A busy first day at the IWT German Open as matches didn’t finish until late. First up were the mixed elite doubles, with Jacobsen/Radermacher fulfilling their seeding and goal for the tournament, an upset in the women’s doubles and a victory on home soil for Plettenberg/Radermacher
Surprise finalists in the men’s elite doubles, top seeds survive scare in the first round to go on and take the title
Plettenberg/Radermacher almost didn’t make it through the first round, as they narrowly scraped past Kanonenberg/Narayanaswamy by only one point. In the semi-finals, they faced Champod/Duthuillé which they won after good performances in badminton and squash. The score was +10 (12-21 21-13 21-4 0-6). At the bottom half of the draw, second seeds Oettl/Vaclahovsky unfortunately had to give a walkover for the first match. This meant that Hougaard/Jacobsen (who is playing the men’s doubles this tournament) were through to the semi-finals. They faced Böhm/Lentfer who defeated Czech duo Horacek/Port in their first match. Hougaard/Jacobsen have proven they were here to stay, as they won an incredibly tight match against the German duo, beating them +2 (16-21 21-9 14-21 25-23). The final against Plettenberg/Radermacher was also incredibly close. Normally, Jacobsen/Radermacher play together in the mixed doubles, but now they were facing each other! Plettenberg/Radermacher proved to be a little too strong, after a close win in table tennis, taking it 24-22 they went on to win the match +19 (24-22 21-17 21-13 8-3). Champod/Duthuillé took the bronze medal after defeating Böhm/Lentfer in the 3/4 playoff.
Favourites Jacobsen/Radermacher win second IWT title of the season
Top seeds Jacobsen/Radermacher stormed through their first match, beating Kleb/Kanonenberg +30 (20-22 21-3 21-7). Second seeds Allègre/Champod had to battle past Kaptein/Lentfer to book their place in the final. In a closely contested match they defeated them +7 (19-21 21-14 13-21 21-11). This was a second final for Allègre/Champod after being victorious at the French Open back in March. In a closely contested final, Jacobsen/Radermacher took the hard-fought win. They did well to win badminton 21-19 before strong performances in squash and tennis, taking the match +12 (13-21 21-19 21-14 21-10). Kleb/Kanonenberg took the bronze medal after defeating Kaptein/Lentfer +15 (19-21 21-12 21-17 11-7).
A gummi-arm playoff tonight to determine who will win the women’s elite German Open title
In the women’s round robin, all pairs have won and lost one match. It has been incredibly close, Kaptein/Kilchenmann won their match against Allègre/Chung +6 (21-12 22-20 21-16 6-16) but lost against Kleb/Altmann +19 (23-25 22-20 19-21 4-21). The closest match was between Allègre/Chung and Kleb/Altmann, with Allègre/Chung taking it +0 (20-22 21-7 16-21 14-21). With all pairs having one and lost one this means that there will be a gummi-arm playoff tonight to determine the winner of the event.
Sanne Veldkamp /FIR Media Officer
