Cornelius Radermacher and Stine Jansen have added another German Open medal to their collections this weekend. After making the finals and winning the mixed and men’s doubles, they both won the IWT singles title as well.
First IWT title for Radermacher
It was a great Racketlon weekend for Radermacher. After winning the mixed and men’s doubles he finally found himself on top of the podium for the singles. He had a great run to the semi-finals ,beating Joerg Kanonenberg in his first match and Kresten Hougaard in the quarter finals. In the semi-finals he faced New Zealand’s Sion Wiggin, who also had an amazing tournament. Wiggin beat 3/4 seed Plettenberg in his first round, before going on to beat Patrick Oettl +2 in the quarter-finals. It was a tight match in the semi-finals, but it was Radermacher who came out on top taking it + 8 (21-11 21-4 6-21 10-14). The bottom half of the draw saw another surprise semi-finalist as Martin Sopko beat 3/4 seed Schaefer in the quarter-finals. The semi-final against Ternon was incredibly close, with the Frenchman taking it +2 (17-21 21-5 14-21 17-20). This was Ternon’s third final of the season, but he still has to wait for his first IWT victory. Radermacher continued his good form of Racketlon this weekend, taking the match +15 (21-11 17-21 21-11 6-7). Martin Sopko won the bronze medal, beating Sion Wigging +24 (21-5 21-9 17-21).
Jacobsen wins 2nd IWT title of the season
Another great Racketlon weekend for Jacobsen. After making it to the final of the men’s doubles with Hougaard, and winning the mixed doubles with Radermacher, she was on top of the podium once again in the women’s singles. Taking all her group matches, the world no 1 took no prisoners as she defeated America’s Stephanie Chung in the semi-finals +24 (22-24 21-5 21-11). In the final she faced Allègre again, they already played in group A the day before, with Jacobsen taking that match. For Allègre this was second IWT singles final. It was Jacobsen again in the final who took the match, although with a closer score. She won by +20 (21-13 10-21 21-9 13-2) to take her seventh IWT singles title.
Ried takes U21 title
Cornelius Ried took out no 1 seed Bastian Böhm to win the IWT German Open U21 title. The last time they played it was Böhm who came out on top, defeating Ried in the semi-final of the u18 world junior championships. The last time It was Ried this time around who came out on top taking the match +22 (21-7 21-19 21-15). Böhm took the silver medal and Volf took bronze.
Lentfer and Reissenauer take B titles
Thorsten Lentfer had a great tournament in Nussloch. After beating the no 1 seed Bertrand Carlier in the quarter finals, he went on to take out Stephen Neumann and Matěj Volf to book his spot in the final. In the final he faced fellow countryman Tom Branke, who defeated 5/8 seed Guus van de Burgt in the semi-finals. It was Lentfer who was the stronger player that day, taking the match +7 (21-2 9-21 21-19 13-15). Guus van de Burgt won bronze after Volf unfortunately had to withdraw from the match.
In the women’s draw, it was last year’s runner up Alina Reissenauer who won the women’s B title. The world no 100 and girls no 6 beat Manuela Stegmann in the semi-finals, winning +34 (21-8 21-18 21-3). In the final she faced world no 35 Carola von Heimburg. It was experience vs youth in the final. They played last year where von Heimburg came out on top, but this time it was Reissenauer who was victorious after a close match. The score was +9 (13-21 21-23 21-8 21-15).
Kuntz and Bäuerle win C titles, Pfeiffer wins men’s D
It was top seed Torsten Kuntz who got the better of 3/4 seed Christian Heufelder in a very close final. Kuntz had won the Rotterdam Open +45 which was his last tournament victory, and he did it again in the men’s C this weekend by defeating Heufelder +5 (21-6 5-21 21-23 21-13). The women’s C was won by Rebecca Bäuerle who won all her group matches. She had a very close match with silver medalist Lena Schaedler, edging the match by only one point. She won +1 (21-6 15-21 14-21 20-21). The men’s D was won by Michael Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer only lost 3 points in table tennis in total, and took the title by overcoming Oliver Hummel in a close match. He won +7 (21-2 8-21 9-21 21-8).
Grab, Sopko, Port and Middleton take senior titles
Manfred Grab is having a good season so far, after becoming second at the +50 French Open, he found himself on top of the podium to become the +40 German Open Champion. In the final he overcame Dutchman Guus van de Burgt, who had beaten him in the group stages. Grab won +11 (21-6 15-21 21-18 10-11). After winning bronze in the men’s elite, Sopko wasn’t finished yet. He won all his group matches without having to go to tennis, becoming the +45 champion. The +50 title went to Jan Port. The Czech player won all his group matches, taking a close match against Richard Middleton +7 (21-15 6-21 21-18 15-16). Middleton took the +55 title after Frank Bohm had to retire.
Sanne Veldkamp/ FIR Media Officer
