A busy second day at the IWT German Open. Plenty of upsets in the men’s draw and tough matches for the women in their group stages.
Women’s semi-final decided as Jacobsen and Kilchenmann top their groups
The women were divided in two poules of three. In Group A, Allègre took the first match by beating Silke Altmann +22 (21-9 21-4 13-2 11-0). Altmann is a very experienced player but unfortunately couldn’t create an upset against the world no 1 in her second match of the day. Jacobsen took the match +19 (23-21 21-7 19-2 18-3). Jacobsen and Allègre were on last, in unfamiliar territory as they haven’t played each other in a singles match before. Jacobsen was dominant throughout the match, taking it +19 (21-10 13-21 21-5). They could potentially face each other again in tomorrow’s final. Kilchenmann started strong by defeating Stephanie Chung in her first match. The score was +29 (21-17 2-21 7-21). Kilchenmann then lost to doubles partner and second seed Kirsten Kaptein, in a close match. They obviously know each other very well and their previous encounters have been close. Both taking one win each. Kaptein went on to win the match + 8 (21-7 7-21 22-20 21-15). The last match of group B was between Kaptein and Chung. Chung got the better of Kaptein at the Nordic Racket Games, and it was the same this time around. She took the match (22-20 13-21 21-15) getting enough points to make it to the semi-finals.
Top seeds knocked out of the men’s draw
A day full of upsets in the men’s draw, that only sees one seed left fighting for a spot in the finals. Unfortunately, the day started with two withdrawals from top seed Hageraats and Frenchman Mandrin Mouchet. World no 28 Patrick Oettl caused the first upset by defeating Anthony Duthuillé who’s ten places above him on the FIR rankings. He won the match +10 (21-15 16-21 21-16 18-14). He faced Sion Wiggin in the quarter-finals, who also caused an upset by beating world no 13 and 3/4 seed Max Plettenberg +12 (5-21 20-22 21-7 21-5). Sion Wiggin continued his good form beating Oettl +2 (9-21 9-21 21-4 21-12) in a very tight match. He will face Radermacher in the semi-finals tomorrow. Radermacher has already made two finals this weekend (and won them), and will be looking to make his third. He extended his h2h with Kresten Hougaard by 2-1 by defeating him in the quarter-finals. The score was +12 (8-21 21-15 21-14 21-9).
The bottom half of the draw saw Martin Sopko produce some quality Racketlon by defeating world no 19 Simon Vaclahovsky in his opening match, before going on to beat 3/4 seed Christian Schaefer +25 (21-16 21-12 21-10). In the semi-finals he will face Sylvain Ternon, who is looking to make his third final of the season. Ternon overcame Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy from India in the quarter-finals, beating him +17 (18-21 21-6 21-18 7-5).
Kleb/Altmann win IWT German Open women’s elite doubles
After the group stage ended in one win each, there had to be a three-way gummi-arm playoff for the women’s elite doubles. After the singles matches had finished last night, it was time for the second gummi-arm playoff this season. After a tense playoff, it were Kleb/Altmann to win the title on home soil. This will make it six elite women’s doubles titles for Altmann and two for Kleb.
Sanne Veldkamp/ FIR Media Officer
