Over 100 racketlon players will be bringing their racquets to Warsaw this weekend for the first Super World Tour event of the year.
Last year’s Men’s champion Joerg Kanonenberg is back to try and defend his singles and doubles titles. We also have an elite European Champion returning to racketlon and no less than three doubles pairings who have drawn each other in Round 1 of the Women’s Singles.
24 player Men’s Singles draw
Contesting the Men’s Singles will be 5 Czechs, 5 Brits, 4 Poles, 2 Germans, as well as 1 player from each of Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. 16 players will be in action from round 1, whilst the 8 seeded players will receive a bye through to the second round.
The big news is that Polish racketlon star, Rav Rykowski, is back! At his peak, the badminton and squash specialist reached a World Ranking of 6 and won the European Championships in 2017.
Rav will face Czech player Rostislav Kniezek in round 1 before the winner takes on 4th seed youngster Bastian Bohm. The German is the World Number 1 for Junior Singles, Doubles & Mixed.
Another Round 1 match to watch is the all Czech battle between Michal Horácek and Martin Sopko. Both players have previously been ranked inside the top 20 in the world. Sopko also has an elite World Tour title to his name when he won the Swiss Open in 2022.
Last time they met was at the same stage in the 2024 Polish Open. On that occasion, Martin was successful.
In round 2, we get to see the seeds in action!
World Number 4, Joerg Kanonenberg is back at the venue where he won his first two elite titles. In 2024, the German won the Men’s Doubles with countryman Korbinian Heim, before winning the singles later in the weekend!
“I very unexpectedly won!”
Hear Joerg’s recollection of the win
Joerg will be seeded number 2 this year and is in the same half of the draw as Bastian Böhm from Germany [4], Andreas Kotala from Switzerland [7] & Matěj Volf from Czechia [6].
The number 3 seed will be World Tour Finals Champion, Kresten Hougaard. The Dane had a fantastic season in 2024, winning the singles in Germany and Norway, before the end of season event in Switzerland.
But the top seed, Leon Griffiths must be the favourite to win. The Brit now has 15 elite singles titles and is hungry for more. The other seeds in Kresten & Leon’s half of the draw are Jesper Hedlund from Sweden [8] & Michał Kurek from Poland [5].
Women’s Singles
8 women are competing for the Women’s Singles title. There is one player from Czechia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland and the USA. As well as 3 from Great Britain.
Coincidentally, three of the four Round 1 matches will be players facing up against their doubles partners!
At the top of the draw is number 1 seed, Stine Jacobsen, against World Number 5, Holly Ranson. Check out Holly’s piece about her preparations for this tournament! Stine won the only match between the two of them, which was in India late last year.
Also in the top half is last year’s runner-up, Lucie Hlavacova. The Czech player picked up wins against two top 5 opponents last year and will be one to keep an eye on. She will take on Polish debutant, Anna Pozlewicz. This is the only round 1 match that’s not a doubles pair.
Onto the bottom half of the draw, we have an all British battle between Kirsten Atkinson and Mollie Patterson. Whilst they have never played one another internationally, they have on the UK Racketlon Tour. Mollie defeated Kirsten in their most recent battle, in the 2024 Yorkshire Open.
The last match up in the Women’s Singles draw is World Number 8, Stephanie Chung, against second seed, Kirsten Kaptein. Steph has defeated Kirsten twice in full singles matches. However, Kirsten won their most recent battle, which was in the 2024 National Teams Championships.
Men’s Doubles
Joerg Kanonenberg won the Men’s Doubles last year, with Korbinian Heim. This year he’s with another German, Bastian Bohm. But the top seeds will be last year’s runner up Kresten Hougaard, who is playing with World Number 1, Leon Griffiths.
There are 6 other pairs in the Men’s Doubles who will be looking to cause an upset against the seeds.
Women’s Doubles
Similar to the Men’s Doubles draw, there are two stand out pairs in the Women’s Doubles. Stephanie Chung & Kirsten Kaptein are top seeds and Stine Jacobsen & Holly Ranson are seeded second.
These pairs will receive byes into the semi finals, whereas the other 4 pairs will all need to play in round 1.
Mixed Doubles
Lastly, the Mixed Doubles draw has 8 pairs, with Stephanie Chung & Joerg Kanonenberg being seeded 1 and Danish pair Stine Jacobsen & Kresten Hougaard seeded 2.
Follow the action on Tournament Software.
