The Norwegian Open Racketlon returns this year as an IWT (International World Tour) tournament following the success of the debut tournament last year.
Given the historic strength of racketlon in the Nordic countries, Norway had been the black sheep for racketlon until a few years ago, when GB player Joel Durston, having moved to Norway from the UK, set up the sport along with the very enthusiastic committee of Mysen Tennisklubb.
Right in the middle of COVID, the timing was not ideal, but, as things opened up after the pandemic, they managed to establish the sport, having now staged multiple national tournaments, including a recent one with 32 players!
There is good quality too, enough for an international team. Seasoned racketlon player Grzegorz Lorkiewicz has lived in Norway for about a dozen years and has played all Norway’s tournaments. Initially, there was a sizeable gap between him and everyone else, but now there are at least two players in Norway who have pushed Greg all the way, as well as several a few steps behind.
Last year’s Norwegian Open Challenger had an impressive 45 players from 14 different nations, including Stine Harrits Jacobsen (women’s winner), Sylvain Ternon (men’s winner), Anna-Klara Ahlmer, Nicholas Lenggenhager, Myriam Enmer, Malte Thyregod, Kirsten Kaptein, and Mandrin Mouchet.
Keith Lesser from the UK said of the debut tournament: “Lovely place. Clean air, clean water. Beautiful sunshine. And not to mention free accommodation. The whole sports centre dedicated to the event and seconds from the town centre and minutes from the train station. A very strong first ever as a challenger, couple of tweaks and an excellent IWT. Just chuck an all-glass squash court on one of the tennis courts, run a PSA event the week before and you have a 3 court venue and ready to host the Doubles World Champs. ”
Last year’s tournament got scores of 9.05 and 9.29 (out of 10) for off-court experience and event experience in the players’ survey, the highest of any international tournament in the tour in 2023! There was also a strong score for on-court experience.
Last September tournament organiser Joel met international players coming from the airport at Oslo central station, welcoming them to Oslo and guiding them to the Oslo sights; there was a BBQ on the Friday night; and a player’s party with pizza and (needless to say very competitive!) bar games – pool, shuffleboard, and darts…all at the centre!
Women’s champion Stine Harrits Jacobsen said: “A huge thanks for an amazing tournament. It was perfectly organized.”
And Norwegian player Bjørn Reidar Andersen, getting his first taste of international racketlon, said: “Good work.
It was fun to see the level of the elite players. I hope for more tournaments to come.”
What’s more, the first ten international players to sign up at the tournament will get free/100kr (8.50 EUR) per night accommodation at the centre, thanks to the generosity of the venue! Please contact joeldurston@gmail.com to make use of this offer.
Many players from last year plan to come back again, along with many Norwegian players, and Patrick Moran has suggested that he and hopefully a gang of Americans will make the trip over the pond!
Vi ses i Norge!
Joel Durston, tournament director