The first two days of the Nordic Racket Games saw the doubles categories come to a conclusion, whilst the elite singles draws also kicked off on Saturday morning.
Vogel and Hougaard take the mixed doubles title
Vogel/Hougaard started their tournament strong by beating the no 1 seeds in their opening match. It was quite close against Ahlmer/Thyregod but they took big enough leads in table tennis and squash to only need 9 points in tennis. The score was +10 (21-14 17-21 21-11 9-12). They met Kaptein/Lorkiewicz in the semi-final after they beat Allègre/Hougaard in a very close match winning by only 8 points +8 (21-19 8-21 21-12 21-11). Vogel/Hougaard continued their good form beating Kaptein/Lorkiewicz +28 (21-16 21-11 21-8) to book their place in the final. The other semi-final was between Chung/Lenggenhager who beat Ranson/Bennett in their opening match +19 (21-16 21-10 21-19 4-3) and Krogsøe/Pichler, who caused an upset by beating the no 2 seeds in the opening match +30 (21-17 21-4 21-12). Chung/Lenggenhager took a big lead in table tennis and went on to win the match +17 (21-6 13-21 21-13 7-5). The final was a very close battle, Chung/Lenggenhager took the lead in table tennis and badminton, but lost squash and tennis. Vogel/Hougaard took the title by taking the match +7 (11-21 17-21 21-7 21-14). This is Vogel’s first mixed doubles title since the German Open 2022 and Hougaard’s first title since 2018.
Vogel/Ahlmer proving strong in the women’s draw
Vogel/Ahlmer won all their box league matches proving very strong to their opponents, barely needing any points in tennis across all matches. They won their opening match against Haurant/Souin +20 (21-17 12-21 21-5 11-2), before going on to win their following matches +19, +21 and +37. A very good weekend for Vogel taking both mixed doubles and women’s doubles titles. They beat the eventual silver medalists Chung/Ladner +37 (21-12 21-9 21-5). Top seeds Allègre/Kaptein took third, they had a very close match against Chung/Ladner losing +7 (21-10 2-21 21-15 21-12). Unfortunately Haurant/Souin had to withdraw from their last match.
Hougaard/Jaksland take the title on home soil
Hougaard/Jaksland had a very successful weekend taking the Nordic Racket Games title on home soil. They beat Kurek/Lorkiewicz in their opening match, taking it +38 (21-9 21-10 21-6) before beating fellow Danes +19 (21-11 11-21 21-5 7-4) to set up a place in the final against giant killers Plettenberg/Wiessner. Plettenberg/Wiessner started very well, beating the top seeds +16 (21-12 25-23 21-18 8-6) before going on to beat Finnish Open runner-ups Pennanen/Penttinen +14 (22-20 21-19 21-13 10-8). The final was a very close match with Hougaard/Jaksland taking the title. They won +8 (12-21 21-16 21-16 21-14). This is Jaksland’s second doubles title of the season and Hougaards second title of the day, a good tournament for both so far.
Sanne Veldkamp / FIR Media Officer
