Nathalie Vogel and Kresten Hougaard claimed the 2024 FIR Race World Tour Finals titles yesterday. We also had the pleasure of having PSA commentator Johnny Williams commentate on finals day alongside FIR President Duncan Stahl. Together they came up with some exciting new nicknames for our Racketlon stars.
Nathalie Vogel beat world no 1 Anna-Klara Ahlmer in the semi-finals with a +15 victory. The match unfolded with Ahlmer taking the opening table tennis set 21-15, but Vogel showcased her versatility, bouncing back to claim the badminton (21-16) and squash (21-11). She sealed her win with a 13-7 score in tennis.
The other semi-final was a closely contested match, Stine Jacobsen edged out Pauline Cavé with a narrow +3 victory (18-21, 21-5, 14-21, 16-19). Cavé, who had triumphed over Jacobsen just two weeks ago in the final of the SWT Willingdon Indian Racketlon Open, started strong by taking the table tennis set. However, Jacobsen dominated in badminton to level the playing field. Despite Cavé reclaiming momentum in squash and pushing Jacobsen in tennis, it wasn’t enough to repeat her recent victory, as Jacobsen was so hard to break down as she clinched the win with her consistent performance.
Nathalie Vogel – the Tomahawk beat Stine Jacobsen – Luna Queen of the Moon with a +14 margin (21-18, 17-21, 21-9, 11-8) to claim the FIR Race World Series Final title. Vogel showcased her skill and adaptability across all disciplines, winning the opening table tennis set and delivering a commanding squash performance. Despite Jacobsen’s strong effort in badminton and tennis, Vogel was the better player on the day.
Pauline Cavé finished off her strong season by beating Anna-Klara Ahlmer in the 3/4 playoff. Cavé managed to take some crucial points in badminton and played a very strong squash and tennis game to win +9 (10-21 22-20 21-13 21-11).
World No. 1 Sylvain Ternon was upset by Joerg Kanonenberg in the semi-finals. Ternon, known for his dominance in badminton, couldn’t overcome Kanonenberg’s strong play across the four racket sports, as Kanonenberg claimed one of the best wins of his career by +7 (21-12 7-21 21-12 18-15).
Kresten Hougaard got the better of Bastian Böhm in the other semi-final. Böhm had a good result in badminton but couldn’t get enough points in squash to take advantage of his strong tennis game. Hougaard took the match +13 (21-15 12-21 21-4 8-9) to set up a rematch against Kanonenberg who beat him in India two weeks ago.
The Canon – Kanonenberg managed to stay with Kresten – the Crusador in table tennis, getting 17 points, but Hougaard managed to take badminton 21-19 this time around. He played a lot better squash than two weeks ago, and Kanonenberg might have been feeling some fatigue from the weekend as well.
Hougaard took squash 21-8 which meant he only needed 3 points in tennis. Doable against most players but a very hard task against Kanonenberg. Last time Kanonenberg won tennis 21-5. Hougaard managed to get to two quite quickly by playing some outrageous shots which meant he only needed one more point. He took tennis +3 to clinch the match by +15 (21-17 21-19 21-8 3-7).
Sylvain Ternon beat Bastian Böhm +36 (21-10 21-4 15-7) to claim the bronze medal.
An amazing weekend of Racketlon with an exciting new format in the group stages, and great matches on day 2 in the traditional Racketlon format.
Well done everyone on their 2024 season, we can’t wait to see you back in 2025!