After a short break we’re back in action with the longest standing tournament on the IWT tour the Czech Open. Racketlon is kicking off in Prague this weekend with the doubles on Friday and singles matches starting on Saturday.
Griffiths looking for third title this season
Leon Griffiths is looking for a third title this season, after winning the Nordic and London Open earlier this season. He also made the finals of the FIR Racketlon World Championships and is looking in good form for a strong performance this weekend. His first match will be against world no 23 Martin Sopko. This will be the first time the two have met on the IWT tour. There are several local players competing, Volf is playing Lipowski in his first round and fellow Czech Stanek is facing wildcard Paul Sach from Germany. Third seed Simon Vaclahovsky will start his first match against Horacek, and if all goes to seeding he will meet Griffiths in the semi-finals. On the bottom half of the draw, fourth seed Böhm will play his first match against Roland Pichler. World no 34 Koubaa will play world no 50 Jan Port, whilst Ross WIlson will face Jakub Svec in his first round. World no 5 and second seed Koen Hageraats will start his Czech Open campaign against wildcard Thomas Knaack. Hageraats is still looking for his first title of the season, after being out with injury he made the podium at the IWT London Open and FIR Racketlon World Championships.
Kaptein looking to do one better
Kaptein is the top seed for the women’s event and will be looking to do one better after making the final of the Czech Open last year. She will play her first match against Sandra Ettenauer from Austria. Second seed Dara Ladner will start off against Germany’s Heike Voigt, before taking on Kaptein and Ettenauer later that day.
Doubles kick off on Friday
The doubles will kick off on Friday, with men’s and women’s doubles in the morning and mixed in the afternoon. Böhm/Vaclahovsky are the no 1 seeds in the men’s doubles. They face Prager/Sam or Horacek/Svec in their first round. On the bottom half of the draw, Pichler/Volf and Bartos/Port will decide who faces second seeds Griffiths/Wilson in their semi-final. Kaptein/Ladner are top seeds in the women’s draw, and play Mai/Mika in their first match. Hlavacova/Rábová will play fellow Czechs Hanackova/Nováková ensuring a Czech medal is guaranteed. Both top seeds in the mixed doubles receiving a bye in the first round. Reissenauer/Böhm play Mika/Lipowski for a place in the semi-finals against top seeds Kaptein/Koubaa. Hlavacova/Egermaier play Ladner/Scherrer to determine who faces Ettenauer/Pichler.
Men’s doubles | Women’s doubles | Mixed doubles
All draws can be found here
