Teams title for the second time, while the Czech Republic ended Great Britain’s eight year reign in the Juniors U16 Teams category.
Here’s our review of all the best bits of action from the day.
Seniors+55 Teams
With a blockbuster team that included current 2021 World Champions Thomas Knaack, Frank Kleiber and Volker Sach, the Germany team was always going to be one of the favourites. They then proved that on Friday after knocking out defending champions Hungary.
On Saturday morning, they wrapped up the title with a win over a valiant Great Britain team. With Frank Böhm tying his singles match with Martyn Langston and Thomas Knaack slightly leading against Simon Lau, the match was ultimately decided by Frank Kleiber and Volker Sach’s imperious doubles performance. The current Seniors +55 Doubles World Champions showed their class to help guide Germany to a first title in the age category since 2016.
Finland were the third team on the podium, denying Hungary in the third-placed playoff.
The full results from the Seniors +55 Teams are available here.
Juniors U13 Teams
As we mentioned in yesterday’s report, Great Britain already had one hand on the trophy, and just had to beat a winless Austria II team on Saturday. The World Championship debutant pairing of Daniel Austin and Charlie Hill did just that, superbly claiming their fourth victory and a first world title of the day for Great Britain.
Having won the first edition of this event in 2018, Great Britain now becomes the first nation to win it twice, after France’s triumph three years ago. The Brits were joined on the podium this year by Czech Republic and Germany.
The full Juniors U13 Teams results are available here.
Juniors U21 Teams
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from Great Britain in the final of the Juniors U21 Teams against Austria. The all-star British trio of Luke Griffiths, Matthew Davidson and Cherisse Lau were ruthless from start to finish, winning every set against Florian Harca, Leon Sam and Clarissa Steiner.
Given Great Britain’s pedigree in Juniors events, it is surprising that this is the first time that Great Britain has won this title at the World Championships. The bronze medal was also won by Great Britain, as the second and third teams faced off. It was one of the day’s best teams matches, with Great Britain II bouncing back from 22 points down after badminton to beat Great Britain III.
The full Juniors U21 Teams results are available here.
Juniors U16 Teams
Great Britain has had a stranglehold on this division since 2014, thanks almost exclusively to the Griffiths brothers. With both no longer eligible, a new era was launched by Ollie Barton and Chase Burgess. Despite their superb efforts, they were not able to retain the title. Instead, it was the Czech Republic who triumphed.
The Czech duo of Lukáš Dvořák and Matěj Volf had been sublime throughout the tournament and demonstrated their class in the final. Despite trailing before the tennis, the duo were utterly ruthless, winning the final sets 11-3, 11-1, 8-3 to seal victory.
The two finalists were joined on the podium by Austria, who beat Austria II for bronze.
The full Juniors U16 Teams results are available here.
Seniors +45 Teams
Closing out the World Teams Championships in Vienna was the Seniors +45 Teams showdown between Austria and Great Britain. The latter was the defending champion, while the former was the home favourite and also boasted former Men’s +45 Singles champion Marcel Weigl.
Great Britain established an early lead and never looked back. While the Austrian contingent battled hard, especially fighting back in the tennis, it was too little too late. Just after midnight, Racketworld was serenaded by the Great British team singing the national anthem at the final trophy ceremony of the evening.
Czech Republic denied India a spot on the podium after a win in the third-place playoff.
The full Seniors +45 Teams results are available here.
Best of the Juniors Singles
One of the day’s best matches was also one of the most anticipated as 2021 Juniors U16 Singles World Champion Jesse Kiljunen took on No.2 seed Bastian Böhm. The two played a barnstorming match that marked both out as future stars. After a bruising squash and tennis set, it was Böhm who won the contest on a gummiarm. Böhm will now take on his Juniors U18 Teams teammate Cornelius Ried in the semi-finals. The other semi-final sees top seed Lukáš Dvořák play Great Britain’s Anant Gupta.
After winning the Juniors U16 Teams title earlier in the day, Dvořák is also into the semi-finals of the Juniors U16 Singles. The top-seeded Czech star beat Chase Burgess by three points and will now look to defeat a second Brit in Ollie Barton in the semi-finals. In the bottom half, No.2 and No.3 seeds Lucas Steyer and Jakob Rosenberger will meet in the second semi-final.
Current Girls U16 Champion, Lena Schaedler, made a fast start to her title defence. She will go again on Sunday in the semi-finals against fellow countrywoman Alina Reissenauer. The new German upset No.3 seed Bethany Pye in the quarter-finals. There’s a first-ever Juniors semi-final for India, after Aadirai K A beat Annemarie Del Favero and Holly Ranson. She faces a test in the final against No.2 seed Ylvie Zahn.
Girls World No.1 Alexandra Ogram is just one win away from the Girls U18 Singles final. She won her opener and will face Alina Reissenauer for a spot in the final. Any of Bethany Pye, Holly Ranson and Dhritih Kandpal could also reach the final, with a Gummiarm Playoff a possibility.
The Juniors U21 Singles went to seeding, with Luke Griffiths, Florian Harca, Matthew Davidson and Ross Wilson all reaching the semi-finals. Griffiths will face Davidson while Harca takes on Wilson for places in the final. Seven of the eight semi-finalists heralded from Great Britain, with Harca the lone exception.
The Girls U13 Singles looks as though it will be a shoot-out once again between Lena Schaedler and Ylvie Zahn. The two met last year in the final, with Zahn winning on that occasion. She’s looking to defend her title.
Clarissa Steiner will go for a second World Championship title on Sunday as she takes on Cherisse Lau for the Girls U21 crown.
The Juniors U13 Singles is still in the early stages, although Michal Fojtik looks in with a chance of qualifying for the final. He’s won three matches in Group B and the match against Daniel Austin will most likely decide who qualifies for the final.
There will be two Austria versus Germany semi-finals in the Juniors U12 Singles. Romeo Sam beat brother Robin Sam on a dramatic gummiarm to set up a semi-final against No.2 seed Henri Zahn. Christoph Wagner eliminated top seed Yorsalem Luul and will now face Germany’s Anthony Müller.
Both Luul and Müller are also still alive in the Juniors U10 Singles. The two will contest the final after Luul held off the challenge of fellow German Elizaveta Eliseeva.
Best of the Seniors Singles
The Seniors +45 Singles was the only draw to make serious progress on Saturday, with the semi-finals now set. Top seed Duncan Stahl breezed through the draw to set up an all-British showdown with No.3 seed Jermaine Manners. The latter had to battle past two tough Danes in Soeren Smit and Anders Fyrst to reach this stage.
Swedes Pontus Olofsson and Pär Mattson will meet in the other semi-final. Olofsson survived a first-round gummiarm with Peter Barton before beating No.4 seed, Torsten Kuntz. Meanwhile, Mattson defeated Balázs Francia, who had earlier shocked No.2 seed, Marcel Weigl.
Jo Shelley and Carola Von Heimburg both began their World Championship title defences in style. The duo won their opening box league match in the Women’s +50 and Women’s +55 respectively. Kirsten Kaptein and Silke Altmann also both picked up wins in the Women’s +40 Singles box league.
In the Seniors +60 Singles, Magnus Edby won his first round match to set up an eye-catching showdown with Peter Sákovics. Mohammed Tarik Koubaa also survived a scare in the second round of the Seniors +40 Singles. Last year’s finalist won the match by four points after a 25-23 tennis set win against Tom Branke.
The full results from all the Teams matches on Saturday are available here.
Additionally, the full results from all the Singles matches are available here.
Sunday’s current schedule is available here.
Full information about how to follow all the action from Vienna is available here.
You can rewatch all the action from day two of the Racketlon World Championships here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
