The second day of the IWT London Open was a sunny one. The 2023 London Open Champions were crowned and it also saw the conclusion to the 2023 FIR Racketlon World Doubles Championships.
Women’s Elite title for – Jacobsen too strong in the final
The final was between Jacobsen and Enmer after they both won in contrasting semi-finals. World no 1 Jacobsen started strongly against Cavé taking table tennis 21-10 and badminton 21-5. She then played some great squash to close the match before tennis. She won +31 (21-10 21-5 16-21). She now faces world no 3 Myriam Enmer in the final, who defeated world no 2 Anna-Klara Ahmer in a close match. Ahlmer took table tennis 21-19 and Enmer took badminton 21-16. Ahlmer didn’t have her day in squash, and Enmer has improved since they last played, Ahlmer managed to take squash 21-19 but Enmer’s tennis was too strong. She won tennis 21-10 and the match +12 (19-21 21-16 19-21 21-10) which means there will be a new London Open Champion.
World no 1 Jacobsen got of to a a great start against current World Champion Enmer. She won table tennis 21-13 and 21-6 and went on to win squash 21-8. After the match she said this was one of those tournaments were you play well in all three sports, and she certainly did this weekend. Ahlmer defeated Cavé in the 3/4 playoff. Unfortunately Jacobsen can’t make the World Championships in two weeks, but Enmer and Ahlmer will be ready.
Men’s Elite – Griffiths downs Jaksland in final
The first semi-final was between world no 1 Griffiths and world no 5 Hageraats. Defending Champion Hageraats won table tennis as expected, but Griffiths did well to take 8 points. Griffiths then won badminton 21-4 which meant he had a +4 lead going into squash. Squash was a high-quality game, very close throughout and Griffiths managed to pull away in the end. Unfortunately, Hageraats had to retire after squash due to an ongoing injury. The second semi-final was between wildcard Mustonen and world no 2 Jaksland. Jaksland managed to win table tennis 21-6 but lost badminton 21-14 and squash 21-4. Mustonen was going into tennis with a +7 lead. It wasn’t enough as Jaksland played very solid tennis, taking an 11-5 lead and didn’t let go. Mustonen got very close but not close enough, as Jaksland took the match +2 (21-6 14-21 4-21 21-10).
The final was between the world no1 and world no 2. Griffiths managed to take a very tight table-tennis game 25-23 and raced through badminton 21-4. He then didn’t let go in squash, taking it 21-11 to take the match +29 (25-23 21-4 21-11). Mustonen took home the bronze medal after Hageraats, unfortunately, had to withdraw. It will be exciting to see al the players in action in Rotterdam.
Open Categories
The men’s B was won by Kevin Ng who beat Du Noyer +27 (21-16 21-2 19-16) in the final. Nicolas Champod won the bronze medal after Heim, unfortunately, had to withdraw. The women’s B was won by Lou Adler who defeated Stine Krogsøe +6 (21-11 1-21 19-21 21-3). Kate Marian Russel beat Mai Karg for the bronze medal. The Men’s C title went to Duval who defeated Lung +19 (21-4 21-1 1-21 5-3) in the final. The men’s D title went to Skock after Miles, unfortunately, had to withdraw from the match. The bronze medal went to Tang Hon Leung.
Men’s B | Women’s B | Men’s C | Men’s D
Juniors
The junior u13 title was won by Romeo Sam who beat his brother Robin Sam +6 (21-17 16-21 21-15 21-20) to take the title. One Chan finished third after beating Vít Zobač. The junior u16 title went to Chase Burgess who took out top seed Michal Fojtík in the semis and beat Leonhard Prager +10 (13-21 21-17 21-9 14-12) in the final. Daniel Austin won the bronze medal. The Girls U16 title was won by Alina Reissenauer who beat Elma Vuorinen +25 (21-15 21-8 21-5) in the final. Melánie Tomková finished third beating Karolin Radl. Matěj Volf took the u21 title beating Leon Steiner +29 (21-12 21-9 21-13) in the final. Anant Gupta finished third after Cameron Leighton unfortunately had to withdraw from the match. The Girls U21 was won by Aadirai K A who won both her group matches. Holly Ranson finished second and Kateřina Zobačová finished third.
U13 | U16 | Girls U16 | U21 | Girls U21
Seniors
The seniors +40 was won by Keith Lesser who won all his group matches. Julian Main finished second and Tobias Cooper finished third. The +50 was won by Mark Steeden who beat Juho Vuorinen +11 (18-21 21-13 21-5 11-21) in the final. The 3/4 match was not played. Simon Lau won the +55 category beating the top seed in the semi-finals and Böhm +24 (17-21 21-10 21-4). Frank Kleiber beat Börner in the 3/4 playoff. The +60 was won by Avi Shemri. Rakesh Gupta finished second and Graham King took the Bronze medal.
