A great day to end the 2023 season with some outstanding racketlon, a gummi-arm tournament and players dinner to finish the last day.
Luke Griffiths fifth IWT singles title
Luke Griffiths wins his fifth IWT singles title as he got through a tough battle against Henrik Mustonen in the final. Firstly though, he had to beat his brother Leon. The first semi -final of the day was a repeat of the Indian Open final 2 weeks ago. Luke got off to a good start against Leon, taking table tennis 21-14. Leon fought back in badminton, he took an early lead and managed to keep it winning badminton 21-17. Luke played some good squash, taking it 21-15 which meant he only needed 13 points in tennis. He took tennis 13-5 and the match +17 (21-14 17-21 21-15 13-5).
Henrik Mustonen battled past Joerg Kanonenberg in a very close match. Kanonenberg won table tennis 21-11 and badminton 21-18, as Mustonen took the lead by winning squash 21-4. He now needed 18 points in tennis, against one of the stronger tennis players on tour. It went point for point, neither player wanting to give in, which ended in an 18-19 win for Mustonen. The overall score was +3 (11-21 18-21 21-4 18-19).
The final was an exciting battle. Luke got an early lead in table tennis, taking it 21-14 before playing some very good badminton winning it 21-7. The score in squash is one that no one predicted beforehand. Although Luke is a very good squash player, Henrik normally keeps his opponents below 4 points. Today was different as Luke played out of his skin, along with some uncharacteristic unforced errors by Mustonen, resulting in a 21-19 scoreline for the Finnish player.
This meant that Luke only needed 3 more points in tennis, which he took 3-1 to claim his third consecutive title. Leon won the bronze medal match beating Kanonenberg taking it +27 (21-14 21-7 21-15).
A strong finish for Cavé
A strong end to the year for Cavé as she wins all her matches to claim her first IWT singles title in her first year on tour. A great result for the French player as she battled past multiple senior world champion Jo Shelley today, taking the win +33 (21-9 21-13 21-8). Holly Ranson defeated her doubles partner Kirsten Kaptein +22 (17-21 21-5 21-11) to win the bronze medal, Kaptein finished third.
Kaptein/Ranson claim women’s doubles title
Kirsten Kaptein and Holly Ranson won the women’s doubles title this morning, as they defeated Cavé/Mai +33 (21-6 21-7 21-17) in the final. The pair were too strong in table-tennis and badminton and played a very good squash game to secure their win. Pye/Thaker secured the bronze medal after a close match against Russell/Veldkamp. The overall score was +9 (21-7 21-12 5-21 15-13).
Open titles for Heim, Thaker, Austin, and Sach
Korbinian Heim secured the men’s B title after beating top seed Taavi Suorsa in the final taking the match +25 (21-15 21-10 21-13). Tournament organiser Jon Spinks won the bronze medal after beating Peter Barton +14 (21-10 21-11 13-21 9-8). Satarra Thaker won the women’s B, beating Kate Russell +12 (21-27 21-4 8-21 14-10) in the final. Störte Becker finished third, beating Victoria Mai +7 (22-24 9-21 21-2 17-15).
Top seed Volker Sach won the men’s C after beating Kai Elsäßer in an incredibly close final. He took the match +2 (16-21 22-20 21-5 9-20). Mark de Bruin finished third. Daniel Austin won the men’s D, beating István Sági +32 (17-21 21-3 21-3). James Vincent took the bronze medal.
Men’s B | Women’s B | Men’s C | Men’s D
Senior titles for Lesser, Kainulainen, Edby and Achenbach/Sach
Keith Lesser won both his group matches in the seniors +40 defeating silver medalist Manfred Grab +22 (28-26 21-13 21-10 1-0) and bronze medalist Giovanni Gentile +16 (21-17 21-15 21-15 6-6). Pekka Kainulainen won the seniors +45 title beating fellow Finn Juho Vuorinen +22 (21-15 21-19 21-9 2-0) in the final. Peter Barton took the bronze medal. The +50 title went to Magnus Edby, after he beat top seed Volker Sach in the final by +18 (19-21 21-12 21-10 4-4).
Rachid Bech-Azeddine won the bronze medal, defeating fellow Danish player Jan Astrup +26 (21-2 21-5 12-21). Achenbach/Sach won the men’s senior doubles title beating British duo Barton/Lesser +5 (21-19 21-9 11-21 18-17). Lardet/Worobel beat De Bruin/Terbraak +27 (21-2 21-5 13-21) to claim the bronze medal.
