Nicole Eisler wins her first IWT title in a few years, whilst Luke Griffiths wins his second elite singles title. Read how they did it below…
Eisler defeats Jaussein in an exciting women’s final
The women’s final was between a very experienced player, Nicole Eisler, and a quite new Racketlon player from France, Marie Jaussein. This is Jaussein’s first IWT tournament, and she can be proud of the impression she left in the Racketlon community. Eisler started strong in table tennis, winning 21-10. Jaussein then bounced back by winning badminton 21-8. She played very smart, moving Nicole around the court and wrong-footing her sometimes. Going into squash Jaussein was leading by two points. Eisler played some amazing squash, focused, and determined not making any errors. She took it 21-3. The relief after squash was noticeable for Eisler, as she only needed six more points to claim the title. It was still not over, and especially against such a strong tennis player as Jaussein. Jaussein maybe felt the pressure of Racketlon a bit, making some errors early on, giving Eisler the belief that she also makes mistakes. Eisler stayed calm and composed, it was 11-4 at the change and she knew she only needed two more points. A great rally and Jaussein just found the net, 6-13 to Nicole.
Takes the men’s title after a tough battle
The first men’s semi-final was between Ternon and Leon Griffiths. They had played twice before, both won by Leon. Ternon started very strong, showing a lot of emotion from the start and it was clear that making the final in his own country meant a lot to him. Ternon won table tennis 21-15. Badminton was very tight and tense, Ternon leading for most of the game, 15-11, but Luke fighting back and staying close. from then on they were trading point for point 19-19 20-20 some long rallies, dives, 26-24 to Ternon who was leading +8 after TT and badminton. Leon got off to a very bad start in squash, trailing 5-1, the last time they played as it was 21-4 to Leon. Ternon took the first break 11-6 but Leon dug deep, just as in badminton it became incredibly close. Ternon was hitting some outrageous winners, but Leon found his backhand volley drops at the right time, taking the ball in short after long rallies, taking it 22-20 eventually. Ternon was leading +6 by the time they went to tennis, in tennis they were trading point for point, again. Leon took a small lead but Ternon kept fighting back, some unforced errors from Leon and some amazing retrieving from Ternon saw him take tennis 16-17. A great semi-final. The second semi-final was between Luke Griffiths and Simon Vaclahovsky. Table tennis was very close, with Luke edging it out 21-19 making some errors near the end. Badminton was very convincing for Luke, playing to his strengths, but Vaclahovsky did well to take six points. Squash was the other way around, Vaclahovsky was taking charge, playing high-paced squash, 11-3 at the first break. However Luke did incredibly well, changing his tactics and he started using the front of the court a lot more as well as finding his depth. After some hard-fought rallies and a great comeback from Luke, Vaclahovsky took squash only by two points 21-19. This meant that Luke only needed seven points in tennis which he won 7-1. The overall score was +21 (21-19 21-6 20-22 7-1)
Luke started very strong in table tennis, taking the first break 11-8 before taking the match 21-14. This gave him a 7 point lead going into badminton. Badminton was a high-quality match, as can be expected with these two. Ternon took quite the lead, going up 11-7, and 16-9, but Luke kept fighting hitting a few good smashes 17-11. Ternon kept his cool and finished the game 21-11. Squash was completely dominated by Luke. Ternon started well but Luke got a strong lead, 11-3 at the first break. He then went on to play solid squash, Ternon probably felt his legs a bit from his brutal semi-final match against Leon Griffiths, and he was only able to take two more points. Luke won squash 21-5 taking a +16 lead into tennis. Luke stayed very strong throughout tennis, not giving away many points and taking the match 9-6 +16 (21-14 11-21 21-5 9-6). He can definitely look back on a good weekend, and a good start to the 2023 season taking his second elite singles title. After the match, Luke said he felt some pressure to back up his World Championships win last summer, and we can definitely say he did just that with such a strong field of players.
Open and junior categories
Men’s and Women’s B
The men’s B final went between world no 172 Quiquempois and fellow Frenchmen Rapeneau (world rank 313). Quiquempois beat no 3 seed Guus van de Burgt in his opening round +9 (21-8 21-16 20-22 6-13) , whilst Rapeneau took out the no 2 seed Beat Ladner from Switzerland +11 (13-21 21-17 21-13 18-11) . The men’s B was dominated by French players as it were two fully French semi-finals. Duverger beat Puthoste + 6 (5-21 21-6 21-10 12-16) for bronze. Quiquempois beat Rapeneau +27 in the final (21-7 21-16 21-13). The women’s B was a full French draw. The French have a great setup with lots of Racketlon players playing the national circuit, and this was a great chance for them to be at an international tournament. The final was between Cécile Thévenon and Valentine Vacelet. Thévenon finished second in the women’s +50 yesterday, and can look back on a successful weekend. She managed to take the title this time, beating Vacelet in the final +16 (21-3 19-21 13-21 14-6).
Men’s C and D
The men’s C was a big 32 draw which saw a lot of upsets early on. Kévin Crépineau beat the no 4, 5 and 7 seed on his way to the final. He faced fellow Frenchman and world no 463 Luca Hamon. They played an incredibly tight match, which saw Kévin Crépineau crown himself as the men’s C champion by winning with only one point! The score was +1 (21-2 8-21 21-16 11-21). Farcy received a walkover finishing 3rd. In the men’s D, Hugo Vernier beat no 1 seed Przemysław [1] +7 (12-21 21-10 17-21 21-12) to reach the final, where he faced Arthur Batiot. Vernier won the final very convincingly +39 (21-11 21-5 21-8). Szajda Przemysław [1] finished 3rd.
Juniors U16 and U21
Kotala won the u16 by a mile, winning all his matches +42. Batiot took 2nd and Worobel took third. Steyer followed up his good result at the Finnish Open, also taking home the French Open U21 title, and getting closer to a place in the juniors top five. He beat Luca Hamon in the final winning +24 (21-15 21-19 21-5) before tennis).
Seniors
The +50 was won by no 3 seed Volker Sach, he beat no 2 seed Manfred Grab in the final. It was a long and tough match, especially a close one in badminton. The overall score was +17 (15-21 21-23 21-12 21-5). Steve Kneller beat Christian Baus in the bronze match, winning +11 (21-6 19-21 21-14 12-21). The +40 was won by Laurent Cocriamont who beat Rapeneau in the final. The score was +26 (21-13 21-7 21-17). Perin from Belgium took home the bronze medal beating no 2 seed Keith Lesser + 11 (14-21 21-15 21-13 15-11).
A special thanks to Joss and his team for organising such a great tournament. We hope to see a lot of you at our next event in Poland for the IWT Polish Open!
Sanne Veldkamp / FIR Media Officer
