Another amazing weekend of Racketlon comes to an end, with some big battles on court here in Paris.
Pauline Cavé wins second IWT title on home soil
Last year she was playing her first international Racketlon tournament, this year, she is the IWT French Open Champion!
Unfortunately, Fabienne Dony had to retire and could not play the last match against Pauline Cavé. Kirsten Kaptein started the day well, winning both her matches against Fabienne Dony +4 (21-12 9-21 21-7 11-18) and Adeline Kilchenmann +9 (21-12 9-21 14-21 21-2). Adeline Kilchenmann beat Aurélie Haurant +16 (21-12 19-21 21-13 7-6). Kaptein finished second and Dony finished third.
Hageraats claims first title of the season
After narrowly missing out in Poland, Koen Hageraats finds himself on top of the podium again. This is his first title since 2022 after the Dutchman struggled with some injuries last year. Hageraats got through a very testing encounter against Sylvain Ternon. As expected, Hageraats got ahead in table tennis, 21-9, and Sylvain Ternon managed to win badminton with big numbers 21-2. Hageraats has been improving his squash game and had no issues there, taking it 21-6. Tennis was close all the way, with Hageraats edging the match at 14-14 and an overall score of +8 (21-9 2-21 21-6 14-14).
René Lindberg was waiting for him in the final, as he battled past Matthew Davidson, who showed us that he is one to watch this season. Davidson got a lead in the first two sports, taking table tennis 21-19 and badminton 21-16, before Lindberg turned it around. Lindberg went on to take squash 21-11 and tennis 19-6, to claim the match +16 (19-21 16-21 21-11 19-6).
Hageraats stormed ahead in the final, taking table tennis 21-7, badminton 21-10 and squash 21-8, claiming his fourth IWT title.
French Open titles for – Runget, Georges, Bujeau and Monnaye
Freddy Runget won the Men’s C title after beating Charles Loevenbruck in a tight final. Every sport was close and it went all the way to the end. The overall score was +6 (21-23 21-18 19-21 21-14). Volker Sach beat Frederic Antoine by +2 (21-6 5-21 21-16 18-20) for bronze.
Nicolas Georges claimed victory in the men’s B as he beat Stephane Quiquempois in a thrilling final, taking the match by only two points. The overall score was +2 (10-21 16-21 21-14 21-10). Nicolas Lemercier finished third, beating u18 Champion Andreas Kotala by +6 (21-18 21-18 8-21 21-8).
Aurelie Bujeau also got through a very tough match to claim the women’s B title, as she defeated Perrine Colombi +6 (19-21 17-21 21-15 21-15). Pauline Vincent won bronze, beating Brunelle Fontenille +16 (7-21 21-8 21-6 8-6).
Jules Monnaye won the Men’s D after beating Karol Couvreux +13 (21-4 21-19 12-21 7-4). Antoine Friocourt claimed the bronze medal, beating Pierre Courtieu +5 (21-3 21-13 3-21 14-17).
Men’s C | Men’s B | Women’s B | Men’s D
Junior and senior titles for – Bouteiller, Kotala, Steyer, Cassier, Kaptein
It was great to see so many junior categories at the French Open. Our youngest winner was Timothee Bouteiller who won the u14 category. He won all his group matches, especially a close encounter with Pierre Barriere who won silver. The overall score was +7 (21-13 2-21 19-21 21-1). Marin Mameron finished third. Andreas Kotala confidently won the U18 category, winning before tennis in every match. Noa Worobel finished second and Pierre Eloy finished third.
Junior world no 5 Lucas Steyer got through a tight match against junior world no 4 Matěj Volf to win the u21 title. He won the match +12 (12-21 21-6 21-7 2-10). Luca Hamon finished third.
Jonathan Cassier was victorious in an all French final +40, beating Arnaud Le toux after overcoming a 21-1 deficit in table tennis. The overall score was +13 (1-21 21-12 21-6 18-9). Yves Bret claimed the bronze medal, beating Frederic Antoine +4 (21-12 6-21 21-10 17-18). Kirsten Kaptein claimed the women’s +40 title, after defeating silver medallist Fabienne Dony in a very close match. The score was +5 (21-18 19-21 21-12 12-17). USA’s Katrin Maldre finished third.
The seniors +50 title went to top seed Volker Sach after he beat David Chelly +6 (9-21 21-7 21-9 8-16) in a closely contested final. Dirk Skock won the bronze medal beating Michael Gonnon by +3 (21-15 21-9 14-21 11-19
U14 | U18 | U21 | +40 | Women’s +40 | +50
Next up are two Satellite tournaments in Massachusetts (27th-28th April) and Redbridge (6th May) before we roll into Denmark for the 2024 World Doubles Championships (Last day to enter) and the IWT Nordic Racket Games. We look forward to seeing you on the FIR World Tour somewhere soon and for all our future events check out the website.
