Great Britain will begin its World Cup defence against either Afghanistan or the Netherlands after the draw was held at the Captain’s Meeting on Wednesday night.
The defending champion has been drawn in the same half as hosts Austria, with No.2 and No.4 seeds Denmark and Switzerland in the other half.
We’ll also preview the Nations Cup and Challenge Cup draws ahead of a blockbuster Thursday and Friday.
Energie Graz World Cup – Teams
Reigning champion Great Britain will start with a showdown against either Afghanistan or Netherlands after Wednesday evening’s draw.
For the first time, the World Cup draw has been expanded to 12 teams, having previously always been an eight-draw. That means that the four seeded teams – Great Britain, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland – all receive a bye through to the quarter-finals.
Making its World Cup debut, Afghanistan will begin against a Netherlands team featuring star player Koen Hageraats.
Austria is the other seed in the top half of the draw. The three-time champion last won in 2018 and sits in quarter two with a strong team, including Christine Seehofer-Krenn, Lukas Windischberger and Florian Harca.
They will face either France or Finland in the opening round after the two powerhouse nations were drawn against each other. The French team is led by the talented Myriam Enmer, with Damien Andre, Anthony Duthuillé and four other male French players.
With Luka Penttinen, Joel Pennanen, Henrik Mustonen and Pekka Kainulainen all in the Finnish team, they bring a strong outfit to the competition.
Quarter three features 2019 runner-up Germany. Despite fielding a strong team that includes Cornelius Radermacher, Astrid Reimer-Kern and Nathalie Vogel, the German team narrowly misses out on a seeding, which means that it begins against Poland. The winner from that match will advance to take on a Switzerland team boasting Nicole Eisler, Nicolas Lenggenhager, Oliver Bühler and more.
Denmark is the No.2 seed and sits at the bottom of the draw in quarter-four. The heavyweight Danish team features Morten Jaksland, Kresten Hougaard and Stine Jacobsen, who are all current or former World Champions. They await the winner of a showdown between the Czech Republic and Sweden.
The full Energie Graz World Cup Teams draw is available here.
Nations Cup
Seven teams will take place in the Nations Cup, with the winners of Group A and Group B set to face in the final.
Defending champions Great Britain II are in Group A with Austria II and France II. Johnny Bispham will captain the team that also features a slightly refreshed team of Jack Bishop, Johnny Bispham, Alex Du Noyer, Matthew Haynes, James Langworthy and Matilda Parslow.
Women’s elite player Irina Olsacher is in for Austria II, with the likes of Philipp Patzelt, Roland Pichler and more competing on the Men’s side. Team France II is captained by Jean Michot, with a largely new-look team as they make their debut at the World Championships.
Germany II are the top seed in Group B. Last week’s two-time World Champion Bastian Böhm, alongside the likes of Frank Kleiber, Patrick Oettl and Steffen Neumann. With three elite players in Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy, Ashutosh Avinash Pednekar and Sidharth Nandal, India boasts a ferocious team. Mixed U16 Doubles champions Aadith and Aadirai K A are also in the squad.
Girls U21 Doubles world champion Alexandra Ogram is in Great Britain III. Joining her is Peter Barton, who was part of Great Britain’s Seniors +45 Doubles gold-winning squad. Austria III is also in Group B and features Martina Meißl, Jonas Grafeneder and Michael Moitzi.
The full Nations Cup draw and fixtures are available here.
Challenge Cup
The remaining 11 teams will fight it out for the Challenge Cup. With 2019 champion India promoted to the Nations Cup, this trophy is up for grabs by a new team. The four seeded teams – Great Britain IV, Austria Juniors, Hong Kong China and USA – all receive a bye through to the quarter-finals.
The draw has also seen Romania receive a bye into the quarter-finals where they will open against the USA. Great Britain IV will face either Czech Republic II or First Serve Refugees Graz in their opening match.
In the bottom half, First Serve Refugees Vienna will play Hungary while First Serve Refugees Vienna take on France III.
The full Challenge Cup draw and fixtures are available here.
You can watch all the Center Court action from Day Six at the Racketlon World Championships here.
Live scores will be available throughout the day here.
Track all the results from the Racketlon World Teams Championships here.
All the latest news about the Racketlon World Championships is available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
