It was a day of firsts at the IWT Czech Open as Nikola Cemusova, Lucie Hlavacova, Patrick Oettl and Simon Vaclahovsky all won their first elite titles.
Cemusova and Hlavacova beat Kirsten Kaptein and Zuzana Vancuríková with a sensational tennis comeback to win the Women’s Doubles title.
Elsewhere, top seeds Patrick Oettl and Simon Vaclahovsky teamed up once again, beating Anders Fyrst and Michał Kurek for the Men’s Doubles title.
Living up to their billing as top seeds, Zuzana Severinová and Nicolas Lenggenhager dominated the Mixed Doubles category to win without needing their tennis rackets.
Women’s Doubles – Home Triumph for Cemusova and Hlavacova
It is not often that we get two players to win a Women’s Doubles title at their home tournament nowadays. That is the rare feat secured by Nikola Cemusova and Lucie Hlavacova after their triumphant day in Prague.
The Czech duo began with a hard-fought win against Great Britain’s Kirsten Atkinson and Holly Ranson, winning by 19 points after taking the badminton squash and tennis.
Top seeds Kirsten Kaptein and Zuzana Vancuríková dominated their opener against Klára Byrtusová and Kateřina Zobačová to set up a final between the two seeded pairs.
In the final, the top seeds edged each of the three front sports. They won the table tennis 21-15 before backing that success up with two 21-18 victories to move 12 points clear in the contest. It was a tennis masterclass that sealed the first title for Nikola Cemusova and Lucie Hlavacova.
The duo were unflappable on the artificial clay courts at Hector Sportcentre. They dominated from start to finish, winning 21-4 to seal the title by five points. For both players, it is a superb first elite title as they become the 6th and 7th Czech women to win an elite women’s doubles title.
Atkinson and Ranson completed the podium as they won the bronze medal match.
The full Women’s Doubles results are available here.
Men’s Doubles – Oettl and Vaclahovsky Make Up for World Champs Heartbreak
In August, Patrick Oettl and Simon Vaclahovsky made it all the way to the final of the Men’s B Doubles, before losing to Christian Wiessner and Thorsten Lentfer. There was to be no such heartbreak at the IWT Czech Open.
Oettl and Vaclahovsky superbly took control of their opener against Rav Rykowski and Dariusz Adam Walczak. The duo won the front three sports to lead by 18. Winning four of the first six tennis points secured their spot in the final.
There they would face Anders Fyrst and Michał Kurek. The two had come through a hard-fought opener against No.2 seeds Radu Ionescu and Marcel Weigl. In the end, a 21-13 tennis victory was enough to secure a +4 win and a showdown with the Germans.
Ultimately, Oettl and Vaclahovsky were simply too strong. The German pair took control of the final with a 21-13 table tennis win and never looked back. They edged the badminton 22-20 before securing the title with a 21-9 squash win. The first elite title for either player as they build on a superb year together.
Rykowski and Walczak beat Ionescu and Weigl to take the bronze medal.
The full Men’s Doubles results are available here.
Mixed Doubles – Severinová and Lenggenhager Dominate as Expected
There would be no surprises in the Mixed Doubles champions. Top seeds and heavy favourites Zuzana Severinová and Nicolas Lenggenhager strolled through the draw without dropping a set or playing tennis to win the IWT Czech Open title.
They opened against Zuzana Vancuríková and Milos Pospisil. The Czech pair held their own in table tennis and squash, getting 15 and 14 points respectively. However, a crushing 21-1 badminton victory saw the top seeds into the final.
There they faced Kirsten Kaptein and Jan Port. Having earlier suffered defeat to Lucie Hlavacova in the Women’s Doubles final, Kaptein got her revenge by beating Hlavacova and Jiří Egermaier in the semi-finals.
The final was a one-way affair. Severinová and Lenggenhager asserted their dominance early, winning the table tennis 21-13. They backed that result up with a 21-7 badminton win and a 21-8 squash win to triumph before tennis. An emphatic day for the duo.
Severinová moves up to No.8 on the all-time list after winning her 9th career Elite Mixed Doubles crown. Meanwhile, it’s a landmark day for Nicolas Lenggenhager. The Swiss star collects his first career Elite Mixed Doubles title.
Hlavacova and Egermaier did end up on the podium after winning the bronze medal match.
The full Mixed Elite Doubles results are available here.
The full results from Friday at the IWT Czech Open are available here.
You can watch live streams from across the Weekend, including catching up on some of the finals, on the Czech Racketlon Facebook.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image / rubinfoto.com
