There were title winners from 10 different nations at last weekend’s Austrian Masters ESF Gold event at Padel Dome Erdberg.
The men’s 45+ was the joint-most popular category and saw India’s unseeded Amitpal Kohli knock out the home nation’s top seed Jonathan Gallacher in the semi-finals in five games, before toppling Switzerland’s [5/8] Urs Altenburger 11-1 11-5 11-5 in the final.
The men’s 60+ saw another packed field and a familiar name on top of the podium as the legendary Fredrik Johnson added to his medal collection with an 11-5 11-4 11-6 triumph over France’s second seed Olivier Collignon.
“It was so nice with so many players at the big centre,” said the Swede. “I also noticed a lot of new players in the different age groups that I have never seen before.”
There was home success in the women’s 35+ age group as unseeded Austrian Birgit Coufal topped Group B, conquered [3/4] Angela van der Geest in the semis, then top seed Janina Jasper in the final 11-2 11-6 11-8.
Hungary’s flag was raised above the podium after top seed and European no.3 Roland Makra defeated Spanish 3/4 seed Fernando Llusia de Castro 12-10 11-7 11-6 in the men’s 35+.
There were two English women to lift titles as top seed Rachel Carver finished on top of the four-player group in the 45+ ahead of Poland’s Dominika Witkowska, while Izzy Bramhall won the six-player 55+ group, defeating Scotland’s European champion Sue Strachan in what turned out to be the decisive tie.
The title in the men’s 40+ went to Spain’s Luigi Laner who saw off compatriot Martin Roben Murillo Acebal and European no.7 Petar Galekovic of Croatia in a three-man final round.
Switzerland’s Lukas Haenni upset the seedings in the men’s 50+ final with a 11-8 11-5 11-9 victory over Danish top seed Anders Dahl Christiansen.
Carl Saxon made it a Swedish double in the men’s age groups as the second seed beat favourite Peter Nagy of Hungary 8-11 12-10 11-9 12-10 in a very tight men’s 55+ final.
The men’s 65+ final was an all-English affair and it developed into a cracker with top seed and European no.2 Stephen Edmondson coming through 10-12 11-9 13-11 8-11 11-6 against 5/8 seed Timothy McGlynn.
ESF Masters circuit stalwart Peter Stephens of Ireland added to his recent Polish Masters trophy by finishing top of the five-man group in the men’s 70+, winning all his four matches and dropping just one game.
In the women’s 50+, Iris Stockbauer got Germany’s name on the roll of honour with victory over [5/8] Natalia Kuzmicheva 11-8 11-5 11-3.
Sar Niemisto of Finland won three out of three matches in the women’s 60+, all in straight games, over Ireland’s Maureen Duke, Hungary’s Julianna Weber and Irene Gardette of France.
