Ottawa Racketlon 2011

There were plenty of great matches played this weekend by many regular racketlon faces, as well as some newcomers trying out racketlon for the first time! Some of those newcomers were in the junior ranks, as we had under-21 and under-16 categories for the first time this year.

The Mens A final pitted Ottawa's table tennis Olympian, Horatio Pintea, against the World's current Top Under-21 player from Granby, Patrick Laplante. It started with a stellar TT display from both players, with Patrick pulling off the upset by winning 21-15. Then Horatio produced his own shocker by winning the badminton 21-15. Dead-even going into squash, Horatio used his experience to pull ahead with a 21-14 victory. But it wasn't enough as Patrick's superior tennis strokes allowed him to hold Horatio down to 7, thus giving him the championship at +7.

The Ladies final saw squash specialist, Shona Kerr (who came all the way from just outside Hartford, CT!), take on newcomer Annie-Pier Audet from Gaspesie (via Quebec City). Annie-Pier, fresh from her victory in the Quebec City racketlon over top-ranked Line Bellerose, jumped to a commanding lead after winning the TT and badminton (21-7 and 21-5, respectively). But Shona new her time would come in the squash. And she didn't falter, winning it 21-1 and taking a big bite out of Annie-Pier's lead. The final question would be how they each fared at tennis. Very evenly, it turned out as the score was 21-20 for Annie-Pier, which meant her lead held and she won the championship +11.
 
Congratulations to the following winners:
 
Patrick Laplante - Mens A
Ryan Chan - Mens B
Annie-Pier Audet - Ladies
Jean-Michel Audet - Under 21
Felix Chagnon - Under 16
 
I would like to thank the RA Centre and Crosscourt Tennis Centre for the use of their facilities. Thanks to Black Knight and Ping-Pong Depot for providing gear. Thanks to Horatio Pintea for procuring the TT tables. And a big thanks to those who helped me behind the desk, so I could enjoy a few matches myself !
 
See you next time!
Steve Mikovich - tournament organizer