A busy second day which saw the conclusion to the elite men’s doubles final, two rounds of women’s elite and the men’s elite matches kick off.
Leon and Luke Griffiths claim IWT La Santa Open title
It’s a fourth title together for the Griffiths brothers this season as they got the better of Mustonen/Lenggenhager in an entertaining final. The Griffiths brothers took a small lead in table-tennis, taking it 21-17, before creating quite the gap in badminton, winning it 21-7. Squash had some very tough and entertaining rallies, which saw Luke take the break 11-7. Leon was up for a hard task against Mustonen, and played very well, but it proved incredibly hard as always to get a point against the squash player. Mustonen only dropped one point and won squash 21-12. The Griffiths brothers had an 8 point lead going into tennis, and needed 8 points to win the match. It was point for point, Lenggenhager/Mustonen took a small lead in tennis but the Griffiths brothers pulled back to win it 13-11 and finish the year winning their second consecutive IWT La Santa Open title.
Cavé leads going into the final day
Pauline Cavé won both her matches today in the women’s doubles and got off to a good start. She battled past Holly Ranson in her first match, taking a close match by just six points. The overall score was +6 (21-12 7-21 21-18 21-13). Cavé then went on to win her second match that day, defeating top seed Kaptein by +20 (18-21 21-11 21-10 4-2). Kaptein got the better of Jo Shelley in her first match, taking a close and entertaining battle +10 (21-9 21-16 12-21 14-12). Ranson redeemed herself in the second match, beating Jo Shelley +26 (21-12 21-1 18-21).
The final group matches will be played tomorrow at 1:00 and 1:15 PM in which Cavé will try to secure her first IWT singles title against Jo Shelley whilst Kaptein and Ranson will battle for silver and bronze.
Luke and Leon to face each other in the semi-final, and a first IWT semi-final for Kanonenberg
It will be a Griffiths brother clash part 4 this season and a repeat of last year’s final in the men’s elite semi-finals tomorrow. Luke is leading 2-1 in the head-to-head this season, but it was Leon who won the title last year. Both brothers got through their quarter-finals before tennis, Leon defeated James Langworthy +34 (21-12 21-5 21-12) and Luke Griffiths got the better of Bruno Scherrer +25 (21-15 21-14 21-9). Leon beat Matthew Davidson in his quarter final. Luke beat Léon Mamié +22 (17-21 21-7 21-9).
On the other side of the draw, Joerg Kanonenberg got through to his first IWT singles semi-final, beating Lucas Steyer +21 (21-13 21-18 21-14 4-1) in his first round and no 4 seed Duthuillé +30 (21-7 21-16 21-10) in the quarter-finals. He will face Henrik Mustonen in the semi finals. Henrik Mustonen beat Noah Mamié +22 (15-21 21-19 21-1 6-0) in his first round whilst Nicolas Lenggenhager got the better of Ross Wilson +26 (21-7 21-11 22-20). Mustonen went on to beat his doubles partner +20 (16-21 17-21 21-0 10-2). The semi-finals will be at 11 and 11:15 AM tomorrow, and the final will be at 15:00.
Doubles titles for Suorsa/Vuorinen as Wilson wins his last U21 tournament
Taavi Suorsa and Juho Vuorinen won the men’s B doubles after beating top seeds Langworthy/Levavasseur in the final. The overall score was +9 (12-21 21-12 21-12 13-13). Giovanni Gentile and Bruno Scherrer won the bronze medal. Ross Wilson is the U21 champion after he beat Yann Leutwiller +39 (10-21 10-21 4-21). Unfortunately Ollie Barton had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
