The Racketlon World Championships were held in Löhne near Hanover, Germany. Fourteen of the world’s best teams competed in the team event. The biggest surprise was provided by… Poland. In theory, they should have been eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sweden, the multiple world champions and defending titleholders. Our team defeated the Scandinavians and then also overcame the world runners-up.
The Poles played without pressure. In the very first round, they faced a very strong Swiss team. Our national team defeated the Swiss by as many as 70 (!) points. Poland’s lead after table tennis, squash and badminton was so substantial that the tennis matches were not played.
In the match against the defending champions from Sweden, our players again confirmed their class. They clearly defeated the Scandinavians in table tennis (38:21), cold tennis (17:10) and badminton (39:27), while losing narrowly—by one point—in squash (30:31).
In the semifinals, Poland faced the world runners-up, Finland. The Poles defeated the Finns by 22 points and advanced to the final, where the Polish team faced Austria. Austria’s team included Michael Dickert, the 2008 World Championship bronze medalist, and Chrostoph Krenn, the world No. 1 in the racketlon rankings. Poland defeated its opponents in table tennis 31:29 and badminton 39:29, while narrowly losing in squash 32:33 and tennis 24:29. As a result, our team won the 2009 World Championship title!
Poland’s lineup was: Marta Jeż, Krzysztof Samonek, Norbert Stolicki, Rafał Rykowski, Marek Wojnarski and Robert Wyszyński. Krzysztof and Norbert represent TOP Bolesławiec.
Moreover, on November 7–8, 2009, the Polish Racketlon Federation Qualifying Tournament, called the “Call2Action Racketlon Cup,” was held in Piaseczno near Warsaw. Three players from Bolesławiec took part: Norbert Stolicki, Krzysztof Samonek and Jacek Szubert. Samonek finished second, Stolicki third and Szubert fourth.
(information from TOP Bolesławiec/ii)