2023 Racketlon World Tour – Second Announcement

We are delighted to reveal our second and final announcement about the 2023 Racketlon World Tour.

After revealing 10 tournaments in the first announcement earlier in the year, we can now officially add another five to next year’s calendar. That takes our total to 15 tournaments in 2023 – with space for more Challengers if any tournaments show up.

This announcement is headlined by the SWT Austrian Open. The only Super World Tour event of 2023 takes place from September 22-24 at the Racket Sport Centre Graz, the venue of the 2022 Racketlon World Championships.

We’ve got a brand new Challenger in Norway, with three other regular tournaments – the IWT Swiss Open, IWT Czech Open and IWT Club La Santa Open all due to return.

SWT Austrian Open Returns to Graz

The big announcement in the 2023 Racketlon World Tour is the return of the SWT Austrian Open. As the only Super World Tour event on the 2023 Racketlon World Tour, this is the second biggest tournament of the year behind the World Championships. It will take place from September 22-24.

The tournament is once again returning to the Racket Sport Centre Graz. The SWT Austrian Open was held at this venue in both 2020 and 2021, with the 2022 World Championships also taking place in Graz.

We’re delighted to see the Racketlon World Tour return to the fantastic Graz Racket Sport Centre (Image: rubinfoto.com)

In 2021, we saw the first elite Gummiarm Playoff in the Women’s Singles. A year later, we then saw incredible drama as Myriam Enmer and Luke Griffiths were crowned World Champions. What magical racketlon moments are in store for us in Graz in 2023?

“We are super excited to welcome the racketlon community to Norway”

While the SWT Austrian Open returns once again, we also have a brand new tournament in a brand new country. We are delighted to say that the first tournament after the World Championships will be the first Norwegian Open Challenger. This is the first time that an international racketlon tournament has been held in Norway. The tournament will take place from September 1-3.

Speaking about the launch of the Norwegian Open Challenger, Tournament Director said, “Here at Norway Racketlon we are super excited to welcome the racketlon community to Norway for the first time. Being a racketlon player from England, I always found it a little strange that there wasn’t racketlon in Norway, given how strong the game is in the rest of Scandinavia. So it gives me great pleasure to bring the game to the country.

“Along with Roar and Tore at Mysen Rackethall – who heard about racketlon and contacted Duncan, and who have been brilliant in getting it started ever since. We first started talking in October 2020 – the start of the second big COVID lockdown and about the worst possible time to try to introduce a sport to a country!

Mysen Rackethall hosted a local Racketlon tournament for the first time earlier this year.

“We held our first tournament recently with 16 very keen players, including former top 30 player Greg Lorkiewicz who lives near Oslo and have a good standard already. There is a very healthy interest in all of the individual racket sports in Norway and we hope that, as well as establishing Norway on the international map for racketlon, this international tournament develops the game in Norway. Velkommen alle sammen!”

Old Classics Return for 2023

As well as the SWT Austrian Open and Norwegian Open Challenger, we can also confirm the return of three regular Racketlon World Tour events. The IWT Swiss Open, IWT Czech Open and IWT Club La Santa Open all return to their regular places in June, November and December respectively.

After the IWT Swiss Open played its final tournament at the VITIS Sportcentre this summer, the tournament relocates to Sihlsports. This beautiful venue hosted the Racketlon World Singles Championships in 2021 and will now return to the World Tour. The IWT Swiss Open will take place from June 23-25.

The Racketlon World Tour returns to Sihlsports after a fantastic World Championships in 2021.

The IWT Czech Open saw over 100 players take part last month and will once again return to Hector Sport Centre. The tournament, once again organised by Hall of Famer Svatopluk Rejthar, will take place from November 17-19.

The final tournament is the IWT Club La Santa Open. The final tournament of the season once again returns to Lanzarote, taking place from December 16-18. However, with Kresten Hougaard organising the tournament for the last time in 2022, we’ve got a new team leading the event in 2023. Having worked at Club La Santa for several years, and running a number of UK Racketlon tournaments, Jon Spinks will be running the 2023 event with a new team.

2023 Racketlon World Tour

These five tournaments are added to the 2023 Racketlon World Tour (below in bold), which now consists of the following:

  • Thailand Open Challenger // Pattaya, Thailand // January 6-8
  • IWT Finnish Open // Helsinki, Finland // February 17-19
  • IWT French Open // Montreuil, Paris, France // March 3-5
  • IWT Polish Open // Warsaw, Poland // March 24-26
  • IWT Lausanne Open (Women Only) // Lausanne, Switzerland // April 14-16
  • IWT Nordic Racket Games // Holbaeck, Denmark // May 5-7
  • IWT German Open // Nussloch, Germany // June 9-11
  • IWT Swiss Open // Langnau, Switzerland // June 23-25
  • FIR World Doubles Championships // Roehampton, London // July 20-21 (July 22-23 for Juniors)
  • IWT London Open // Roehampton, London // July 22-23
  • FIR World Teams & Singles Championships // Victoria, Rotterdam // August 2-6
  • Norwegian Open Challenger // Mysen, Norway // September 1-3
  • SWT Austrian Open // Graz, Austria // September 22-24
  • IWT Czech Open // Prague, Czechia // November 17-19
  • IWT Club La Santa Open // Lanzarote, Spain // December 16-18

Player entry is already open for the Thailand Open Challenger, IWT Finnish Open and IWT Nordic Racket Games.

The full 2023 Racketlon World Tour is available here.

Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer

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